Meet Bridgett Nelson

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bridgett Nelson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bridgett , so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I still remember attending virtual StokerCon in 2021. It was the first ‘convention’ I’d attended since becoming a writer. There were live panel screenings, pre-recorded readings, workshops, and virtual bars where you could see the faces of those attending and chat with them.

I felt so out of my league. At that point, I’d had two short stories in two separate anthologies, and absolutely nobody knew who I was. Compared to the others, in my mind, I’d accomplished nothing. I just wanted to hover and take everything in, but not actually participate.

In one of the virtual bars, Greg Chapman asked everyone to discuss what they had coming out and what they were working on. I felt immediately anxious. I had nothing to say! When my turn arrived, red-faced, I mumbled something about a sea-creature story I was working on and abruptly stopped talking. He looked at me, waiting for more, and eventually moved on. It was excruciating. Not because Greg had done anything wrong, but because at that point in my life, I hadn’t owned my achievements, insignificant though they may have been.

My one friend, Jeff Strand, pushed me out of my comfort zone the rest of the weekend. At one point, he held up the anthology I was in, and showed it off to the crowd. I was flushed with embarrassment, but oddly proud. And then I had a one-on-one conversation with Brian Keene. THE Brian Keene. He enjoyed it enough that he added me to the programming at Scares That Care 2021.

That summer, I made my way to Williamsburg, VA, where I got to meet many of my favorite authors, including Jeff, for the first time. And I opened the convention with the very first reading. I was partnered with Todd Keisling, who was amazingly supportive as I read my story, “Reflections” to the crowd. I was so scared, my legs were shaking, I was sweating, and I had to lean against the podium for support. But I did it. And everyone who was there told me it was good. (I think they were just being polite, but I appreciated it anyway.) It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done…standing in front of a crowd of people I didn’t know, who were staring at me for fifteen minutes straight, and putting myself out into the world as a writer.

Since then, though I still get anxious before readings and panels, I force myself to participate at nearly every con. As Jeff keeps telling me, the more you do it, the easier it gets. While I recognize that truth, it does’t stop the pacing and sick feeling in my belly beforehand.

Another thing that has helped me with the impostor syndrome is the amazing support from not only the author community, but from my readers. All of my books have sold quite well. I’ve won two Splatterpunk Awards, was offered a BookBub and Kindle Daily deal on Amazon, have been invited into many pro-rate anthologies, and have perfectly respectable reviews.

It’s been a slow process, but four years later, I’m finally realizing my stories are worthy.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a registered nurse turned Splatterpunk/extreme horror author. I live in Duluth, Minnesota, with my Bram Stoker Award-winning boyfriend, Jeff Strand, and our ball python daughter, Indie Hellspawn McFangy Serenity Strand, who eats thawed rats with gusto. I’m mom to two adult children, Parker & Autumn, who are, and always will be, the lights of my life. I love dogs, giggling, tarantulas, toffee candy, flannel shirts, tattoos, and avoiding bras whenever possible.

I’m often asked how someone so sweet can write the dark, depraved things I do. And my answer to that is that authors are emphatically not what they write. I was raised on horror movies and worked in the operating room, so I know gore and splatter. Plus, I like pushing boundaries.

If I had to describe my brand, it would be ‘feminine macabre,’ which you’ll see in many of my book covers: flowers made from vintage autopsy photos, tarantulas made from red roses, pin-up girls bleeding and sliced in half.

I’ve become well known for tales of revenge with unexpected twists, and I tend to write less about the supernatural and more about human monsters, whom I find scariest of all. That’s not to say you won’t occasionally see me writing stories using traditional horror tropes like werewolves or sea creatures, but my sweet spot is the evil things human beings inflict on others.

This year, 2025, promises to be a banner year. If all goes as planned, my readers will see my DEADGIRL novelization from Encyclopocalypse Publications come to life, a new short-story collection, a filthy, quirky chapbook, my first original novel, and a collaborative novel with Jeff Strand. I’ll continue running my on-line bookstore, and I have a big project in the works, which, unfortunately, I can’t talk about yet.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Determination – Don’t give up. I know several authors who aren’t selling as many books as they’d hoped, or aren’t getting the recognition they feel they deserve. It’s a long, tough, arduous road…one you have to be committed to seeing through until the end. We’re not all going to be millionaires, and most of our faces aren’t going to be recognized world-wide. That’s okay. Do it for nothing more than your love of creating.

2. Confidence – Believe in yourself and your abilities. Imposter syndrome is all too real, and it can eat away and erode what little bit of fortitude you do have. Don’t let it! Just keep typing words.

3. Authenticity – Be yourself! Don’t pretend. Don’t put up a front. My biggest turn-off is a person who’s blatantly disingenuous. Just be you. I promise, you’re good enough.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Yes! I’ve only collaborated on one short story with Jeff Strand for SPLATTERPUNK’S BASEMENT OF HORROR. It was titled “Mac & Millie,” and I had an absolute blast writing Millie’s sections. Jeff and I are also collaborating on a thriller novel, which is currently in progress.

Dream collaboration partners for me would be established horror writers who I’ve personally connected with. Authors like Ryan Harding, Christine Morgan, Jay Bower, Megan Stockton, and Kristopher Triana.

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