We had the good fortune of connecting with Mollie E. Reeder and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mollie E., we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Both of my businesses (video production and indie publishing) were started because I wanted to maintain my own creative freedom and integrity. Especially within publishing spaces, it can be very difficult to take products that are unique all the way to market. When I write fiction I tend to like writing genre-bending stories that don’t fit the mold — kind of the opposite of “writing to market” (which is a very different approach, but still just as valid!). I feel very fortunate to be living during a golden age of new self-publishing tools that make it so accessible to publish things that wouldn’t get a chance through traditional channels. Likewise, I enjoy being able to choose video projects that excite me and align with the type of creative identity I want my body of work to have.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
When I write fiction, I write mostly science fiction/fantasy. Genre fiction gets looked down on as shallow, but it’s a fantastic way to explore real questions and relatable characters in a digestible way.

If I had to define my body of work in a single word, I think I would want that word to be “hope”. When I write stories, hope is the last note I want people to take away. And I think it’s meaningful to me because hope isn’t always easy. The stories I like to tell have love and death and helpless moments, but never hopeless endings. Especially as a Christian, as I evaluate my life and what I’m putting into the world, that’s even what I want people to feel just when they meet me: safe, joyful, and strengthened with hope. There’s a lot of reasons for people to feel unsafe these days, but that’s why I write stories and create art — it’s one of the best ways I personally have to explore issues and bring light to somebody else’s life.

The hardest part of the journey to get here has just been the internal struggle. Especially with writing, it can be really harrowing to put yourself out there on paper. It’s very vulnerable because there’s a degree of unavoidable honesty about storytelling. Even when you’re writing through the perspective of a fictional character, you are revealing things about yourself. So being creative is very unmasking. And that kind of vulnerability has a lot of ups and downs. But I also believe that vulnerability is necessary for authenticity, and authenticity is necessary for telling a story that really has impact.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love the Bishop Arts District — the Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. and Emporium Pies are two favorites. I enjoy visiting Klyde Warren Park (maybe strolling around with an ice pop from a push cart), or sitting in the shade at the Dallas Zoo (the observation decks that look out over the elephant habitat are my favorite!). At Christmastime, I love the festivities at the Galleria — they even have an ice-skating Santa with pyrotechnic skates named, wait for it… “Missile Toes”! It’s kitschy, but I am a kid at heart, ha!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
So much of who I am today is because of my friends. I have been blessed to be surrounded by fantastic, ambitious women who have sown so much strength and encouragement into my life. Each one of them has planted something unique and empowered me in different ways. My good friend Sarah Sawyer is a person who stands out especially because she stood up as a mentor when I first started learning about self-publishing. I don’t think I could have done it without her! As a Choctaw author, Sarah is not only an empowering female voice, but also a voice for the indigenous community. Her platform and stories have done a lot to expand the perspectives within my fiction and my life.

Website: www.fableco.us

Instagram: mollieereeder

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MollieEReeder

Other: Free Ebook: bit.ly/celestialstory The Electrical Menagerie (my novel): https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Menagerie-Celestial-Isles-Book-ebook/dp/B07D5TM5VS

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.