I love that horror allows a reader to sink into emotions they would otherwise probably never explore in real life. We all experience fear and disgust at certain points in life, but never to the vivid degree as in horror fiction. It’s a way of pushing readers to think, to feel, in ways they otherwise might not try to think and feel. I especially love trying to make a reader identify with a bad guy, using multi-dimensional villains with reasoning and emotion of their own to back up their misbehavior. Everybody in life will do what they do for a reason, and I like exploring those reasons in fiction to give a clearer picture in the readers’ minds, whether it’s pretty to look at or not.
2) Tell us more about the fantasy aspect of your work. Since you write horror and dark fantasy, how do you like to go about combining them in your writing?
My passion lies in fantasy writing, and I do some paranormal, too. But dark fantasy isn’t dark without the element of fear, so I incorporate scenes of horror into dark fantasy. My characters do ghastly things without batting an eye, as something integrated into their daily lives rather than something stunning that drives the plot forward. The conscience-less behavior of the main characters in certain scenes instills that background emotion of fear in the reader, while the plot is not driven by disgust or shock value. I try to write fantasy stories and relationships in a world laced with horrific themes/fundamentals, and I think it’s a nice blend that pushes fantasy beyond fantasy, and horror into something more relatable.
3) What books and movies influence your writing the most? Any horror favorites?
I am a huge fan of Underworld, The Devil’s Advocate, and Avatar for movies. Author wise, I grew up on Orson Scott Card, R.L. Stine and Stephen King, and as an adult I’ve grown into Jacqueline Carey’s elaborate worlds and the stunning, complex plots of Karen Chance. In literary fiction, though it’s not horror, I’m particularly fond of Robb Grindstaff’s book Hannah’s Voice, which every author should read to get a grasp on creating character voice through narration rather than dialogue.
4) What was the first novel you queried? How did you go about snagging your fabulous agent?
The first novel I queried was the first book in my Vesper series, Boundless Obsidian. I did a round of rejected queries and then attended some conferences, made connections, dove into revisions and queried again. I had already had sample pages requested of my work by Penguin Canada, so I mentioned that in my query letter and Michelle L. Johnson (along with a few others) requested my full manuscript. Michelle connected strongly with the story and offered me a contract. I could hardly believe it. “An agent? ME?” I think the biggest joy of it was knowing that someone else believed in my work as much as I do. I was thrilled beyond thrilled, and she has represented my fiction with flawless communication through the whole process and given me guiding pointers for social networking and connecting with readers.
My dark fantasy Vesper series and Wild Hyacinthe, a paranormal romance I co-authored with Emily Faith, are represented by Michelle Johnson of Inklings Literary Agency.
5) What about your critique partners? What can you tell other queriers about why they need critique partners and what it takes to be a good one?
It’s important to have a respect for another author’s voice in critiquing. You might want to word things more flowy, less stacatto, but it’s not your book so leave their voice alone. Pointing out passive sentences, inconsistencies with character motivations, etc, are important criticisms to make. I always abide by the Toastmasters’ rule of a “shit sandwich” – be sure to use positive notes to sandwich the negative notes between. Your job is not to “take the red pen” to another author’s masterpiece… it is to give an honest perspective and help direct your partner forward, by offering your insight and encouragement. Don’t make comparisons you can’t back up, and if you learn something from critiquing, be sure to mention it: “In reading this, I realized that we share a similar habit of over-tagging dialogue. In both your scene and one of my own, the reading would flow much easier if it wasn’t littered with he said/she saids.”
By showing your partner how you’re learning through the process, you’re thanking them and cementing lessons into your own brain. I guarantee that if you admit a writing mistake you often make to someone else, you’ll be seriously unlikely to repeat that mistake.
My critique partner Rebecca Yarros is quite a similar writer to me in both style and skill. It’s important to have a partner who can both compliment and challenge you on an even level.
6) After your book was ready for submittal to publishers, what was your path to publication?
I’m still on the path! It’s full of scary shadows where you think that either something or nothing will come of all your hard work. But I keep glancing behind me and realizing that no matter what wall I come up against, I’m still further ahead than I was before and I have wonderful people walking with me and cheering me on.
My books are currently on submission to some seriously awesome publishing houses thanks to my agent’s representation. The phrase “Big Six” takes on a whole new level of awe when you realize that editors at those houses will be playing with your imaginary friends as they read.
7) What was the most exciting part of working on your first novel? The hardest?
The most exciting part was realizing these characters all came from somewhere inside me, influenced by my experiences and emotions, and structured into a story that’s never been told before. The hardest part was probably convincing myself that it was as good as I hoped it would be, and having the opinion of critique partners, beta readers and my agent has been a huge aid in that. Confidence is often the biggest barrier to success that an author must overcome.
8) Last but not least, I ask every interviewee to share a scary story. What is the scariest thing you’ve ever experienced? How does it inspire you to write dark tales?
When I was about twelve years old, I was home alone watching TV and somebody started banging on the door. Soon, there were several men walking around my house, banging on the doors and windows, shouting that they wanted their money. Our neighborhood was a quiet one, most of the time, and really nice. These men had the wrong house, and I knew that, but they didn’t.
What was so frightening about that experience was getting myself mentally ready for a conflict. I’m a peaceful person, but I cowered against the wall with a knife in my hand that I grabbed from the kitchen, and said to myself, yep, if they break in and attack me, I’m gonna start stabbing people. Stabbing people! It was unbelievable to grasp that I could do something like that, if I had to.
Somebody shouted from far away outside, and the men left. But the experience inspired my fiction because I like pushing characters to make decisions they don’t want to make, pick the lesser of evils, and make the active choice to do something they never wanted to do. I make my poor, unfortunate imaginary friends decide to do unspeakable things, because to choose otherwise would somehow be worse.
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