Horror Author Tim Prasil #Interview
Tim Prasil Interview
1. Congratulations on your books Help for the Haunted and Guilt is a Ghost! Can you tell us a little about this series?
The Vera Van Slyke Ghostly Mysteries series spotlights a journalist living in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Think of the muckrakers such as Nellie Bly, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, and Jacob Riis. On the one hand, Vera crusades against phony Spiritualist mediums, but on the other, she fully believes in ghosts. She explains this seeming contradiction by saying, “Ghosts are like cats. They’re real—but they hardly come when called.” One Spiritualist medium Vera defrauded was Lida Prášilová. The fake psychic agreed to share her professional secrets with the journalist, which led to a ghost hunt – which led to a deep friendship. Chronicling the ghostly investigations she shared with Vera over the years, Lida became a Dr. Watson to a very distinctive, quirky, and funny Sherlock Holmes.
2. When did your interest in the paranormal and dark fiction begin?
I think it was Friday nights when WGN, the Chicago TV station, aired its weekly “Creature Features” movies. Something about those old Universal Studios monsters sparked my interest. Oddly enough, my reading leaned toward – not Edgar Allan Poe and his type – but Nathaniel Hawthorne and authors who seasoned very relatable, very human stories with a dash of supernatural spice. I think this shows in the Vera Van Slyke stories, which read less like horror and more like mystery or even historical fiction.
3. Have you ever seen a ghost or been ghost hunting?
I volunteer at our local community theater, and it’s alleged to be haunted. (We’ve had ghost hunters investigate the place on a few occasions. Diagnosis: probably haunted.) Personally, I’ve heard my name whispered by a disembodied voice. I’ve caught a corner-of-the-eye glimpse of . . . someone . . . someone who turned out to not be there. Others have experienced similar phenomena there, too. Is it a ghost? I’m prefer to leave it at “wonder” rather than pin it down with “belief or disbelief.”
4. Let’s talk a little about writing. What would you say is your writing kryptonite?
I’ve heard other authors gripe about editing. I guess they love the early drafts, the initial creation process. I’m sort of the opposite. While I do enjoy that discovery stage—finding out where the story takes itself, often against my original plans—I see it as the most laborious and certainly the slowest. It’s like making clay from thin air, so maybe that’s my kryptonite. Once that clay exists, though, I especially relish molding and shaping and adding the fine details.
5. Who is your favorite author?
Do people really have a favorite author? I can’t say that I do. I lean toward authors who mix a touch of fantasy with otherwise very realistic, very human stories. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Shirley Jackson, and Ray Bradbury come to mind. Character and plot, I think, are equally important and even symbiotic. I shy away from authors who lean hard on just plot.
6. What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
I’m halfway through the next Vera Van Slyke Ghostly Mystery! A major, never-ending project is my indy press, called Brom Bones Books. Along with the earlier Vera Van Slyke series, I’ve put out a collection of poetry (if you want to call it that) titled The Lost Limericks of Edgar Allan Poe along with a couple of non-fiction books about Victorian-era ghost chronicles. I also anthologize “forgotten” fiction, such as ghost stories, occult detective fiction, and right now I’m working on a book of tales about life on the Moon written from the rise of the telescope to the point when it was pretty much agreed that life can’t exist on Earth’s loveliest satellite.
7. Where can people find you online?
My main site, and I also try very hard to be funny on Facebook and Twitter. I’d be happy to read you a story on the YouTube channel for Brom Bones Books.
8. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say?
Visit the For Fun and Edification wing of BromBonesBooks.com to walk down the Ghost Hunter Hall of Fame, stroll through the Chronological Bibliography of Early Occult Detectives, and giggle at Old Phantoms with New Captions.
Tim Prasil
Dark Fiction and Horror Author Beverley Lee #Interview
Beverley Lee Interview
1. Congratulations on your supernatural series The Gabriel Davenport Series! (The Making of Gabriel Davenport, A Shining in the Shadows and The Purity of Crimson). Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind these books?
Thank you so much, Nico. I’ve always written dark fiction, and I have a particular love for vampires and the nocturnal world they inhibit. But when I was writing Gabriel, I had no idea that it would span into a whole series. Back at the beginning, I had the idea for a house that was used as a base for a paranormal investigation team, and had even tried in the past to pen something, but nothing stuck until Gabriel and then it all became a monster that insisted on dragging me along for the ride! I’m a huge fan of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles (the early ones) and my vampires are very much inspired by the ones Anne created. There’s something so appealing about intelligent but deadly creatures who are very much at the head of the food chain. But my series isn’t only about vampires. There are witches and ghosts, monsters and people, a constant heartbeat of loyalty and courage and atmosphere, all mixed together with a healthy dose of mythology and the drip feed of dread ;)
2. Out of the three, which was the most challenging to write and why?
Definitely Purity, as I had to tie up all of the loose threads from the previous books and bring all the point of views together. This was the rebel child of the three, refusing to be hurried, and I really thought at times that it would beat me. I think I wrote over 300k in my search for the right pathways, and countless times I ended up at dead ends with the feeling it just wasn’t working. And then an idea struck for a character, which I knew was right, and that was the catalyst for the last third of the story. It stands at about 92k now and I bled through every word ;)
3. What tips can you give writers looking to develop a series versus a singular book?
I probably did everything wrong if you follow the other advice out there on writing a series. As I mentioned above I had no idea when I was writing Gabriel that there would be more, even though I knew my ending. But it was clear when I finished that there was much more to tell. When I started Shadows, I went into it knowing the character arcs of two of my main characters and the ending. That’s all I had. I just started writing and then another character threw me a lifeline (I’m hugely character led, I listen to what they tell me all of the time). What he gave me shaped the rest of the book, and a great deal of Purity too. So I’ll say do whatever works for you. Would it have been easier to have the whole series planned out before I started? Without a doubt. Would that have given me what I have now? I don’t think so. I have a huge admiration for writers who can do this, but I’m definitely not one of them!
4. How would you brand yourself as a writer? Supernatural? Dark fiction? A bit of fantasy?
I’m not a great fan of putting myself in any particular box. My stories are a genre blend of horror/dark fantasy/supernatural suspense, so I guess dark fiction would be the correct tag. I don’t think there is one book out there that can be identified as just one. A good story is a good story, and I’m simply a story teller.
5. When did your love of dark fiction begin?
I’ve always loved the darker side of anything. As a child, I used to visit an old stately home near where I lived, and I remember walking down a very ornate staircase, completely alone, looking at all of the portraits of long-dead people on the wall and wishing I could see one. I’ve had a few very shivery moments regarding things that can’t be explained, so bringing my interest and encounters into my love of words seemed only natural.
6. If you could co-author a book with any author, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Ooh, tough question! I’d love to write something with Neil Gaiman. He has the incredible knack of blending genres seamlessly and making magical realism seem perfectly feasible. I’d love to co-author something very dark with him, exploring not just things monstrous and wicked, but those same characteristics inside the human psyche.
7. What book(s) are you reading right now?
I’m reading The Bone Weaver’s Orchard by Sarah Read, and then it’s Dear Laura by Gemma Amor and Pretty Marys All in a Row by Gwendolyn Kiste. All the love for the ladies of horror in women in horror month!
8. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
I have a standalone novel due out on April 7th 2020. It’s very dark and combines my love of folk and fable together with horror and a twisted dash of dark fantasy.
Barrington Hall is a place of secrets—something Dan Morgan has worked hard to forget. But when a heart-breaking loss brings him back to the place where he spent his childhood summers, Barrington Hall will do what it must to make him remember.
Faye Morgan blames her husband for the death of their teenage son. She doesn’t want to leave the place Toby called home. But after she catches a glimpse of a strange boy in the midnight woods and learns of his connection with Barrington Hall, her need to learn more pulls her further and further into a nightmare world filled with past atrocities and the burning flame of revenge.
A tale of grief and horror, A Ruin of Delicate Things explores how loss can leave a hole inside of us. A hole large enough for anything to crawl into.
9. Where can people find you online?
All my books and where to find them are listed on my websitewhere you can download a free short story, a dark and twisted fairy tale, a kind of taste before you buy ;)
My favourite place to hang out is on Instagram, but you can also find me on:
10. Thank you so much! This is your chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts?
This is such an exciting time to be involved in the horror community. There’s been a wonderful influx of new writers into the fold over the last few years. From all walks of life. Diverse, intelligent writers with their own stories to tell, driven by how they view their world and fuelled by their backgrounds and experiences. I think in the future we’ll see a break away from some of what is considered traditional horror, with more emphasis on cosmic horror, body horror and cross overs into noir. And, of course, the horror of a post-apocalyptic world, with the political climate and the environment. It’s a very sobering thought that this last one might be more fact than fiction.
BUY THE GABRIEL DAVENPORT SERIES (3 BOOKS) HERE