Guest Post: Author Patti Larsen

About the Author: Patti Larsen is a middle grade, young adult and adult author with a passion for the paranormal and writes a great deal of horror for someone who is afraid of the dark. She lives on the East Coast of Canada with her very patient husband Scott and four enormous cats.

Writing in the Dark

I never intended to go down the dark path. I started out as a fantasy and sci-fi writer. To this day, I can’t even watch horror movie commercials let alone the movies themselves.

So where then did this bent for writing about the paranormal and things that go bump in the night come from? I wish I could tell you. If I figured that out maybe I could sleep better at night.

Yes, I’m afraid of the dark. I’m a grown woman and I have to have a night-light in the hall outside my bedroom. My closet doors have to be closed. And just forget about how often I wake up at 2:30 or 3AM.

And yet, I love what I write. Whether I’m tormenting a teen girl with the deaths of her best friends who come back to haunt her or driving my main character to run for his life through a black forest from the creatures trying to kill him, each and every one of my books satisfies a need in me I can’t explain.

Am I inherently dark to begin with? I don’t think so. I’m basically a happy person with a well balanced life. Am I influenced by the TV shows I watch, the books I read? Most definitely, but I can hardly blame Hollywood. Is writing this kind of book serving the greater good? I have no idea. But I don’t believe my personal artistic expression should be dictated by censors or those who fear such material.

And my fans seem to love it. Really, that’s all that matters.

This penchant for telling the stories of death and blood and horror comes straight out of left field. I’m shocked but gratified. And I know that eventually this too shall pass. It’s a phase, a mere moment of angst-driven expression. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

Maybe I should be horrified. But I’ll leave that up to you.