Merry meet all,

 Today’s post focuses on an author interview I am part of. I hope you enjoy reading the interview.

Interview With Author Heddy Johannesen

Q: If you could have a fantasy pet, what would you have and why?
A: A black shiny raven that talks. I already have a cat. The raven would be my eyes and ears
to the world, and report back to me!

Q: What type of music best describes your writing?
A: I listen to scary music to get into the mindset. When I wrote Cult of the Spider People,
listening to the Alien soundtrack helped me write the dark morbid parts of the story. I
also listen to Heilung, Viking music which is a part of my ancestry.

Q: Tell us about your writing office/space and why it’s special to you.
A: My writing space is in my small bedroom in my small apartment. Cozy, well lit, with tons of
books and files, writing supplies, cat hair. I feel like I can be my most creative self in my
little nook. It’s special because it is full of cool knickknacks like I just went shopping at
Hogwarts. It feels comfortable. I brought nature indoors. Leaves, vines, flowers, crystal balls,
candles, cauldrons.

Q: What is your favorite piece of visual art that has inspired a story or two?
A: I like skull art. I really like skulls. I have skulls on dishes, journals, jewelry. I think they
are like a representation of someone’s life, used to be in a shell of a living human body.
Skulls are beautiful and yet dark, because they are a part of death and yet if clean, intact,
like they go on after death.

Q: If you didn’t write full-time what would your day job be? Is writing a hobby for you?
A: I love to write. I love to read. I am studying to be a professional herbalist. I would be
holed up drinking coffee, poring over ancient herbals and making tinctures and syrups.
Writing is not a hobby. I love to write but I have to find a way to support myself so I can
write.

Q: What is your writing schedule and how many words do you write in a sitting?
A: I write on my blog. I write about a few thousand words in a sitting. It depends on the
project. I like to write flash fiction, stories. I am also writing a ghost nonfiction book.

Q: How do you celebrate publishing a new story?
A: I pet my cat, maybe have some wine, treat myself to something nice.

Q: How do you balance your outside life with your writing life?
A: I try to blend both. I love to visit cemeteries. I take photos in cemeteries for the HWA
newsletter. I do find it challenging sometimes to work on my horror writing and my
herbalism course studies. But I do the best I can. Cemeteries inspire me too. Sometimes I
write there in a cemetery.

Q: Write your eulogy in three sentences.
A: Here lies a dead poet. Her horror stories live on beyond the grave. She wished to be buried
with her books and pens to pen more morbid novels and short stories in her coffin.

Q: What project are you most proud of completing?
A: I believe that I am most proud of completing Cult of the Spider People. It was not like
any story I have ever written before. It was extremely challenging. I grew as a writer. I
will not ever be the same. It brought me out of my comfort zone. I learned so much, had
to improve my writing, realize when a manuscript is and is not ready to be submitted and
overcome a nasty scam editor. Everything was thrown at me but I am happy that I sailed
past those conflicts. I am proud that my short story, The Grimm Pumpkin, was published
four times. I completed a small book of poetry and I am happy about my novella, Cult of
the Spider People.

Q: Do you have any projects you would like to tell your readers about?
A: I have had a few flash fiction stories published in anthologies by Wicked Shadow Press. I
have a few pieces published in the Horror Zine.

Q: Who is your favorite character from any of your stories and why? If you had to choose a
popular author to continue writing this character in another book who would you choose
and why?
A: I would say that Piper Marshall, the main character from Cult of the Spider People is a
character I would continue to write in another book. She is not like me at all. She is great
but impatient and stubborn and young and brave. She was a lot of fun to write. She loves
and cares about those closest to her. She would make a huge sacrifice for someone she
cares about and goes through all these dangerous experiences in the novella.

Q: Where can your readers find you on social media?
A: I am on Facebook and Twitter. My cat is on Instagram at #pennygingercat. I can be found on
Twitter at magicka66, on Facebook where I have a page – the Paranormal Quill. I also
have a blog titled The Paranormal Quill.

Bio: My fiction has appeared in The Horror Zine, Yule Cat Codex, Halloweenthology: Trick or Treat, Polar Borealis, Wax and Wane: A Gathering of Witchy Tales, Ghosts, Spirits and Spectres Volume 2, Handbook of the Dead, Samhain Secrets, One Night in Salem, Feminine Macabre, Paranormal Chronicles and Untimely Frost: Poetry Unthawed. I’m a member of the Horror Writers Association and co-chair of the Horror Writers Association chapter for Atlantic Canada. I’ve attended the virtual Horror Writers Association Annual Convention StokerCon, in 2021, 2022 and 2023. I participated in the online From Idea to Finished First Draft Masterclass with Jonathan Maberry in June 2023, the Three Prime Rules of Writing Horror Webinar with Mort Castle in October 2020 and a mentorship with Tim Waggoner. I graduated from a Copy-Editing Certification Training at Writer’s Digest in July 2020 and a Bachelor of Arts degree. I’m a writer with a fascination for the paranormal.