Second Hand Rose blog tour

Second Hand Rose by DE Fox

Abigail Hirst, a city reporter, returns to her hometown to take over Second Hand Rose, a quintessential antique store, following the sad passing of her beloved Grandmother, Rose.

This new life seems perfect for Abigail and her trusted terrier Jake, until she starts to notice strange happenings.
Gruesome deaths and mysterious disappearances are catching up with this chocolate-box town named Friendship, as Abigail digs deeper in her investigations.
Time is quickly running out for the fate of the whole town but only facing up to her own dark past, can she truly help Friendship and the people she loves most.

Author Interview:

At what point did you decide to be an author and what was your path to publication?

I wrote Second Hand Rose to deal with the passing of my dog Jake a few years ago and he is very much part of the story he inspired but I only wrote the story for my mum as a Christmas present for her to read. After I had finished a few friends also wanted to read the story and from their positive feedback i thought I would sent it to a publisher more to get a professional verdict on the story rather than with any hope of any contract.  After I had done a lot of research Blossom Spring appeared to tick all the boxes for my size, genre of book and to my great delight they thought the book had great potential especially as a series so they offered me one of their contracts and I have now a finished article.

Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot and plan, or is your writing more organic?

As this is my first book i didn’t set out with any plan or process but I did have the ending all laid out in my head at the very start, I just needed to fill in the rest.

I found once I started writing it just flowed out of me and the plot and characters just came together rather quickly. From the reviews I have had my style is quite simple and easy to read and most have finished the book in one session. Some suggest I need to describe in more detail and this I have taken onto my next book so will be a longer more panned out story. I am just enjoying the whole experience and learning everyday with so many helpful readers and authors out there that I have already connected with.

What have you found to be most challenging about writing in horror genre?

I found writing the death scenes challenging as I knew they had to be quite frightening and also gory to suit the evil character I had created. My partner is an avid horror reader so when I initially showed him my attempts on the first death he said I needed to be more brutal and go into more detail like his favourite author Stephen King would do. After several more attempts he finally gave me the thumbs up and then didn’t hold back on the remaining scenes.

Do you identify with your main character or did you create a character that is your opposite?

My main character a tough investigative reporter called Abigail and is based one of my best friends of the same name who is also very strong person I have known for many years. I did ask her permission to be part of the story which she was more than happy with but sadly she doesn’t like the horror genre so as much as she is delighted for me to get the book published and be a part of it she has never or will ever actually read it!

What has been the toughest criticism you have received as an author? What has been the best compliment?

I am approaching 40 reviews at the time of writing and most have been positive but some have said the book needs to be longer and more descriptive which to be honest makes sense being my first book and having little previous experience or education in writing. The best compliment is the twist I have put in the story that so far no one has guessed and even the editor at the publisher put a ‘WOW’ in the margins when she was going through the first draft.

To date, what is your favorite (or most difficult) chapter you have ever written?

The chapter with the twist is my favourite. One of my favourite film director / writers is M Night Shyamalan who has written some of the best twists in recent cinema and I thought if I could add something in my book to try and match his genius then I will be very happy and so far so good.

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

As much as I love writing I’m not an avid reader but love the cinema and theatre. Gardening is also a big passion and I also love to explore the beautiful Stately Homes and Gardens we are blessed with in England.  I do love most animals but dogs especially and one day when we are ready we will bring another character into the family.

About the author

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