I discovered recently that I enjoy writing horror. Very odd thing to realize about oneself after writing over a dozen romances.
How did I discover this?
I stumbled upon a flash fiction contest and was immediately intrigued. Flash fiction? 1000 words or less? Ooo, a challenge!
And, oh my, what a challenge it is! I had never before tried short stories let alone short short stories. I attempted to write one in my comfort zone, ie, Regency England. Somehow, the words were not flowing.
How, I asked myself, can you possibly put someone in a historical time in less than 1000 words and incorporate the excitement of a complete story? This may be possible if the reader is a fan of Regency romance who already has a fairly decent knowledge of the time. To put a newbie there, however, is challenging.
I stopped. Looked up some examples of flash fiction. Pondered the concept.
Then it happened. I opened a blank page and started typing, just letting the words take me where they would. It was thrilling!
So my story ended up contemporary. And not romance. At all. I was quite shocked to discover I'd written a horror-ish story.
I made my husband read it, unsure of this new area into which I'd stumbled.
He asked me to turn it into a full-length novel.
(That was high praise indeed considering horror/thriller is his favorite genre and he's quite picky about it.)
I won't go into the story here. I want to enter it in the contest. When that is over, I'll post it here and on my goodreads profile. It will then be open to comments and constructive criticism.
Don't forget, the 30 Days, 30 Prizes Contest is still on. You still have 5 days to enter for the June 1st prize!
Happy reading, writing and blogging!
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