13 Questions with Kat M. Cabral

What was the first thing you wrote?

I’ve imagined stories from as far as I can remember, and they would usually be comic strips and storyboards about butt-kicking female spies. But it was at the age of eight when I started “getting serious” (see: grabbing my dad’s laptop) and wrote horror novella inspired by a place during vacation, which I did end up posting in on a now defunct forum. Still wondering if I could continue to develop that.

What got you into writing?

One word to really describe me is “quiet”, so what’s a quiet girl got to do growing up? Read. Immerse yourself in books, and maybe that desire to create your own impossible world comes to you, you write. It was in lieu of my non-outspokenness, and it was a great channel for my voice. As they say, the rest is history.

What are your writing necessities?

My laptop and my phone (if you’re one of those who consider jotting down random notes on the road writing). If no internet connection is accessible, I go old school and consult a thesaurus and some travel books.

What form and genre do you write?

Nowadays, I focus on short stories. If I’ve got a big idea in my head, I’d try novellas and novels. They would mostly be realistic fiction, but now I’m focusing on historical fiction and literature inspired by art (ekphrasis).

Any inspirations?

Being around books alone inspires me to start, or at least, think about an idea. 

What genre would you like to dive into next?

I love crime fiction, whodunits and just general mystery. Maybe it’s just my roots on spy stories calling me again, but I’d still love to try that out.

What do you do when you're not writing?

I like photography a lot in the same vein as writing, although now I’m just sticking to mobile photography. It’s fun, and it’s telling stories in another medium. But really, I watch TV shows and am part of the Doctor Who and Sherlock-loving side of the internet and am the occasional fangirl. Right now, I like stumbling into a lot of comedy sketches.

What’s your writing process like?

Like anyone, I have the big picture in my head and work my way around it. Most of the time I would just jump in and find my way around it, just “going with the flow”.

Do you have any strange writing habits?

This is not really a writing habit, but the best ideas I get are during car rides. Sentimentally looking at windows does wonders.

What book do you wish you could have written?

The book I can think of is the hidden gem Revolution by Jennifer Donelly. Probably one of my top favorite books because of its brilliant writing and a topic close to my heart on music and French history. Another candidate would The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, still from the historical fiction genre.

In relation to writing, what were you like at school?

I wrote fiction. I was always excited in the inside during creative writing classes since it was a reason for me to go and do this thing I like again... for a grade.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I live by Anthon Chekhov’s words on conciseness and Ernest Hemingway’s iceberg theory. I write short passages and like to leave things for the readers to decipher themselves. I love using classic tools like foreshadowing and subtle allegories and analogies. As I’ve said... I really like mystery.

And lastly, what book are you reading now?

A shame, I know, but I’m not reading anything right now. The last book I read was Waiting for Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee, and it was for my majors class.

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