FEATURED ARTIST FRIDAY: J.L. Petty
It's time for another "Featured Artist Friday!" I'd like to thank J.L. Petty for participating in this not-quite-as-weekly-as-I'd-like endeavor! :)
Author: J.L. PettyTitle: Death and the JournalistGenre: Horrorwebsite: www.deathandthejournalist.comWhere to Purchase:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-and-the-journalist-jl-petty/1030162934http://www.amazon.com/Death-and-the-Journalist-ebook/dp/B004NSUZB4/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_The flight attendant faced the passengers. Over the roar of the engine, she spoke in a firm voice with a hint of quiver, “We are going to be okay, please put your oxygen masks on,” then she sat down and buckled her seat belt. The fat man and I were still standing. Grimacing at my cramping hands, I kept my grip on the black metal bar.
In the midst of the now-panicked passengers sat one woman, calmly flipping the pages of her Cosmopolitan magazine and taking occasional sips of her Pepsi. She seemed so calm and serene; I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She had long black hair and her face was like that of a fashion model or actress. She was wearing a black dress and needed no jewelry to define her long ivory-colored neck. This woman had the whitest skin. Her limbs were long. She seemed to ignore everything around her and was patiently waiting for the plane to crash.
As though she felt me staring at her, she turned to look at me. Gooseflesh popped up all over my skin when I looked into her cold gray eyes, then shifted my eyes to the ground. I could smell the heavy smoke rising from the engines I stared at the rain drops that splattered against the exit window. Smoke drifted into the cabin of the plane.
1. When and why did you start writing? I started writing at the age of 9. Writing has always been a fun way for me to escape. I could just write a story in my journal and really just zone out. 2. Why did you choose to write in this genre? Growing up, I always loved horror movies and anything scary. Writing horror came naturally to me. 3. Is anyone else in your family musical/artistic/writers? Describe your family members' artistic interests and abilities. My older brother is an artist and my mother is a school teacher, but she writes too on her spare time. 4. Which authors do you admire? Why?I admire Michael Crichton and Lois Duncan. I like their style of writing and I think that they are more creative than most writers that I have read.
5. What are your fondest writing memories? My fondest writing memory was seeing book on Barnes and Noble website for the first time. It was the best experience I ever had. 6. What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous? I would tell them to follow their dreams and not to take rejection so personally. When I started writing, I received so much rejection initially, but when my book was offered a contract it was the best feeling ever. So my advice would be to never give up.7. What inspires you to write?
I am inspired by watching scary movies. Sometimes I will see an independent film on Net Flix and really get into the mood of writing.8. Describe your process for writing/completing a novel.
Usually, I try to find a very quiet place ( a library). It is really hard to write in a lot of noise. I am weird. I write in spurts. Like if I’m not in the mood to write then I won’t write. I don’t have a strict routine or at least not yet anyway. Sometimes, I have terrible writers block and won’t write for months at a time. 9. What is the best part about writing? I like writing because you can be creative. I think it is one of the few jobs where you can really be yourself and not be micro managed to death.10. What is the hardest thing about writing?Promotion. I would say promotion is the hardest part. I thought it would be getting the book published but as soon as you get your book published all you worry about is whether people are buying it or if they liked it. I wake up in cold sweats at night worrying about book sales and whether people liked my book.