Meet Justine

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Justine. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Justine below.

Hi Justine , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

As an author of mystery and horror, a lot of my books deal with survival. Mostly this is in quite the literal, life-or-death sense in actually trying to survive and overcome a killer or monster, but I think one of the reasons I was initially drawn to the genre and survival stories are because when you grow up in a family that struggles financially, survival becomes a topic of importance, and one that I believe relates to resilience.

In a lot of ways, poverty is like movie monster. One that is always lurking, always waiting to overcome. It watches as utilities increase, as rent goes up, as life happens (and it’s never only one thing) and you once again have to max out the credit card you barely just paid off. Even if you manage to get out of it, to escape the monster, breaking a cycle of struggle across generations, the threat of it is always there. The anxiety, the fear, because you know what it is like to never have enough.

But at the same time, those who grow up with or experience financial struggle will have to face rejection. There will be things you can’t get, experiences you can’t have, compromises that must be made. In the same way improv teaches you, “yes, and,” a lack of money will teach you, “no, but,” because you will learn all about unfairness and inability to always (or even often) get what you want, but you will also learn creative ways to keep surviving, to keep dreaming, to keep finding reasons to keep going.

I wish we lived in a world where no one had to worry about being able to afford food, housing, and healthcare. I don’t want anyone to have to have these struggles. But because I have had financial struggles among other personal struggles, I have grown into a person of resilience because I learned that things will not go my way, so what can I do about it?

A big part of this is the community I am fortunate to have found. The people and animals you love are often big reasons to keep surviving, the stories and art you consume are reasons to keep going. We will all face struggles, bad things, rejection, times in which it feels like all our energy is merely trying to keep afloat in rough waters. But facing these times alone makes it that bit harder.

Never being enough or having enough are some of my monsters, my ghosts that haunt me. And I know there are many who can relate. It is that humanity, that desire to share my fears and stories and thoughts, to form connections and community even through pages, that keeps me resilient. Because, at the end of the day, the only thing that guarantees failure is giving up. It’s easy to get lost in how many bad things happen, but by surviving another day, we invite the possibility of something good.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am an award winning author of queer fiction for children and teens. I write primarily mystery, thriller, and horror, often with a sense of humor and sometimes with a romantic subplot. I had a long journey to publication–from writing and querying my first book as a teenager, to keeping at it until my debut novel published almost exactly ten years later. I am someone who has turned to fiction to help understand my own identity, as well as traumas that I faced. Books saved my life in many ways, and I aim to create work that can provide comfort, connection, and even just entertainment for someone who needs it.

I specifically love horror (and thrillers) because the genres allow us to explore the worst case scenario in a safe environment. They are genres of big emotion, and ultimately, they are stories of survival. It is important to me to be able to tell stories of queer characters surviving, of facing and overcoming their monsters and demons, and holding hope for a better tomorrow.

My most recent releases are HOW TO SURVIVE A SLASHER, a fun, meta teen horror and my love letter to the slasher subgenre, perfect for fans of SCREAM, and A LITTLE TOO HAUNTED, a middle grade horror comedy about a paranormal-obsessed 13-yr-old who gets more than she bargained for when her fake-haunted-house-flipping moms move her into a real haunted house. My next release, YOUR BOYFRIEND NEEDS AN EXORCIST is a horror comedy in which a teenage evil spirit accidentally possesses her crush’s awful boyfriend, but soon learns this second chance at life comes at a steep, and bloody, cost. That will be out Fall 2026!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Speaking on resilience, that is definitely a quality that had the most impact. Traditional publishing can be a long, slow, emotionally draining process. You WILL face rejection, and when you put your heart into your work, it can feel even worse. Every successful writer is someone who refused to give up, and that’s a quality that is important.

A skill that has really helped me has been growing my understanding of plotting stories and creating synopses and outlines. Reading widely and often can help you understand story structure and plotting, and it has personally helped me a lot in being able to write under short deadlines and keep on track.

Lastly, and this might be a turn off to some readers, but here me out–a little bit of spite can go a long way. It isn’t always easy to remember all the positives to keep you motivated (although I do also recommend keeping positive notes and feedback you get in one easy place to reference, whether it is an email folder or scrapbook or the notes app on your phone) so it is helpful to learn how negative feedback and experiences can motivate. Finishing a book because someone said you couldn’t still results in a finished book. Definitely hold on to hope and even somewhat delusional dreams, but know that the “bad” feelings can be just as good for you as long as you don’t allow them to get in your way.

In general, I advise those starting on the path to publication to focus on the fun and the love of writing, to keep writing and always want to grow (I’m six+ books in and still want to get better, improve my craft, and expand as a writer and I feel I’ll never lose that need), and to find fellow creatives to hold you accountable. It is a lot harder to give up something when others are relying on you and wanting more from you, and it is so helpful to even just have trusted people to bounce ideas with and take on your vents and frustrations.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

When I first started writing with the goal of traditional publication, I had the mindset of “I just need to get an agent.” That was the first (often seemingly unattainable) milestone I had to reach. I sort of figured once that happened, it would be smooth sailing. It took years and so many shelved manuscripts, but I got my first literary agent.

And then, the goal changed. “I just need to get a book deal.” I mean, that was the true goal, right? Once I achieved that, my dream career would be really mine, and I’d be set.

Right?

…Right?

Unfortunately, a career in the arts is a fickle mistress. There is never any one thing that guarantees smooth sailing. There will always be the next goal to reach, the next deal to get. You can be published and get starred reviews and acclaim and still get dropped by your agency (happened to me) and your publisher (also happened to me) and have to essentially start again. Careers will have ups and downs, and sometimes, the downs that happen AFTER your career start are even more devastating.

This year has felt like a huge series of downs for me. The first half had personal problems along with many career struggles, rejections, and long periods of what felt like no good news. I’m still not even ENTIRELY out of it, but what has helped me most comes in three parts.

1) Celebrate even the smallest of wins. When you are desperate for a book deal and financially struggling, a nice review might not seem like a big deal. But it really can be. Sometimes the little wins are what get us through. Allow yourself to be excited about it. Celebrate reaching a word count goal for the day, your mom saying your book made her laugh, getting a project on a list. The little wins are wins. Take time with them.

2) Have people that allow you to feel bad about losses and rejection before lifting you up. As much as you need to celebrate the wins, you need the space to feel down about losses. Have a good vent, a good cry, cuss out whoever you need to when only your cat can hear, and then keep going.

3. Have fun. Work on the next thing. Try a new genre. Read stuff that excites you to the point you want to write. Even when art becomes a job, don’t allow yourself to lose the love for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.justinepucellawinans.com
• Instagram: @justinepwinans