TreVaughn Malik Roach-Carter interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

My name is TreVaughn Malik Roach-Carter. I am a Queer Black writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and a minor education, and a master’s degree in creative writing with a focus on comics and screenwriting from San Francisco State University. I have worked as a Fiction editor for Fourteen Hills literary magazine and am currently a fiction editor for The Ana literary magazine. My work has been featured in Ramblr Magazine, Tayo Magazine’s special issue: SOFT, Transfer Magazine, BAD EGG Magazine, Borderless Magazine, Stellium Magazine, and The Ana Magazine. I am a recipient of the Leo Litwalk Literature Award, a Browning Society Award, and was the runner-up for the Ramblr Fiction Award. I am the author of the Young Adult novel The Marked Ones: Uprising. My Queer and Afrocentric Young Adult novel, The Aziza Chronicles, is forthcoming with Deep Hearts YA.

When did your love of books begin?

It might sound cliche but I have always loved reading. It probably began when I was little, with my mother reading me The Magic Tree House books before bed. I absolutely loved the ability books had to take me on incredible adventures and introduce me to fun characters. Not just books, but television, movies, and video games as well. I have been addicted to compelling storytelling for as long as I could remember.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

That wish came in waves. I fell in love with writing in the sixth grade when my teacher assigned us a creative writing assignment and I had way too much fun crafting the story that I eventually turned in. It was terrible but I was a child and it was my first time writing creatively, so that’s okay.  Later, in Junior High, I started reading the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson and absolutely fell in love. That’s when I fully realized what someone could do with writing, creating not just a story but a whole world full of people you love like family.  I remember actively writing when I was in High School, as a hobby, but no real intention of making a career out of it. In Junior College, I cycled through majors of theater, psychology, communications, and then finally, landed on English. My plan was to be a teacher. I was accepted to SF State as a transfer student and came to their “Incoming Student Welcoming” day with every intention of majoring in English and Education. As I explored the gymnasium with booths representing all the majors SFSU offered, I found the tables for English and Education and got their pamphlets, but as I was leaving, I saw the table for Creative Writing, and it stopped me in my tracks. I never thought that was something that I could actually study and turn into a job. I immediately changed my plan for my major right there.  That’s probably the moment I knew I wanted to actually be a writer. But also, if you ask my grandmother, she’ll tell you I was writing scenes and forcing my little sister to act them out before even the sixth grade. So, it’s just always been there for me in some form or another.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

Wild. Difficult. Maddening at times. It's a long and painful road of writing, editing, grinding, and rejection. I have received (literally) countless rejections over the years. Rejections from agents and publishers for projects that I had dedicated my life to. But eventually, opportunities come together and that feeling of actually being able to get your work out there is so incredible that it makes up for all of the struggles.

I had started just posting my works in progress online. in that time it was a lot of ideas, developing, writing, scrapping, and starting over. Eventually, I finished writing my novel, The Marked Ones: Uprising. I had been sending it out like crazy after that to different agents and publishers. Many rejections later, I was able to publish in 2019. Sometime after that, I had finished writing my next novel, The Aziza Chronicles: Awakening. Both projects had been in the writing and editing phase for years. Similarly, The Aziza Chronicles went through a number of rejections. Eventually, an Agent was interested and I signed with him. That was a really exciting time. He was someone who really seemed to understand my work in a way that you would want from someone who was in your corner, and he was really passionate about getting it published. Unfortunately, the pandemic had affected his life in ways that impacted his agenting career and he had to leave the industry and disband his practice before anything could come from our partnership. And then suddenly I was back to square one, with a manuscript, a pile of rejections, and no agent. That was devastating. I felt like my career was crumbling for a while. After sitting in that feeling, for probably too long, I picked myself up and decided to put myself back out there. Around that time, a list of Queer publishing houses that accept unagented submissions was shared with me. My manuscript was a Queer YA, so I found this list to be really encouraging. I went through the list and submitted it to the publishers that I thought would be a good fit, ignoring publishers that wouldn't be a fit or rejected me previously. And Deep Hearts YA got back to me a few months later with an offer. And now, The Aziza Chronicles: Awakening is set to be published with Deep Hearts as well as their fantasy imprint, Dreamsphere. We are looking at a fall 2022 release, and I am on the edge of my seat, excited to share the story with the world.

What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

Submit. look for opportunities and try to get them, even if you are afraid you won't. Don't let rejection stop you from even trying. If you open yourself up to rejection, there is also a chance for acceptance. Also, submit to literary magazines. There are so many magazines out there that can help build your list of publications and also get your name out there. Take some time to research and read some!

Tell us about your book/books:

The Marked Ones: Uprising is a Sci-Fi Young Adult novel about a pair of siblings who develop superhuman abilities ten years after their mother’s murder. The two of them embark on a fact-finding mission to discover how these two events are connected and end up finding themselves in the middle of a power struggle between superpowered people, the government group trying to protect them, and the extremist group trying to exterminate them.
At its core, I would say it’s about a lot of things. It’s about family, friendship, community, marginalization, persecution, trauma, codependency, and self-discovery. And I hope to write a series of novels that all take place in this same universe, exploring different fantasy elements centered around Queer characters of color. I'm thinking of calling it the Azizaverse.  

The Aziza Chronicles: Awakening is a Queer and Afrocentric fantasy YA novel about a young girl who discovers the father she never knew belongs to a race of mythological African warriors and that she must use her newfound magical abilities to fight evil forces. An ancient demon seeking to resurrect a Celtic Hell Goddess sets his sights on her and her power to achieve his goal. It's about family, friendship, the feeling of being different, and learning that being half of something doesn't make you lesser.

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

The writing and reading community is full of so much love and support. We all are so connected in our love for reading and writing, that we build off of each other in a really amazing way. We are all in it together, and you really feel that. When you and someone enjoy the same book, you've automatically shared an experience, you walked the path of that story together. When you meet another writer, it's like, "You're a writer too? Cool, I've got your back now. No question." I'm very grateful for that sense of community.

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

Thank you for thinking my work is worthy enough to dedicate your time and energy. That means the world to me.

Where can people connect with you?

I'm on Twitter as @tre_the_author