Bookstagram Author Interview
What difficulties did you face in getting the Whispers From The Dead Of Night published and how did you overcome them?
Perhaps the greatest difficulty I had to face was overcoming the doubts and anxieties that crept in along the way, the thoughts that I may never finish writing these stories, and persevering through all those doubts to get to the end.
Each of the stories was very clear in my mind, as was the cover art I was searching for and the style I wanted. I worked on the book for eighteen months and didn't stop until it was published.
I wrote it during evenings and weekends around my day job, battling through the exhaustion just to make sure I kept going. I'd recently gone through a relationship breakup, also experiencing some health issues and suffering a family bereavement during writing. For me, this book was about overcoming all of those things and coming through the other side. It was both cathartic and healing.
What is the special thing in Whispers From The Dead Of Night Because of which people need to Read it?
This collection is very special to me for many reasons. It features seven individual stories - my first short story collection after previously publishing a novel and two novellas. While all primarily horror stories, they are each a blend of multiple genres, including crime thriller, gothic romance and mystery. I like to blend multiple genres and themes into my work.
I loved writing every one of the seven stories and, as a whole, I'm incredibly proud of this collection. Each story is primarily character driven, exploring their relationships and how that impacts the situations in which they find themselves. The stories deal with themes of loss, obsession, love, heartbreak and betrayal, which I think many of us can relate to.
I dedicated the book to my grandfather, who passed away last year. For that reason alone, it will always remain a very special collection to me.
Do You Read Your Book Reviews ? How Do You Deal With Good Or Bad Ones?
I always read my book reviews. I love hearing what readers thought of my work, if they've enjoyed the stories and found they resonated with them.
During a recent blog tour for 'Whispers from the Dead of Night', the book was very well-received and I was completely blown away by the feedback, with multiple 4* and 5* reviews. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who takes the time to read and review my work.
When it comes to anything that may not be so positive, I remind myself that art and entertainment are subjective. Not everyone is going to like everything. Though I am yet to receive an overtly negative review, so I have no doubt it would be disheartening.
What I've found most interesting with reviews for 'Whispers from the Dead of Night' is that different readers have different favourite stories. In fact, I've seen the same stories described as readers' favourite and least favourite. It just goes to show that people's opinions are different and you can't allow it to steer your writing.
What was your best and the worst experience when you decided to publish/write your first book?
The best part of the experience was undoubtedly being able to publish my book. I had still been at school when I completed the first draft - it had then been finished for almost four years and I'd packed it away, imagining the writing dream would have to wait to be revisited later in life. I'd attempted to approach a few agents when I finished school, but continuing this quest hadn't been financially sustainable, especially as I was out of work initially and struggling to even get job interviews as the recession had hit.
Traditional publishing was still widely considered to be the route to follow, and there seemed to still be a lot of negative thinking surrounding indie and self-publishing at the time, something that has thankfully changed since then.
I found it very difficult learning to overcome my perfectionism when it came to editing the book. I lost count of the number of times I proofread it, to the point where I was changing one word for another and then back again in the next read-through. Self-editing is not an easy skill to master, and at twenty-one years old (twenty-two at publication) editing a debut novel, in which you have an emotional connection to every single word, it could at times be very overwhelming.
Hardest of all was shaking off my lack of confidence in myself and the anxiety about sharing my book with the world. I'm not sure those feelings ever fully go away, even with each successive book you write and publish.
How did you develop such a distinctive voice as a writer?
I've been writing for as long as I can remember. My best estimate is that I was around five years old, but it may even have been sooner than that. If you count making up stories in your head, then it was happening before I can remember. I haven't stopped since.
I think that a person's creativity is something that comes from deep in their souls - it's both thought and feeling combined, and every creator has their own individuality. The more you create and the more you observe and absorb of the world around you, the more that craft becomes refined.
I love reading, music, film and television; I have a keen interest in the topics and themes I write about, so even research is fun and fascinating. Which I think is the key thing - if a writer loves what they do, it bleeds into their work, and their readers will feel that enjoyment too.
I'm currently hard at work on book 5 and am very excited about it. I can't wait to share it with my readers.
Interviewed by Daksh Setia - see the post on Instagram
Visit me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Instagram
Perhaps the greatest difficulty I had to face was overcoming the doubts and anxieties that crept in along the way, the thoughts that I may never finish writing these stories, and persevering through all those doubts to get to the end.
Each of the stories was very clear in my mind, as was the cover art I was searching for and the style I wanted. I worked on the book for eighteen months and didn't stop until it was published.
I wrote it during evenings and weekends around my day job, battling through the exhaustion just to make sure I kept going. I'd recently gone through a relationship breakup, also experiencing some health issues and suffering a family bereavement during writing. For me, this book was about overcoming all of those things and coming through the other side. It was both cathartic and healing.
What is the special thing in Whispers From The Dead Of Night Because of which people need to Read it?
This collection is very special to me for many reasons. It features seven individual stories - my first short story collection after previously publishing a novel and two novellas. While all primarily horror stories, they are each a blend of multiple genres, including crime thriller, gothic romance and mystery. I like to blend multiple genres and themes into my work.
I loved writing every one of the seven stories and, as a whole, I'm incredibly proud of this collection. Each story is primarily character driven, exploring their relationships and how that impacts the situations in which they find themselves. The stories deal with themes of loss, obsession, love, heartbreak and betrayal, which I think many of us can relate to.
I dedicated the book to my grandfather, who passed away last year. For that reason alone, it will always remain a very special collection to me.
Do You Read Your Book Reviews ? How Do You Deal With Good Or Bad Ones?
I always read my book reviews. I love hearing what readers thought of my work, if they've enjoyed the stories and found they resonated with them.
During a recent blog tour for 'Whispers from the Dead of Night', the book was very well-received and I was completely blown away by the feedback, with multiple 4* and 5* reviews. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who takes the time to read and review my work.
When it comes to anything that may not be so positive, I remind myself that art and entertainment are subjective. Not everyone is going to like everything. Though I am yet to receive an overtly negative review, so I have no doubt it would be disheartening.
What I've found most interesting with reviews for 'Whispers from the Dead of Night' is that different readers have different favourite stories. In fact, I've seen the same stories described as readers' favourite and least favourite. It just goes to show that people's opinions are different and you can't allow it to steer your writing.
What was your best and the worst experience when you decided to publish/write your first book?
The best part of the experience was undoubtedly being able to publish my book. I had still been at school when I completed the first draft - it had then been finished for almost four years and I'd packed it away, imagining the writing dream would have to wait to be revisited later in life. I'd attempted to approach a few agents when I finished school, but continuing this quest hadn't been financially sustainable, especially as I was out of work initially and struggling to even get job interviews as the recession had hit.
Traditional publishing was still widely considered to be the route to follow, and there seemed to still be a lot of negative thinking surrounding indie and self-publishing at the time, something that has thankfully changed since then.
I found it very difficult learning to overcome my perfectionism when it came to editing the book. I lost count of the number of times I proofread it, to the point where I was changing one word for another and then back again in the next read-through. Self-editing is not an easy skill to master, and at twenty-one years old (twenty-two at publication) editing a debut novel, in which you have an emotional connection to every single word, it could at times be very overwhelming.
Hardest of all was shaking off my lack of confidence in myself and the anxiety about sharing my book with the world. I'm not sure those feelings ever fully go away, even with each successive book you write and publish.
How did you develop such a distinctive voice as a writer?
I've been writing for as long as I can remember. My best estimate is that I was around five years old, but it may even have been sooner than that. If you count making up stories in your head, then it was happening before I can remember. I haven't stopped since.
I think that a person's creativity is something that comes from deep in their souls - it's both thought and feeling combined, and every creator has their own individuality. The more you create and the more you observe and absorb of the world around you, the more that craft becomes refined.
I love reading, music, film and television; I have a keen interest in the topics and themes I write about, so even research is fun and fascinating. Which I think is the key thing - if a writer loves what they do, it bleeds into their work, and their readers will feel that enjoyment too.
I'm currently hard at work on book 5 and am very excited about it. I can't wait to share it with my readers.
Interviewed by Daksh Setia - see the post on Instagram
Visit me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Instagram
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