M.K. Thekkumkattil Second Interview

We did a second interview with M.K. Thekkumkattil after our Indie Author Spotlight!

What does your writing ritual look like?

I wrote out a Writer’s Prayer years ago that, when I sit down for a writing session, I read to myself. It includes a moment to take a breath and a sip of water, to connect to the earth, to my body, and to my ancestors.

I also am a slut for writing dates, which typically involve catching up, then two thirty-five minute blocks of co-writing.

What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received as an Indie Author?

To follow literary conventions just because that’s the norm—lots of literary conventions go against my values, and I had to learn to push back on those kinds of edits.

What’s your go-to book, movie, or musical artist when you need some inspiration (or just a break from the keyboard)? Why?

I love listening to Joy Crookes and Jessie Reyez ~ their voices are both so unique and transport me.

If you could snap your fingers and be “known” for one piece of your writing, what would it be? Is it something already published? Or is it something in your heart you’ve not yet written?

This is super silly, but I’ve been working on a fuckboy zine for the last few months, and I have a feeling that more of my friends and loved ones will be reading and talking about this than any other piece of writing I’ve made. Which, I will say, it’s the most fun project I’ve worked on…if I end up being known for this, I’ll be very entertained!

But of course, I’m also very proud of my upcoming book, The Sexuality of Care: On Nursing, Kink, and a Future Without Hospitals, and hope that, if I’m to be known for my writing, that people will associate me with using kink to imagine and practice abolitionist care.

Any other tidbits you wanna share?

Also grateful to have Weaving Liberation: An Archival Chapbook come out with Abode Press last year! It documents a year of organizing against the US-Israel genocide of Palestinians where I live.

Do you have a newsletter you want people to sign-up for?

I don’t have a newsletter, but I can be found on Instagram @thekkumkattilmk, or at my website, thekkumkattilmk@gmail.com.