Welcome to Day Two of my Halloween Week!
Today I have a fascinating interview with psychological thriller author Kelly Charron who stops by to chat about her books, serial killers and a touch of horror. And don't forget to check out the Halloween Instafreebie Horror Giveaway featured after the interview. Enjoy!
Interview With Kelly Charron
My name is Kelly Charron and I am a thriller and
urban fantasy author for teens and adults. I love all things dark and spooky.
Halloween is my favorite holiday and it’s pretty difficult to scare me, though
I love it! I have worked as a hairstylist and social worker (more similar that
you’d think) and currently work as an education assistant with elementary
school children.
Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?
I’m currently
promoting the second book in my Pretty Wicked Series, WICKED FALLOUT. It is a
psychological thriller that follows the main character, a twenty-seven-year-old
woman named Ryann Wilkanson, who is in a maximum-security prison for claiming
multiple victims when she was just fifteen years old in her attempt to become a
serial killer. Wicked Fallout puts you in Ryann’s head once again but also
features the point of view of a forensic psychiatrist named Dr. Nancy Clafin,
who is given the arduous task of assessing Ryann when new evidence comes to
light that may allow Ryann a commuted sentence.
How long have you
been writing, and how many books have you published to date?
I have been writing seriously for about eleven years now I
think, though much of the first five years of that was interrupted as I pursued
both an English Lit and Social Work degree. I have two novels published and am
working hard on the next one, which is the fifth book that I’ll have written.
I’d love to write quicker but I have so much going with my day job and a few
side jobs that I can find it challenging to get to my laptop.
How did you become
interested in writing?
I’ve always loved stories and would devour them in any form.
I thought about writing for years but was so intimidated by the prospect that I
kept putting it off, but it was a passion that wouldn’t let go and so I began
buying Writer’s Digest Magazines and books on writing. I studied the craft for
a few years before finally jumping in. I started with a young adult urban
fantasy and did many things wrong, but I learned so much along the way. I was
hooked. I try and talk myself out of being a writer all the time since writing
and publishing can be such a whirlwind of challenges but it’s such a part of
who I am that I won’t ever leave it behind. It centers me and makes me content.
When I can’t write for a few days, I start to get irritable and miserable. It’s
not even a conscious thing. I have to stop and look at what could be bothering
me and it’s almost always that I haven’t had time to write.
What’s your next
project? Any upcoming book secrets you care to reveal?
The latest book
I’m writing is tentatively titled Blood Knot. It’s another thriller! Blood Knot centers around three women who have been
friends since they were young. One of them is engaged and the three spend a
night celebrating an intimate bachelorette party at a local pub. They split up,
but two of them get a phone call the next morning from the fiancé saying that
their friend never made it home. Her purse and keys are found on her front
lawn, proof that she made it back, just never inside. It’s far more than a
kidnapping story. I don’t want to give away the twists and turns (of which
there are many) but there’s quite a bit of drama between the friends left
behind. I’m exploring the idea of how well you really know the people in your
life, including what they are actually capable of doing under the right, or
wrong, circumstances.
Do you have a favorite
character? If so, why?
I’d have to say
Hannibal Lecter (Sir Anthony Hopkins portrayal only) because he is so charming
and charismatic. We loathe him but are fascinated with him and are compelled to
see what he does next. He’s complicated and clearly has a past that has
informed who he’s become. When you get into his backstory you realize that
there’s so much more to him and it becomes much clearer why he’s become the
psychopath that he has. The layers of complexity in his backstory leave the
audience almost feeling empathy for him and temporarily suspend the fact that
he’s a sadistic serial killer who brutalizes people. I also find it interesting
that he can keep the mask on for so long that most people who meet him have no
idea who he is or what he’s capable of.
Why did you decide to write in the thriller genre?
I have always loved to be afraid, even as a little kid. My
interests have always tended to sway toward the darker side of things whether
it be novels, TV, or films. The adrenaline rush and anticipation that comes
with thrillers and horror have always be so fun to me and I wanted to create
something where I could embark that same sense of enjoyable dread onto others
LOL. I enjoy creating a mysterious ambiance and setting with dark, complicated
characters that are so fascinating you can’t look away, even if you want to. I
grew up on Stephen King (TV, Film, and his novels). I craved a safe place to
experience that type of fear and suspense and often found it in his work. This
is probably why it takes a lot to scare me now (desensitized LOL). However, I’m
not a fan of gruesome and graphic for the safe of shock value. I’m not a fan of
a lot of mindless horror movies that simply show people being butchered with no
actual plot or character development.
What is the hardest
part of writing thriller fiction?
The hardest part for me is making sure my work is as
original as possible. I love horror and thriller tropes and think there is
always a place for classic elements like the creepy house up on the hill with
ravens perched on the rooftop, but I strive to do something that I’ve yet to
see. I will often aspire to take something that’s been done before and spin it
on its head. There are tons of serial killer books, usually a detective going
after a male killer, so in my novel Pretty Wicked, I wrote a peppy, blonde,
teenage cheerleader as the serial killer and put the reader in her head instead
of in the detectives.
Did anything surprise you about the process of
writing your book?
My research was very surprising. I delved into the crime
world, specifically serial killers and child/teenager killers, to learn as much
as I could about motivation, execution of crimes, how they were caught, the
legal system etc… I want my novels to be as accurate and credible as possible,
so it’s important for me to know the realities of a subject before I take it
and extrapolate upon it. I was shocked to find so many young people who planned
and executed murder. It was quite disturbing. I thought a few here and there,
but I was confronted with hundreds of killers from all over the world, under
twenty years old, going back in time to the early 1800s. Many of these killers,
especially in the past thirty years, were teenage girls, which completely
destroyed what I thought I knew about the profile of a killer.
Kelly Charron is the author of YA and adult horror, psychological thrillers and urban fantasy novels. All with gritty, murderous inclinations and some moderate amounts of humor. She spends far too much time consuming true crime television (and chocolate) while trying to decide if yes, it was the husband, with the wrench, in the library. Kelly has a degree in English Literature as well as a Social Work degree. She has worked as a hairstylist, youth outreach worker and education assistant. She lives with her husband and cat, Moo Moo, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Website: http://kellycharron.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Facebook: https://goo.gl/UNkH3g
Goodreads: https://goo.gl/rf4NlM
🎃
And now for the giveaway...
Over 30 Free Books and Stories in this horror giveaway!
Check it all out here!
Halloween Horror Giveaway!
And be sure to return tomorrow for this year's Halloween Week Dark Poetry Corner.
