Would you please tell us a little about your writing process?
For my writing process, I just open up my blank document and let it rip! Sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to write the next best thing, but when I write enough to get past the gunk in my brain, I find that there was genius there after all.
How do you believe a writer improves? Practice? Mentors? Reading everything? Attending festivals?
A writer improves by being present while observing. Yes, reading and getting your reps and sets are important, but when you notice the small details of your environment and the people around you, it helps you more accurately depict something tangible to your readers. Perhaps that means you go to festivals, walk in nature, or write in a cafe. Whatever it is, pay attention.
What is the best piece of advice you have received? Or, what is the best piece of advice you would offer an aspiring writer?
You are valuable just because you exist, and you don’t need someone to tell you or show you that your work is worth something. If you want to write, write. Don’t wait for external validation to put your work out there.
Who would you say are your literary forebears? Who have you learned the most from?
I am a huge fan of literature from the Romantic era; Mary Shelley and Lord Byron have ingrained a sense of maintaining my originality within my work. They could have easily blended in with their contemporaries, but they stuck out because they were authentic to who they were.
What do you believe is the function of your art?
I like holding up a mirror to my readers for them to realize their own truth. Sometimes I like to show them their darkness and other times I enjoy revealing their light, but most of all I want them to think critically for themselves. That skill is shrinking in our society, and it is up to us to encourage it.
What is the role of the writer in society?
We writers are the voice of the people. We represent our generation and our perspective of the times because history records events, not necessarily our thoughts and unique experiences.
Audrey Andrade, a California native, is a Navy Veteran who has been writing creatively since she was in seventh grade. While she had a technical career in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer on Guided Missile Destroyers, she always found herself seeking out ways to hone her writing talents, eventually publishing in the 2025 One Page Poetry anthology. From acquiring experience in technical writing and proposal management to starting her own creative writing brand as The Weekend Poet, Audrey has found herself immersed in the writing industry with the same enthusiasm she found when she wrote her first winning poem in a middle school writing contest. She is a United States Naval Academy graduate and holds a Masters in Business Administration from Drexel University.