We can be Friends

Hi all and welcome to the second instalment of my blog! Today I have chosen to answer some author questions from chdarling’s post on Tumblr. Let’s get to know each other!

1.  What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

I don’t have a ritual, as such. When inspiration hits, I open my WIP and start typing. If I’m not near my laptop, I try to write down ideas; on a scrap of paper, on my phone, in the little book I carry around with me. It comes to me in waves, some days I don’t want to stop and other days I just stare at the screen with a scowl on my face. Anyway, what system I do have is cursed because I have a day job and to be honest, it interferes with my passion.

A lot.

2.  What is your darkest fear about writing?

Ooph. I suppose I have two. Since my stories are based around real lore, sometimes I worry that these things are real; that we live amongst demons and monsters which only people of a certain ‘vibration’ can see, or sense. 

In more general terms, each book I finish brings about a certain level of fear and it isn’t even about whether people will like it; I fear that I haven’t done the story justice. I fear that even after countless rounds of reading and editing, that I’m missing the mark somehow. Many writers have a problem with knowing when to stop; when to know that you’ve done the best you can, that perfection is unattainable for anyone. It’s hard to let it go, to prepare it for publication only to think of an even better idea for that plot point that was so hard to nail down.

3.  What is your deepest joy about writing?

My deepest joy is simple…it’s the act of writing itself. Similar to immersing yourself in a good book, when the words flow from your brain to your hand and onto the screen or paper, it’s thrilling. Though my stories embrace the fantastical, the supernatural, I try to write the story as it may unfold in the real world. There would be mass panic, government secrecy, horrific injuries, pain and death. As much as I adore the series Supernatural, Sam and Dean don’t die nearly as much as they should.

4.  Do you believe in ghosts?

Absolutely. Never seen one, but I believe I’ve heard a few. 

5. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

Yes, I love this advice for horror authors. If you are trying to scare the reader, to shock them or to create some kind of emotional response, then yes, of course you must kill your darlings. In real life, if demons were crawling out of the ground, people would die. It’s inevitable. And sometimes, they would be people you really like. I wouldn’t say I am ruthless, in fact I strive to be more so. 

As for what happens to them, well that depends which side they were on, of course. No, I don’t grieve, not really; maybe I feel some guilt because you become close with your characters, they come to life in your imagination and on the page. But if you’re gonna play with fire…

6.  What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you to write about? What is easy?

Animal abuse. Some people think that says a lot about me, that I can torture my human characters but not an animal! I argue that I am not alone. In one of my WIPs, I took a page from Stephen King’s book On Writing (not literally, that would be wrong), because I wanted the reader to know that this person was bad to the bone. But it took a lot to write it and I still wrestle with the idea. 

In fact, I think I will stay true to myself and take it out.

I find everything else kind of easy to write. Writing the first draft, for me, is the easiest part. Re-writing, proofreading, editing, formatting, marketing…they are hard.

7. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

Hehe, good grief nooooo to notes in the margins and no to dog-earing. Yes, I read in the bath – I have one of those bath buddy things that holds your book, your face mask and your glass of wine… or two (it depends on how long the water stays warm).

Yes, we can be friends. I don’t judge people by the way they treat their literature (much).

8. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

I write and work in a bedroom in my house. The bed is now in a smaller, quieter, room but doesn’t have much space, so my office is shared with a wardrobe, an armchair and chests of drawers. There is also a toilet and shower room, so effectively my office is also the dressing area. 

I have a large desk divided by drawers. One half is for my writing and day job and the other is for crafting. I’m generally a really tidy person, but my crafts get away from me, so there are dried flowers, paints, rocks, pens, resin moulds and random bits of wood and other unfinished pieces. The window is behind me and to the side and looks down the whole street. The cat loves to sit there and watch the birds (and sometimes she likes to invite other cats to join us, usually at 3am.) I have some pictures of my family, a print from Chile on the wall and soon I will have a hand-painted map of the world there, too (one of my as-yet unfinished projects). I also keep my glasses here (for reading only), my watch (because I never remember to charge it) and several thousand lip balms (because every writer has an addiction to something).

9.  What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

I don’t write by the ‘rules’ per se. Of course, I hold good grammar and correct spelling in high esteem, but I only own one book on ‘how to write’ and that’s just because Stephen King wrote it. I write because I love it, because it flows when it’s good and I don’t want to have to refer to a bunch of rules telling me that it’s wrong, that I should do this or that instead. Writing and reading are, to me, a way to feel something. Creativity evolves, it grows and shifts and breaks the rules. I doubt many readers are questioning every paragraph or every comma. If it feels right, leave it alone.

10.   Please share a poem with me, I need it.

I’ll share a little of my favourite poem, something I recite to myself when I can’t grab hold of enough positivity. It is entitled Life, by the Goddess herself, Charlotte Brontë:

Life, believe, is not a dream

So dark as sages say,

Oft a little morning rain

Foretells a pleasant day.

Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,

But these are transient all;

If the shower will make the roses bloom,

oh why lament its fall?

Thanks for joining me! Do you have a different question? A comment, maybe? I would love to hear from you!

For now, I will leave you with a recent selfie. Don’t worry, I only look like this after dark…