Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel
SPIRITS Publication: July 22, 2019 Haverhill House Publishing
Sheri,
Thank you for taking your time for my audience and myself ~
Who are your influences?
My influences are wide-ranging. I grew up reading a
lot of modern horror masters, but I also draw a lot of inspiration from masters
of the grotesque like Flannery O’Connor, Nikolai Gogol, Franz Kafka, Carson McCullers,
and William Faulkner. My formative years as a writer were also spent reading a
lot of classics, but there’s very little rhyme or reason to my influences among
those writers. It’s a jumble of things from Poe to Hawthorne to Camus.
When did you begin writing?
I started writing short stories when I was about
seven or so. I began submitting my work to magazines when I was about 15. They
were terrible! I suspect a lot of editors realized I was quite young. I received
a lot of kind personal notes with my rejections encouraging me to keep
writing.
How do you come up with your stories, characters, character
names, POV, etc.?
My process is rather random. Sometimes I start with
a name and flesh out the details. Other times, I start with a vague plot and
choose character names that are meaningful to that plot. I lean towards third-person
limited as my go-to POV because I feel most comfortable with it, but I will
write in first person if I feel the story demands it. Third-person omniscient
is tougher for me, and I don’t think I’ve ever written in second person.
If you could actually meet one of your characters, who would
it be? Why?
I’d most like to meet Amelia Warren from Spirits.
She’s an optimist and a people-pleaser, much like myself. She’s the kind of
person who just wants to help, but I admire that she knows her limits,
recognizes when she’s being taken advantage of, and takes no crap.
Do you work from an outline?
I’m mostly a pantser, but I generally have an idea
of where I’m going with the plot. I develop a rough mental outline and leave
plenty of space for creativity.
Tell me about your favorite scene in your novel(s).
The scene from Spirits that most sticks out to me
involves my protagonist, Tori Garrett, stepping into the shower only to see the
distorted outline of a person through the shower door. I won’t give anything
away, but it’s creepy and claustrophobic and pretty terrifying!
Can you tell us a little about your writing philosophy?
My writing philosophy is to put the characters
first. Write about people above all else. Plot is vital, but it means nothing
if we don’t care what happens to the characters in your book.
Have you ever tried writing in any other genres?
Absolutely! My first love was science fiction. I
have a few science fiction projects I’m fleshing out now. “Revolt,” which is
set to appear in the charity anthology Dystopian States of America later this
year, is a cyberpunk story. I’ve also written noir, suspense, and pulp.
Do you have any interesting writing-related anecdotes to
share?
My husband-to-be, Matt Bechtel, and I are both
writers, and we draw so much inspiration and motivation from each other. I’ve
heard people say, “Never date a writer,” but we both broke that rule, and I
think we’re better for it. If you can find someone who pushes you to be better
every day and inspires you to keep going in an industry that is competitive and
sometimes soul-crushing, you’re quite lucky. But I’m the luckiest of all!
Do you listen to music as you write?
Definitely. I often program project-specific
playlists. Music is essential to my process.
Where is your favorite place to read?
I have a special reading chair in front of our
fireplace that is a divine place to read. I also read in bed a lot.
What is the current book you’re reading?
I’m reading A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli
Clark.
Sheri, here are some suggestions I feel readers would like to
read:
The inspiration behind your book, the benefits of your book
for the reader and any personal related story compared with the world of your book
~
The inspiration for Spirits is, unsurprisingly,
tragic. In my hometown, a teenager was struck and killed by a motorist. As a
mother, I can’t even imagine the horror and sorrow his family went through.
Then I started thinking about the person who killed him. Slowly, a story
developed about a person who accidentally takes a life and how their life
unravels in the aftermath. Tori, incidentally, is named for my real-life best
friend, Tori Boone. She was quite amused that my train wreck of a protagonist was
named for her.
On the behalf of my readers Sheri, thank you again ~
✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒
About the author ~
Connect with Sheri
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