FIVE MINUTES WITH RACHELLE BRONSON

A former retail troubleshooter, Rachelle Bronson is the Chief Reviewer at The Novel Blog.com. After marrying in 2011, she relocated to her hometown of Kirkland Lake, ON., Canada, where she’s also the Director of Business Operations for a multi-disciplinary, musculoskeletal clinic she owns with her husband. 

She is currently working on her first novel Legends: The Bleeding Door.

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Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

When I was 8 I read the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and I knew then that I wanted to be a writer. I started writing stories and drawing out pictures to go with them. Though my artistic hand didn’t mature, my writing continued. I read Stephen King’s It when I was 10 and it frightened me but the adrenaline rush got me hooked and I’ve pursued it since.

Do you prefer the term Horror, Weird Fiction or Dark Fiction?

I prefer the term horror. It’s what I grew up on. The terms weird and dark, just don’t seem to give enough punch to the craziness that goes on in my head.

Who are some of your favourite authors?

I love Stephen King, (It was the book I read under the covers with the flashlight), HP Lovecraft, Robin Cook, Agatha Christie, and John Saul. They’re the classic guys that never disappointed. But I’m discovering new writers all the time, Jonathan Maberry, Jon Merz, David Sakmyster, and JT Ellison. I could keep going there are so many.

What are you reading now?

I actually have 2 books going, Jeffrey Deaver’s Roadside Crosses and Insurgent by Veronica Roth.

Which book do you wish you had written?

There are three books I wish I’d written, The English Patient, Wuthering Heights and The Secret Garden. All amazing books that I never tire of reading.

If you could use any other author’s creation in your own work, who or what would you use?

I think we’ve all used someone’s creation in our own work at some point or another. The zombies from William Seabrook’s The Magic Island (1929), for example, have reoccured in print through the years and now are an international obsession. But other than that, I try to be as original as possible with my work. My goal is to create something fresh and exciting, something that no one has read before.

Describe typical day spent writing. Do you have any unusual writing habits?

I never have one day the same when I’m writing. I run a health clinic, so I try to write whenever I have a spare moment. It’s usually at night before bed when my creativity spikes and I jot down ideas, and then develop them on the weekends. I tend to pace around my dining room table with my iPod cranked and try to make those ideas into a story.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

All of them. I’m a genius. *sarcastic wink I work hard and give the best that I have to all my work. Therefore every story that I put out is always a proud moment.

What is the hardest lesson you have learned with regards to your writing?

I’ve learned that I cannot under any circumstances edit my own work. I’ve tried and failed. I need a fresh pair of eyes to let me know what makes sense and what needs to be cut.

What do you like to do to relax?

I find hanging out in my hammock in the backyard with a fire, a cold drink and a good book the best way to unwind. Getting a good foot rub from my husband, a chiropractor, doesn’t hurt either.

Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

Frozen is a horror short about a group of scientists that head out into the Himalayas, where they might have discovered a new race. But a psychic siege takes hold of each of them and it’s every man for himself.

My next novel is the first of a series. Legends: The Bleeding Door is about an award-winning journalist who loses everything after her sister is murdered and relocates from LA to Kentucky. There she encounters some strange phenomena that throws her into the middle of a hundred year old family feud, where murder and mayhem seems to be the dish of the day.