Burning ... with Joan De La Haye

This isn't Joan De La Haye's first time here, and it's most certainly not her last. She's a fellow South African author who's been around for a while now, and is known most notably for her horror. Today she's subjecting herself to a little Q&A here at my spot, as we look at her latest release, Burning. Welcome, Joan!

Firstly, I love the cover. Did you have a hand in its design? Can you share a little bit about what choices went into its creation? 

Thanks! I also love the cover. It was designed by Dave Johnson, who also did the cover for Shadows. Dave is one of those artists who actually reads the book first and then comes up with a few concepts that Adele Wearing, my publisher, and I get to choose from. He gives us loads of different options and all of them tend to be amazing, which makes choosing incredibly difficult. If Adele and I have trouble making a decision we get him to wade into the conversation. His input always seems to make perfect sense and makes the decision process somewhat easier. But what is great, is that I get to make the final pick.

With Burning we’d whittled it down to two choices. The one with the tarot card - the lovers, which was the final cover. The other had a ceremonial dagger and was far darker. In the end we all felt that the burning tarot card was just more representative of the book and the story.
I think we made the right choice. It’s a stunning image and makes for a wonderful cover.

Can you tell us a little bit about how your witches operate? What do you love about writing witches? 

What’s not to love about witches? Witches are awesome and under-utilised in horror fiction. The witches in my story are not the all-powerful ones you often see in fiction. These are your run-of-the-mill kitchen witches and wicca practitioners who dabble with forces they can’t control and get their fingers burnt, quite literally.

Who is Marcie Grove? Was she always a witch? Is this something she had to have a talent for?

Marcie Grove is a nurse and a witch searching for more profound magical experience. She wants to experience true power and goes looking for it within the pages of an old magical text. She’s also lonely and horny which, let’s face it, often leads to very bad decisions. She wasn’t always a witch; she found wicca and witchcraft later in her life. She’s not a powerful magical being. She isn’t supernatural in any shape of form. She’s just a normal woman dabbling with magic.

Were there any scenes that were particularly tricky to write? 

Yes! The sex scenes. I always find sex scenes difficult to write. I never know how graphic to go or where to gloss over things. I also think finding a balance with sex scenes is difficult. You don’t want it just to be a blow-by-blow description or one of those badly written sex scenes where you can see that the author was uncomfortable writing it, or one of those overly romanticised sex scenes which make you want to throw up just a little bit.

What are some of the underlying themes in your story? 

I think the themes at the heart of the story are sexuality, obsession, and addiction.

Excerpt:

The coven surrounded the altar. The flames from the tiki torches flickered in the breeze. The circle had been cast and the quarters called. Ghosts began to gather at the edge of the circle. Sandra's Shaman with dreadlocks down his back stood beside Raven, who held the ancient tomb open at the requisite ritual. Marianne, the midwife, stood in front of Marcie, holding her knees apart. Greg stood next to the altar holding Marcie’s hand while another contraction wrenched her insides. A scream erupted from her core. It was all wrong. This was not how her vision had looked. The Shaman had not been there and Greg had been outside the circle. Marianne had not been there to help her give birth. It was all terribly wrong.
What if it wasn’t all wrong? A voice at the back of her mind penetrated through the pain. What if this was how it was supposed to be? What if the vision was just one alternative future she had seen? What if this was right? What if this was the only way she and the baby would survive? Hope flooded through her. She grabbed onto the feeling with both hands. It was like nectar to a person dying of thirst in the desert. But the feeling of hope dwindled with another contraction that made her feel as though her body was splitting in two.
Blood flooded the altar.

Author Bio:

Joan De La Haye writes horror and some very twisted thrillers. She invariably wakes up in the middle of the night, because she’s figured out yet another freaky

way to mess with her already screwed up characters.
Joan is interested in some seriously weird stuff. That’s probably also one of the reasons she writes horror.
Joan is deep, dark and seriously twisted and so is her writing.

Buy Burning on Amazon Kindle and Amazon print.

Joan De La Haye's world of darkness #guest

Joan De La Haye is no stranger on my blog, and I decided to have her over again because she's recently celebrated two releases. Welcome back, Joan, tell us a bit more about your latest titles.

JDLH: My two recent releases are Requiem in E Sharp, which is a rather dark thriller set in Pretoria, and Oasis, which is a post apocalypse zombie novella also set in South Africa. They've both been published by Fox Spirit, a small indie publisher in the UK.

ND: How does Pretoria lend itself to a dark thriller?

JDLH: Being South Africa's capital city, Pretoria is full of intrigue, it's also the nations capital for all our policing screw ups. Most South African thrillers are set in either Johannesburg or Cape Town, and Pretoria is often over-looked. Which is rather sad. Pretoria has a lot of atmosphere. It also has a very high murder rate and the unit responsible for solving serial murders is stationed in Pretoria.

ND: And what makes South Africa grand fora  zombie story?

JDLH: We've already got zombies running the country, it's not much of a leap for them to take over completely. Another great thing about zombie stories is that it doesn't really matter where you set it. It won't matter where you are if there's a zombiepocalypse, they're going to get you no matter where you hide.

ND: What were some of the moments you particularly enjoyed?

JDLH: After having written Shadows and Requiem n E Sharp, which are both pretty dark and harsh, Oasis was a lot more fun. I really enjoyed writing it from Max's perspective. She wasn't as damaged as Sarah and Natalie. She's just a nice girl stuck in a really bad situation, trying to survive the end of the world. I also really enjoyed writing the twisted ending for Oasis. I got to be rather evil.
For Requiem, I really enjoyed the research part. I got to spend some time with the head of the SAPS psychology unit, which was fascinating.

ND: Can you name one or two locations in Pretoria and tell us more about what makes them lend themselves specifically to your story?

JDLH: There's an area close to where I grew up called Silverton. It's a stone throw away from the Koedoespoort train station and if the wind blows from the right direction you get a wiff from the Silverton tanneries. It's your standard lower middle class suburb where you can imagine an older woman with a drinking habit, curlers in her hair and a cigarette dangling from her mouth and wearing slippers with a hole at the big toe. It's the perfect place for my killer to stalk his victims. Most of the areas I used in Requiem in E Sharp are suburbs I knew while growing up in Pretoria or have lived in. None of them are affluent. They're places you'll find a cross section of society.

ND: And your zombies? Tell us more about what makes them tick. Are they lurkers who hang about indefinitely? Or are they rotters who slowly grow grosser and stinkier as they eventually decompose?

JDLH: My zombies are fast, filled with rage and damn ugly. They're also very hungry for human flesh. I'd say they're lurkers who just keep coming and devouring the living.

ND: And how do you define being really evil in your novels?

JDLH: I'm not sure that my novels define evil as being quite that black and white. My novels explore the very darkest of human nature as well as the demonic, but also give them a very human side. There are varying shades of dark grey and under the right circumstances the most normal of people are capable of committing the most evil of deeds. It's just a matter of finding that tipping point that will push someone far enough. Evil can be relative.

ND: And hanging out with the SAPS psychology unit. Wow! How did you go about organising that? Can you share any interesting anecdotes of that time?

JDLH: A friend of mine knew that I was doing research for Requiem and she knew Prof Gerard Labuschagne and was kind enough to put me in touch with him. He was then kind enough to read Requiem and let me know all the mistakes I'd made. When I was in his office, he asked if I was squeamish. I said, rather flipantly, "I write horror. What do you think?" He just nodded and pulled out a file with photos of dead people who'd been found in water, much like the victims in my book. Now, seeing photos of real people who were brutally murdered and left to rot in water is very different to seeing a violent movie where actors pretend to be butchered. I have a sneaky suspicion he was expecting me to freakout or be unable to look at the pictures, but I didn't freakout in fact I found them fascinating, which makes me a little worried about my own mental well being. I think I may have tendencies towards psychopathy.

ND: What's next on the cards? Care to spill the beans with regard to any upcoming or current WiPs?

JDLH: I've got a short story in an upcoming anthology called Tales from the Nun and Dragon being published by Fox Spirit. It'll be out later this month. And at the moment I'm working on a novella called The Race. It has swords and lots of blood. It also raises the question: What would you do to survive?

People can find me on my website: http://joandelahaye.com/ or follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/JoanDeLaHaye

My books are available to download on Amazon.com: Oasis and Requiem in E Sharp

Meet Joan De La Haye

Today I have the pleasure of featuring fellow South African author, Joan De La Haye, here on my blog. She is the author of Shadows and is fast making a name for herself in horror fiction.

Welcome, Joan. When did you know you wanted to write novels? Do you have any amusing anecdotes related to your first writing attempts?

I wrote my first story at the age of twelve. It was a fairytale called The Wonderful World of Candy-floss. My mother sent it off to a local publisher who felt that I should write in Afrikaans, since I obviously couldn't spell in English and my surname (which was Groenewald at the time) wasn't English either. I was devastated! It took me a few years to get over the rejection. My mother just said the man was obviously an idiot and gave me some chocolate. Now, whenever dealing with rejection I need chocolate.

Why horror? What is it about the genre that turns you on?

I find horror to be a fascinating genre. It's all about pushing the boundaries. It's not "safe". Most other genres are very much in a box and have very fixed rules, which horror doesn't have, and I love that. I love that it's filled with free thinkers, both the authors and the die-hard fans. Plus, let's face it, in some perverse way we all love to be scared. It makes us feel alive in a manner that no other genre can.

What are some of the prevalent themes running through your stories?

Insanity and rape. I think we've all had moments where we've questioned our own sanity and that of the people around us. Rape is one of the most horrific experiences a woman can have and survive. It's also something that is way too often swept under the carpet and ignored.

Tell me a little more about your existing publications. What path did you follow on the road to publication?

Shadows is published by a small indie publisher based in the States called Generation Next. I'm a huge fan of indie presses. They do so much for their authors and provide a lot more freedom. My second novel, Requiem in E Sharp, will also be released shortly by Generation Next.

How do you approach the craft and art of writing? That being said, do you have advice for writers who're approaching their first novel?

I try and write everyday, but sometimes my muse decides to take a holiday which can last for anything from a couple of days to a month. When that happens I grab the chocolate and ride it out as best I can. Apparently I get rather bad tempered when the muse is on a break, so the chocolate prevents me from killing anybody.

My advice would be to just write the first line, then the first paragraph, then the first page. Focus on the line in front of you, not the next hundred pages. I would also suggest reading a LOT! Also read Stephen King's On Writing. It's a must-read for all writers. I reread it everytime I get stuck or when the muse has pulled another disappearing act.

Lastly, who are the authors you'd like to thank for setting you on the path of being a horror writer? What is it about their writing that keeps you returning to their books time and again?

The obvious one would be Stephen King. I think most of us can blame our love of horror on him. His body of work is awe inspiring and he is so easy to read.

The less obvious one would be Dennis Wheatley. I grew up with his books and didn't even realise that they were classified as horror novels. I loved the adventures he took me on and the exotic places he took me to.

Links

Buy Shadows at Amazon, Smashwords or Exclusive Books.

Joan's blog: http://joandelahaye.wordpress.com/

Follow Joan on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JoanDeLaHaye