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Dean M. Drinkel and Stephanie Ellis had previously worked on a Christmas themed anthology in 2017 and met in the flesh a year or so later at Fantasycon in Derby. Stephanie was one of the first authors Dean approached regarding the Short Sharp Shocks! Series – so it was an honour when she agreed to join the family with her Asylum Of Shadows which is Book 3 (and will be published on the 1st March 2019).
DEMAIN PUBLISHING: Welcome welcome Stephanie – hope 2019 is treating you well. We loved Asylum Of Shadows – can you tell us a little about it? STEPHANIE ELLIS: Thank you. The story is set in Victorian times and its focus is a destitute young girl who gains employment as a seamstress in the new Limehouse hospital. The items she discovers she has to make are shrouds and hoods for the hangman. Her other duties include watching over the recently deceased in the ward of St. Carcifex, making sure they are really dead in order to avoid the horrors of premature burial. It was sewing that first brought me to this story. I had recently completed a short tale which featured the stitching together of eyelids. I couldn’t quite let go of the idea of needle and flesh and wanted to create a story where it came more to the fore. Marian, the seamstress, allowed me to do this. In addition, I had been focussing on the polar opposites of industrial and folk horror and wanted to make sure I could still write in other genres; I do not want to be a writer pigeonholed by the type of horror they create. I love the darkness, the shadows and secrets of gothic and thought this would fit my story perfectly. DP: I totally agree that they fit your story perfectly. I also am of the opinion that it’s important as a writer not to become pigeonholed and if the opportunity presents itself then creators should work in as many genres as possible even if you deem yourself predominately a horror writer. These last few years I’ve been able to move into creating more historical work (albeit in tv / film) though it is quite ‘amusing’ when you meet producers etc and they’ve read your period piece and love it and then ask you what your background is – you mention horror and for some reason they can’t seem to ‘marry’ the two…anyway, that’s a longer discussion for another time…did you ‘become’ any of the characters in Asylum Of Shadows whilst you wrote it? SE: I rarely pick up a needle so people are safe from me. Needle and flesh do occasionally go together but only when I accidentally stab myself. As I wrote it, I saw the world through Marian’s eyes. I always try and put myself in my character’s place so that I can bring the senses into my writing. The emotions of a person, what they see, hear, feel, touch, are vital to rounding them out. It’s not words I seek first when I write, it’s what I see and experience – the right words will follow on afterwards. It’s pretty much like when I read – the words vanish from the page and I have a movie running in my head. DP: That last point is very intriguing…I have a similar experience when I listen to music…classical musical in particular…if I’m in a silent dark space I can close my eyes, crank up the volume of the cd / record and let the music flow through me…it might take me a few moments to relax properly but then the ‘magic’ happens and I’m actually able to see the music…it can range from exploding colours (like bursting paint balls I suppose) to dancing ribbons to faces which appear / disappear / transform…it used to be quite unsettling when I was younger but I’ve grown to ‘enjoy’ it. I suppose. So 2019 – what does it bring for Stephanie Ellis? SE: A publisher has recently expressed an interest in my folk horror novel, The Five Turns of the Wheel. It may come to nothing but I have a strong belief in that book and so should it get rejected, I have other avenues to pursue with it. This does mean I am, like many writers, in waiting mode but I have filled up my time by developing another book. This emerged during NaNoWriMo and is another folk horror, it’s gone through a few title changes and is currently living under the name Grandma. It’s loosely based on Red Riding Hood, except there is no Red Riding Hood, only Grandma and the Wood Cutter living in the modern day with rituals and death abounding. I even wrote a short story lately which focussed on these two characters and allowed me to explore their relationship a little. I intend to finish that this year and also plan a follow-up to Five Turns. DP: Oh great, that sounds like fun and something I’d like to read. I love dark fairy tales (the darker the better actually) and is a genre I’d like to play in one day…we’ll see…so many projects on the go as it is…with that in mind, do you ever suffer from writer’s block? SE: Not yet, touch wood. I’ve worried about it, dreaded getting it but I find I only have to start writing and ideas form. It may take a few paragraphs or a few pages of rubbish but something always seems to appear. DP: Good for you. I don’t think I’ve ever really suffered from it – I’ve been lucky that way I guess – and with a lot of stuff on if I find one project not working then I can move onto something else and go back to it later…I’ve always found it cathartic that I’m constantly doing a lot at any one time in different mediums too which also helps…I’m wondering then – you outline your stories or are you more of a ‘seat of your pants’ type of writer? SE: Pantser pretty much through and through. I see a character in a setting or situation and just start writing from there. I allow the character to lead me, to tell the story. Once I’m half-way or two-thirds through, the remaining structure of the book usually suddenly appears by itself. I’ve tried to do what others do – write potted biographies, create timelines etc but I always end up deviating. It’s too restrictive. DP: Yeah, I get that I really do. Right now I’m writing a new horror film script and I’m using a different method I’ve never tried before – the method is deliberately restrictive…I’ll be honest, I’m not necessarily enjoying it and I’m positive I won’t do it this way again but if I get a sellable script by the time I’ve finished then I guess it has been some kind of success, right? It’s been a little while since I’ve written an out and out horror script so I am enjoying that aspect…do you have a favourite theme or genre? SE: Currently I’m rooted in folk horror. My childhood in the countryside, the atmosphere of that remote, rural world has come back to me in a big way. Nostalgia is feeding my stories and these are the ones I have enjoyed writing the most. One, The Way of the Mother, features in Nosetouch Press’ The Fiends in the Furrows anthology which has made it onto the HWA’s Preliminary Ballot [DP – WELL DONE!]. That short story is set in the world I created in Five Turns. I have also started reading up on old superstitions, folklore and traditions. If you don’t expand your own knowledge, if you don’t read widely, your own writing will become narrow and stale. With regard to Asylum of Shadows, I also realised how much I like to set my stories in physical darkness, in the gloom, in the shadows (in folk horror, it tends to the twilight). I love that almost invisible world in which so much can happen or be imagined, where the mind can play tricks on character and reader alike. I’m not one for in-you-face horror. I like it to creep along quietly, slowly reaching for you… DP: Ah, that’s so true – it reminded me a lot of Caravaggio’s work actually particularly his use of ‘shadow’ and darkness…perhaps that would be a great idea for an anthology or something…stories based on Caravaggio’s art. I’ll have to get that some serious thought…so, okay, I’m looking for a project to produce. Pitch me Asylum Of Shadows. SE: In St. Carcifex lie the dead. Marian watches over them, working her needle. Should they breathe again, it won’t be for long. She finishes what the hangman started. DP: I love that last line – that would definitely go on the poster of the film! So if you were a reporter / reviewer / critic and you were writing a synopsis… SE: Amongst the slums of Limehouse stands a new hospital, a monument to Victorian philanthropy. Marian, destitute and about to be orphaned as her father succumbs to the ravages of syphilis, is taken there by Dr Janssen. This eminent physician offers her work and a roof over her head. Employed as a seamstress, she stitches shrouds for the dead and hoods for the hangman. Then she is taken to the ward of St. Carcifex. This shadowy ward receives the recently deceased, particularly those who have hung from the gallows. Her task in this gloomy place is to watch over them, make sure the dead stay dead. On her first night, she is charged with the care of two murderers, who, despite their hanging, do not appear to have the expected deathly pallor. On the second night, these guests are joined by innocent, hard-working men, victims of an unfortunate dock accident. Marian is enraged that such should be forced to share the ward. As her own mind falls victim to the ravages of the disease which killed her father, she metes out her own justice, her own vengeance – on dead and alive alike. DP: That’s perfect – let’s make the film already ha ha!!! Finally my friend can you tell your readers something surprising about you? SE: Those who know me, know of my love for heavy metal, especially the darker side, from Rammstein to Nine Inch Nails to Rotting Christ. What they won’t know is that I was once a member of The Osmonds Fan Club. This did not last long… DP: The Osmands? Oh Stephanie that is hilarious. Thanks for your time and good luck with Asylum Of Shadows. For more information on Stephanie and her work: Website: https://stephanieellis.org/ Twitter Address: @el_Stevie
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November 2023
AuthorDean M. Drinkel |