Fiona Dodwell's Blog, page 9

Interview with author, Su Halfwerk…

 Su Halfwerk, author of horror and paranormal romance, is here to chat about her writing, her goals and her new release, Intricate Entangelement….

 Su, can you tell us more about your new release, Intricate Entanglement?

Intricate Entanglement takes place in a mental hospital for the criminally insane. These are stories of the patients, each told by them. Seven or eight stories in total—depending how you look at it—that touch on such topics like growing old, sexual preferences, and obsessions. The central character, Doug Pinkham, is an opportunistic reporter who got more than what he bargained for. Literally. I hope you enjoy it.

Here's a link to its trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7j9YWnLhMA

You can read more about the book here: http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615723393

What, if anything, did you find particularly challenging about writing this novel?

I immerse myself in any book I write. Needless to say, this book drained me, but in a delicious way. In Benita's story, I felt tired all the time. Butch's story gave me some incredible cravings. For one story, I pulled all the curtains shut and switched off the lights, to feel what my character felt. I have the bruises to prove it

Living in and as my characters is the most challenging factor. The funny thing though, I never did or went through all that for any of my other books. I did lose myself in them, but not this much.

 You write with flavours of both paranormal and romance. What attracts you to those genres?

I guess it's the darkness in both. Many creatures (vampires, werewolves, demons, ..etc) made the crossover from being mainly dark to becoming heroes. A benevolent spirit haunting and hurting others in a horror story can become loving and protective in the paranormal romance genre. Picture one of these creatures as a kid. As his mother, I would take him everywhere with me; be it the park on a sunny day (not a vampire baby, though) or to the cemetery so he could meet his friends.

Do I sound weird yet?

When did you first realise you wanted to write?

Not sure. I read a lot as a kid, wrote a couple of short stories for magazines, but I don't think I was aware of the direction this was taking me. Eight years ago, my active passion was painting with oil paint. When the baby came I had to stop touching turpentine and such chemicals (very fussy mama, that's what I am,) so I switched gears and did something that didn't endanger my baby. And so the obsession to write emerged with a bang.

Who are your biggest influences in the world of literature?

In horror, Stephen King. Despite some of his later books that didn't really do it for me, the man is a master storyteller. He makes it sound so easy.

In paranormal romance, Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter. Their heroes are dark creatures with hearts. I like that combination.

Your novel, His To Possess, is a finalist in Epic's 2011 Book Awards. How do you feel about this success?

I'm proud, honoured, and happy. You know when you have a good feeling about something? I got one of those as I got the idea for His to Possess. It's incredible how the words, thoughts, and emotions just flowed out of mind and into the computer.

What are you working on at the moment?

I'm designing a couple of book trailers for authors as well as one for one book I just finished. It's about a Spirit Hunter with a twist to it. It has the paranormal and romantic aspect in it. It'll be a series, I think.

Also, I'm writing down my thoughts about certain brothers who are cursed with…not saying yet, but they can't be together in the same country. Each one will have his own story, so his own book.

You also design trailer videos for books. How did you become involved with this and how long does the process take?

A very good question. I design a book trailer for a book as soon as I finish it. The link to a trailer is even part of my query letter, to entice editors *wink*

When another author asked me to design a book trailer for her, it became a profession as well as a passion. Not blowing my own horn, but my trailers are affordable and I've been getting positive feedback from my customers.

Visit my YouTube channel to see the trailers: http://www.youtube.com/user/SuHalfwerk?feature=mhum

If interested, please email me on su (dot) Halfwerk (at) gmail (dot) com

Or email me for the heck of it, I love to hear back from readers and authors.

 Do you have any tips for new writers?

Read. Write. Read. Write.

Never assume that you're too good to read more, there's always something new to learn. Even bad writing teaches us what to avoid.

And writing is like riding a bicycle, you never forget it, but the first time to try to go back to it, there's that awkward, and awful, moment of self doubt.

One last thing; develop thick skin. Take the good advice, ignore the nasty ones. When someone is giving you constructive feedback, it might hurt, but you'll know in your heart they mean well. You can recognize them when the person criticizing your work hints at the problem without getting personal. Some even suggest a solution.

Where can people find out more about you and your work?

I haunt these places online:

www.su-halfwerk.com

www.suhalfwerk.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/Su.Halfwerk

http://twitter.com/SuHalfwerk

Follow me, or friend me. Say hi!

 Author Bio:

Su Halfwerk writes in the horror and paranormal romance genres. From a tender age, the written word left a strong impression on her, later on terrifying, blood-chilling books became the object of her interest. Su's style in horror combines shuddery terror with elements of surprise; some would even call it an enigmatic twist. In the world of paranormal romance, she transforms the desire to scare into a quest to seduce and tantalize.

When not writing, Su is designing book trailers for herself and other authors.

Intricate Entanglement is Su's latest release from Damnation Books and is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Damnation Books…

The Banishing E-book is available

 The Banishing is born!  E-book available now – paperback available next week.

I am really happy to announce that The Banishing is now available as e-book format from Amazon and all good online bookstores. If you're more of a traditionalist, the paperback version will be following soon!

For those of you who feel lucky – there is still time to enter the free contest to win either  an e-book or paperback copy of The Banishing over at: http://www.talkparanormal.com/thread-10675.html

Good luck!