Each day of The Crossroads Tour, a new question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the 16 different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all 16 answers by the end of the tour, on Halloween. Go HERE to get today's question and links.
Today's guest for the Crossroads Tour is author Kitty Keswick. Her novel Freaksville, came out in earlier in 2010. She writes about a gifted teen girl and a shape-shifting hottie.
Did you have a book that you read either in Middle School or High School that scared you the most? What was it and what about it scared you?
It wasn’t a book per say, but a movie Exorcist, I still can’t watch the darn thing without having my fingers in front of my eyes. I’d take on werewolves or vamps any day but a preteen spewing pea soup gives me the heebie jeebies.
Did you have a paranormal experience that prompted you in writing the story that you did?
My family sorta draws ghosts around them. I’ve seen a few in my day, had things move in front of me, seen shadows passing through walls. My least favorite thing is having my name called out when I know nobody is there with me. I’ve had that happen a few times. So it was natural to use ghosts and Kasey’s (my heroine in FREAKSVILLE) ability to see them. I just toss in a hairy twist.
Where did you get the idea for your story? Did you use a real life situation and put a twist on it?
Yes and no. while I don’t write about real people every author draws on their experiences to create believable worlds. I wrote FREAKSVILLE like I talk and Kasey is me in many ways and many ways she’s not. Every character is the author a small snippet of their souls.
Did you have a favorite paranormal/horror story writer as a child/teen that you wanted to emulate? If so, who and why?
As a Kid: it was Steven King. Now: I like Kelley Armstrong, Charlaine Harris, but they’re not horror, more paranormal.
What kind of research did you do for your story and did you run into anything weird while you were doing research?
I research a lot fire, England, the 1940’s. I even traveled to Scotland. It wasn’t weird but cool to see the castle where my heroine’s namesake derives. You’ll learn more about the clan wars as the series progresses.
What helps you to create characters that people will feel passionate about either in liking them or disliking them?
Keeping them real, giving them faults and quirks. Like Kasey’s list making. Even their words they chose. It makes them more human.
If you could have a supernatural power or gift what would it be?
I’d like the ability to travel instantly and walk through walls. It would save a fortune on travel expenses.
Thanks Kitty for stopping by and answering some questions.
For more information about Kitty Keswick and her novel, check out her website:
http://kittykeswick.com/ or at http://wolfychicks.blogspot.com/
You can find Kitty on twitter: @kittykeswick
You can check out the book trailer for Freaksville below.
