Car here. This is a series of interviews I’m doing for my author, Rebekah Webb, for the participants of the 2016 Brain to Books Cyber Convention. (https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/154267-brain-to-books-cyber-convention-2016) Since I only interview inanimate objects, I have used the power of booze and lack of sleep to transform my interviewees into assorted objects of their choice.
Today I am going to interview a killer necklace called Death’s Noose, aka Sophia Madison. When she isn’t strangling people to death, hanging on someone’s neck, or getting roped into a fashion show, she’s an author of dark fantasy.
Book: Blue Ruin
http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ruin-Phoenix-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B01AX8VOUI
Summary: A hunter and the hunted, Maura Leroux is one of the last of her kind with a dark past that has haunted her. With black magical beings having been hunted for centuries, she’s come to learn a thing or two about survival. But Adrian Wilhelm, a notorious Vampire, threatens to destroy Maura’s newfound life as a detective in the magical world of Mystics. Adrian intends to use Maura as a means of resurrecting the fallen world of black magical beings, Abysm. Maura has made it her mission to stop Adrian while covering her tracks from those that have been seeking her out for centuries.
Bio: Sophia Madison is a young writer of dark fantasy novels. By night, she gallivants in the realm of witches and wizards, vampires and angels, sirens and goddesses. By day, she is a pediatric registered nurse, who sings songs about unicorns and rainbows while showering little kids in lollipops and stickers.
Social Media Links:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/sophiatmadison
WordPress: www.sophiatmadison.wordpress.com
Website: www.sophiamadison.weebly.com
What made you start writing? As a killer necklace, I bet you really clung to the idea that you wanted to be a writer, no matter how many necks it hurt in the process.
It can be rather boring just hanging from a neck all day. Sometimes I’m not even visible — I get lost beneath layers of clothes, or purposely hidden underneath a shirt. What’s a girl to do? And don’t get me started on the voices. Oh, those voices — of all of the souls I’ve killed — they don’t shut up. But, telling stories seems to keep them quiet…if just for a little while.
How does a killer necklace write? Do you choke someone until they fall into a vat of ink and then pull them over paper? Do you let them fall onto a keyboard? Or is there another way to be able to put words to paper/screen?
It depends on my mood. Sometimes I like to write with the blood of my enemy. Other days, I don’t have time. A quick choke is all I can do. They fall onto the keyboard, bang out a couple of misspelled, illiterate, and irrelevant words and before I know it, I’ve written a novel.
Do you hang out with other homicidally inclined jewelry and if so, what are they like?
I used to…until they were stolen away. Death’s Scythe and I were a pair. Now, a Goddess’ Vampire son (he’s such a little brat…just wait until I get around his neck) has her. I’m sure he isn’t treating her well — you know, getting to kill as many as I do. I remember the days where she would slash throats, severe limbs, decapitate the enemy. Ahh, the good days. Now she’s stuck in a glass case, and I’m suffocated beneath a shirt.
Tell us about your inspiration for Blue Ruin. Did it involve staring into the sun until the afterimages turned into an interesting story? That’s how I come up with interview questions.
As much as I hate to admit it, the voices had a part in the idea. They wouldn’t stop talking talking talking, screaming screaming screaming. I fell asleep that night with their words swirling around in my head, like the awful aftereffects of drinking too much booze. I had a vague dream, one that spun into a novel with just a few threads of ideas.
What made you choose to write a fantasy? I always imagined killer necklaces writing medical papers about neck bruising.
While I do have a bit of medical knowledge from being a nurse on my days off of killing, I wanted an escape from the norm. But, as a cold-blooded killer, who feasts on the souls of the living, I couldn’t exactly write romance and children’s books. “And then Button the puppy hopped across the park to his owner…where he bit into his owner’s neck and rolled in the blood that spurted from his severed veins.” See my problem?
Is it true that killer necklaces sometimes choke when in front of a large crowd?
I’ll admit, being concealed by clothing most of the day, has taken its toll on my ability to confront a crowd. At first, I’ll stutter or my links will get kinked and caught. Sometimes I have to be pulled a little harder than usual. But, once that rush of soul hits me…I’ll bring the whole crowd to its knees.
Is there a special killer necklace in your life? Or are you currently unattached?
I’m currently unattached, which is the safest of the two options. The whole intimacy thing can get a bit complicated…before I know it, I’ve killed another one and then I’m stuck with their stupid voice screaming at me in my head for eternity. It’s bad enough I had to listen to them in life.
What else have you written and have you ever unsuccessfully tried to choke an android that looked human?
I’ve written many things since I was a mere child. To date, I’ve completed twelve novels. Though, The Phoenix Series will be the only ones published. The other novels were written for fun as a young teen, and are horrible enough that I want to choke myself when I read them.
What hobbies do you have? Do you hire yourself out as a prop for a haunted house?
That’s a great idea if this writing thing doesn’t work out. As for hobbies, I don’t really have many. It depends where I am. When I’m around a neck, I like to people watch, stare at the scenery, enjoy the sun. I love going to the beach and darkening my golden tone. When I’m placed in the jewelry box for the night, I like to hang out with all of the other necklaces, rings, and bracelets that never get worn.
Do you have any advice for young killer necklaces out there who might want to try their hand at writing?
Do what you love. Life is too short not to try new things — I would know. It’s important to realize that you’re going to suck your first time writing. But practice makes perfect. It took me a long time to master the choke hold — I mean writing. It took me a long time to learn the skill of writing. I went through a lot of people — I mean paper — until I got it right. It’s a process, one with many ups and downs that can either leave you feeling encouraged and motivated or discouraged and hopeless. If you love to write, these things will never stop you. Besides, writing is easy. Editing, publishing, marketing — those are difficult. Who wants to buy a book from a killer necklace? …everyone, or else I’ll be using you as the ink for my sequel.
Cartopia 