Indie Ink Runs Deep: Anne Michaud

Every now and then I manage to talk a small press author into showing us a little skin... tattooed skin, that is. I know there are websites and books out there that have been-there-done-that already, but I hadn't seen one with a specific focus on the authors and publishers of the small press community. Whether it's the influence for their book, influenced by their book, or completely unrelated to the book, we get to hear the story behind their indie ink....


Today's ink story comes from Anne Michaud, she who likes dark things never grew up. She never stopped listening to gothic, industrial and alternative bands like when she was fifteen. She always loved to read horror and dystopia and fantasy, where doom and gloom drip from the pages. She who was supposed to make films, decided to write short stories, novelettes and novels instead. She, who’s had her films listed on festival programs, has been printed in a dozen anthologies and magazines since. Now, novels bearing her name are seeing the world, one title after the other.

She who likes dark things prefers night to day, rain to sun, and reading to anything else. She blogs http://annecmichaud.com ; She tweets @annecmichaud ; She Facebooks https://www.facebook.com/annecmichaud

Sad Ghost

I love tattoos, I always crave more – then again, don’t we all? My first (The Crow in dark shadow, low back) was done almost 20 years ago, because it took me that long to find exactly what I wanted... and it came my way over social media, of all places.

My friend posted this on Facebook, and that was it, I was in love: macabre and creepy, the black shadow begged to be inked on my skin. I knew that once it would be etched on the outside of my forearm, my sad ghost would leave one clear message to anyone who saw it: night is filled with shadows.

So I went to get it done and it hurt, burned, itched and scaled. It took me a few months to get acquainted with my new tat; not only was the sad ghost quite a piece to take in, but whenever I looked in the mirror, it seemed to move by itself, as if the ink settled after a while. And by the time the black sunk in, it was too late, I was in love.

It didn’t end there, this obsession with my sad ghost. When it was time to come up with ideas to promote the entire set of my paranormal books, I urged the artist Gina Casey to use my tattoo as a starter point… and much like the cover of my book Hunter’s Trap, she didn’t disappoint with the bookmark, either.

And now that I wear the sad ghost on my arm, I can only hope to do it justice and fill the night with shadows, just like him.