Looking
at your Amazon author page…there are some intriguing credentials. Can you share
some of your screenplay credits with us?
My screenplay writing credits are only
for the short movies produced by the production company, Dirt Road Productions,LLC, owned by myself and my husband Kevin.
I have worked as a script consultant and script supervisor on several
films produced by other Indie filmmakers around the state of Arkansas.
I have written four feature length
scripts that someday I hope to either sell or produce.
What
about your Indie filmmaking?
So far, we’ve produced two short movies
with one more scheduled for the fall of this year. All are adapted from short stories I’ve
written over the years. The two shorts,
The Fan and The Truth of Becoming, are submitted to numerous film festivals and
we are hoping for a positive reaction.
Eventually we will combine the shorts on
DVD and release them for public consumption under the Tales of High Gap
label. High Gap is the fictional world
that many of my stories are set.
My first attempt at creating a short
movie was a contest I participated in called The Human Emotion Challenge. The goal was to create a two minute short
video using no dialogue, one actor and a single location to convey a very real
emotional punch. This was shown along
with several others two years ago at a regional film festival. An early cut can be seen here: http://vimeo.com/15514112
How
do the creative processes differ there from your other writing?
While both screenplays and movies are a
form of storytelling, it takes much more effort to get the story across in a
movie. When writing a short story,
novella or novel, the author is in complete control of their words and the
emotional impact they want to deliver.
In a movie, there is more collaboration – not only do you have to have
everything set up correctly, you also have to rely on your actors to convey the
emotions you want delivered to your audience.
This can often be very difficult, requiring take after take to get it
right.
The
writing community can be its own worst enemy at times. What are some of the
issues you see cropping up in the Indie world? Solutions?
The largest issue I see is that so very
many think that if they string a few pages of sentences together that they are
an author. They may be a writer, but
until you’ve had your work vetted by other professionals, you are not an
author. Then, these same writers will
whine and moan when they do not become ‘overnight’ successes and begin
attacking what few readers they have – either because they don’t leave reviews
or because they leave a low review.
Readers are not the author’s critique group – problems in the story,
i.e., formatting, grammar, plot points, should have been worked out before the
writer hits ‘publish.’
Solutions? I don’t really see any. As long as ‘anyone’ can publish his or her
golden words, this problem will remain.
The social
media is…
Social
media is a soul-sucking, time wasting modern devil. Yet it is necessary if you are an Indie
anything. Although I have accounts with
all the major players (Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest), I mostly use
Facebook. More people and a larger
reach, or at least that’s the story I’ve managed to convince myself. I’ve tried to keep it simple by using my
real name, rather than a pen, in case someone inclined to find me, can do so
easily.
Share
some information about your work with us:
Most of my stories are set in the
aforementioned fictional world of High Gap, Arkansas – so you have a lot of
rednecks and hillbillies, but also those who have come to the area to escape
the city. My novella, Vengeance Is Mine,
set the tone for the horrors that seem to permeate the region. Some is supernatural, some psychological and
others are plain dark comedy.
The two novels I am working on now Beneath the Tor and The XIII would probably
be classed as thrillers. There’s nothing
really horrific about them except that the subject matter will possibly horrify
some people.
What
is one question you are sick of being asked—not in interviews, but by
individuals who know you write and are published?
Not really a question, more the assumption that
since I have a few books out I must be rich.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
I suppose if there is a question, it would be ‘how do you do it?’ To which, I always answer ‘one word after
another’.
How
do you deal with negative reviews?
I read them, see if there is anything valid in them
and then dismiss them from my mind. What
I write is not going to appeal to everyone and everyone is entitled to their
opinion and their right to post that opinion.
It is something every author has to learn to accept, without comment.
You
recently re-joined the HWA (Horror Writers Association). I had to let my own
membership lapse due to financial issues, but I never really felt connected to
the group. How do you maximize the benefits of membership?
To be honest, one of the main reasons I re-joined
the HWA was to increase my credibility as a writer. Although I’m only an affiliate member, it
does mean that I had to meet certain criteria as a published writer to be
accepted. However, that being said, it
is nice to belong to a group of writers who don’t think I’m warped and
twisted. Instead, because it is a small
organization, most there will attempt to help each other out by sharing markets
and advise.
Sticking
with that topic, there are some who (unfairly in my opinion) deride the HWA as
being a bit of a “Good Old Boys (and Girls) organization. Is this more a case
of sour grapes, or does it have merit?
I don’t know if I would call it sour grapes exactly,
but more of what seems to me a sense of entitlement. To join the HWA as an affiliate or active
member, you have to be published by someone other than yourself. Many new Indie writers don’t understand that
and take issue with the policy. They believe
that because they write horror, the HWA
should welcome them with open arms.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen, not in the HWA or any other professional
writer organizations that I know of.
How
much reading do you get in, and can a writer excel at his or her craft if they
do not read?
I try to read at least an hour or so every day. I
don’t always stay within my genre. I
have eclectic reading tastes, covering not only horror, but also historical
fantasy, thrillers, mysteries and non-fiction.
I think it is essential for a writer to read. I have to question those writers who say they
don’t read. I mean really, if you don’t
read, how do you know how to tell a story?
Define
“Indie Writer” and defend or attack their position in the book market.
Like the rise of the Indie moviemaker, I see the
Indie writer in much the same way. There
is going to be dreck, but there are also going to be gems. The Indie commits themselves to doing most or
all of the work themselves or finding people who will help them out with
details, such as covers, line editing, proofing, etc. These things do not have to cost three arms
and five legs as some companies (and individuals) are attempting to charge. Bottom line is Indie Writer’s should learn to
do the basics themselves, learn how to promote themselves without appearing
spammy, and write the best stories they possibly can.
What
new projects are you currently working on?
Several short stories, plus major rewrites of my two
novels Beneath the Tor (think Mists of Avalon meets the Da Vinci Code) and The
XIII (think Da Vinci Code meets The Illumanati). Hopefully, I’ll have both of these released
in time for the Christmas book buying season.
What
is one thing about you that would surprise the readers who do not know you
personally?
That I love photography also. I rarely post the pictures I take online, so
no-one has really seen them. I figure I’m
just learning how to do this, so no point in sharing pictures that aren’t the
best they can be.
If
you could team up with any Indie author, (no fair if I let you choose from one
of the big names), who would you choose, and what would be the subject matter
of the book?
I don’t think I can give you an answer to this as it’s
tough enough to collaborate with my husband, whom I love on projects. When I write, I’m a bit of a control freak so
I really cannot imagine that I would work well with someone else.
Is
there anyone you’d like to give a mention?
First and foremost would be my better half, Kevin,
for 15 years of support and relentless belief in me. Although I’ve made money writing for others
in the past, if it were not for him, I would have never had the belief in
myself to submit my fiction to others or to begin on this self-publishing
journey I am not pursuing.
I suppose I should also thank my kids – they were
the inspiration of many of my stories.
What
defines success as a writer in your eyes?
Success to me isn’t fame or money. It is when that one reader reaches out
through email, letter or even a Facebook post and tells me that my words have
touched them. It only takes one and I’ve
had quite a few, so in my eyes, I am successful.
What
is in your “to be read” pile right now?
My thanks to Kat for stopping in. Check out her Amazon author page for a look at her available work. Pick out one or two and get some quality reading material.
Today's Olympic challenge is a nod to last night's thrilling and exceptional performance by the men's gymnastic team. The challenge is simple...do a handstand. Not just a headstand, but get yourself off the ground to the point where JUST your hands are on the floor.
The Witch Is Back by H.P. Mallory
