Lori Titus - Author Interview

Today I am joined by author, Lori Titus, to talk about her latest release - a collection of short horror stories called Green Water Lullaby.

Hello Lori and welcome.

1) Perhaps you could start by telling us a bit about yourself and your writing in general?
 
I'm from Southern California, and I've been writing stories since I was about ten years old. In the last three years or so I finally got serious about getting my work published. So far I have written two novellas, one novel and a webserial, and many short stories. When I'm not working on my own stories or going about my day job, I'm the editor for a webzine called Flashes in the Dark.

2) Green Water Lullaby brings together some very different tales. Did you plan the anthology as a complete work or were these stories you had written at different times and only recently decided to bring together?

The stories were written over a period of a few months as an exercise. I wanted to try writing about characters that were different from those in my webserial. As I wrote, I created a fictional town called Chrysalis, South Carolina. Once I decided that all the stories were going to take place there, I felt the books should be put together in a collection.

3) Do you have a favourite out of all the tales in the book?

The title story is my favorite. There is a dreaminess about it that drew me in.

4) What draws you to this particular genre of writing and who or what would you say are your inspirations? In your opinion, what is the key to writing a successful horror story?

I am always fascinated by things unseen, unknown, or only speculated at. I like stories that have a different sort of edge to them, something that makes you think twice about the characters and what happens to them. A successful horror story doesn't just scare the reader. It makes the reader care for these characters, understand them on some level. When the danger appears, it becomes that much more real and urgent.

5) Some of the tales feature characters who 'get away'. Do you plan to revisit any of these characters at a later date?

I would love to write about the characters in Brotherhood again. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I hope to soon!

6) What else have you been working on lately? What other new releases can we expect to see from you this year?

I just finished a novella called The Moon Goddess, which is a  prequel to The Maradith Ryder Series. I'm working on getting it polished and properly edited before I start sending it out for consideration. Another novella named Hailey's Shadow should be coming out later this year, and I have already started a new book.

7) Where can readers get a copy of Green Water Lullaby and where can they go to find out more about you and your writing?

Green Water Lullaby is available through Wicked Nights.

To find out more about me, readers can visit my blog or sample some of my stories on my flash fiction website, Flashes in the Dark.