An Interview with Aimie McAllester

Aimie McAllester (also known as Sylvia Rose) was born in Houston but raised in East Texas. Her childhood was largely shaped by her severely autistic, non-verbal brother, as the entire family had to learn to adapt to abnormal stresses that most families would never think of. She used music and writing to cope and is now looking to finish her undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in English. Following graduation, she hopes to go to graduate school and get her counseling license, then go to medical school for psychiatry.

In the meantime, Aimie is working on getting a novel published, along with a few chamber music pieces. In her free time, she likes to reminisce on various topics in extensive detail (and occasionally behave rather eccentrically) and prefers to spend as much time as she can with two cats and a precious pupper. She used to have a full-time job as a pharmacy technician where she not only assisted patients in getting their much-needed medication, but worked with her patients to help them understand and navigate the health care system, but is taking a break due to burnout and to focus on her writing. She is currently working on a poetry chapbook featuring poems that touch on mental health and creativity.

What inspired you to start writing this book?

It was quite a process to find inspiration for this book. At first, it was just a cobbled-together manuscript of various unrelated poems, however, the more I started working with the poetry, the more connections I could see between previously unrelated poems. Altogether, the poetry spoke a story to me that I did my best to honor through repeated revisions and edits.

Tell us the story of your book’s current title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

I keep a bunch of notes on my phone with book titles that I’ve thought of previously. Or just random snippets and phrases that pop into my head. I was needing something that would tie all the disparate pieces of poetry into one unifying theme, and when I saw The Gods Are Arguing In My Head in one random note file, I knew immediately how the book was going to function. I also drew heavily upon some poetry that I was reading at the time, that was using Greek mythology and sort of revamping it to a modern aesthetic taste. The two different thoughts linked together and here we are.

What books are you reading (for research or comfort) as you continue the writing process?

Currently I’m reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (after finishing A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author). Completely different realm than what I’m writing, but I find the story of the struggle of the Afghan people to be, inspiring isn’t quite the right word, but enables me to think past my own personal struggles and persevere no matter what is happening in my own personal life. I’m also reading through The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer Through Robert Frost by Harold Bloom as study material for developing my own poetic style, taking notes from the greats, as well as various other poetry books that delve into detail on, well, the bread-and-butter of poetics. I’m always reading about five or six books at one time, depending on my mood the moment I decide to read something.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I used to work as a legal drug dealer before I decided to take a break to focus on my writing. Specifically, I was a retail pharmacy technician who picked the worst time to jump into the profession, right when COVID was spreading wildly across the country, and the workload was doubling and tripling day by day. I still find myself envious of the technicians before me who could do things like, watch Netflix while they worked (note: this only applies to independent pharmacies and small-town retail pharmacies), because by the time I was working, it was non-stop from the minute you clocked in, sometimes until hours after you were supposed to have clocked out. It was a recipe for quick burnout. Next time you pick up medication at your local pharmacy, take a minute and thank the technicians back there (or give them food, food is always welcome). They do a lot more than simply function as overpaid cashiers.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

My idol was, and still is, Marya Hornbacher. I’ve been obsessed with her writing since I was a young teenager, and model myself quite extensively after her style of writing. I once even had the audacity to ask her to mentor me, which lasted for unfortunately just a few weeks before the stressors I was dealing with at the time boiled over and I had to take some personal time to get my act together. I still daydream about one day finishing the course that she had prepared for me, and if she happens to read this, on the microscopically slim chance she does, thank you so much for your time and I hope one day I can learn under you once more. Aside from her, Sylvia Plath was a big inspiration when I was a youngster (hence my pen name Sylvia Rose, a combination honoring her and including my middle name in a way that somehow works). However, I’ve somewhat drifted from her, Anne Sexton, and the lot, in favor of Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, Marianne Moore, and Willam Carlos Williams. I expect my taste to be continuously changing as I expose myself to more and more poetry.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I hope readers will take away the fact that it’s okay to not be okay, that sometimes even it might be preferred, and if they’re struggling with the intensity of their moods, well, there is definitely someone who can heavily relate to that and is always willing to lend a listening ear to your story.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.