Multi-genre author, photographer, and fiber artist Kim McDougall enjoys writing for adults, young adults and children. She's the author of the novellas, Angel Venom and The Stone Beach, as well as various short stories in the dark fantasy and horror categories. Kim is also the founder of the new, growingly popular Blazing Trailers, a site featuring book trailers and previews.
Thanks for this interview, Kim. You write both adult horror and sweet picture books for children. How do you switch modes when writing in these so totally very different genres?
Well, I like to think that my 'voice' doesn't change much, even if the subject matter does. My stories tend to have a lyrical or old-fashioned tone. I've always been fascinated by the darker side of emotions and what drives people to extremes. This is how I started writing. But I'm a curious person by nature and I love animals, so children's fiction gives me an outlet for these types of stories.
Tell us a bit about your horror and dark fantasy stories and novels?
I read a lot of submissions guidelines for magazines and it struck me as odd that many fantasy editors say "No vampire stories." I love vampires, but I realize that they have been done to death (pardon the pun). Still, this inspired me to write a series of vampire stories that I could slip by those editors. I've written four so far, and they've all been picked up for publication. The most recent one is "Black Bet's Home for Toothless Vampires," a dark, humorous tale in this month's Necrotic Tissue Magazine. The editor of Necrotic tissue said he didn't even like vampire stories, so he was impressed with this one.
The others are "Luminari" which is an exploration of how far one man will sink for the love of a vampire. This is available at Eternal Press.
"The Raft" is a psychological fantasy in the old-style, about a two men adrift at sea. One of them believes the other is a vampire. This is in the latest Twisted Tails III anthology, Pure Fear from Double Dragon. The last one is coming out in 2009 in the next Twisted Tails anthology. It's called "Megan's Baby," and is the darkest of all. I also have a novella from Double Dragon called Angel Venom. This is a dark fantasy about man who goes into the wilds of Frontier to convert the savages to his religion, but finds his faith under fire instead. It has all the grandest themes: Love, war, religion and angels that bite. You can read excerpts and see the trailers for all my stories at my site site.
Article comments
1 - Book Chook
So interesting that you like Poe, Kim. I admit I have to struggle with his long sentences and (to me) stilted writing. I think we're spoilt, nowadays, always expecting a fast, exciting read.