Horror Anthology: Deborah Sheldon

The Black Beacon Book of Horror will be released on Friday the 13th of October; the Kindle version is available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads list today. To get you in the mood for a particularly spooky Halloween this year, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. The first Black Beacon Book of Horror is bound to give you the creeps!

Hi Deborah,

Why do you write horror?

During my 37-year-long career, I’ve written across most forms of media – from feature articles to TV scripts to non-fiction books to medical writing to various genres of prose fiction – and horror is simply the most fun. Horror has terrific depth and breadth. It offers so many different subgenres that, quite literally, you could never run out of ways to tell a story. Technically speaking, horror is the cornucopia. But from a personal perspective, horror interests me because I feel it’s the most authentic of all the genres. Life can be challenging, unfair, sometimes scary and painful, and always ends in death. Horror confronts the human condition head-on. It allows us to vicariously share, via the written page, the experience of being alive.

Is there a story behind your story in this anthology?

I’d been reading a lot of 19th-century horror authors such as M.R. James, Elizabeth Gaskell, and chiefly J. Sheridan Le Fanu. They seem to share a number of similar literary devices. What I enjoyed most about their stories is the emphasis on how normal, everyday things can become increasingly peculiar, which builds creepiness and a sense of menace. Inspired, I wanted to explore atypical horror elements, and write a few stories along the lines of a 19th-century ghost tale. “Cameo” was one of these stories. I’d actually been going through a rough patch at the time – including the sudden death of our pet – so I imbued the main characters with some of my ugly, messy, conflicted emotions. I played around with a couple of new techniques, and feel happy with how “Cameo” turned out.

Do you have an all-time favourite horror tale?

Oh, there are far too many! If I can cheat, I’ll say that my favourite horror author (at the moment) is Robert E. Howard. In particular, his Solomon Kane stories are thrilling.

What books did you grow up reading?

When I was in primary school, some of my favourite reads included Nancy Drew mysteries and anything by Enid Blyton. During my teenage years, I became a fan of science fiction. I remember Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat series was a hoot!

Do you have any writing rituals?

Yes, because I’m disciplined. Typically, I work every second day, week in, week out. Some work days are necessarily about admin such as submissions, emails or business calls. But when I’m writing, I’m actually writing. On non-work days, I spend time mulling over my current story, usually while I’m showering, doing laundry, cooking, or trying to sleep. This means when I sit down at my computer, I’m ready to type. I always start by checking over and editing my previous day’s writing. Doing so warms me up and gets me in ‘flow’.

Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?

When I was young, I loved drawing. However, I abandoned the hobby once professional writing took hold of me. In 2023, I reconnected with drawing as a way to relax. It’s gratifying to discover new skills and techniques while engaging a part of my brain that doesn’t (for once!) involve words.

Where can we find you online?

My website http://deborahsheldon.wordpress.com has all my latest news plus information about my novels, novellas, novelettes, short stories, flash and poems. There’s a newsletter too, if anyone feels like being in the running to win an ebook every couple of months. I have a Facebook page run on my behalf by a third party: https://www.facebook.com/people/Deborah-Sheldon/100063653647844/ My Goodreads profile includes an active blog. Feel free to send me a friend request: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3312459.Deborah_Sheldon And lastly, here’s my Amazon Author profile: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Deborah-Sheldon/author/B0035MWQ98

Thanks for answering our questions.