☆ Interview ☆

Congratulations on your new release. Please tell us a little bit about it. What’s your favorite aspect or part of the story? Do you have a favorite character? Who/Why?

Thanks! Closer is a book I wrote some time ago and stored it away after it was rejected by a publisher.  Being new to the whole publishing world I took them not wanting it for it being bad.  That’s not always the case. So, this year I dusted it off and sent it away to another publisher and bada-bing, baby, they took it.

I always love a good ghost story, and this book allowed me to approach the whole haunting form a different angle – a source of the haunting that I really can’t give away. What I really love about the story is the characters, I have an ensemble cast of all walks of life participating in this ghostly tale. It allowed me to stretch my legs, so to speak, and took a gay couple and put them in hell with everyone else lol.

Are you a planner or a pantser? How much do you know about your story before you start writing? How often does your plan change? Why does this work best for you?

I am a pantser. I usually have a general idea about what I want to write going in. However, sort of like speed limit signs in Texas, it’s really just a suggestion. The dynamics of the story can and often does, change. I am also a comma whore if you haven’t figured that out yet.   Why does it work best for me? It’s what I’ve always done. I like to find out right along with everyone else just what the hell is going on.

Do deadlines motivate you or block you? How do you deal with them?

I tried a deadline once and completely bombed it. I don’t write like a lot of people do, I guess. I let my emotions lead my work so…I write when I feel the need.

How do you develop a story idea? Do you always use the same method? Specifically, which do you develop first in your story building, the characters or the plot?

Story ideas can come out of anywhere. In all of this crazy ass Trumpism, there really isn’t much of an urge to write a horror novel since we’re all living one lately. So, perhaps I need to find a new method. Like, moving to Montana or one of those meme locations writers pass around about “would you move here with no wifi, internet, and phone for six months for 1,000,000 dollars?” Yes, why, yes, I would.

What are your favorite genres when it comes to your own pleasure reading? Do you prefer to read ebooks or print?

I like all sorts of books. Stephen King, R.L. Stein, Dean Koontz, and Christopher Pike raised me so scary is sort of my forte. However, I love a good biography, or natural disaster novel like What Stands in a Storm about the Tuscaloosa Tornado or The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger about the No name storm of the early 90’s.

What advice would you give to newbie writers?

Stay true to yourself, listen to yourself, trust your instincts, and be present.

What is the best money you ever spent as an author?

I paid for my and my husbands’ trip to Iowa to get married before Marriage Equality was realized across the country. 15 hours both ways.

What is your favorite underappreciated novel?

Right now? Vance Bastian’s Slumbersyth. He writes with this Rowlings-esque ability that people have just slept on. It’s a brilliant book written by a brilliant man. It’s damn good.