Ask the Author: Shah Wharton
Answered Questions (6)
Shah Wharton
A Slow Burn is my most recent publication, but I wrote the first draft five years ago. The inspiration for it came from watching (and loving) 28 Days Later.
I love horror in general because I love the thrill of fear, but I wanted to make this zombie book atypical in that there's is more psychological horror than gore, and no standard zombies chewing legs off - which I love too. Bernie, the heroine in this novella, is headstrong and comes from a life spent in care homes, lacking all intimacy. This book takes us on her journey, from waking up in an unfamiliar house with concussion surrounded by clammy corpses, to finding something like intimacy on a dying island. No, it's not a horror romance, but there's a thread of a romantic theme in the horrific sense.
Isolation terrifies me more than flesh eating creatures, so I wanted to play on hers, and on the isolation she feels even after she meets other survivors. I felt suffocated in some of the scenes, and I wanted that discomfort, that terror to come through to the reader.
I love horror in general because I love the thrill of fear, but I wanted to make this zombie book atypical in that there's is more psychological horror than gore, and no standard zombies chewing legs off - which I love too. Bernie, the heroine in this novella, is headstrong and comes from a life spent in care homes, lacking all intimacy. This book takes us on her journey, from waking up in an unfamiliar house with concussion surrounded by clammy corpses, to finding something like intimacy on a dying island. No, it's not a horror romance, but there's a thread of a romantic theme in the horrific sense.
Isolation terrifies me more than flesh eating creatures, so I wanted to play on hers, and on the isolation she feels even after she meets other survivors. I felt suffocated in some of the scenes, and I wanted that discomfort, that terror to come through to the reader.
Shah Wharton
Inspiration usually takes me, not the other way around. But it does that in various ways. I might hear a great lyric, be left feeling a strong emotion from a book or movie or song, or visit an incredible place like a museum or country or person's home. Anything at all can take me to a place where characters pop into my mind and need an outlet. That's the beauty and the curse of the writer with bipolar disorder. When I feel low, inspiration can stagnate and it is as though a wall has been constructed, separating me from my imagination. When I'm hyper, the creativity spirals and although I write a lot, little of it makes sense when I return to it with a level head.
Shah Wharton
Book two of The Supes Series: Finding Luna. Due for release Winter 2014/2015.
Due for release Halloween 2014
Two reworked shorts: 1) The Dead Party ( political satire with zombies) and 2) Rosa & Bella's Journal of Decline (psychological horror)
3) A Slow Burn: A Post-Apocalyptic Horror Novella.
Due for release Halloween 2014
Two reworked shorts: 1) The Dead Party ( political satire with zombies) and 2) Rosa & Bella's Journal of Decline (psychological horror)
3) A Slow Burn: A Post-Apocalyptic Horror Novella.
Shah Wharton
Learn, read, learn. Rinse and repeat. Learn from criticism, from the authors your read (the good and the bad), from the incredible online writing community, and from the gold-dust among teachers - your readers.
Shah Wharton
Living in my imagination. Giving a voice and face to the characters I love, living vicariously through my characters.
Shah Wharton
I watch a favourite movie (or TV series) or read a book, those I know will inspire me.
Eg. Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, True Blood books and early TV series. Also the 28 Weeks/Days Later movies. It depends on what I'm writing.
I also shake the cobwebs by going for a walk while listening to music, or drinking a coffee, alone, in a busy cafe. Take notes, feel the world around me.
Eg. Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, True Blood books and early TV series. Also the 28 Weeks/Days Later movies. It depends on what I'm writing.
I also shake the cobwebs by going for a walk while listening to music, or drinking a coffee, alone, in a busy cafe. Take notes, feel the world around me.
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