author of:

The Idoron

Dead of Winter

Ghost Music: The Haunting of Sky Hollow

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title: Ghost Music: The Haunting of Sky Hollow

The story was written for the Open Novella Contest II, but has since been expanded into a novel. The contest prompt had something to do with a haunting/portal, but I'd been toying with the idea of writing about a piece of haunted sculpture for a long time, and setting that story in my home state of Vermont. Both are things I hadn't come across anywhere else in my reading, and I wanted to do something original, something "more" than the standard haunted house story.

2 ?

Beyond reaching the word count in the time allotted for the original contest, the things that posed challenges were keeping the creepiness going throughout—coming up with new ideas on how to scare readers—and then how to end the book. Originally, the ending was very different.

So far, the story's been very well received and has garnered numerous awards. What's really gratifying are reader comments that Nadia and Aidan "sound" like real siblings. Although I wish more people would read and comment, overall, it's been amazing!

Creating a unique location, developing the backstory, and judicious handling of a trigger topic were most definitely enjoyable aspects of writing this story.

5

It began as a stand-alone, then I tried to write a sequel. The first one I've ever tried (and maybe the last). Right now, 'Dead Reckoning,' the second installment, is on indefinite hiatus, due to major issues with consistency of atmosphere and plot.

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title: The Idoron

Inspiration came from equal parts writer's block, an interest in Japanese culture (Aokigahara in particular), and a need to break out of my "Horror" comfort zone. Before this, I never dreamed of writing full-length Sci-Fi.

The novel is written in first-person POV, so the biggest challenge was how to keep readers invested in that for 85-90K words without every sentence beginning with "I, I, I..." Since it's also a journey/adventure with a time constraint, spicing that up with twists conflict relevant to the overall plot posed its share of obstacles, too.

Reader response has been slow but steady. It's kind of funny that while the story is set in futuristic Japan, to date, it hasn't had any Japanese readers.

Creating Renata's pint-sized, smart-mouthed character and her dystopian world were the most enjoyable parts of writing this novel. It forced me to learn a great deal about world building really fast, and I hope I achieved that. Plunging her from one situation into another was a blast.

Even though there are a few "plot doors" left ajar, The Idoron is a stand-alone... for now.

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title: Dead of Winter

Contest prompts always help crystallize my ideas. In this case two from the ONC III, provided inspiration and helped develop the necessary framework for this novella.

I'd wanted to writer a horror story with a Wendigo in it. Devising a way to incorporate that in a way that was both believable and related to the prompts was probably the most challenging aspect of writing this novella.

Since the read count hasn't broken 900 yet, response has been disappointing.

Pitting characters who didn't believe in the paranormal against a mythological creature that's nigh-on impossible to kill was definitely the most enjoyable part about writing this story. Deciding whom to kill off, how and when was a close second.

5

While plans are underway for expanding it once the Wattys are over, Dead of Winter is a stand-alone story.

dead of winter

Ghost music the haunting of sky hollow

The idoron