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interview with bree pembrook
- Grace Johnson
- Oct 22
- 5 min read
We're back with another interview, this time with Bree Pembrook, author of "The Ghost Ship", which is such a fun and creative story! I hope y'all enjoy hearing more about this story and her writing process.
Bree, thanks so much for joining us! Why don’t we start out by you sharing a bit about yourself + three fun facts?
Well hello! I’m Bree, a writer, reader, nerd, thrifting addict, and lover of all things whimsical and vintage! Three fun facts about me are 1) I am a jack of all trades and master of none when it comes to hobbies (I have tried lots but lack skill in all of them), 2) I currently work as a barista even though I frown upon coffee (coffee = yucky burnt bean water), and 3) I’d love to be a NYT bestselling author someday.
You’ve got a very fun and unique story included in Of Storm & Sea, titled “The Ghost Ship”! Do you mind telling us the story behind this story?
One thing you must know about me is that my story ideas never come from anything very deep. Usually it’s just me adding to and digging deeper into a random idea that pops into my head. In the case of “The Ghost Ship”, I used the anthology theme as a starting point. The Bermuda Triangle had been on my mind for some reason at that point, so I thought it could be interesting to write a story set there that creates a more interesting explanation of the Triangle’s mysteries than sinkholes and bad weather and such overly realistic nonsense. I write by the seat of my pants, so with that basic idea, I just started writing and went with the flow from there.
You’re featured in several other anthologies as well. Could you share some about your other works?
I am featured in a few other anthologies, both published and upcoming. There are a couple stories in those anthologies that I am embarrassed of and some that I’m proud of, there is no in-between. The two favorites that I’ll mention are "Coins in the Fountain" from Illuminate the Dark and "Wings" in No Clue. The first is a fantasy allegory and the second is far too crazy to explain. I also have published two children’s books, Ichabod Fly and the Great Newspaper Roundup and Cooper Drivacoach and the Long Ride.
What are you currently working on?
It depends on what I’m in the mood to work on. I’m mostly working on two of my five (perhaps six? Seven?) projects as of late. One is a low fantasy story that keeps getting more and more complicated and the other is a high urban fantasy that I daydream about becoming a bestseller if I ever finish it.
What inspired you to become a writer?
I taught myself to read when I was three (thank you, Starfall), so I’ve loved reading for a good long while. I thought it would be cool to write a book of my own, so when I was around ten I tried to write a story where a group of mice helped their detective friend solve crime. Susan K. Marlow was my favorite author when I was younger, and her writing contests also helped rope me into the writing realm. I participated in several and won my age category in one. Nothing sparks a passion for something like winning a hat and a book for your work!
What are some of your favorite books and authors?
Don’t make me pick! I have too many! I’m going to make this easier to follow and restrict myself to authors. Tolkien, Madisyn Carlin, Rick Riordan (but just PJO), Suzanne Collins, Andrew Peterson, Gillian Bronte Adams, Gene Stratton-Porter, Rien Poortvliet, and Lucy Peterson just to name a few.
What’s your #1 piece of writing advice?
I don’t think I’m quite qualified to give out writing advice since I’m the biggest procrastinator this side of the Mississippi, but my latest strategy for gaining motivation…Step one: find a target who matches your story’s target audience and seems like they could be easily roped into becoming emotionally invested in your current project.
Step two: send them your first chapter or whatever you have so far in hopes that you predicted right.
Step three (if you predicted right): get them hooked on it so that next time you’re together they fangirl over it and give you endless floods of motivation and, perhaps, some new ideas to add to it as well. This situation recently happened with my cousin. He read the first chapter, and soon after that we found ourselves in an antique store that inspired a new scene that I suggested and he liked. It was an awesome experience, we bounced details for the new setting/scend off of each other as we explored the store and ideas came to us. I’m still running on that motivation and plugging away toward that scene we created that I’m super excited to write.
Where can readers connect with you and learn more about your work?
I’m on Instagram (@breepembrookauthor) where I post a little bit of everything, and I also have a woefully neglected website/blog (laughsandliterature.wordpress.com) that has some pretty embarrassing blog posts if you scroll back far enough. I also have a Youtube channel (@BreePembrook) that is currently just shorts that are also posted on Instagram, but I hope to make a longform video in the not too distant future.
about the story
Podcaster Marina, her twin brother Caspian, and their photographer Florian, set off to find a mysterious “ghost ship” that has been a village legend for decades. But, in a strange twist of fate, they find themselves captured by the most unusual people, who seem to be straight out of a history book and are taken to an island just as old. Will they escape in time, or will they be doomed to the same fate as hundreds of others at the hands of the Triangle’s mysterious inhabitants?
about the author
Bree Pembrook is the alias of a teenaged, plot-bunny-farming hobbit who writes in just about every genre there is. She sports a long list of unusual things she’s done in the name of writing research, spouts off random facts about random things at random times, and still holds out hope that there are dragons and wardrobes that lead to other worlds. She has an irrational fear of heights, but isn’t afraid to defend her faith and she hoards books and chocolate like a dragon hoards gold and jewels. Follow her crazy antics on her blog, laughsandliterature.wordpress.com
about the anthology
Of Storm & Sea is a nautical adventure anthology that captures the romance and wonder of the ocean, with stories and poems that range from contemporary tales of ghost ships and first love, to mythology-inspired quests, to mer-queens and ex-pirates, to finding faith and footing on the rough sea. There's something so stirring and romantic about the sea, something that beckons us come and see what adventure finds us—and this collection accurately captures that idea and the emotions the ocean evokes in us. Even if you're not a pirate captain or mystery-solver or mermaid or runaway or adventurer, there's something to each of these stories you can relate to or resonate with. Just like the sea speaks to us, these stories speak to our soul's longing for escape, for redemption, for love, for a new beginning.
Featuring work from Michaela Bush, Anna Huet, Molly McTernan, Jessica B. Brown, Norah Case, Rose Everille, M.C. Kennedy, Bree Pembrook, Jennifer G. Satnic, Emma Thrasher, Linyang Zhang, Grace King-Matchett, and Lilly Tanis.
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