Fictitious Musings

Lots of women want to be girl that every guy dreams of but our guest today wants to be our Girl of Nightmares. Kendare Blake, author of the awesome Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares, has stopped by today to talk about Anne, Anti-Goddess, and why small dogs make her laugh.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Sure. Uh…I’ve never had Baskin Robbins. I know, what’s wrong with me? Small dogs make me laugh because they have to run at an incredible rate just to maintain walking speed with their owners. They must feel like they’re flying. And I’m adopted.

Horror themed novels are few and far between in YA, how difficult was it to pitch Anna to publishers?

It wasn’t that hard, perhaps because horror was few and far between. Everyone seemed to start reading pretty fast.

What makes your novels stand out amongst the rest?

No idea. Maybe, Cas’ voice? Anna herself? It has to be some magical combination of a lot of factors.

If you weren’t the kick-ass author that you are, what would you be doing?

I ask myself that all the time. Because you know, someday these stories might run out. Or they’ll stop letting me write them. I thought it would be cool to be a dermatologist, because then I’d be a doctor who never dealt with death. I mean, if one of my patients exhibited signs of cancer, or a really bad infection, I’d just refer them. Bye bye, death! Go recover and then come back and I’ll give you a rosy glow.

When it comes to gory stories, what author rocks out the horror to your liking?

Gory stories. Caitlin R. Kiernan can still write strange things that make me cringe in wonder. Just weird, wonderful stuff. But I really prefer the ominous to the blood-spattered. And for that Joe Hill suits me just fine.

Cas faces several ghostly apparitions in the Anna duology. Are they purely your creation or are they based on legends/hauntings?

Many are based on legends and real hauntings. The ghosts in the Tower of London, for example. And the Suicide Forest. The guy in the farmhouse who killed his family with hedge shears. Only he didn’t use hedge shears, and I don’t think he did it. I think it was an axe. Others are just out of my head, like the guy under the floorboards who hung himself.

The Anna duology has rocked the blogging community with its extreme awesomeness. Have you considered writing another series written in the same vein or continuing with a spin-off?

I haven’t, really. There is something left in Cas’ world that I would still really enjoy writing, and it has to do with Morfran and the Voodoo Network, but I don’t know if it’s suited for a novel. I do continue to be blown away by blogger support and enthusiasm for the books. So who knows?

We enjoy a gory slasher film like Halloween or Friday the 13^th. When it comes to horror movies, which do you prefer: slasher or psychological? Why?

I like a mix of the two, whenever possible. But the ones that stay with me are psychological.

Have you considered writing an adult novel?

Sure. I used to write adult literary…and if another literary story comes my way, I’ll probably have to write it. Of course it might live forever in my trunk with the other one…

Your upcoming novel, Antigoddess, comes out in 2013. Can you tell us a little about it?

Well, I can tell you that as of now it’s scheduled for sometime in September. It’s about dying Greek gods, and reincarnated heroes, banding together and against each other to try to survive. It’s a lot about finding humanity and losing it. And about gods and heroes getting their smackdown on. Like Anna, it features girls who can rip things apart with their bare hands.

 Fearless Five

Favorite childhood Halloween costume? Childhood? A big stuffed Killer Whale costume.

Have you ever used a Ouija board? Yes. A few times. Nothing good ever happens, but I’m always willing to give it another go.

Jason Voorhees or Freddy Kreuger? Freddy! FreddyFreddyFreddy! I got a little overexcited there.

Favorite Halloween candy? Anything but candy corn. They should just stop that shit.

Trick or Treat? It was never fair to make us choose.

 About the Author

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I tire of writing these things in the third person. So. I write fiction, apparently mostly YA. I didn’t know this, but like Stephen King says, writers are the last ones to know what it is they’ve written. My first novel, Sleepwalk Society is a college story. I guess it falls into that no man’s land they call, “New Adult”. Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares are teen horror. My short fiction can be found online in numerous places.

But enough about that. When I am not writing or reading, you can generally find me sitting around wondering what the hell I’m going to do with my life. That, or being a gastronome, plotting a new recipe. Perhaps on a run or hike, playing tennis or watching Big Cat Diaries with my feline. This summer I have saved a total of three turtles during attempted road crossings.

That’s totally awesome. An incredible author and a super-hero to turtles, too. It was great to have you stop by for a visit, Kendare.

Tags:Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares, Horror, Keepers of the Crypt, Kendare Blake