Most Wicked 2012
Posted by Sapphire Neal on HorrorAddicts.net – January 10, 2013
Wicked Women Writers all over the world,
Here is the woman you voted MOST WICKED 2012!!!!!
That’s right I had the opportunity to interview the one and only Killion Slade. The set up for this interview will be a little different than usual so that all of you at home can really get a look into the mind of our Wicked Woman Writer.
So stay scared and enjoy,
Sapphire
1) How does it feel to have the title Most Wicked 2012?
I am very honored to be among the Most Wicked and seriously stoked about being 2012 Most Wicked Women Writer! It is a great honor and I sincerely thank everyone for their votes and time listening to the stories.
When I first found the Wickeds I was so excited that I found other women who wrote in the same genre as me. I knew immediately – I wanted to be a wicked. This means so much to me! Thank you again for such an awesome opportunity. The stories from everyone were amazing and I knew the competition was going to be tense. I am honored to take the Gauntlet for 2012 and help usher in for 2013. I am so proud to be a Wicked!
2) What inspired your story?
You all did such a compelling introductory to our contest theme for this year – Horror takes no Holidays and I’ll admit it was a real challenge. I personally was taken aback when I received the Passover holiday. I had no clue where to begin. But truthfully, that was probably the best thing that could have happened to me because I had no preconceptions. Thus, the research began. I traced the story back to it’s old testaments roots and the plagues of the pharaohs. From there it morphed into evil Egyptian Gods and their annual Passover Harvest of souls.
The most challenging aspect of the entire story to me was the “why” factor. It had to be more than just an evil presence wanting to take souls for Passover – there needed to be a compelling reason why. That’s when the idea of the Nephilim came in and how they were banned to the underworld for the misdoings of their parents. They had a reason why they wanted redemption and revenge.
It was sentimentally fun incorporating the garden rake and the beach scene into my story – they were actually fond memories of summers on the beach building sand castles. But that still wasn’t enough. I needed the horrific evil, twisted surprise at the end which tied back into the original research on Passover. I didn’t want the holiday to be a passing moment for the story but the catalyst for the entire event. So in the end, our heroine we all were rooting for, turned on us, and became the Antichrist.
3) Is there anything you would change about your submitted story?
I think if there was anything I could have changed would have been the amount of time we had for our story. The complexity my story could have been supported stronger with a subplot, but other than that, I don’t believe there is anything I would change. I really enjoyed the whole learning curve of keeping it under a time limit. That was very challenging.
4) Have you started thinking about next year’s WWW Challenge?
I have actually. I am excited to test out a couple of ideas that I believe will up the challenge level of the contest and participation.
5) What do you have to say to the other WWW Contestants?
I wanted to thank each and every one of them for participating in this contest. It was a lot of hard work and it takes a very determined woman to not only write an intriguing horror story, but then to craft it into an audio podcast performance. My hat is off to everyone. It was an honor to be featured with you in this contest and I encourage you to participate again in the 2013 challenge!
6) What was your favorite WWW story?
Oh boy…that’s a toughie. Each one of them had their own unique level of intrigue and twist. I especially loved the endings because each WWW submission pulled out an excellent surprise to their stories. However, the vampire trucker story sticks in my mind
I was truly inspired when I heard the sound effects from Laurel Anne’s podcast from 2011 Wicked Women Writer contest. Her timing and placement of the sound effects added so much more depth and sensory to her words. I was hooked. I just knew mine had to include them. . My goal then was not just write a compelling story, but to turn it an audio auralgasm.
I contacted Emerian to learn how to create a podcast. I learned so much form her awesome video tutorials and listened to all the great advice you, and others offered on story podcasting. I researched online to find sound effects and purchased a few as well. Some were hard to find, such as the Gregorian chanting monks, but I didn’t stop until I had the right mix.
In using the Audicity software, I mixed, flipped,and morphed the screams and music to time it right with the words to help convey the emotion of the moment. I even found that the sound of silence became very engaging and added impact. I sent my story out to a few beta listeners and got their feedback before recording the final take. I think I must have done it at least 20 times!
7) Are you currently working on any projects that your fans should be looking forward to?
As a few folks know, my husband and I are a writing team, but for the Most Wicked contest, this was all my own horror show. He’s more of a fantasy – sci-fi guy. We met on Second Life and now live in the mountains of Montana with our beautiful daughter, 4 cats, a dog, and seven horses… oh and a few chickens. We do have several more short stories published in anthologies for Death Sparkles, Bite from the Heart and soon to be released, The Ghoul Saloon Anthology. After this fantastic experience of podcasting, I am anxious to add additional audio versions of our published stories.
We are currently in the second round revision edits on a paranormal thriller trilogy called Exsanguinate in which we hope to pitch in 2013. Here is logline and blurb.
A Halloween horror night, theme park adventure for software gaming developer Cheyenne O’Cuinn results in a death style change she never dreamed existed. Recovering from a vicious attack and her sisters abductions, Cheyenne must rescue her sisters from vampiric kidnappers before they’re used to breed warmongering dhampirs. By unconventional means through her on-line role-play game, Cheyenne must navigate violent and tortuous clues in both reality and virtuality to rescue them. Betrayal throughout the vampiric realm unravels human food shortages and global war preparations. Amidst an impending vampire apocalypse, Cheyenne finds herself both in conflict for survival, and for her heart. Will her immortal self derail any hope of solving the growing puzzles before time runs out to save her sisters, herself, and her humanity?
Question from Rhonda Carpenter – What made you join the Wickeds?
As soon as I found the Wickeds online – I knew I wanted to be among you. I purchased the Wickeds anthology and when the contest came up, I knew I had my work cut out for me. Finding other women who had just as twisted points of view on life as me, was a real thrill. I wasn’t crazy after all. But crazy is subjective, now isn’t it? LOL
For more information on Killion please check out these sites:
We have a website at http://www.killionslade.com where we offer up character dossiers and book trailers about our upcoming stories. We are also on Facebook, Pinterest, and occasionally on Twitter.
Location: Where will you be when the inevitable strikes? The office lunchroom, stuck on the freeway, a public toilet, or at the gynecologist? We’re pretty sure it won’t be while you’re hunkered down in an underground missile silo with a fully loaded bug out bag.
Killion Slade, our 2012 Wicked Women Writer Winner, will contact you for further challenge details and timeline. Deadline to enter the 2013 Wicked Woman Writer Challenge is June 20, 2013.
