The Story Behind the Story with Sheryl Doiron-Powers and Joe Powers of Maugerville, NB, Canada.

 

For all you fantastic visitors andreaders – you are in for a treat today. Something different as we feature ahusband/wife writing team. Each with their own thrilling stories. 

Joe has been aguest previously and if you missed it, please go HERE. 

This is Sheryl’s firstvisit so read on my friends.

 

Sheryl Doiron-Powers is a diverse Canadian writer who dabbles in manygenres including horror, romance, young adult, science fiction, creativenon-fiction, and everything in between. She currently lives in the smallcommunity of Maugerville, New Brunswick, with her horror writing husband, JoePowers, and their assortment of pets.

 

Joe Powers is a Canadian horror writer, anative of Fredericton, NB, and long-time fan of all things scary. From hisintroduction to the genre on a stormy Saturday night at the age of six - hisfirst viewing of Bride of Frankenstein - he's been hooked. Hundreds, or maybe thousands, of horror movies later, thatone still ranks among his favorites.

Among his many inspirations helists Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, Michael Crichton, Vincent Price, PeterBenchley and Richard Matheson. He enjoys introducing the reader to flawed,believable characters and leading them on dark journeys with an unexpected twist.He isn’t afraid to mix and match genres, fearlesslyweaving horror into noir, western, or sci fi.

His work has appeared innumerous anthologies and collections, both at home and abroad, as well as twonovels – the horror/western fusion Terror in High Water and paranormal thrillerSeventeen Skulls – and his latest release, Old Bones, which is a collection ofsome of his own short stories.

In his spare time he's an avidhockey fan and dog lover, and still finds time to teach several classes atUNB's College of Extended Learning.

Joe currently lives in Maugerville with his wife and fellow author,Sheryl, and an ever-growing assortment of creatures.

 

 

 

Titles: 

Sheryl: The Maugerville Monster

 

Joe: Putting Down Roots

 

 

Sheryl:

Toriand Travis Anderson’s move to the small community of Maugerville promised theyoung couple an idyllic setting to grow Tori’s furniture business and starttheir family. Short commutes for Travis combined with lower real estate costsand picturesque views of the Saint John river were the cherry on top thatsealed the deal, and they moved out of their cramped Fredericton apartment intothe large duplex outside the Maugerville flood line.

Maugervillehas been known to get a little wet from time to time, but the community had away of planning, of sticking together, and of making it through the rough timeswith a smile. Or it always used to before the flood of 2018. That flood broughtsomething different. Something far more dangerous than the rush of the SaintJohn River, and nothing the Anderson’s or anyone else could have planned for.

Joe:

MattBailey and his family have just relocated to the Maritimes from the west coast.It’s a beautiful house on a huge corner lot, at a price they couldn’t say noto. But there’s more to the idyllic property than meets the eye. A dark anddeadly secret lurks at the far corner of the lot.

Anancient, twisted and gnarled tree stands ominously at the back of the house.Its sole purpose is to kill and consume anything that gets too close. It ispatient, methodical, and emotionless.

Thebody count is rising, but Matt is as powerless to stop it as he is to convincehis wife and kids of the dire peril lurking just outside their back door.

Thedeeper Matt digs into the situation, the more he realizes how much danger heand his family are in. He knows what his family is up against, but can heprotect them? Can he stop the ancient evil before it destroys everything heloves?

 

 

The Story Behind the Story:

 

Sheryl: Ireally enjoy writing stories about locations in Canada, but especially lovewriting about New Brunswick. I tend to look for old mythological creatures andtry to bring them into the modern world so they’re not forgotten. Sometimes mycreature will be of Canadian origin, but I’ve also been known to go looking forone from somewhere else that suits a particular story setting.

I’moriginally from Dalhousie, NB, but moved my way down the province and finallysettled down with Joe in Maugerville. Serious snow accumulation and frigidweather were commonplace in my hometown, but I’d never experienced a Springflood when all that snow melted. The Bay of Chaleur doesn’t really cause anymajor flooding like what happens here, so this was an entirely new experiencefor me. While talking about the flood of 2018 with Joe one day, I got the ideafor The Maugerville Monster and brainstormed the idea with him, then set out tofind the perfect creature for my story.

 

Joe: I, too, like placing my stories in Canadian locations, whether real orfictional. Some are based on real legends and stories, some I fabricate oralter to suit my own needs. But Putting Down Roots is entirely fictional, andwhile most of the places are real I’ve taken some liberties with the details.One day a few years ago I got the idea from a nonsensical conversation that, atone point, touched on the old Peanuts comics. Specifically, the kite-eatingtree that tormented the kids. Some part of my brain whispered, “what if thetree ate the kids instead of their kites?” I kind of chuckled at that, but theseeds were planted. I wrote a short story about it, but it didn’t really do theidea justice. It has just grown from there.

 

Website: Sheryl - Go HERE.  Joe - Go HERE.

                     

 

A couple questions before you go folks:

 

Scribbler: Can you tell us about the perfect setting you have, or desire, for yourwriting? Music or quiet? Coffee or tequila? Neat or notes everywhere?

Sheryl: I tend to write more in the morningand early afternoons. My brain seems to go on standby mode the closer it getsto the end of the day, so writing anything later than about 4pm is just notgoing to happen. I usually write in my living room on the couch surrounded byanimals, a cup of coffee, and creativity boosting music playing in thebackground. I could always write surrounded by chaos with toddlers and peopletalking around me while something blared in the next room, but I struggled towrite at all for quite some time due to worsening rheumatoid arthritis. Nowthat I’ve been forced to retire early to focus on my well being, I’m gettingmore mobile both physically and mentally. Rheumatoid and fibromyalgia can causeissues with brain fog and concentration, and they’ve definitely affected mineat times over the years.

Now that the flare is subsiding, my brain isstretching its withered synapses, and I’ve managed to write a short story andstart The Maugerville Monster. While it’s still early days, generally once thewriting bug bites me, I take off like a dervish and knock out a manuscript in ashort time frame. The stories are piling up in my head now, so I’ll hopefullybe back to my regular speed in no time. I could have opted to finish a horrormanuscript I had halfway finished, but decided it would be easier to startsomething new than to re-familiarize myself with an older piece when I haven’tbeen writing regularly.

As I’ve been struggling to write after an extendedperiod of increased disability, I’ve now come to associate the living room withonly leisure, so will be forcing myself to sit in my office, which I no longeruse for work. The ergonomic setup probably isn’t a bad idea either, I suppose.A planned routine and dedicated space should help me get into the habit ofwriting frequently again. I tend to work best when I have a looming deadline,so I’m going to get Joe to give me word count deadlines to help me get backinto the swing of things. We tend to do well when we’re pushing each otheralong towards the finish line.

I’m 100% pantser. The only notes I make are the onesto help me keep track of character and setting details for continuity afterI’ve already written them into the story. I don’t think I’ve ever had more thana page of notes. I never have an outline, web, or handwritten notes scrawled onnapkins. Well, that’s not true. I have a manuscript on the back burner that isquite complex and required a detailed plot outline for continuity anddevelopment of the plot, which has several story arcs. I’m so much of a pantser,that fantastic manuscript has been sitting in a folder for several yearsbecause I struggle to work from an outline. I write stories in order, as thedetails occur to me, and let the characters and plot carry me where they needto go. Joe thinks I’m crazy.

 

 

Joe: Historically, I’ve written anywhereand everywhere. When the mood strikes and inspiration hits, I just know I needto get it down on paper before it’s gone. I have a ton of old handwritten notesand story ideas scrawled on everything from notepads to the back of the programof a convention I was attending when my muse popped in for a visit. I tend towrite my notes because I can write faster than I can type – a lot of it isbarely legible, but it gives me something to work with and transcribe from!

As I always tell my students, story ideas areeverywhere. Some are much stronger than others, granted, but there are alwaysnew ones coming along. Once I settle on one that I like, I work it through inmy mind until I’m pretty sure there aren’t any glaring holes that would derailthe story. If it seems workable, I’ll write out a loose outline, hit thehighlights... I call it the ‘skeleton’ of the story. Once I have that in place,I’ll start adding ‘the meat’ and flesh the story out. During this part of the processI’ll spend some time on my characters and really get to know them. This is adouble-edged sword; on the one hand, it makes my characters more realistic andrelatable, but on the other hand, as a result they often derail the story I hadso meticulously plotted out. I realize I could save myself a lot of work bychanging the order in which I work, but I’ve never been accused of doing thingsthe easy way!

As far as my actual process goes, I do my best workwhen there’s nothing to distract me from my train of thought. I don’t alwayslike to have music or other noise, but I will say that certain music sparkscertain... types of creativity. Alice in Chains Unplugged, Heilung’s LIFA, RobZombie, Alice Cooper, Skynyrd, Voiceplay... each sets the mood in its own waywithout being intrusive. With a longer work like a novel, I tend to jump aroundwithin the story a bit and write some of the “highlights” of the story. ThenI’ll go back through and fill in the gaps, smooth over the rough edges. Itsounds chaotic, and I guess it can be. On the other hand I’ve tried justwriting from start to finish, and it did work out well – that’s how I wroteTerror in High Water, my first novel.

 

 

Scribbler: How do you decide on the titles foryour novels? Do you have one when you start a new story or later?

Sheryl: I struggle with titles most of the time. I usually endup with a fantastic one right out of nowhere before I start writing, or I takelonger to choose one than I did to write the manuscript. When I’m struggling tofind one, I reread the story and look for some nugget that’ll work. If thatfails, I send my manuscript to Joe and ask advice, then turn to my beta readersif we still haven’t come up with anything. I then overthink it for a bit andtry to think of something better. I usually don’t and end up going with theoriginal.

Joe: I hate to admit it, but I really have a toughtime with novel names. Short stories? No problem, most of the time the titlebecomes really obvious by the time I’m finished with it. But novels? I’ll use aworking title during the writing period, knowing full well it’s not what willappear on the finished product. Then, I’ll spend an inordinate amount of timesearching for just the right fit. We joke that I spend more time writing thetitle than the book! Often, Sheryl and I will throw ideas back and forth in thehope something inspires me. Eventually the right title will reveal itself tome, and I’ll wonder why it wasn’t obvious the whole time.

 

 

 

An Excerpt from Putting Down Roots.   

 

Joe: This is a short snippet from what isstill very much a work in progress, so it’s pretty rough. In this scene, themain character wants answers about the spooky (and, he suspects, deadly) treein his back yard, so he seeks out the former owner of the house and pays her avisit. The woman matter-of-factly tells him the story of how she used the treeto kill her husband’s mistress, which confirms the MC’s worst fears and revealswhat exactly he’s dealing with.

 

"So as I said, I pointed the gun at her. Shewasn't smiling then. She wasn't upset, exactly, but maybe a little less sure ofherself. I told her to walk out the back door onto the patio. She did, and Ifollowed behind her. We got outside and she stopped and turned around to lookat me. She asked me what now, and I said keep walking. Walking where, sheasked. Over there, over by the tree, I told her. I may have waved the gun ather to get her moving. She gave me a funny look, but I think she saw I wasserious, so she walked."

 

"She kept talking, the entire time. Askingstupid questions, telling me my marriage was over, that my daughter would goand live with them, how pathetic I was. But I didn't say anything, and she keptwalking."

 

"Just before she got to the tree, she turnedaround and looked at me again. Right in the eye. She had this look on her facethat made me want to shoot her right then. But I didn't do that, I waited andwatched. She was in the middle of insulting me when her voice caught in herthroat and she made a funny sound, almost like a cartoon character. She lookeddown at the ground, I looked down too, to see what got her attention. One ofthe tree's roots had broken up through the ground and had wrapped itself aroundher leg. Then a branch came down and... grabbed her, I guess you'd say... bythe neck. She almost screamed, I think. But then that branch had her and shecouldn't make any sound other than a whimpering moan. I'm not sure she reallygrasped what was happening to her. I can understand why. It's not the sort ofthing you can really prepare for."

“What did it do to her?” Matt asked. “Did it pullher apart, or eat her, what?”

"To be honest, I can’t say for certain. Ididn't stay to watch what happened. I'm not a violent person, Mr. Bailey. Idon't care for scary books or movies, I'm generally a nice person. I knewsomething very bad was about to happen, and I didn't want to have nightmaresover it. So I lowered the gun and went back inside."

 

"I went back outside later that afternoon.Ashley was due home an hour or so later, so I wanted to see if there wasanything I needed to clean up before she came home. But there was nothing. Nosign of the woman, or that anyone had been in the yard at all that day. For amoment I was afraid she'd gotten away somehow. She'd escaped and was on her wayto the police to have me arrested. I couldn't shake the feeling that it hadgone wrong and that I would be in a lot of trouble."

"But nothing happened. Nobody came, she nevershowed up with the police in tow, not even a threatening phone call or email.She was gone, I was sure of it then."

"What happened then?"

"I had the strangest sensation ofrelief. I knew I’d just gotten away with murder. And because it was justified,I felt no remorse whatsoever. And that's when I decided to kill my husbandnext."

 

 What a teaser!

 

This has beenfun and we thank you both for being our guests this week. We wish you continuedsuccess with your writing journeys.

 

And aHUMOUNGUS thank you to all our visitors and readers.