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| Tabitha Short, Author THE CORPSES OF OLD HILL ROAD |
Horror and young adult fantasy fiction
author Tabitha Short joins us to heighten our Halloween experience. Tabitha has written several chilling
short stories. Her newest contribution to make you scream is THE CORPSES OF OLD
HILL ROAD. You might want to check
out her Book Trailer to put you in the mood.
Tabitha has also written a young adult
fantasy novel scheduled for release next year. When she’s not writing, she works as a Supported Employment
Specialist for a mental health agency and is involved with the National
Alliance on Mental Illness. In her spare time she likes to hang out with her
husband watching movies.
Q: What do you consider “horror”?
Tabitha Short: For me a horror story is a combination
of appropriate gore and psychological conundrums. I enjoy unsuspected endings.
Q: How do you make your stories such as
THE CORPSES OF OLD HILL ROAD “scary”?
Tabitha Short: I include dramatic descriptions to
increase visualization. I also invest a lot in character creation and
development. I like to make readers identify with the characters so they can
feel what they are going through and really get connected with the story. If
the reader hasn’t felt something while reading my story then I have failed.
Q: What inspires you to write horror
stories?
Tabitha Short: If someone had told me a year ago that
today I’d be writing horror stories I’d have laughed. My husband tends to have
horrific dreams and shares them with me so the majority of my horror stories
have been developed from those.
Q: I notice that your first novel will be published early
2013. It is young adult fantasy
fiction. Have you crossed out of the horror genre? Or will we see some scary
scenes in it, as well?
Tabitha Short:
The fantasy fiction does not include any horror aspects in it, although
it does include a murderous scene. I intend to continue writing horror fiction
stories, but for the novels I plan to keep them in the fantasy fiction and
thriller/mystery genres.
Q: How do you make us
care about your characters?
Tabitha Short: My formula for making a reader care
about a character is to create characters that the readers can identify with. I
give them characteristics that the majority of the population will have. On the
reverse side of things, for this story in particular I created a character a
reader will love to hate. He is egotistical and arrogant. I can’t stand him and
I hope my readers can’t either.
Q: How important is back story? Do you do
any research for credibility?
Tabitha Short:
Unless you’re writing a novel a back story is not important at all. For
short stories less is always more. One previous short I wrote titled The Please DO Feed the Animals ZOO left
out the back story because adding it would have created two problems. First, it
would have taken away from the story being told because readers would have to
detach themselves from the story to learn another story first. Second it would
have made the short story into a long story. However, for novels, it’s best to
tell the back story because you have the space and time for it.
Q: Why are you a writer? When did you first know that you wanted
to be a writer?
Tabitha Short: I write because I am a storyteller. I’ve
always known I wanted to be a writer. I got a lot of awards for writing growing
up and it was pretty much the only thing I was good at. I went to college on
journalism scholarships and spent a lot time editing and writing articles.
About Tabitha Short
Tabitha Short is
the writer of many horror short stories including The Roller Coaster of Death (found in the compilation titled Misery Loves Company) and The Please DO Feed The Animals ZOO. Her
YA novel, Arena Games: Petrova's Legacy,
is contracted and due for publication January 19, 2013. You can purchase her
books at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and smashwords.com as well as at her
author website at http://www.authortabithashort.blogspot.com. Tabitha also
operates the literary blog The First Five Pages.
THE CORPSES OF OLD FARM
HILL ROAD: THE ARROGANT MAN
He wakes up
every morning knowing the world owes him something. Every woman was created for
his demand, except for Vanessa Roundtree and her mother. Once lured onto their
farm in the middle of nowhere he becomes their prey. As they torment his body,
they break down his arrogance. Will he be able to escape? Or will he become
just another of the corpses of Old Farm Hill Road?
Excerpt
His face lit up
as his hand gripped the handle of the car door. His entire body felt relief and
his chest rattled with cries of happiness. He pulled the handle and the
familiar sound of the car door opening that met his ears brought an
unsurpassable amount of joy. He climbed into the driver’s seat, arranging his
broken leg with his unbroken arm. It was excruciating, but he had to get
through it to get away. He was almost there. Sweat beaded up on his forehead
and he prayed he wouldn’t pass out again. He just needed a few more hours of
consciousness to get out alive.
As his breaths
slowed he felt his way to the ignition switch to start the engine. His heart
sank when he discovered the keys were not in the ignition. No worries, I can
hot wire it, he said to himself. The wiring was easy to find, hidden behind an
access cover. Fumbling with the wires because of his swollen fingers, he
quickly found the two he needed. Bending forward was agonizing, but he managed
it and used his teeth to strip the wires. He twisted the copper strands
together and found the purple wire. It gave him a little bit of trouble, but he
was able to skin the plastic covering from it as well.
He heard a loud
clunk on the hood of the car and his head jerked to attention. Standing in
front of the vehicle was Vanessa. She was jingling the keys in her hand.
"YouÖareÖoneÖstupid
girl," he said aloud, most of it coming out as nothing more than mumbles. He
hit the wires together and the engine stuttered and then came to life. He
laughed heartily, his chest rising and falling painfully. He glanced out the
front windshield, ready to enjoy the look on the stupid girl’s face, but she
was not there. His fingers quickly moved to lock the doors just as he heard her
grip the handle. She was at his driver’s side window.
Her face grew
angry when she could not open the door. She removed her shirt, wrapped it
around her fist and began hitting the driver’s side window, trying to bust it.
Mathew put the car in reverse, looked over his shoulder and began to back down
the driveway. He was free! As the car rolled down the curved driveway, Vanessa
ran after it. He laughed out loud and considered running her over, but thought
against it as he neared the end of the driveway.
Links
Twitter:
@tabithashort2
Where-to-Buy Links
Good luck with the novel, and Corpses seems to fit the horror description. Intriguing...
ReplyDeleteGreat Interview ladies; Tabitha I have added this book to my Listmania and I look forward to your novel coming out next year.
ReplyDeleteYes this was a great interview, Kudos to both you Joyce Strand and it was really nice getting to know about you Tabitha Short, wow I can not wait to read your book and I love what you share about what inspires your stories!
ReplyDeleteSyl Stein