If you would like to submit your story to After Dinner Conversation, here’s how.
Read the newest edition of After Dinner Conversation!
Click the image to get your copy!
After Dinner Conversation - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Q&A
Which philosophy or philosopher most aligns with your own beliefs?:
I’m drawn less to rigid philosophical systems and more to writers and thinkers who embrace contradiction, ambiguity, and the fractured nature of the self. Jung has influenced me deeply, as has mythological scholarship and trauma theory. I’m interested in the idea that people are not singular, coherent beings, but ecosystems of competing desires, masks, wounds, and narratives. Much of my work explores what happens when we stop treating those internal contradictions as failures and begin seeing them as parts of a larger story.
Is there any standard publishing or writing advice that you disagree with? Or any standard advice that you feel is too often neglected?:
I think modern writing advice can become overly utilitarian—everything reduced to marketability, speed, branding, or algorithms. Some of the most meaningful fiction is strange, atmospheric, difficult, or emotionally unsettling. Not every story needs to be optimized for mass appeal.
At the same time, I think writers are too often discouraged from engaging sincerely with new creative tools or interdisciplinary processes. I believe art has always evolved alongside technology. What matters is not purity, but intentionality, craftsmanship, and emotional truth.
Is your process for writing philosophical fiction different from the way you approach other works?:
Not really. Even my lighter or more fantastical stories tend to orbit philosophical questions whether I intend them to or not. I usually begin with an emotional image or atmosphere rather than an argument. The philosophy emerges organically through character, symbolism, and metaphor. I’m less interested in preaching conclusions than in constructing emotional and psychological spaces readers can inhabit and interpret for themselves.
What is the greatest compliment you have received as a writer? The most stinging criticism?:
The greatest compliment is when someone tells me a story made them feel seen in a way they couldn’t previously articulate. That means more to me than praise about technical skill.
The most stinging criticism is probably that my work can be “too strange” or difficult to categorize, or too heavy and thematically layered. But honestly, I’ve made peace with that. I think some stories are meant to feel like wandering through a dream or a labyrinth rather than walking a straight line.
Which authors or books would you recommend to those who want to challenge their own thinking?:
Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, and nearly anything by Terry Pratchett, who I believe was very much a philosopher in author’s clothing. I’m always drawn to works that use fantasy, horror, or myth not as escapism, but as a means of exploring memory, identity, grief, and the hidden architecture of the self.
Labyrinthia’s Recommended Substacks:
John Watson - Horror Author, Shay Morgendorffer 👾, Conor MacCormack, Mila from The In Between [Click here to see Mila’s interview!], and Marble & Ember -click here to read Labyrinthia’s pick for her favorite Marble & Ember story!
Author Bio:
Labyrinthia Mythweaver is the pen name of author Kathryn Chodor, a writer of gothic psychological fiction, modern folklore, and mythic horror. Her work explores liminal spaces between fantasy and psychology, blending surreal imagery with themes of trauma, identity, and transformation. She publishes fiction and experimental multimedia work through her Substack, Tales from the Labyrinth.
