Danita Minnis

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The author will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

Author Interview: Shelly Campbell

Danita, thanks so much for having me on!

1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book?

My genres kind of chose me. I’ve always enjoyed reading fantasy and sci-fi, and stories with a bit of a darker feel to them have led me to gravitate toward the occasional horror book too. I consistently write weird, difficult-to-categorize, dark fiction.

Breach, book 2 in the Dark Walker series, I wrote because I fell in love with the characters and world in book one, and I wanted to spend more time there, expand, make the stakes bigger and the consequences worse, as well as answer some of the questions I laid down in book one, Gulf. I like the idea of a character who feels invisible evolving into someone who’ll risk it all to save the world that can’t see him.

2. Writers write what they know and must observe the world. Are you a first born, middle or last child and how does this shape your view of the world?

I’m a first born. I’m really not sure how that’s affected the lens I view the world with. I’ve got a strong moral compass. I’m comfortable with my own company and don’t mind being alone—prefer it at times, actually! I’m a bit of a people pleaser and conflict avoidant so I suppose some of those traits rub off on my characters too.

3. Where is your favorite place to write?

Outside in my backyard, but the weather here is quite temperamental, so that doesn’t happen often. I do like writing in hotel rooms when I’m traveling alone to conferences or events. There’s something about getting some good take-away and a nice cold drink, and settling into a room where there’re no distractions, and no errands or chores to lure you away.

4. How do you feel about killing your darlings, and what do you do with the remains?

I happily kill my darlings! And by kill, I mean delete them from a manuscript but copy them into a blank document full of dead darlings so that it doesn’t actually feel like I’ve killed them. The original intent was to revisit dead scenes and cannibalize them elsewhere if needed. The thing is, I rarely do that. So, I’m left with a mish-mash of dead scenes and ideas that have never made it into the book, but the book hasn’t suffered because of it and neither have I. Once I’ve finished a project, it’s a great visual reminder of how much chaff I separate from a book to get it to its cleanest, most polished form.

5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them?

Most of my favorite authors are my critique partners, Al Hess, Darby Harn, Essa Hansen, Jennifer Lane, Sunyi Dean. I have yet to meet the majority of them face-to-face, but consider them to be good friends. I suppose my question would be ‘Hey, do you like me? Check yes or no.’ J

6. Inquiring minds want to know…tell readers something about you that no one knows.

Oh wow. No-one? That’s tough because I’m a pretty wide-open book. My husband and kids hear everything that goes on inside my head, so I imagine they know this even though I’ve never outright said it. I could very easily be a hermit. If I’d never met my husband, I’d be on a tiny piece of land outside of some small town, in a tiny house, mostly happy fiddling with whatever my latest project was, but occasionally lonely.

7. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a back pack for company. What three items are in your survival pack?

Well, look at that. Next question and I’m a hermit already! Careful what you wish for, I suppose. I’m too damned practical. A good multi tool knife with a flint. Bug netting. Endless supply of potatoes. Fish, grouse, and potatoes wouldn’t be bad fare. I wouldn’t need books, because I could just write them with charcoal and bark J

8. If you could have one super power in your existence, what would it be?

The ability to grant a meaningful, purposeful, happy life to myself and anyone else I meet. A gal can dream, right?

9. Favorite snack?

Homemade French fries. See endless potato answer above.

10. Indy 500 – Do you know how to get where you’re going or do you drive the speed limit?

Gosh. I’m boring as heck. Like, we just went over that my favourite food is potatoes and I’d like to be a hermit. Speed limit for sure. I’m a hesitant enough driver as is.

DARK WALKER SERIES

Shelly Campbell

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GENRE:   Speculative Fiction/Horror/ Dark Sci-fi

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Series Blurb:

When we were children, they told us monsters weren’t real. They were dead wrong.

It’s just a closet door with a skeleton key, but when David opens it, he unlocks a gateway to a sinister world that’s bent on destroying everything and everyone he loves. Some doors are better left closed.

Embark on a thrilling journey with the Dark Walker Series, and be transported into an interdimensional tale of monsters, lies and self-discovery. Where the terror of darkness is real and the line between ally and enemy is as thin as a blade.

“Equal parts coming of age story and otherworldly horror, Gulf probes the depths of loneliness, loss of identity and childhood trauma. It is a true treat for fans of the genre and had me clutched in its razor-clawed hands from the first word to the last.” -C.M. Forest author of Infested

Book One Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old David is fading from his world, like a Polaroid picture in reverse. He longs to feel connected to something bigger.

When his brothers discover the new extension at the rental cottage comes with a locked door, David finds the key first. Expecting to claim a bedroom, he opens a dimensional gateway instead, exploring abandoned versions of his world in different timelines, 1960s muscle cars alternating with crumbling cottages.

Except now the dimensional bridge won’t close, and something hungry claws the door at night. David scours for clues to break the bridge, but each trip to the other side makes him fade more on his. Even if he succeeds, he risks severing his connection to his own world, and dying on the wrong side, forgotten.

Book Two Blurb:

There are doors that open to other worlds, but it’s no fairytale on the other side.

I thought otherworldly monsters bent on devouring my whole world starting with my family trumped everything. Turns out, I was wrong. My world’s only one of thousands facing annihilation from the maneaters that tried to eat me alive. Charlie saved me, rolled into my life on a motorcycle, and rescued me.

Problem is, I’m the Embassy’s property now. They’re the interdimensional agency tasked with stemming the flow of ravenous aliens into our universe, but they seem more interested in studying me. I crashed a gateway in a way they’ve never seen. The Embassy wants to replicate that. I think they want to use me as a war weapon.

If I don’t convince Charlie to help me escape, I’ll be an Embassy science experiment for the rest of my short life, or worse, eternally trapped in the dark hell that fills the spaces between worlds.

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Excerpt from GULF:

“James?” I try again. “Wake up, James. It’s back.”

I need someone else to feel it, to experience the icy breath of air from under the door and see if it’s as foreboding to them as it is to me, or if they can sense it at all.

Maybe it’s just messed up circuitry in my mind.

James doesn’t wake up, just shuffles around in the loft like a slow-motion pinball. Eventually, I climb the ladder and pull the beanbag across the gap in the railing. He’ll break his neck one of these nights. When my feet hit the main floor, the draft washes over them and makes me flinch. I lick my lips and ignore the soft rattle of the five-panel door in its frame.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

At a young age, Shelly Campbell wanted to be an air show pilot or a pirate, possibly a dragon and definitely a writer and artist. She’s piloted a Cessna 172 through spins and stalls, and sailed up the east coast on a tall ship barque—mostly without projectile vomiting. In the end, Shelly found writing and drawing dragons to be so much easier on the stomach. Shelly writes speculative fiction ranging from grimdark fantasy, to sci-fi and horror. She’d love to hear from you.

http://www.shellycampbellauthorandart.com

Tweets by ShellyCFineArt

https://www.instagram.com/shellycampbellfineart

https://www.facebook.com/shellycampbellauthorandart

@shellycampbellauthor

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