About the Author
A life spent between sentences
Writer, dreamer, historian. Alexandra Quinn believes stories are how we survive ourselves — little echoes passed from one generation to the next. Through historical fiction, she explores grief, womanhood, faith, and the dangerous weight of untold histories.
Alexandra Quinn writes with the same desperation that her characters have to survive and discover. With a particular focus on historical settings, Alexandra explores themes of grief, faith obligation, womanhood, and the dangers of untold pasts. She is inspired by Canadian immigrant roots and medieval history, and drawn to the women who endure impossible circumstances and the way their survival or defeat travels through generations.
She writes out of the instinctual need to survive. As though without putting pen to paper, she might implode from all the characters in her mind clamoring for their story to be told.
Outside of writing, her life is far quieter. She lives in Ottawa with her husband and dogs, where she spends much of her time researching obscure historical details or reenacting scenes she forgot to write down before they disappeared again.
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you"
Currently Reading
Full reading list
The Writing Life
Process
I write late at night, when the sun has long since set and creativity finally stirs after a monotonous day of repression. With a hot coffee beside me, a good playlist humming in the background, and the weight of my pups curled in my lap, the words spill from my fingertips to the page. I write until my eyes grow too heavy to keep open and my pillow calls me away to finish the chapters in my dreams.
Influences
Agatha Christie, Mary Shelley, Sylvia Plath, Juhea Kim, and Margaret Atwood. Writers who trust the reader and resist the simple answer. Those who write as if the stakes are real — because they are.
Beyond the Page
Long walks, strong coffee, old films. I am convinced that being bored is essential to creative work and I guard my unscheduled hours accordingly.