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Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

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EP 479 - The Keyboard Is My Favorite Fidget Toy with Premee Mohamed

Jun 19, 2026

In this episode Mark interviews Premee Mohamed, a Nebula, World Fantasy, Ignyte, Locus, and Aurora award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by the Show, Don't Tell Writing Podcast with Suzy Vadori. In this weekly show, Suzy brings you writing techniques, best practices, motivation, inspirational stories from real live authors out there making it in the world, and actionable advice that can help you turn that book you’re writing into the bestseller you know deep down that it can be.

In their interview, Mark and Premee talk about:

  • How Premee introduces herself as a writer in different contexts
  • The snobbery that can exist in the CanLit spaces in relation to sci-fi/fantasy/horror
  • The generous umbrella of the term "speculative fiction"
  • Being drawn to write in the speculative genres because that's what she liked to read
  • The first completely partially illustrated story Premee remembers finishing when she was eight years old
  • The Stephen King anthology (authorized stories set in the world of The Stand) was the most Premee had been offered for a short story ever
  • The agent Premee found for selling her first book and having worked with them for almost nine years
  • The common response of a multi- or cross-genre book confusing publishers who liked it because they didn't know "where to put it" on the shelves
  • How the awards Premee has won so far haven't really moved the needle at all in terms of increasing book sales
  • Premee's forthcoming books that are coming from the big five publishers
  • Loving the writing anyway, and how Premme would write even if she wasn't publishing
  • Premee's experience as a Writer in Residence at the Edmonton Public Library
  • Advice Premee would offer to writers looking for a publisher to sell their writing to
  • How she used to be a pantser but is now a completely converted outliner
  • How Premee's only self-publishing experience being a painful experience because it was work she did not enjoy, but how it led to her selling enough units of the ebook that it helped cover a trip to Dublin for a World Con
  • The powerful impact of Canada's PLR program for writers
  • And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on a few items that came up in the conversation.

Links of Interest:

 

Premee Mohamed is a Nebula, World Fantasy, Ignyte, Locus, and Aurora award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She has also been a finalist for the Hugo, British Fantasy, British Science Fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Crawford awards. In 2024, she was the Edmonton Public Library writer-in-residence, and she has taught at establishments including the Banff Institute for the Arts, the Clarion Workshop, and the Carl Brandon Society. She has judged short fiction contests for CBC and Alberta Views Magazine and can be found on her website at www.premeemohamed.com. She is represented by Michael Curry of DMLA.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0