Karen Black

As a child, I loved books. My family didn’t have much money, but we always had lots of books. In grade school, reading was my favorite subject. I remember the thrill of being able to understand the words without someone reading them to me. That morphed into a love of writing. Throughout school, I preferred essay tests to multiple choice.

Unless I’m embroiled in writing, I read daily, sometimes for pleasure and sometimes for research, which is also somewhat of a pleasure.

I was out of high school for four years and working full time before I started college.

There are more things that I wish people younger than me knew.

My first book, “Long Stories Short” was published in 2014, two years after one of my short stories was included in an anthology. It is a collection of ten short stories, most with a touch of paranormal, all with an unexpected twist.

The best experience was probably seeing the book’s first review from a stranger who loved it. As for the worst experience, that came four years later, with my first novel, “Race into Murder,” a mystery set at a thoroughbred racetrack.

I corrected a typo and downloaded what I thought was the corrected version of the manuscript. Instead, I somehow managed to download an old version that had a dozen mistakes. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it for more than a month. When someone commented on the number of errors, I pulled up the manuscript and was appalled. Now I number the updates and delete the old manuscripts.

Length is the difference. They are classified by word count. A novelette is a long, short story, and a novella is a short, long story. A long story is a novel. But no matter how many words a story contains, the storyline needs a protagonist and an antagonist or two. Dialogue ought to be realistic. The writer should establish the setting and pull the reader into the story. In any work of fiction, characters must be developed so the reader can identify with them, form an opinion about them, like or dislike them. Whether a short story, a novel or anything in between, the plot must carry through so that the story has a beginning, a middle and an end.

In much the same way that many fairytales have a moral, fantasy can have a moral and can address a myriad of issues: social, legal, political or religious. For example, I would create characters and put them in situations where a decision must be made or the future seems inflexible. Then, I’d use magic, mysticism or clairvoyance to address the issue and determine the outcome. Alternatively, magical characters could be created, with stubborn viewpoints on opposite sides of an identifiable issue and battle it out with the pros and cons made part of the fight.

I adore animals. They are a large part of my life and a large part of the lives of a lot of people. Most animals react instinctively and love unconditionally. They have an almost magical way of understanding and communicating, which works well with the fiction that I write.

Juan created himself, and his creation became my inspiration. Halfway through the first draft, he jumped into my head and said, “You need me.” He was correct. It wasn’t until the third draft that he became a central character and the personality that he is.

The crime should be established with a variety of suspects who have opportunity and a possible motive. The protagonist must face obstacles and make a bad decision or two, as opposed to having things consistently go their way. I like an antagonist whose role is not what it appears, as well as a red herring. I prefer complexity and believe that twists are important.

An understanding of the criminal justice system, basic knowledge of forensics, criminal law, and criminal investigations allows me to write realistically while creating fictional criminals, crimes and the consequences.

Simply stated, with animals, wild or domestic, what you see is what you get. Some can be tamed, some can be trained, but in the end, they are who they are and their instincts direct them.

I used to train dogs. A man called and asked if I would train his four-month-old wolf-canine hybrid, 85-15. I agreed. The pup was like any domestic dog until he wasn’t. For no reason I could determine, he decided he wanted to be in charge and tried to bite me. That was the wolf challenging. I was able to settle him, end the issue, and keep control.

After the training course was finished, I didn’t hear from the owner for close to a year. One day, he called. He was in the area and wanted to stop by and show me how his pup had grown and how well behaved he was. They got out of the car and the man was amazed at his pet’s reaction. Normally aloof, he rubbed his head against my leg, then wagged and bowed. He remembered when he unsuccessfully challenged me. I had become the alpha and he hadn’t forgotten. He was trained like a dog, but acted like a wolf. Animals are who they are.

Supernatural explains events that are otherwise unexplained: ghostly apparitions, strange lights in the sky, shadows in the corner, visions, dreams that come true, cards that predict the future. It allows people to believe that anything is possible.

The paranormal can be fun, like an invisible family of fairies that live in the garden or a giant, half-human creature that lives undetected in the forests. It can be comforting, like a butterfly landing on your hand after the passing of a loved one who loved butterflies, or the whisper of a familiar voice in the darkness. It allows our imagination to run wild, magic can be real, and ghosts can walk among us. It allows us to believe.

If the Lord is willing, I will still be writing ten years from now. While I would love to be a bestselling author, my goal is simply to continue to write stories that people enjoy.

A friend mentioned AllAuthor. I looked it up and have been pleased with the services offered. The review GIF makers and mockups have been particularly helpful and I appreciate the automatic tweets.