| Blog Interview for Quad City Book Fair |
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| Written by Sylvia Shults |
This blog interview was posted for the upcoming Quad City Book Fair. You can see interviews for other authors at http://www.qcbookfair.blogspot.com/.Meet Sylvia Shults (1) When did you first start writing?
I started writing in high school. Most of it was the usual angsty pubescent poetry. Thank goodness I moved beyond that in college. I realized I was horrible at poetry, and further, that it bored me. So I started writing fiction instead.
(2) What was the impetus for your writing?
I don't remember what the impetus was to start. The impetus to continue, though, I remember very well. People were reading what I'd written, and they liked it. There's absolutely nothing like that feeling. Nothing. To know that you made something up, and somebody else enjoyed it enough to sit still for the time and attention it took to read it.
 (3) What type of writing do you enjoy most?
Man, that's a tough one! I write both horror and romance, and I hugely enjoy both genres. I guess the one I'm working in at the time is my favorite. I know that's a weaselly answer, but really, it's the way I feel. Whatever I'm in the mood for, that's my favorite.
(4) Do you have a blog and, if so, what subjects do you write about when blogging?
I don't really have a blog. I do a lot of writing on Facebook, though. I've got three fan pages -- Ghosts of the Illinois River, of course, then I have Darkheart (for my horror fiction) and Sparkleheart (for my romance fiction). On Darkheart, I usually do book reviews of whatever horror novel I'm reading at the time. On Sparkleheart, I do romance novel reviews, and fun stuff like recipes and "50 Things About Me" essays. And the GIR page is where I put all the ghost stories I didn't have room for in the original book!
(5) What are you working on now?
My upcoming project is a romance novel called Double Double Love and Trouble. It's about a TV producer who goes to Salem to scout out a show for his ghosthunting program. He meets a practicing Wiccan, who isn't impressed by his Hollywood ways (she thinks he's a jerk). Sparks fly! And yes, there's a ghost. ;)
(6) What is your earliest writing memory?
My earliest storytelling memory comes from, oh, middle grade school. I grew up in Chicago, and we'd have these wonderful winters when snow fell nearly every day, it seemed, and I'd go out and shovel our walk, and the neighbors' walks, and get tired out before I could go bug the folks farther down the street about shovelling THEIR walks too. I'd make up all kinds of stories to tell myself to alleviate the boredom of all that snow shovelling. (Many times, the stories consisted of me being "interviewed" by Dan Curtis of Channel 2 News. I liked his voice, and it was fun to imagine him talking to me, holding a microphone for me and feigning interest as I whined about how "spring was never going to get here". Yeah, I was a complete dork in grade school.)
(7) Anyone in your life who got you started writing that you'd like to thank or mention?
When I was in college, my Classics professor, Tom Sienkewicz, used to let me write stories instead of papers for his classes. (And he required a paper a week, so they really added up.) He was the one who pointed out to me that people actually, sometimes, get paid for writing stories. Eternal thanks, Uncle Tom, for the encouragement!
(8) Your favorite writing/reading?
I read voraciously and omnivorously. But you asked for my favorites, so I'll try to narrow it down. I LOVE horror fiction. I love well-written horror by the likes of King, Joe Hill, Rachel Vincent, and Jay Bonansinga, but I'm equally sucked in by the schlocky paperback novels with the dark covers (usually the ones that feature a doll's head with blank eyes, or an abandoned house, or, I don't know, a bloody axe or something). I enjoy reading romance, but only if it's funny. Or paranormal. Or both. I particularly enjoy books by people that have had ferociously horrible childhoods, especially if they can now find some grace and humor in them now that they're adults. (Augusten Burroughs is one of my favorites. So is Jeannette Walls.) I love reading anything that's funny, fiction or nonfiction. And of course I'll read anything involving ghosts.
(9) Any last words?
Umm...never pet a burning dog.
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