Welcome Author Malla Duncan

GENRE and INDIVIDUALITY

Firstly, my grateful thanks to Jeanette Hornby, a highly competent romance writer, for inviting me to post on her blog.

I suppose writers reflect their individuality in the way they write and the genres they choose to write in. I have always wanted to write scary stories from about the age of seven when I discovered the power of written words and how I could control them. I wanted desperately to tell stories but at that stage, I had no idea what they would be. I had two favourite sentences which I was convinced would fit into a story at some stage of my life. They were: The door burst open – and – There was a terrible scream.

So it’s not surprising I became a thriller writer. I write essentially for women readers but not romance. My books are chick chillers but not chick lit. I fit the old women-in-jeopardy genre: women’s psychological mystery suspense thrillers. Bit of a mouthful but the best description I can apply. Categorization is difficult, because every book I write is different.   

I began with horror and the supernatural (now called paranormal) and all I wanted to do was scare the reader to death. Gradually, I turned to the subtlety of the psychological story. I enjoyed creating mystery and suspense. I was intrigued by the intricacies of the thriller, the creation of twists and turns which led the reader on, always keeping little secrets tucked away to be revealed at exactly the right moment. I got a tremendous kick out of the way a mystery thriller is constructed. I read and studied other writers in the genre until I learned method, style and pace. And avowed to never be boring, never drag a story, never cheat the reader. I would keep every word, every page relevant. I learned that if a page of writing does not move the story forward, it dies.  

Writing is the hardest and longest apprenticeship anyone can choose to do. When it is your life, and is with you always, you are permanently learning. But that is the compulsion, the magnet. Writing creates new horizons everyday and that is why, as a writer, you will always travel further. To see the next view.

For more information on my books, please visit my Smashwords Author Page

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