Ask the Author: Hayley Stumbo
Answered Questions (5)
Hayley Stumbo
Amanda asked me to offer some words for chapter headers, and rather than give her ones I already written, I customized them around the chapters they would be featured for.
Hayley Stumbo
Originally I would have said "no" right away. I really thought I was done with Devil Town, but now I'm considering telling Jordan's story, and possibly eluding to what type of future is in store for Val. So the answer is.....
probably :)
probably :)
Hayley Stumbo
I wish I could tell you I dreamed up the H.A.S.H. series because it'd be an easy answer. This journey started nearly seven years ago and if I remember correctly, one day I thought "I wonder what would happen if someone lived in a big southern style plantation house and had a bunch of secrets." I sat down and wrote about fifteen chapters of garbage on voodoo and things I didn't understand, tried changing it slightly before scraping it entirely and trying a different route. Character names and location stayed the same but everything else got warped along the way. Then I was listening to music, because certain songs awaken part of my mind and I heard "You Haunt Me" by Sir Sly and I took my southern house, added a little twist and just rolled with it. It became what it is now, it evolved over time.
Hayley Stumbo
Right now, I'm ankles deep in the sequel to Hide and Seek Her. It's in about fifteen different documents on my computer, and so far...it's my favorite thing I've created. It's scary, it's heartbreaking, it's backstory, it'll downright piss you off...but at the end of the day it's really satisfying.
Hayley Stumbo
For me, writer's block is kind of a made up thing. I've experienced a bought of time where I cannot physically get out what's in my head and I used to trudge onward and write pages upon pages of pure crap, throw it out and spend a few weeks away from the computer. I don't consider it to be a "block" because it's more of me just walking away for a little bit until the story comes back to me in a different way. You've got to give yourself some time to get used to the fact that as a writer you'll experience days where you write really well or days where you just suck and nothing makes sense, but you can't call it writer's block and let it be. Go for a walk, take yourself out for a Big Mac, splurge a little, reopen part of your mind through other experiences...then sit down and try again. And if it still sucks, get another Big Mac.
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