Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Zilla: We always love having Claris Lam here to talk about her books, though today is a special interview—she’s crossed genre! Claris, can you tell us about Refilling the Well and your venture into poetry?

Claris: Refilling The Well is my debut poetry chapbook. This chapbook focuses on themes of self-care, burnout, burnout recovery, and hustle culture. 

I also think Refilling The Well focuses a bit on hope – hope that things will get better, even if they’re hard right now. 

Zilla: That seems like a really timely topic. Why did you write this book, and why now?

Claris: My burnout in summer 2023 inspired me to write this book, specifically. I went through creative burnout in summer 2023 specifically because I felt, at the time, I had to keep “working” on my creative craft to become some form of success that others seemed to have. It looked like that if you were a “successful” author, you had to be making huge book sales every month and/or capable of selling many books a year or even a book every two weeks. At some point that summer, I just lost all inspiration and drive to write much if at all.

It was scary, handling burnout. I never knew what it was like to be completely out of ideas before, because I often come up with ideas really quickly. However, it was a good period for me to reflect on what “success” as an author actually meant to me. 

Zilla: That’s such an important part of being an author—finding that internal motivation, and knowing that you can’t define success against anyone else. Can you distill your inspiration into an image?

Claris: Given the title of this chapbook, the image of a well inspired me. I thought about how wells, when overused or going through hotter than expected times such as droughts, can end up drying out and be unable to provide water to others. Our creative minds are like wells—it can generate a lot of ideas, but it also can only provide so much—especially when going through stressful times. And if we have no ideas left, that well of ideas is essentially dried out. 

Zilla: Who did you imagine reading your book as you wrote it? 

Claris: I imagined those who enjoyed poetry reading it, but I also imagined others going through their own periods of burnout, especially fellow creatives. I’ve read and heard of stories from many creatives who fell into similar periods of burnout for various reasons, including mine.

Zilla: What’s your next writing project?

Claris: At this time of writing, I’ll be releasing my debut YA short story collection, Stay Magical!, in fall 2025! It’s magical girl themed. Anyone who is familiar with anime and manga like Sailor Moon, Ojamajo Doremi, Pretty Cure and other series should consider reading it!

I’m also currently writing a new short story collection that is fairytale-themed and is a bit more experimental compared to my past work. I have the first draft done and I look forward to edits and revisions! 

Zilla: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Claris: Refilling The Well released on February 10^th, 2025! You can order it here. 

As for where you can find me, check out the following:

Website: https://clarislam.ca 

Newsletter: https://buttondown.com/clarislamauthor 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarislamauthor/ 

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

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/clarislamauthor.bsky.social 

Tumblr: https://clarislam.tumblr.com/ 

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/claris-lam 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22277014.Claris_Lam