 Hello horror fans! My name is Emma Pullar. I write dark fiction and children’s books, and for the Ginger Nuts of Horror diversity drive, I've interviewed the wonderful Roz White. Roz is a transwoman and an amazing writer. Horror/thriller is something that I write but it's not a genre that Roz usually writes. She’s better known for her popular novella series called The Sisterhood. Still, she took up the challenge and joined me and other writers of dark fiction in contributing a chilling short story to a charity anthology called Dark Minds. I thought it would be fun to interview Roz and find out what inspired her to write a short horror story. Emma: What inspired you to write the short story, Horror, and why did you submit it to the Dark Minds charity anthology? Roz: Well, the charity project was advertised on Facebook and elsewhere, and I was kind-of asked, kind-of volunteered… I occasionally get inspiration outside my usual genres and this story seemed to fit, or as much as any of mine ever will! Emma: Your other works include female-centric dramas, was it difficult to switch up and write something darker? Roz: Not really - were I trying to make a novel out of it I suspect the going would have been much harder! I knew what I wanted, and I knew the sort of feel I wanted for the tale. Like my more mainstream stuff, it’s all about the mind, the feeling of place and occasion, and the build-up of tension is almost entirely in the mind of the reader. Emma: Your story is appropriately called 'Horror' but it doesn't fall neatly under the horror umbrella. Even so, when I read it, I felt that heart-stopping fear every good horror story should have. Was the story based on a real experience or was it a complete work of fiction? Roz: Rumbled! LOL! It’s a near-real experience, in that whilst on a visit to Sparkle in Manchester a few years back, I found myself on the wrong side of midnight, walking in a miniskirt and heels back to my hotel - up a hill and on my own. There were indeed shadows in doorways as I walked, and nobody around but rather dodgy taxi-drivers! From there it was a very short step to the extra bits that made the story what it is... Emma: What are you most afraid of and why? Roz: Not a lot, really; having had the life I have, I’ve faced weapons, bullying, harassment and a whole lot more. I fear long, lingering deaths through illness; I definitely fear the loss of faculties through dementia or some such. I fear poverty into old age (please buy more books, folks!) Quite a lot of basis for more stories there, perhaps? Emma: Do you think you'll ever write on the dark side again? Roz: It depends on what inspires me. I have more of a likelihood to expand a recurring idea, that of a “world next door”, where things are so very familiar and yet… not. There are already one or two stories that might be counted as similarly “horrific” to that other one; “Celebrity Death Camp” is a fun foray into where current television trends might end up, for example, but as usual with me, not as blunt-force direct as the title might imply! On the odd occasion when I do horror, I’m inspired by the reactions of people, of what goes on in their minds under stress. I have read Dracula, and it left me cold; I read Frankenstein and have loved it ever since - because it’s not about the Monster. It’s about Victor’s descent into madness and despair as he fails to deal with what he’s done, and for me, that is where “real” horror resides in us all. Emma: Thank you so much for answering my questions, Roz. Loved your answers. Roz: You’re very welcome! They’re excellent questions, too. If you'd like to read, Horror, by Roz White, you'll find it in the Dark Minds anthology, available from Amazon. about Roz White  I’ve been writing since I was about four; hopefully my style has improved a little! I enter a genre when I go looking for something in that style that I want to read and fail to find it; this has led me into so far seven novels and three novellas centred on The Sisterhood, a group of transwomen in a support group whose friendships through trials and tribulations form the plots for the books. But I also write Steampunk fantasy, and under a pen name I have nearly a dozen Viking-Age historical fictions under my belt as well. Oh - did I mention that I’m a transwoman too? The Sisterhood Five transwomen; five lives; five sets of problems! New girl Sarah arrives in The Sisterhood Club just as the lives of those she meets are about to fall apart. Jo is faced with devastating loss and unending pressure at work; Phoebe is about to become homeless; Cathy is staring the end of her marriage in the face. Naomi, the Mother Hen of the group, while appearing to keep it all together, is facing mounting problems of her own... and Sarah is left wondering what on earth she is walking into! Can the common bonds of their burgeoning sisterhood see them through the ever-growing pressure, or will the world around them finally destroy it all? Roz White is a well-known author of transgender fiction; in this, her first full novel, her explorations of this unique condition go deeper and more complete than ever before. 
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