- How long have you been writing?
I have been writing fiction all my life. I love stories, the places your imagination takes you. I discovered a flair for words, read voraciously and trained as a journalist. I tell many different stories in different ways, every day. My main journalism is as a radio broadcaster – listening to the stories which people tell. I once interviewed a man on Death Row in Florida, his eyes flat and dead, his body corpulent, and his crime horrific. He had a copy of a Stephen King novel, face down on his bed, dog eared and battered. It was no surprise.
- What is your favorite genre to write?
Horror, the supernatural and paranormal because there are no rules. Exploring the dark side – facing our fears, exploring the unknown – and, this is what really fascinates me – WHY we believe. What is it about the human psyche which attracts us to believe in ghosts, an afterlife, and dark forces? What are we looking for? Has this horror industry created a faith which is more attractive than conventional religion? And how do many convince us that the dead can speak? Do we find that ‘proof’ of an afterlife makes us accept the reality of our lives and ultimate death easier? Whether it is a search for comfort from grief, which I understand and worry could be exploited, or a desire to see or experience what happens after death – we are drawn to it. Horror allows us to visit dark places with that icy thrill of ’what if that is true?’ Horror is a way of safely plumbing the dark depths of fear from the pages of a book. Wonderful.
- Which genre have you never tried before, but would you like to try out?
Humor and satire. There are elements of these in my book Medium Wave. A satire on the modern media and those who work in it. I enjoy sharp humor and enjoy making people smile. I tend to observe people and like to sketch a pen portrait of who they are.
I would also like to write the screen play of Medium Wave and have great fun imagining casting the characters. I have Tom Hardy down to play Bert Brookings. If he is free.
- Please tell us about your book.
‘Medium Wave’ by Rose Zolock, published by Caffeine Nights. Available on Amazon and everywhere Book, eBook, Audio Book.
‘This thing has no defined shape. Whatever energy exists within it, it cannot settle on a shape. The strands of darkness curl out and then wrap back inwards. The bulk of the shadow becomes concave, then bulbous, the height building in on itself but lacking any skeletal structure to wrap itself around. There are no eyes, no clearly defined head shape. It is creating itself from darkness, like a swirl of ebony ink dropped into a vat of putrid water, spreading silently….’
Becky Moran has built a career claiming to talk to the dead. A successful clairvoyant medium, a Cambridge graduate with her own radio show ‘Medium Wave’ and a team dedicated to crafting the celebrity myth – because Becky Moran is a fake.
Until, one night, something supernatural, inexplicable, breaks through live in air as she is broadcasting. Becky Moran discovers the paranormal is real, the dead can indeed speak and she is being pursued relentlessly towards a battle for her very survival.
- Which character was your favorite, and why? Which character was your least favorite, and why?
I love the anti-hero, Bert Brookings. He is a self-proclaimed healer from Wales, likes unicorns and runs a lucrative business on line and is big in America. He emerged after a great deal of research into this industry. I enjoyed his anger and arrogance and ultimate madness. I also scared myself stupid by creating an entity which is attached to him. I think Hugh Jolly – Becky Moran’s business partner – is my least favorite. He is venal, detached and self-serving if not exquisitely dressed (‘A Gucci Whore and proud of it!’) He has a love of vodka, too. He has a lot to answer for. He is multi layered , fabulous to create but, like a rattle snake, he needs watching.
- What was the hardest part about writing your book?
Learning that being a journalist meant I had some new writing techniques to learn. Even a lifetime of reading fiction had not seeped me in good fiction techniques. I enjoyed earning about point of view and show don’t tell, but spent a great deal of time kicking myself hard on each shin until I got it right.
- What is your writing routine? Are there things you absolutely need to start writing?
I have a skull, encrusted with diamanté which sits by my computer. It looks a lot but says nothing. I imagine I feel its boney reproach when I struggle to hit the mark and its skeletal grin when I do. I write for hours. Phone off, time evaporates. I then edit and leave it for a day or two, then shape it some more. I have been known to forget to eat. I write at all times of the day and fuel myself with coffee.
- How long did it take you to write your book from start to finish?
Over a year. Then I had it professionally edited. That’s when I learnt so much.
- Can you tell us about your editing process?
My own editing technique is described above. I chose a professional editor who specialized and had a track record in my genre. That was the best investment I made. Those techniques were honed and I learnt a great deal. I would ALWAYS recommend hiring an editor before you pitch for an agent or publisher. Find an editor you like and respect. Even if your mother and book club love it or you are going to self- publish – get a professional eye over it.
- Is this book part of a series? If so, how many installments do you have planned?
Yes, Medium Wave is Book One of Three.
- Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Read, write, rewrite. Know your genre. Be patient and work hard. Be prepared to have your submissions ignored or rejected by literary agents and publishers. Believe in your work. Be prepared to edit some more. Enjoy the process. Read and never stop. Target your submissions to the right Literary Agents and do EXACTLY what they say they want in their submission entry rules. I spend a lot of time praying, on my knees, for recognition. I just stopped short of doing any spell incantations.
- Why should everyone read your book?
This book is for those who love horror and a narrative which takes you to some very dark places. This book is a gripping story with a pace which grasps you from the start and will not let you go. The elements of the paranormal include a Mirror with something hidden behind the glass, a haunted Lancaster Bomber from World War Two and something very malicious pursing a woman who has fooled the world she can hear the dead speak. The book takes you inside the world of Radio and Television and a close knit team which create the myth. A touch of humor and satire and a paranormal journey which will also explore Near Death Experience, Medium Wave is original horror.
- If you could meet three authors, dead or alive, which authors would you choose?
Stephen King. I missed seeing him speak by a day in Washington DC about two years ago – I had to get a train to New York and have regretted that ever since. I am his constant reader and would just like to thank him for the stories.
Edgar Allan Poe – to ask how deep his personal horror really was.
Daphne Du Maurier – to discuss the sheer brilliance of her story construction and ability to write across genres with words and characters you never forget.
- What inspired you to write your book?
I had always had an interest in the paranormal and have interviewed many who claim to have psychic gifts. I hardly ever believed them. I know the media well, so it made sense to combine that with a paranormal journey where you can decide what you believe. I also wanted to see how many fears of my own I could face and if I could actually scare myself. I could and I did.
- Are you working on something at the moment? If so, can you tell us more about it?
I am working on Book Two in the Medium Wave series. All the research is done – I base much of the narrative on real documented hauntings or places or objects with a paranormal history. All I will say is that if Medium Wave scared you, Book Two may well leave you reeling….
Medium Wave
Becky Moran has built a career claiming to talk to the dead. A successful clairvoyant medium, a Cambridge graduate with her own radio show ‘Medium Wave’ and a team dedicated to crafting the celebrity myth – because Becky Moran is a fake. Until, one night, something supernatural, inexplicable, breaks through live on air as she is broadcasting. Becky Moran discovers the paranormal is real, the dead can indeed speak and she is being pursued relentlessly towards a battle for her very survival.
‘This thing has no defined shape. Whatever energy exists within it, it cannot settle on a shape. The strands of darkness curl out and then wrap back inwards. The bulk of the shadow becomes concave, then bulbous, the height building in on itself but lacking any skeletal structure to wrap itself around. There are no eyes, no clearly defined head shape. It is creating itself from darkness, like a swirl of ebony ink dropped into a vat of putrid water, spreading silently….’
Purchase from Amazon UK
About Rose Zolock
Her Irish grandmother first told Rose about the Banshee when she was just a small child. How the wailing sound of the spirit of the dead and dying could be heard when someone was about to pass.
It was family folklore that the women in the family had ‘the touch’, the ability to see spirits and other dimensions. Rose listened and grew up fascinated by those who claimed to have supernatural or psychic abilities.
Rose does not claim to have those powers. Take her to Venice in February when the mist swirls over the canals, walk by her side along the darkened streets of Greenwich Village in New York City in high summer, listening to a ghost walk tour guide tell the stories of death, murder and the unexplained – Rose would say those stories and our belief in them gives her a power to see into the shadows within our imagination.
As a journalist, Rose takes every opportunity to explore and investigate strange stories, myth and folklore. Living in rural Yorkshire, with a rich library of ghost stories and literary tradition, Rose also has a sceptical and forensic insight into those who peddle the stories which feed our imagination but of which we have yet found no proof. She has listened to the debunkers who argue against those believers who are convinced that sand the dark side exist.
Rose’s mind is open. Is yours?
Website: rosezolock.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rose.zolock.9
Twitter – https://twitter.com/RoseZolock
Trailer – https://www.facebook.com/rose.zolock.9/videos/178767199514397
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