What is your name/pen name/ name you are comfortable giving us?
Ute Orgassa. (It’s a rare German name and it is always an adventure to hear how people pronounce it. Ask me how, if you’re unsure.)
What project or projects, if any, are you currently working on?
Several short stories for story calls. There is always at least one call out there that interests me. I am also working on an application and on deepening my craft.
What project or projects, if any, are on your back burner?
I have several long form projects that I sporadically visit. One dystopian trilogy, a time travel story (I love time travel stories, but they are incredibly difficult to keep straight), a story about consumerism and distractions. Too many ideas are lingering in story starts, prompt collections, and idea folders.
Why do you write?
The simple answer is that I cannot not write. (Dear grammar gods, please don’t frown at that sentence.) I have a mind that does not know how to be calm. There are always stories going on, characters waiting in the wings, and song lyrics that connect in wonderful ways to lived experiences. They need to get out. I am convinced that a creative person will always find a way to create. My way of creating is storytelling and enjoying words. And I will do this in one form or another until the day I die.
How long have you been writing? How much of that time seriously? (You define what seriously means.)
I remember writing a story about two ducks fighting over a water dish, which got resolved when they realized that sharing actually works better, when I was 7 years old. I wrote for my own enjoyment and to stay (marginally) sane all my life. But I never really considered myself a writer. I was more a reader and a caregiver. A scientist and a scholar. A mother, a friend.
When Script Frenzy and NaNoWriMo came around, I jumped in to experience writing in community. I wanted to know if I could do it: write for a whole month, concentrating on one defined project, while connecting with others doing the same thing. I could do it. I loved it. I still had a life that was too full to take it seriously. But this was a necessary step to go and stake my claim into the fiction writing world.
Then, in 2023, a friend of mine suggested I write a horror short story and send it off to an anthology. I jumped into that challenge with an attitude of “why not?” and enjoyed writing that story a great deal. They accepted it and I caught the short story bug and the submissions bug. I have been doing this little game of story submissions and rejections/acceptances ever since. So, to answer your question, it was a slow process, but 2023 was the year I got serious about it.
Do you have any published works?
Yes, I do. Currently I have 14 short stories (1000 to 10,000 words) and flash pieces (under 1000 words) out, with 2 more forthcoming. You can find them in anthologies, magazines, and online places. I also write plays and one of them was produced in the United Kingdom by Awkward Pigeons Theater two years in a row (2023 and 2024). Therefore, I can also call myself a playwright. For an overview of all my work and links to specific publications, you can go to my website (it’s listed at the end of this interview).
What is the best part of writing for you?
The best part is when the work flows and simply takes off the page. Those fleeting moments when doing the work becomes effortless. The stars align, the words materialize on the page, and afterwards you wonder who actually wrote this, because you certainly did not do it consciously. You were just the conduit. That state of being, that is called Eros in the Platonic sense—the transformation of the human being towards the divine. Yes, I know, it sounds strange and weird, but those rare star hours when hyperfocus and imagination work together and you come out with something entirely new do feel like that. Then again, they are exceedingly rare. Most of the time it is showing up, doing the work, and celebrating small victories.
A close second is when characters start to speak to me and make their wishes known, show me their mannerisms, their catchphrases, and the cut of their jib.
What is the hardest part of writing to you?
Regarding the actual act of writing, as in putting words on the page, it is figuring out the right amount of description. Especially in long form, I don’t know how much of what I see in my mind is conveyed onto the page. Usually, I need to make things more visible and clearer. Thank the heavens above for beta readers.
In the overall business of writing, it is marketing. Without a doubt. I am not cut out for that. Marketing fries my brain cells while I am standing there.
How do you overcome writer’s block?
That depends on how you define writer’s block. If you define it as inability to write every day, then I don’t overcome it, but live with it. If you define it as not being able to have a somewhat consistent output of stories or progress with writerly pursuits, then I don’t have it.
I have learned that I cannot force my brain into patterns that work as habit forming for other people. If I force myself to write every day, I will end up not writing at all. For me to be engaged, I need a deadline. I need to have a set goal and a set amount of time to finish it. I thrive under these conditions. Of course, I still will have to come up with something and sometimes it won’t happen until the deadline moves into urgent territory. So, I complain. I have also learned that complaining and venting is part of the process.
The other strategy that helps me not to get stuck is to always have more than one project going. If nothing moves on one, something will move on another. It’s amazing how much procrastination writing you can do if you have a few stories going at once. I also found that it is okay not to write and just to fill or refill the tank. I read, watch shows, watch movies, and daydream. The more freedom from judgment I give myself, the more creative I am.
Have you ever seen the sun set over the ocean?
Whether the North Sea or the Atlantic, the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, the Pacific, the Mediterranean, or the Gulf of Mexico, I have seen the sun set on it, I swam in it, and I can’t wait to see it again. I feel a deeply spiritual connection with the ocean and it calms me down whenever I look at it.
I wish I could live closer to the ocean than I do, but the real world has other plans, so far. It just makes me happy to be in the vicinity of water. Not for nothing do I have my best ideas in the shower.
How did you find Pen & Pier?
I did not so much find Pen & Pier as Pen & Pier found me. With a flourish and a regal bow I say I was, in fact, one of the founders.
What is your favorite genre to write? What is your favorite genre to read?
My favorite genre to write is speculative fiction, specifically horror and everything dark. I enjoy coming up with twisted tales and doomed choices. Sometimes I veer into sci-fi, sometimes into fantasy, sometimes into noir. Lately, I have also enjoyed writing more literary fiction. You can still be assured that something wicked this way comes if I wrote it.
My favorite genre to read is pretty difficult to define. While I do enjoy reading dark and twisted tales, horror, fantasy, and science fiction, it is not necessarily the genre that defines if a book lands on my favorite list. If a story touches me and stays with me, it will be cherished, whether it is historical fiction, romance, a fairy tale, a thriller, or an epic saga. I have always been a rather eclectic reader and I have no intention to change that.
If you could collaborate with any writer, who would that be?
Regarding traditionally published authors, I would love to collaborate with Robin Hobb. The casual lessons on craft alone would be worth it. She managed to combine two, at first glance, unrelated book series into a third series that flowed effortlessly from the first two. What a mind!
Also, Joey Batey, because I adore his humor and the fantastical castles he draws into the sky, even if they have some dark dungeons with monsters in them. Or maybe exactly because they do.
Regarding indie or self-published authors, I can see myself collaborating with several Pen & Pier authors and other author friends I have. Of course, our working styles would need to mesh. I like epistolary style stories and novels. Hit me up. Maybe something will come of it. You never know.
Would you like to live in your own stories? Why, or why not?
Well, that depends very much on the story and whether I can be a bystander or have to be the protagonist. So, an enthusiastic yes for some, and an enthusiastic no for others. Basically, if there is a chance that being in the story would have me end up dead, then no thank you.
Do you have a favorite joke?
I have a weird sense of humor, so most jokes don’t really land for me. I can sit through many stand up routines without laughing once. Noted exceptions are Hannah Gadsby and Susan (Eddie) Izzard. I can laugh myself silly at memes, especially a parody of “Running Up That Hill” involving bargaining with God over overpriced avocados.
What book(s) or stories would you want everyone to read?
Among the plays it would be “Nathan the Wise” by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare, and “Angels in America” by Tony Kushner. Among the novels, I adore “Momo” by Michael Ende and often recommend “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. Among shorter works, “Der Erlkönig” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the works of Edgar Allan Poe, “Technicolor” by John Langan, and of course “Dracula” by Bram Stoker.
What are you looking forward to the most for your writing within the next year?
I am looking forward to continuing to develop my craft. I seem to have the basics down for short story writing, but it is always good to expand your horizons. Regarding long form, I need to focus more on structure and intent. I also hope to continue the amount of output and publications I currently have going, explore new genres and styles, and meet more authors and artists who inspire me.
If you would like, share your sites and socials here.
For social media and DMs, you can find me on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/uteorgassa.bsky.social. My website is https://www.uteorgassa.com. I also have Instagram and other social media, but I rarely go there.
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