It’s my pleasure today to have Inion N. Mathair over to talk about their latest book, From the Dark and Twisted Mind of Inion N. Mathair. As I said on Friday when they interviewed me about Midnight Abyss, these two ladies were one of the first to follow me when I started blogging a year ago and they’ve been nothing but supportive.
So I’m thrilled to be able to welcome them and support them back! I highly recommend you check out their blog, Two voices…One Thought.
Now on to the interview=)
Welcome Inion N. Mathair. It’s wonderful to have you here for my first interview.
INM: Thank you for having us, Jennifer. We can’t tell you what an honor it is to be here on Adventure Awaits for our first interview regarding our short story collection.
Your other two books are novels, this one’s a short story collection. What inspired you to put this book together?
INM: We are always writing. In between our novels, we prefer doing short stories to keep our minds churning and the creative juices flowing. When Halloween rolled around we figured it would be a great venue to launch the dark stories we’d written, as you very well know with your short story anthology, Midnight Abyss.
Considering the title, is this a horror book?
INM: Yes. But, we’ve always had a dark edge to our writing that we’ve embraced rather than shy away from. The collection was just a few of the ideas we had running around our twisted minds while working on our novels.
What kind of stories can we look forward to? (Not asking for spoilers but if you’d like to put in a short clip, that’s cool).
INM: We’ve tried to incorporate all kinds of different horrors. There are a few psychological thrillers, some otherworldly villains with a splash of traditional scares as well. This is an excerpt from the first tale entitled, The Confession:
“Bless me, father, for I have sinned.”
“Tell me your sins, my son.”
The stranger sighs, “I should, Father. It would be so comforting to unload these burdens on someone who could offer me absolution, but I’m afraid that there are some sins that can’t be confessed, some souls that shouldn’t be forgiven.”
How intriguing=)
How long have the two of you been writing together?
INM: A little over six years, but separately the two of us have been writing most of our lives.
Do you have any other writing projects that we can look forward to?
INM: Yes, we have two YA novels available right now, The Perfect 7 and Nightwalkers: The Secret of Jessup. In spring we’ll also be launching our MG/YA novel New Salem Chronicles: The 13 Reapers.
You are a mother and daughter writing team. Tell us a little about how that works.
INM: We couldn’t have started a writing duo had we not have had an excellent mother/daughter relationship. We’ve always been close, best friends really, and our minds are eerily similar. We’ve found a formula that works and is almost effortless. Of course, there are times when tussles arise (most of the time that’s due to a lack of sleep), but the beauty of Inion N. Mathair is the love that we feel for each other. For us, the most important thing is our bond, but we’re professionals first and foremost so the work is never neglected.
That’s awesome. I don’t know many people who’d call writing with another person effortless.
Do you have any suggestions for writers interested in co-authoring a book?
INM: Communication is key. Always keep an open line and an open mind when working with another author.
Do you have a writing routine?
INM: Before a story is ever written, we have a powwow and talk it out. The blueprinting comes next, (this is actually Inion’s favorite part) and then we assign chapters based on our strengths and weaknesses. Inion will usually go for the action sequences, recaps and big endings, while I prefer eye-catching openings, dialogue and romance/drama.
What influences your writing?
INM: Anything and everything really. We’ve noticed that it’s the stranger things in life that revs our engine and we love being challenged. One of our short stories in the collection was inspired by a poem that we wrote and that has been entered in the Tennessee Williams poetry contest. Another one of the short stories was a challenge from my son and Inion’s brother for a zombie story with wicked twist. What’s great about art is that inspiration can come from anywhere.
Sounds awesome! Here are the links for anyone who’d like to find out more about From the Dark and Twisted Mind.
Links:
Facebook:
From the Dark and Twisted Mind
Twitter:
Blog:
Print Copy:
Thank you so much Inion N. Mathair! I look forward to reading you collection of stories=)
Blessings,
Jennifer
