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Post by ian on Jun 16, 2009 18:58:36 GMT
Hi Jim, Hi Rakie...
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Post by Jim on Jun 17, 2009 5:18:31 GMT
hi, Rakie
start with the clichés, what got you into writing horror?
WWE, have you always been a fan of big over grown male dancers :-)
Do you think publishing Terror Island in serial form, was beneficial in helping with developing your writing?
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Post by Jim on Jun 17, 2009 14:47:56 GMT
Where do you as an author draw the line on gory descriptions and/or erotic content?
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Post by Jim on Jun 17, 2009 14:56:23 GMT
How do you feel being a "female" horror writer? Does it worry you that you may be classed as one of those horror romance types?
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Post by Jim on Jun 17, 2009 14:58:36 GMT
How do you feel about the current state of the British horror scene?
Are things like ebooks, print on demand audiobook mp3 downloads the way to go?
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Post by Jim on Jun 17, 2009 15:25:54 GMT
is there any part of he writing process you find difficult.
How do you go about writing, do you have a plot rundown, character synopsis all developed first or do you go with the flow
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Post by rakie on Jun 17, 2009 15:30:51 GMT
eeeek, all the questions! *hides* ;D okay, what was the first one? It was my dad who got me into horror in general, due to his belief that all kids should watch as many horror movies as possible at a young age. Also he had the best collection of Pan Horror books ever (which i've recently liberated, hoorah), and i basically grew up reading and re-reading those. and you cannot go wrong with overgrown men dancing around in tighty whiteys, it's one of the highlights of my day. ;D I like WWE because it's a soap opera without all the boring talking bits and more of the hitting on each other. Pft, i'm allowed to be shallow, i'm a girl. publishing TI in serial form worked great for me, because it let me get immediate feedback on each chapter i posted. Also you can't underestimate the encouragement you get from regular readers - i'd never have got anything finished if it wasn't for the people on my writing groups and their habit of throwing shoes at me when i was being slow. I still try and post most of my writing in serial form at some point or another. Feedback is addictive.
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Post by rakie on Jun 17, 2009 15:38:45 GMT
sorry, i'm doing one question at a time because my laptop keeps timing out. Where do you as an author draw the line on gory descriptions and/or erotic content? with gore, i'm not sure... i've never written anything where i think "oh god, you've gone too far this time". I guess i'm not very adventurous with it, i've got no urge to do torture-porn just to see how it would turn out. I'd like to say i only write gore when it's really necessary, but geez, how pretentious does that sound? ;D That's what i'd aim for tho - gore when necessary, to the extent it's necessary. and erotic content... amusingly, i'm a complete prude. I could never write a sex scene, unless i did it while extremely drunk with my eyes closed. There's a scene in "The Moths" which involves some heavy petting, and that's about as racy as i'd ever manage. Someone needs to invent a pron-inserter for Word - press ctrl-F7 and it inserts a sex scene. ;D
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Post by rakie on Jun 17, 2009 15:46:29 GMT
How do you feel being a "female" horror writer? Does it worry you that you may be classed as one of those horror romance types? i feel all soft and squishy. Oh right, sorry. hmm... y'know, i've never thought about it. I'm not sure anyone's got round to classing me as anything yet. ;D But I'm not really too bothered about what people think of me... "horror romance writer" is probably better than other things i've been called. ;D
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Post by Jim on Jun 17, 2009 15:48:02 GMT
i always skip the erotic parts of novels
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Post by rakie on Jun 18, 2009 8:58:10 GMT
i read them between my fingers. ;D How do you feel about the current state of the British horror scene? Are things like ebooks, print on demand audiobook mp3 downloads the way to go? on the whole, i think the british horror scene is looking good. There's a bunch of cool new writers emerging, a resurgence of old talent, and more zombie movies than ever. On the downside, i don't know what the credit crunch is going to do - already a lot of small presses have fallen by the wayside, which is a great shame. personally i love the idea of ebooks. I know they're never going to replace proper dead-tree versions, but it's good to see new technology emerging.
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Post by ian on Jun 19, 2009 9:48:53 GMT
Rakie, you missed one...
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Post by rakie on Jun 19, 2009 10:48:00 GMT
oh crud, i did as well! sorry, that's my short attention span again. ;D is there any part of he writing process you find difficult. How do you go about writing, do you have a plot rundown, character synopsis all developed first or do you go with the flow my preferred method for writing is to think about a vague idea for a while, have a couple of beers, then scribble the whole thing down before i forget it. I'd love to be able to plan properly and work out characters in advance and all that, but i don't think i have the patience. Usually i just start a story and see where it ends up (which can be a lot of fun but isn't necessarily a great habit). the hardest part of writing for me is rewriting. Once something's finished i scan through it for spelling errors but i can't seem to do anything more on the editing thing. My fondest wish is for everything i write to be perfect first time... but since this is a slightly unrealistic expectation, i'm trying to teach myself patience. ;D
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Post by ian on Jun 20, 2009 15:32:05 GMT
Have you ever thought of trying to get your work published in the States?
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Post by Jim on Jun 20, 2009 15:38:50 GMT
How, much research do you do. Are you of the Jonathon Mayburry school with reams upon reams of research. Or the Brian Keene school where he reckons if a reader can believe the dead have risen, they don't require an explanation about how his legs can move.
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