#BadMoonRising: Absolute Darkness by Tina O’Hailey #thriller #BlackRoseWriting

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising

Today’s author drew on her own experience as a caver for her new release, Absolute Darkness.  Read on to see why a singing fish was the cause of her most creepiest experience (bet that’s something you didn’t expect to read today).  Welcome Tina O’Hailey!

You’re in a horror movie.  Are you the final person, the first to die, the comic relief, the skeptic, the smart one, or the killer?

The skeptic/scientist.

Vampires, ghosts, werewolves, or zombies – which would you least want to meet in a dark alley?

Depends, if we’re talking running zombie or ambulatory challenged. I don’t want to meet a running zombie – I would definitely lose that race. It would be a tough choice between a running zombie and a werewolf: neither are great conversationalists. Vampire or ghost, on the other hand, maybe they would be up for a chat and I could learn something about them. Sit down or float near a chair, as the case may be, and discuss their history, their goals, where they see themselves in 100 years.

Creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?

I wasn’t completely alone. The babies were asleep. I was checking on the oldest child, as mothers do – making sure they are breathing and such, when the singing bass (you know the ones that hang on the wall and are motion activated) started singing to me. Trick was, I knew it was unplugged and had no batteries as I had rendered it such earlier that day while scavenging batteries for the TV remote and had left that robot-bass unplugged and battery-less on the floor. Yet, it sung to me.  “Here’s a little song I wrote…” It did not stop singing when I picked it up. “You might want to sing it note for note….” I chucked that thing out into the back yard.  I swear it kept singing, “don’t worry; be happy.”

I stood in the hallway and before I could consider what to do next the alarm clock in the youngest kid’s room started going off. We never turned that alarm on. That child was 6 months old and needed no such thing as an alarm. The clock was blinking “9:06” as if the power had gone out with the alarm shrieking away.  I unplugged it and thankfully it shut off unlike that singing bass.  The alarm button was NOT on.  It joined the fish in the back yard. I came up with a theory about time moving in waves and ghosts only being able to communicate at certain points in time being locked into their time of death– sketched a story concept in a sketchbook and threw that fish and alarm clock away after the sun rose the next day. The fish had stopped singing by morning.

What is the hardest part of writing?

The hardest part is sticking with one idea. I have to write down the other lovely ideas that start to take shape and promise to get back to them later. I think my most successful moments are when I have a steady novel or textbook with a monthly quota in production and a side short story to twiddle with here and there.  That way I can try different voices and tones in a short form that generally get trashed or filed away with wistful promises of tomorrow.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

It’s been a risky year for me, but I’ve changed my career to support both my writing and my not-writing life more.  Check back with me in a year and see if it worked. My goal is to cave more, play more, and enjoy the outdoors more. I love caving, riding motorcycles along side of my hubby, hiking in the woods, learning nerdy things for my professor job and binge watching great TV on rainy days. I also love baking but my metabolism does not agree with it.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a prequel/sequel to Absolute Darkness.  (Time travel – so it also takes place in the center of Absolute Darkness too.)  I also have a short story in the works for a friend’s anthology that I need to finish before this gets posted. Ask me how that short story is going when you read this.  It better be done and free on my blog. In this un-named short story my favorite characters, Brandy and Susan, are visiting a numinous valley occupied by a half-crazed hermit and his full-crazed pet rat.

A thrill ride through time that will make you hold your breath.

Sitting by the campfire, Brandy admitted a secret to her friends. She swore she saw a ghost when exiting a cave earlier that day. Was she seeing things? Did they believe her? The next day, breaking a cardinal rule, she snuck back to the cave alone. No one knew where she was. What if she fell or was trapped? There would be no rescue. 

For ten thousand years Alexander had kept the time streams of this universe safe from an eternal destructive force that continually threatened to tamper and destroy all. Locked in an unremitting battle, the two foes become sidetracked by an unexpected visitor. An entangled journey begins with chilling twists and turns until becoming locked into an inescapable death in a submerged cave.

Who will come out of the watery depths alive?

Author Bio:

Tina O’Hailey is a professor in animation and game programming, caver and occasional mapper of grim, wet, twisty caves (if she owes a friend a favor or loses a bet), whose passion is to be secluded on a mountain and to write whilst surrounded by small, furry dogs and hot coffee. Tina was once struck by lightning.

 

Social Media:

Blog: https://coffeediem.wordpress.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/AbsoluteDarknessBook/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tohailey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tohailey/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4067985.Tina_O_Hailey
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/tina-o-hailey

Buy Links:

33 thoughts on “#BadMoonRising: Absolute Darkness by Tina O’Hailey #thriller #BlackRoseWriting”

  2. That stupid singing bass would scare anyone!! Whoever thought that was a good idea anyway?? And then the alarm clock. I think I might have grabbed the kids and gone to s friends place. You are so right about all those ideas popping up when trying to work on one project. Did you get the short story finished on time? An entertaining interview.

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  6. I bet caves are breathtaking. They also scare the crap out of me. I’m not afraid of the dark, but pitch blackness when I know there are all kinds of creatures around? That terrifies me. And you know I’d be the one who would get separated from the group and my light would go out.

    Okay, for that matter, I don’t want to see the creatures, either. This is probably why I’ve never gone spelunking. But it’s really cool that you do.

    I hope you got your story done. (You said to ask.) Wishing you all the best.

    Teri, another great spotlight. Thanks.

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  12. Pingback: Creepy interview – the case of the singing fish | coffeediem

  14. What a fun interview, Tina and Teri. I also can’t deal with the running zombies but would be just fine with the plodders. How do people even get bit by those? The singing bass and alarm clock is kind of freaky – they’d land in my backyard too. Good luck with your books, Tina. And Happy Halloween to both of you!

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    1. Thanks, Diana! I’d probably back over the bass and alarm clock with my car, then make sure their remains were far from my house. Sometimes they come back (that’s also the title of a King short story, so you know there’s something to it).

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  15. Who would have thought a singing bass could be so creepy? Plus, that alarm clock going off also scared me. What an experience, Tina. We have a singing reindeer that comes out every Christmas. After reading your story, I think the singing reindeer will be sent off to the charity shop.
    Love the title of your book and the book blurb. Time travel is my thing.

    Liked by 1 person

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