Guest Blog

Guest Post: Veronica Smith #horror #reading #WiHM8

Author Interview

How would you describe yourself if you were “speed dating” your readers?  I’m kind of quiet, I don’t post much myself on Facebook or Twitter but I share other posts. I’m a bit of a loner.

What’s something fans would find fascinating about you? I sleep inWonder Woman pajama pants. That’s kind of my thing that everyone laughs about. My sleep pants are always the most hideous ugly thing. When these wear out I’ll try to find something even uglier.

What is your favorite thing about being a writer?  Being able to do anything. It doesn’t have to be realistic unless it’s my crime novel, then I want it to follow police procedures as much as possible. But my horror books and stories aren’t real. I can put anything I want it them, monsters, strange powers. The possibilities are endless and that makes it so much fun. I also like to kill off people in my writing. Hey, it’s a two way street! I enjoy when it happens to me. I’ve been killed off in three books that I know of.

What genre(s) do you write and why?  Horror and horror. Haha, I like all kinds of horror and have written several types. I also enjoy detective crime thrillers too.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Plotter for sure. I’m so OCD on planning and organizing. I use One Note and I make a million tabs (well not really that many – but I really could!) I want everything to sync. Timelines, names, deaths, I want it all consistent. I didn’t do that to start with on my last book and I had to go back in after I finished to check all of it. Good thing I did too! I found a dead guy walking and talking two chapters after he died! It may have been a zombie book but he wasn’t a zombie! Haha. I even made a spreadsheet that matches the aisles at my grocery store that I use for my grocery list.

What do you feel your books offer readers? My husband says I have a sick mind and I like to read stuff like that too, so I hope I can offend (did I say offend – I meant create – haha) an illusion of abnormal life. Most of my stories do not have good endings and I kind of like that. Life isn’t always good so why should imaginary life?

Do you have a favorite beverage that you drink when you write? Hot tea. I buy loose leaf tea from a vendor at our local farmer’s market.

Please tell us 5 miscellaneous facts about yourself. 1. I’m an OCD list person (mentioned in the plotter/punster question. 2. I watch less TV now than I used to; DVR is my best friend. 3. Although I’m a lousy housekeeper I still want things in their places. 4. I love fried foods. 5. I like Nickleback and I’m not ashamed to admit it! Haha!

What was the most difficult part of writing your most recent book?  I’ve just started it. I’m writing a Young Adult book that is derived from a short story I wrote for an anthology. I’m “iffy” on Young Adult. There’s that fine line between what’s okay to write and what isn’t. How gory can it be? A short story is easy because, well it’s short. A whole book is another matter. I’m sure I’m either going to overdo or underdo it.

Please share with us your future projects and upcoming releases. I mentioned the Young Adult book I’ve started but I’m also working on several short stories for anthologies.

LINKS

BRIEF AUTHOR BIO:

Veronica Smith lives in Katy, Texas, a suburb west of Houston. Her first full length novel, Salvation, was just published in December 2016. She self-published a short story, Last One in the Chamber for You, My Love to Amazon. Her first novella, Chalk Outline, was originally self-published but is the process of being re-released. She also has several short stories published in anthologies and e-Zines. In addition to writing, she’s a co-editor for two anthologies. Follow her to get the latest on her works.

LATEST RELEASE: Salvation

There is more to fear than zombies in the wasteland.

18 years after the “Blistering Flu” decimated humanity and gave rise to the world of fear and sorrow that is now owned by the dead, the remnants of humanity continue to fight for their right to live.

Regrettably nothing has changed in the mentality of man. Very quickly people had separated into factions that declared war on each other. These petty wars did us no good. They detached us from what was rising in the wastelands . . .

Will humanity be able to survive what is coming or will we continue to be assistants to our own destruction?

BOOK EXCERPT:

As soon as Tamar was sure that every zombie and mutant in front of the fence was down for good, she started to go after Chuck and Antonio. She could see the backs of Rick and Zach ahead of her and was about to put on a burst of speed to catch them when she heard the alarm bells—four of them.

Again?

She skidded to a halt and turned around to come back. The dust cloud that formed in front of her and blocked her way back to the gate cleared to expose the largest mutant wolf she’d ever seen. She’d come across some of the smaller ones, and mutant dogs were huge but this one’s muzzle was even height with her head. It opened its mouth and its long and barbed, snakelike appendage lolled out like a tongue. Green pus dripped to the ground.

Shit.

That put its reach beyond her reach with any of the blades she had on her. She thought about all she knew from watching these monsters. They were very fast and never seemed to run out of energy. However, their sheer bulk made it hard for them at turning corners. She watched wild horses get away from them because they couldn’t turn quickly.

Without warning, she ran to the left of it towards the compound screaming, “Everyone inside the fence! I need spears! In the ground now! Spread them out!”

Everyone scrambled inside and spears were brought to the fence. All of the kids were experts with spears and threw them into the ground, scattering their locations. She ran to the nearest one, pulling it out of the ground as she passed it. She spun in the air and threw it at the mutant, hitting it below the shoulder. It bellowed and stumbled but kept on going. With a quick glance around, she counted six more spears waiting for her. She was hoping that would be enough. She kept running around, turning quickly and causing the wolf to skid, his ass still going straight while his front tried to turn. She took advantage of these times to pull out another spear and throw it. The mutant was slowing down from all the impaled spears and tripping over the broken spears as they bobbled under its feet. She got to the last spear, grabbing it as she swung around and threw it, this time waiting until it was closer to her. It went into its left eye and dropped to the ground, howling in pain but still wasn’t out. She continued her turn and leapt on its back as it opened its mouth. Anticipating this, she pulled out a long dagger and impaled the now slow moving appendage to the ground. She then pulled out two more blades and drove them deep into both ears. She was thrown off as it whipped its head around for a moment before dropping to the ground, finally dead. The spears were all broken but shafts could always be replaced.

That’s a lot of blades to clean.

Steph is an award winning and bestselling author of thrilling steamy and paranormal romances, dark urban fantasy, occult horror-thrillers, cozy mysteries, contemporary romance, sword and sorcery fantasy, and books about the esoteric and Daemonolatry. A Daemonolatress and forever a resident of Smelt Isle, she is happily married and cat-mom to three pampered house cats. Her muse is a demanding sadistic Dom who often keeps her up into the wee hours of the morning. You can contact her at swordarkeereon@gmail.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What is 7 + 8 ?
Please leave these two fields as-is:
IMPORTANT! To be able to proceed, you need to solve the following simple math (so we know that you are a human) :-)