Indifferent (Abridged): An Interview with GKJ Publishing

Presented by: GKJ Publishing, author Dena Elerian, and Re-Magazine.

Listen to the reading of Indifferent (Abridged) & interview on Spotify

Garrett K. Jones, founder of GKJ Publishing, sat down with author Dena Elerian to discuss her abridged version of Indifferent for the publisher’s ongoing podcast series Storytellers featured on Creator’s Corner.

For a small fee ($5 USD), anyone can submit to be featured on Storytellers. As of the date of this article, the publisher is still accepting submissions for review.

To submit work to the Storytellers series, click here.

Indifferent was published in RealShePower’s own Re-Magazine in September 2019. Elerian found out about GKJ Publishing through a call for submissions on Twitter. Jones reviewed the submission of the condensed version of the story, and decided to move forward with the feature and interview:

Jones: Dena, thank you for coming on the show and for being a part of this interview.

Elerian: Oh, you’re welcome. It’s my pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Jones: So as I understand it, you’re in Cleveland, Ohio.

Elerian: Yes.

Jones:And how are things going over there?

Elerian: Things are going pretty well. I just graduated last year with my bachelor’s degree in English with Creative Writing from Cleveland State University.

Jones: Nice…a fellow Creative Writing degree holder…I appreciate that. I got mine several years ago from CSU Monterey Bay, so… hooray!

Elerian: Yay!

Jones: Alright…we kind of talked about yourself a little bit as far as your creative writing degree and all that…what prompted you to become a writer?

Elerian: Well, um, I’ve always enjoyed writing over the years; it started out just being a hobby… I used to dabble in some graphic design and illustration. After not doing too hot in art school at Cleveland State, I decided to change my major; creative writing had interested me for many years previous – as I just said – so that’s how I ended up becoming a writer. I studied it at school and decided that would be my life’s passion and work.

Jones: Awesome… yeah, I was in kind of the same mode. I initially wanted to go into creative writing. I took one class at my junior college and that almost killed it for me. I found a really great program on the coast and I rocked it… so what inspired you to write Indifferent? Was this based on something that really happened or was it all fiction?

Elerian: This is a completely fictional story; I wanted to write something that would give readers pause to think. There are a lot of cases where – you know – people feel like that can’t really do anything about certain situations, especially young kids in schools and I just wanted readers to know that they can make a difference, they can stop bullying, and things like that. We don’t have to ignore it… no one has to stand by and just watch helplessly at something happening. You can do something about it… you can create support groups, and the like.

Jones: Awesome… awesome, yeah… especially with how big of an issue this was over the last few years… it was hitting newsworthy proportions.

Elerian: Yes, yes… it’s very sad about what I call bully-cide; it’s very, very sad.

Jones: Yeah, so now you originally published a less abbreviated version of this story for

Re-Magazine?

Elerian: Yes.

Jones: What was the response there?

Elerian: Well, apparently it was well received; it was one of their top read stories on the internet magazine (Re-Magazine) for RealShePower.com.

Jones: That is awesome!

Elerian: Thank you!

Jones: Have you submitted it for any awards or anything like that?

Elerian:I would have to talk to the editor-in-chief of Re-Magazine, but I would like to be considered for awards and such, because I’m sure we both would be appreciative of the feedback we receive from that.

Jones: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I really enjoyed it.

Elerian: Thank you!

Jones: It gave me a rally good insight into – you know… kind of – I guess the mindset of the kind of person who would be dealing with that survivor’s guilt, that regret, and all that emotion.

Elerian: Right.

Jones: So, is “Indifferent” indicative of the kind of material that you enjoy writing or do you dabble in other genres?

Elerian: Well I do dabble in other genres; this was a more serious piece that I worked on. I usually write fiction, drama, and romance, but I do like to write more serious work because – you know – it gives us a more in-depth analysis of a character’s feelings and thought process and development.

Jones: Hmmm… What has been your favorite way to apply that kind of writing outside of Indifferent?

Elerian: I do enjoy writing flash fiction and short stories; I write for the “Very Short Story Challenge 365” on Twitter… of the hashtag #VSS365... and that is where I apply that more serious form of writing.

Jones: Actually, I think that’s how I saw some of your stuff and got connected with you.

Elerian: Oh, cool.

Jones: Do you have any work available for purchase on platforms like Amazon, Wattpad, and things like that?

Elerian: That is in development as we speak right now. I’m working on a story with a working title of “The Legend of Sedalisa”; it is a fantasy fiction romance story in development; I will be self-publishing that so I maintain 100% creative control. I’ve been working on that story since probably about my younger years in community college; it was originally just a hobby as previously stated, but now I’m going to be serious about and it’s going to be my long-term project of my creative career… I suppose.

Jones: Excellent. The stuff that I write it’s in the epic high fantasy field and I was developing those characters back in high school twenty years ago. Like you, I self-published because I wanted to have that creative control; I get really iffy about who might have any say on that.

Elerian: Right. There’s definitely projects that I think – for a lot of writers – I can’t speak for all, but some writers [have] some projects you just want to maintain creative control over and others you might want to be flexible for, but for others you just want to take that risk to maintain 100% control.

Jones: Exactly.

Elerian: Yeah.

Jones: Wow… um… What is the most serious thing you have written, because you said you like to write things that keep that serious mindset. What is the most serious piece you have written?

Elerian: Some of it is unpublished work. When I was studying for my undergraduate, I wrote a short story piece a woman experiencing a miscarriage. Sometimes I like to write about serious subjects that may or may not be taboo, like miscarriage, because it affects many women.

Jones: Yup.

Elerian: (...) I definitely don’t limit my creative spectrum; I try to address many different things.

Jones: That makes sense, because you want to be able to address the different topics because there are things that need to be talked about.

Elerian: Absolutely, yes.

Jones: Awesome. Well, Dena, thank you for coming on the show and doing the interview; I really appreciate your feedback and information you provided about Indifferent; it was a really great story. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share it with my audience.

Elerian: You’re welcome. And thank you!

We at RealShePower is elated for our contributing author Dena Elerian's interview with GKJ Publishing. We congratulate her on this feature, and happy to present a detailed snippet of the interview with GKJ Publishing.

Read Dena's short story "Indifferent" on the link below.