Friday the 13th with Kat Yares, Guest Blogger and Horror Writer

In honor of Friday the Thirteenth, I thought I’d turn my post over to Kat Yares, a terrific horror writer. But she’s more than just that, she’s also a screenwriter, indie movie maker and amateur photographer. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous print and online publications. And she’s been a member of the Horror Writers Association since 2001.

Kat did some time in the LA area, but now lives in the gothic groves of Arkansas.

Her fiction is primarily in the horror/thriller genres. But unlike many horror writers, she writes horror not to gross out or startle her readers, but to make them think. Most of her stories are mind games and deal with men and women’s inhumanity.

Kat’s The XIII is a fast paced thriller that will keep you guessing.  If you like Dan Brown's books you're sure to like this one.

Her two novels, Beneath the Tor and The XIII, are both fantasy and thriller and, as several readers have written to her, are bound to send her to Hades after she passes.

Find her at www.katyares.com

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Is there a book you couldn't or wouldn't write - even if a good friend begged you and offered a suitcase full of money?

By Kat Yares

When Paul D. Marks first asked me to do a guest post for Criminal Minds, I had no idea what I was getting into.  As a self-identified horror writer, I wasn’t sure of what topic I could write on that would satisfy the blog readership.  Then, he shot me the above question and I absolutely cringed.  There are a number of genre’s I’d be terrified to even attempt.  But that suitcase full of money made me consider each one.

First thought was Romance.  While I can write sex, romantic interactions are not my strong suit.  Besides, I’ve only read maybe ten modern romance books in my adult life.  I loved them as a teenager, before I found out what the real world was like.  Boy did not meet girl and live happily ever after in the end.  Yet, for a suitcase full of money, I might just try.

Next up was Young Adult.  I’m way too far removed from what a young adult goes through to be able to write something like that realistically.  Honestly the only young adult books I know about are the Twilight series and I don’t think I have to say a lot about that.  Again, that suitcase full of money might tempt me.

The third I considered was High Fantasy.  While I did pull it off once in a short story, I’m not sure I’d be capable of doing a hundred thousand word book.  Depending on the friend (and yes, that suitcase full of money), I might try, but he or she better be able to help with the world building.  I totally lack the imagination for magic, dragons, knights in shining armor and the like.

This leads to Science Fiction.  While I love science and love science fiction as a genre to read, I’m not sure I’d be able to write anything believable in that genre.  To do the research needed, I don’t think I have enough years left in me to research enough and write the book.  One more time though, that suitcase might tempt me to try.

I would like to say that to get me to try any of the above genres, that suitcase had better be large and all the bills inside at least hundreds and it better be very hard to close because it is so stuffed full of said bills.
So what did I finally decide on?  Memoirs.  No amount of money would get me to write one, even for a friend.  I know it seems simple, they tell you the story of their life, you write it down and attempt to make it interesting for the future reader.  Thing is, most people’s lives are not interesting enough--they think it is, but it is not.  Also, most folks when relating past events can only remember ‘their’ truth of it.  The real truth may be very, very different.  People, at least those I know, attempt to sugarcoat their pasts, especially if something horrific happened in it.  Which is why so many ‘truths’ may not be truth at all.  Heck, I have a file on my hard drive that I suppose could be considered my biography or memoir.  It has the title of I Was Born Plain White Trash.  Will it ever see the light of day?  In a word, no.  While my life had its problems, they were really no different than what hundreds of others have gone though.  With my ego, if I don’t think my life is worth writing about, I doubt I’d find any of my friends lives that compelling either.  And since a memoir is supposed to be ‘truth’, no amount of money would allow me to write anything other than fictional lies.

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Thanks, Kat. Great post!

And not to detract from Kat’s post, but I just found yesterday that the results for the 2014 Ellery Queen Readers Award are out.

So I want to congratulate two of our own for making the Top Ten on the list. Art Taylor for his story “The Odds Are Against Us” for coming in at #6...and trailing close behind him at #7 is another of our bloggers: me, for my story “Howling at the Moon.” Both of our stories were in the November 2014 issue. More on this in a couple weeks when the issue with the announcement actually hits the stands.  And thanks to David Dean for turning me onto this. And congratulations to him as well as he has three stories in the Top Ten!