Meet Adrienne Ray

Tell us a little about yourself:

I am the child of a ‘mixed marriage’. My father was Catholic and  my mother was an astrology studying, ouija-board toting New-ager. We were constantly debating the pros and cons of Catholic teachings. I was the 13th of 14 children and, most of the time, the TV set was broken. So we had to entertain ourselves by writing stories and comic strips.

What inspired your story?

I used to complain that a lot of fiction written today seemed to put down Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. My friends always told me, ‘If you don’t like it, why don’t you write something pro- Catholic?’ The phrase ‘put up, or shut up’ also was used once or twice.

Where else can people find your stuff?

I have published in several on line magazines:  “Gateway”, “Dragons, Knights and Angels”, “Static Movement on Line”, “Astounding Tales” and “Anotherealm”. I also have a story in the anthology, Cybertales.

What are you working on now?

I am working on a collection of short stories about the Melungeons. The Melungeons are  a group of people found in the Appalachians with mysterious origins. Some people think they may be escendants of the Lost Colony. I hope to one day connect my family to these people.

Anything else you'd like to share?

By some people’s standards, my family might be considered ‘red neck’. I remember during a particularly ‘lean’ time in my marriage, my husband, Mick, asked me to help him put our car up on blocks in the front yard.

(Yeah, that does sound kind of red neck.) But we didn’t have any cinder blocks so we used logs that we had not yet chopped into a size that would fit into our woodstove. I remember telling Mick, ‘Oh no! Not only are we rednecks--we’re POOR red necks!’ In fact, I am a little proud of my blue collar roots. It is a strong influence in what I write.