An Interview with Holden Williams

NOVELTY FICTION – Sister Maria is plagued by a guilty conscience, and feels she has something to hide. Tyler’s life is slowing to a crawl due to serious illness. Grace, a young immigrant, cannot afford to lose her job. Amanda Sinclair is feeling alone and confused, just having lost her mother. These main characters all have one thing in common: their vulnerability. What brings you to write about vulnerable individuals – is it sympathy, compassion, intrigue or something else?

HOLDEN WILLIAMS – For any story to have real weight, someone has to face adversity and change. Vulnerability is often just where that begins. It is also something I personally relate to. As an immigrant, as a minority, and even in terms of my own tendencies, I have often felt like I am on the outside looking in.

That sense of distance sharpens how you see people. Everyone feels vulnerable in some way, and I am not especially interested in stories about characters who have it all. There is no tension there. What draws me in are people in tight situations who are forced to confront themselves.

With Sister Maria, it was about her and the Father being trapped in a moral and emotional bind. Tyler is the closest to my own life. That story came out of dealing with a serious misdiagnosis and the quiet fear that slows everything down. Those moments may seem small, but internally they change you.

–

NOVELTY FICTION – Some of your work transcends what can be empirically, logically explained. Certain characters display inhuman or superhuman characteristics, and someone’s life may exceed their wildest dreams or worst nightmares. What is the driving force behind such storytelling: a belief in magic, spirituality, fatalism, or something else?

HOLDEN WILLIAMS – First and foremost, I believe in two things: love and magic. That is simply how I see the world. Not magic in a grand or theatrical sense, but in small, everyday moments. Touch. Kisses. Connection. The simplest aspects of existence are often the hardest to explain.

We have an orchid sitting on the ledge of our window that my wife received for Mother’s Day two years ago. After the first flowers fell, it never bloomed again. It never died either. It just sat there in the sun. We watered it. And this season, out of nowhere, it grew a branch and bloomed. It had been alive the entire time. That feels miraculous to me.

That same feeling lives in watching my daughter dance, or in the moments when my son and I say the exact same thing at the exact same time, or in the connection I have with my wife. Those things cannot really be explained by science alone, and that is where the magic comes in.

I would not call myself especially spiritual or fatalistic. Even though I try not to get too high on the highs or too low on the lows, I do struggle with the lows. I tend to see the worst, and it comes quickly. That mindset probably feeds the darker or supernatural imagery in my work. It is not something I manufacture. It is simply how I experience the world.

–

NOVELTY FICTION – It is no secret that you are devoted husband and father. When it comes to creating stories, do you view writing as a refuge or as an extension of your responsibilities and values as a family man?

HOLDEN WILLIAMS – Writing feels like an opportunity. It is a way for me to dig around inside myself. I genuinely love making things up, and I carry beliefs that are not always widely accepted. Writing gives me a place to put those thoughts somewhere outside of myself, to examine them honestly.

I absolutely bring my responsibilities into my work. My wife and I take a lot of pride in how we show up as parents, and I think that kind of commitment deserves to be celebrated. That sense of responsibility naturally filters into the stories I tell.

Spoiler alert: It takes more than a way with words to write a complete, lived-in story. Even though I have always been a writer at heart, I did not start treating it as a career until my kids were older. I tell them all the time that they can achieve anything if they are willing to put in the work. Eventually, I realized I had to follow my own advice. I chose to commit to the work, and this is the result.

–

NOVELTY FICTION – Besides being an American author of contemporary literary fiction, you come from a diverse background, ethnically and culturally. Some of your characters seem conflicted, restless or dissatisfied. Does that reflect your own values, experiences or struggles in any way? Could there be some soul-searching or identity-seeking going on behind the scenes?

HOLDEN WILLIAMS – I did touch on this earlier, but it really does connect. We are always growing. When I was younger, I thought that process stopped at some point. It does not.

There is a lyric from a song by one of my best friends that always comes to mind when I think about questions like this: “A grown man with two kids still trying to fit in.” That line feels deeply true to me. The desire to belong never really goes away. The insecurity, the questioning, the sense of being slightly outside of things. It does not disappear just because you get older or build a life.

That feeling absolutely shows up in my characters. A lot of them are restless or dissatisfied because that is a very human state to be in. Writing gives me a place to sit with that instead of pretending it resolves itself. I am not searching for a final answer on the page. I am just being honest about the process.

–

NOVELTY FICTION – Your most recently published work is your debut novel titled “GIFTS.” The acknowledgments section describes the background and creative process quite well. But in terms of the writing style and composition, what was the creative experience like? How did you manage to transition from short fiction to writing a novel – that is, without losing momentum or becoming repetitive?

HOLDEN WILLIAMS – In some ways, writing short fiction and writing a novel are the same. It is about the work. Sitting in front of the screen and searching your brain for what comes next. The discipline does not really change, only the scale.

GIFTS actually came out of a short story, and that short story came after I wrote a novel I did not like at all. I finished it, knew it was not good, and realized I needed to focus on my craft. Around that time, I saw a post about an author I admired who had published a short story, and it clicked for me that I did not have to publish a novel right away. I could slow down and learn.

So I started waking up every day and writing short stories. I did that consistently for about half a year. That work eventually led me to Novelty Fiction, and that, in turn, led me to GIFTS. The path was not planned, but it was built through repetition and attention.

Losing momentum or becoming repetitive are fears I still carry, and I do not think they ever really go away. In a strange way, that fear is useful. It keeps me moving. It keeps me alert. It feels like something that is always chasing me, and as long as it is, I am still running.

–

NOVELTY FICTION – Are you satisfied with how “GIFTS” has been received by readers and reviewers around the world? What are your expectations for the book moving forward?

HOLDEN WILLIAMS – Yes, I am genuinely happy with the response. I was terrified at first, not only about the writing itself, but about stepping into the space and calling myself a writer. That felt vulnerable in a different way. At home, we have a quote on the wall that says, I am not afraid to fail. I am not afraid to be great, and I have been trying to live by that.

The reception has been incredibly affirming. Friends and family have embraced the book, and what surprised me most was hearing from strangers who do not usually read this kind of work but still connected with it. I think that speaks to how I approach storytelling. I do not write toward genre. I tell stories. I want them to feel beautiful and tragic and heartwarming all at once, and ultimately grounded in love and magic.

Going forward, my expectations are centered on learning. Learning how to market, learning what resonates with readers, and learning what does not. I am also still in awe of the physical reality of the book. Knowing that something I wrote is sitting on shelves in different parts of the world is surreal. Whether it is on a nightstand, a bookshelf, or tucked under a bed somewhere, it exists. In that sense, the book itself feels like a gift. A gift that keeps giving.

–

NOVELTY FICTION – Anything else you would like to share with our readers?

HOLDEN WILLIAMS – Thank you for being part of this community. Thank you for continuing the love of the written word. It matters more than ever.

© 2026 by Novelty Fiction