KATERI STANLEY WONDERS IF YOU FORGIVE ME (AUTHOR INTERVIEW) BIO Kateri Stanley graduated from The Open University with a degree in Arts and Humanities and worked for the National Health Service for eight years. When she’s not writing stories, you can find her binge-watching films and TV shows, making tons of playlists and dabbling in video games. She currently resides in the West Midlands, United Kingdom with her partner, they are hoping to be cat parents in the new year. WEBSITE LINKS My website: http://www.kateristanley.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/sal_writes Instagram: https://instagram.com/sal_writes Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21272876.Kateri_Stanley Forgive Me on Amazon: http://mybook.to/forgiveme Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself? My name is Kateri Stanley. I’m from the West Midlands, based in the UK. I’ve always been intrigued by the fictional world since I was a kid, falling in love with books, audiobooks and movies. I started writing when I was a kid, penning fanfiction from shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then I started writing my own short stories and in 2015, I began writing my first novel. This will become my soon to be published debut novel. It’s a sci-fi horror called Forgive Me. Investigative journalist, Susan ‘Stripe’ McLachlan, is constantly hounded by eager documentarians for interview requests about the Night Scrawler murders. One of the victims of the mysterious serial killer was a member of her own family, her father. At the peak of her career, her services are sought by Isaac Payne who commissions her to write an article for his website. Usually, her projects delve into more uncomfortable, questionable topics, but there’s a deep, almost hauntingly familiar pull about her new client that intrigues her. As she learns more about Isaac, Stripe digs up fresh secrets about the murders, arousing her suspicions. After an awkward confrontation, she wakes up in Isaac’s bed — with a chain around her ankle. Isaac shows her harrowing footage on an old VHS tape. The contents hits close to home…closer than Stripe ever imagined. It is being published by the indie press house, darkstroke books and will be officially released on Tuesday 20th April 2021. It will be available in ebook and paperback form on Amazon. Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life? I created a character in Forgive Me called The Lumberjack who is an axe wielding, gas mask wearing anti-hero from the urban legend with the same name. The idea of waking up in the middle of night with him standing at the foot of my bed. Nah. Not good, I’d need a stiff drink to get back to sleep. Haha. Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing? Music. I always have something playing in my ears when I’m creating. I have music on right now as I’m typing this. I can write with nothing playing if I have to but it’s not the same. Certain songs and soundtracks have helped me reach emotional and poignant moments in my work. After Forgive Me is published, I will be releasing the playlist on my website and social media. The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations. What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions? The word “horror” used to evoke a gory, blood and guts vibe to me when I was younger. I’m not particularly good with gore. I tried to play Outlast and I chickened out after ten minutes. I just couldn’t do it, haha! I lean towards the paranormal/supernatural and psychological horrors like Insidious and The Conjuring. I think how we can break these is by creating more subgenres. Horror isn’t just about a guy with pins in his face. A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years? I’ve never heard of a horror movement before but I have seen a change in the response to self-published and indie writers over the years especially in the horror genre, there seems to be more respect. I’ve been reading mostly indie work lately and I’ve been super impressed with the wonderful stories I’ve been introduced to. Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it? I think people love to be scared and we love the adrenaline rush when it happens. Why do people go on scary rides? Why do people walk through horror mazes? Why do we like to watch a horror movie with the lights off? It’s the feeling, as if we’re in the story itself. What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre? I wouldn’t say anything is particularly missing. There’s a lot more of it nowadays and it’s in different subgenres which I think is great. What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off? I’m a big fan of indie writer, Dawn Hosmer. She wrote a novel called Bits & Pieces which is a psychological thriller. It is about a woman called Tessa who sees flashes when she touches someone. Red = pain, yellow = a premonition, blue = a pleasant memory etc. Life for her isn’t peachy and she wears gloves when she goes out to prevent the flashes. She takes part in a search party for a missing university student and Tessa receives a lightning bolt flash and begins to see images of murdered women. I’ve heard she’s working on a sequel; I’m looking forward to reading it! Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you? I enjoy reading positive reviews of my work and I also enjoy reading constructive criticism too because it helps me learn and broaden my knowledge. I wouldn’t say I’ve had a negative review before. I did have someone say that my writing made them comfort eat. Haha. If you’re putting your work out there for all the world to see, negative reviews are going to happen. What I’m trying to say with that example is, try and not let negative reviews get you down or stop you from working on your craft. Everybody has different tastes. What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult? I find the writing of the first draft hard because you’re creating something completely from scratch. As Quentin Tarantino has said when penning a screenplay, it’s like climbing a mountain. You’ve got to start at the bottom and work your way up to the top. Some may disagree but I find editing actually easier, it’s so therapeutic to enhance, correct and make your work better. Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? I think it’s good to write about real life issues in fiction or base characters or situations on experiences you’ve been through. However, I would not touch disturbing topics like incest in my work. Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? I’ve definitely grown as a writer by writing a lot more and reading different genres to get myself out of my comfort zone. I also challenged myself by putting my work out for critiquing. When I was in my early 20’s, a friend of mine recommended the website Wattpad.com to me and when I was writing early drafts of Forgive Me, I received wonderful feedback from readers on there. I’ve also written in different mediums, for audio productions and short film screenplays. Some of those projects have turned into novels, one of them I will be working on very soon. What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing? Write what is interesting to you. Write what you want to read. Which of your characters is your favourite? Stripe McLachlan from my debut novel Forgive Me is one of my favourite characters I’ve created so far. When you meet her at the start of the story, she’s been through some pretty bad stuff but she’s able to present herself in a professional manner when she’s working and she’s able to have a laugh and take the mickey out of herself too, despite what she’s been through. Which of your books best represents you? My first original idea for a story called Hard Way Home came to me in a dream when I was a teenager. It was about a woman stuck in a dead-end job who is secretly planning her suicide when she hears that one of her favourite musicians has gone missing from hospital. She leaves work one evening and is hassled by two men and then rescued by a hooded stranger, who claims not to be the infamous lead singer but looks exactly like him. The atmosphere in the book and Jackie (the lead character) is hugely based on me and how I felt about myself and the world during a depressive spiral. When my partner and I were first dating, they read the story and knew straight away Jackie was me! Hard Way Home is available to read for free on my website. Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us? Here’s the first couple of sentences from the opening chapter of Forgive Me: “I see the click and switch when you turn off the television. I hear your heartbeat when you climb up the stairs. I can feel your soft bare feet on the carpet as you walk into your bedroom.” Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next? The latest short story I wrote was called Shelter about three young adults who are stuck in a sports hall during a toxic storm. One of them is a notorious bully, the other an ex-bully and the third, one of their victims. It’s filled with tension and despair, addressing depression and mental health issues in young adults. I’d call it a sci-fi drama. The story is available to read on my website for free if you want to give it a peep. One of my beta readers said I should turn it into a novel. I’m currently working on a modern-day mystical thriller that was inspired after watching a really upsetting documentary called The Cove about the killing of dolphins. I’ve nearly finished the first draft. If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice? One that springs to my mind is to be a villain, you must be disfigured or ugly to be frightening. I’m not a fan of that cliché at all. What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you? Dawn’s book that I mentioned previously. I recently read a dark romance (which I won’t name), it sadly didn’t get my blood flowing. I liked the premise but the execution of it could’ve been better. The ending was a real mood killer. What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer? I’ve never been asked ‘Why do you write?’ And my response is: because I need to. I think a lot of writers would say the same thing. It’s drilled into our being isn’t it. Writing is a form of therapy to me, a type of self-medicating. I’ve gotten through some really tough situations and writing helped. I wrote a short story a while ago during a horrific break up and from doing that, I was able to reevaluate my situation and understand what the hell had happened.  A secret video tape. A painful truth. A quest for revenge. Investigative journalist, Susan ‘Stripe’ McLachlan, is constantly hounded by eager documentarians for interview requests about the Night Scrawler murders. One of the victims of the mysterious serial killer was a member of her own family, her father. At the peak of her career, her services are sought by Isaac Payne who commissions her to write an article for his website. Usually, her projects delve into more uncomfortable, questionable topics, but there’s a deep, almost hauntingly familiar pull about her new client that intrigues her. As she learns more about Isaac, Stripe digs up fresh secrets about the murders, arousing her suspicions. After an awkward confrontation, she wakes up in Isaac’s bed — with a chain around her ankle. Isaac shows her harrowing footage on an old VHS tape. The contents hits close to home…closer than Stripe ever imagined. Now, she has to wrestle with her own moral compass and unpick the truth from the web of lies that turn into a crescendo where memories created from misery and suffering cannot be silenced. Will Isaac ever lay the past to rest? And how will Stripe cope with the revelations that challenge everything she has ever known? TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITESPLASHES OF DARKNESS: WE LOVE TROUBLE: CINDY AND BISCUIT VOL. 1 (COMIC REVIEW) THE HEART AND SOUL OF AUTHOR INTERVIEWSComments are closed.
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