Paws on Books: Author Interview

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Author Interview – Rayne Hall

Tell us about your new book? What’s it about and why did you write it?

Thirty Scary Tales is a collection of creepy, atmospheric, unsettling stories. They’re the suspenseful, psychological, disturbing kind of horror, not the violent gory kind. However, I wouldn’t recommend the book for young readers without parental guidance.

It’s a compilation of volumes 1-5 of the Six Scary Tales series. For this book, I wrote a paragraph for each story about where the inspiration came from. Fans tell me they love these insights into the author’s mind.

The collection includes some of my most popular stories, including The Bridge Chamber (which some readers say still scares them years after reading it) and the award-winning Burning.

When you are not writing, how do you like to relax?

I enjoy long walks along the seafront and sunbathing on the beach – both if the weather permits. Alas, I live in England, where we have more rain than sunshine. I also enjoy studying ancient history, container gardening and of course reading.

What do you hope people will take away from your writing? How will your words make them feel?

Horror stories like the ones in Thirty Scary Tales give the reader the thrill of danger, but also the reassurance that they can shut the book at any time and be safe.

I like to captivate my readers and take them on exciting journeys to new places where they meet new people. At the same time, I like to open up new perspectives for them, to make them think, and invite them to probe their own conscience. Some of my stories are psychologically disturbing, because readers ask themselves what choices they would have made, how they would have responded to the dilemma, if they could have resisted the temptation, if they would have the moral courage to do what’s right.

I believe that dark fiction invite the reader to explore the boundaries between good and evil in new ways.

What color represents your personality the most?

Navy blue: quiet, deep and dark

How do you feel about social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter? Are they a good thing?

Social media devour valuable writing time! I’ve chosen just one social network – Twitter – and I use it actively. My followers love interacting with me and reading my tweets because they know I’m genuine. I like Twitter because tweets are quick to write, and Twitter gives me a lot of control and few distractions, unlike Facebook. I have 39,000 followers, most of them real people who share my reading and writing passions.