Morgan Dante: Queer, Sensuous, Moody, and Melancholy (And Especially Angst)

Morgan, a lover of Gothic lit and vampires, writes about love, tenderness, body horror, and hunger. ​I met them this past weekend at the Atlanta Sci-Fi Expo and was immediately drawn to her covers. The first pages I read didn't disappoint either. Their specialties are romance, horror, and fantasy, and their work blends Gothic romance with eroticism and dark and devastating religious motifs. They enjoy writing queer, sensuous, moody, and melancholy stories with complicated characters, and they especially like angst and hurt/comfort.

Tell us a bit about your most recent work.

My most recent book, Sacrament, is an M/M/M dark vampire romance that takes place in 1898 Paris and features a complicated, bisexual polycule between three men. The main character deals with the dark, somewhat clandestine world of vampires. It was released on Valentine's Day.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

Because I am a trans, queer author who always writes queer characters, I tend to explore themes about identity and being accepted for who you are, no matter how the rest of the world perceives you. Characters who would usually be marginalized or deemed monstrous are portrayed sympathetically. They contend with trauma and find comfort and acceptance, although the road isn't always easy or straightforward.

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer? 

I have always written. I think I wrote my first (very short) story when I was in first grade. I remember writing an adventure for a fourth grade creative writing assignment and the teacher recognizing that I was good at writing, and I've always had the desire to keep creating stories and sharing them with others.

What inspires you to write? 

I tend to read a lot of books and watch movies. I read Gothic literature and have watched over nine-hundred horror films, and those tend to give me ideas about what themes I would like to explore or what concepts I'd like to deconstruct. If I need to refill the well, so to speak, engaging in other stories or hand-writing in a journal helps.

What of your works has meant the most to you?

It's hard to choose one, but I wrote The Saint of Heartbreak while I was grieving and dealing with hard things in my life. It explores ideas of forgiveness, especially forgiving yourself, and overcoming betrayal and the ideas impressed upon us about what we should be. It also shows that even the most maligned people, such as Judas Iscariot or the Devil, deserve compassion.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?

To be honest, with a lot of my older works that were strictly horror, such as Dove Keeper, I was more tentative to make the queer elements more pronounced. At the time, I was told it would make these stories more inaccessible to an audience. I would absolutely be more fearless if I were to redo them.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

Quite a few. I am a big fan of Gothic writers such as Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, and Sheridan Le Fanu. More modern Gothic writers who influenced me are Anne Rice and Angela Carter. I have also been influenced by Toni Morrison, as well as the poetry of John Keats and Oscar Wilde.

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?

To be honest, knowing quite a few people in both the humanities and STEM, I would maybe lean more toward art, but it's close to the middle for me. Though I'm not the best at anything involving numbers, I think a great aspect of being an indie author is being a jack of all trades and learning about fields and skills outside of only writing fiction. While I tend to think writing is best when it's organic, and I don't outline every single moment, I also tend to view my process through a logical lens in terms of the character journeys and the steps to get there.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? 

After I complete a book, I tend to struggle to move on to the next project and end up going between several projects until I eventually choose one.

How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not? 

My writer friends are absolutely vital to my life and my progress as a writer. They help me brainstorm, cheer me on, comfort me, offer me advice and support, and so much more. I think it's absolutely vital to connect with other writers.

What does literary success look like to you? 

If my books are enjoyed by just one person, if they move that person, if they help that person, then I consider my career a success.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?  

I am participating in a mythology-centric anthology called Tales of the Tongue, which is organized by queer writers I am friends with. I was in their first anthology, Dead Cowpokes Don't Wrangle, a queer Weird West collection. My current writing projects vary, but I am working on an MMF Beauty and the Beast retelling. Essentially, it takes place after WWI and has the "Gaston-esque" character as the lead, and it explores themes similar to my previous works.

For more information, visit morgandante.com.