unlikely interview to poppet

… it was my first contact with this writer and what contact – it burns!

Since then I’ve read other works and it has always been an enjoyable read; although I recognize that some of her stories are for a more feminine public. Is the woman inside me who is talking.

1. Do you have a specific writing style?

Yes. My style is very much an internal private monologue whilst the characters interact with the cameo and other characters. Because of this my novels are almost always written in first person.

2. What books have most influenced your life?

Horror writing has probably had the biggest impact on me. It’s odd that, because I found a medical case study on how we form memories (doing research into what I consider a form of lunacy), and the memories we don’t forget are the traumatic ones, we hardly ever remember the good times because we’re hard wired to remember the worst times. As such the fact that I can recall almost every horror novel I’ve ever read, tells me it’s the best way to influence a world. People will remember you if you’re horrific. From an early age I loved horror novels (and movies. Books like The Amityville Horror (based on a true story), then older I found Dean Koontz and Stephen King. I loved Koontz’s Phantoms, and Night Chills. However I also enjoyed action novels and the dystopian kind (like 1984 by George Orwell), I fell in love with novels like Cujo (Stephen King), The Freedom Trap (Desmond Bagley), The Omen (David Seltzer), Ninja (Eric Van Lustbader).

You can tell how old I am by the books I’ve listed here as being influential on me. At that time Jilly Cooper, Jackie Collins, Danielle Steel, and Shirley Conran, were all the rage for women to be reading (and things like Valley of the Dolls) – yet I read those books and they left zero impact. I always found books written by men, for men, far more action packed, intelligent, and engaging. I’m not dissing those other authors, they write excellent stories, but the love/scandal genre was something I only dabbled in once I hit my thirties. I found I could only write love stories in a paranormal setting, with a hint of horror in each and every one.

3. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

I haven’t had personal dealings with any author who ended up being a mentor, but I can say that Charles De Lint’s combining Urban Fantasy with Legend and folklore really gave me the courage to write in this genre myself. Never before had I come across an author doing what he was doing, and subsequently he became my favourite author.

4. What are your current projects?

Too many to list. Having a day job means I rarely have the time to write all the stories already begun and waiting on my computer.

5. How much research do you do?

Probably too much. I take research to the nth degree.

6. Do you write full-time or part-time?

I used to write full time and loved it, it made me so very happy, but now I only write part time as I have other responsibilities now.

7. Where do your ideas come from?

Everywhere. Anything can spark an idea, even a song. But mostly my inspiration comes from dreams. IE last night I dream I was distracting a serial killer away from my best friend and a work colleague of hers, so she could get away, and it was like being in a murder mystery because I overheard him on the phone, he’d set the whole thing up, he never wanted her after all. This was his experiment.

8. How can readers discover more about you and you work?

I have audiobooks available now, with a horror due out in March (audiobook), you can find my work in paperback and ebook format, or you can peruse my websites or my publishers websites (Wild Wolf Publishing, Thorstruck Press, Eibonvale Press). You can also follow me on Facebook for snippets from upcoming novels and new releases

https://authorpoppet.wordpress.com
http://authorpoppet.weebly.com

http://www.thorstruckpress.com
http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk
http://wildwolfpublishing.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Poppet/197111090356326