#AuThorsday with Gina Moray

Today I’d like to welcome Gina Moray, horror writer and author of Cemetery at Devil’s Bend.

Can you give us your quickest description of your books?

My books challenge the reader to recognize the darkness that dwells at the edge of the human spirit.  Some of my books contain traces of the supernatural, such as the occult or spirits, but most of them focus on the worst monster of all – man.

Cemetery at Devil’s Bend:  A cemetery develops on a forsaken piece of land just outside of the town of Pine Creek.  When Marty Duller investigates, he learns the town has an evil secret lurking right in plain sight.

The Guardians:  A man desperate to save his farm, unknowingly summons evil and ultimate demise to the town of Runner’s Mill.

Are these stories set in settings you’re familiar with?  It sounds like you use real life but with a darker underbelly rather than some fantasy-based world.

These two are set in real life, but not in settings that I’m familiar with.  They are fictional towns set nearby real places.  Many of the books I’m writing are set in Chattanooga, where I live, in either present time or a post-apocalyptic future.

What are you working on currently?

I am working on a novel called The Candy Man.  I can’t give too many details, because I tend to keep my books hush, hush until release time nears.  I will say, however, that if Children of the Corn and Sinister had a love child, it would be The Candy Man.

Intriguing combo.  Do you tend to have 1 book idea at a time, or several that you try to write at once?

I usually have several ideas that I will start developing at one time, but I’ll only write one book at a time.  I have a OneNote Notebook with about fifteen different ideas at various staged of development.

That’s a great idea!  What is your favorite scene you’ve written?  Can you give us a peek?

There is this one scene in The Guardians that I just love.  It perfectly portrays the supernatural predatory nature of the main antagonist, LaReux.  You want a sneak peek?  I guess I could give you a snippet:

He grabbed what he sought and slowly pulled his hand out, grasping her heart. She fell to the floor, lifeless, and he stepped away to avoid the blood running out of her mouth. He looked down at her admiringly.

“You had the heart of a lion.” He brought the flesh to his mouth and took a single bite before tossing the rest on the floor next to her corpse.

Well, that’s perfectly creepy.  Do you find it easy to slip into “dark writer mode” to come up with such scenes, or do you have to really work at it?

Much to my dismay it’s quite easy to write dark scenes like that one, but to open that door that holds back the darkest parts of my mind is another story.  I had one recent book that was so disturbing, I contemplated whether I could actually write what needed to be written and maintain my sanity.  The serial killer in the book was absolutely heinous and I was uncomfortable telling parts of his story.  In the end, I wrote the draft, but I have more respect for that darkness and I never make the decision to open that door lightly.

Who inspires you to write?

My inspiration comes from many places.  The majority of my story ideas come from my dreams, but I can create a story from a simple object, song, conversation – anything.  A benign idea goes in and filters through my imagination and voila!  A new horror story.

Do you come across something that sparks an idea and have to write it down right away, or are you better than me and remember the pieces to fit together later?  🙂

Heck no!  I carry a notebook with me everywhere I go.  I’ve also been known to get up in the middle of the night and jot down ideas or write a scene that stands out clearly in my mind.

When you get stuck in your writing, how do you make yourself keep going?

I either stop and read a book, or just continue to write and skip the sections I‘m stuck on and continue with another scene that I do know.

For the sections you skip, when you come back later to fill them in, do you sometimes find that the story has changed from where you thought it would go?

Ninety percent of the time, yes, my story changes, sometimes greatly.  I often find that I will skip sections to get to the end, then go back and fill in, only to change the story.  Sometimes doing this will end up changing the end again, and around and around we go until I end up with something that I can live with.  Many fantastic revelations about my stories have come out of skipping scenes.

Thanks, Gina, for sharing!

WHERE TO FIND Gina Moray: 
Website:  www.GinaMoray.com
Goodreads:  Gina Moray
Amazon Page:  Gina Moray
Facebook:  Gina Moray
Twitter:  @Gina_Moray