Atmosphere Press Staff Spotlight: Colleen Alles

Colleen Alles is a writer, former librarian & teacher, and Michigan girl for life. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Michigan State University (2005) and her MLIS from Wayne State University (2015). Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Red Cedar Review, Tar River Poetry, The Write Michigan Anthology, The Michigan Poet, and other places. Her fiction has been longlisted for The Fugere Book Prize for Finely Crafted Novellas in 2023 (Regal House Publishing).

Colleen is co-editor for fiction with Barren Magazine and is currently pursuing her MFA at Spalding University. Her house is chaotic with young children and a hound, so don’t be shocked to encounter poems about chaotic houses, small children, or hounds. Colleen writes, runs, reads, and worries she wouldn’t make sense outside the Midwest.

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What’s your role at Atmosphere Press, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I serve as a Developmental Editor for Atmosphere Press. It’s such a fun and rewarding endeavor! I absolutely love thinking through a manuscript with a writer; I love talking about what’s successful and thinking through what we might do to elevate the work to an even more realized level before the work goes to press.

How does your own creative practice inform your work with authors?

I’ve been a writer for a long time, and I regularly submit my work for critique and for publication. I think it’s helpful that I’m walking the same walk as authors who are publishing books with Atmosphere Press. I have a great deal of empathy for writers shaping their work from a Microsoft Word document to a book they can hold in their hands.

What book, film, or piece of art has shaped you the most?

I recommend Stephen King’s On Writing to anyone interested in honing their craft. King is such a generous wealth of insight. This book opened me up as a writer. You don’t have to love his novels to appreciate his non-fiction (or his short fiction, which is wonderful).

What do you wish more authors knew about Atmosphere Press’s publishing process?

I wish more authors knew the power of reading their work out loud. When finalizing a draft, I think it’s so important to hear it—whether that means reading it yourself or having Microsoft Word (or another service or app) read it to you. You will understand your work in a whole new way when you hear the words hanging in the air.

What’s a fun fact most people wouldn’t guess about you?

I’m also a distance runner. I think running and writing share a lot of commonalities. There’s something about being alone on a long run that’s a lot like being alone with a blank piece of paper. Haruki Murakami writes about this quite elegantly in, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

Where can people find your creative work, if you’d like to share?

My website (www.ColleenAlles.com) is fairly up to date with my creative work! I’m also happy to follow other writers on social media.

Any advice for fellow creatives trying to stay inspired?

Oh gosh. It sounds trite, but really, it’s this: keep going. I think being a writer is like being a marathon runner. I think keep piloting new ideas and trying things out. I think take your rest when you need it. But keep going. Something is better than nothing any day of the week.

What’s a creative risk you’ve taken that paid off (or didn’t—but taught you something)?

A few years ago, I was wrestling with a novel I found largely unsuccessful. It had grown to more than 60,000 words, but I just felt like it flailed. One summer, I cut it in half, and then worked it back up to around 38,000 words, filling the plot holes I identified. Now, it’s a successful novella; it recently won a contest from Etchings Press and is slated to be published soon.

TL;DR: Try different things. Be willing to change your mind about your work.

When do you feel most “in flow” creatively?

I feel most “in flow” when I have a pot of coffee and a quiet house.

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More staff spotlights are on the way!
Until then, meet the rest of Atmosphere Press’s amazing staff on our team page.