{"id":168,"date":"2025-10-18T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/?p=168"},"modified":"2025-09-18T13:04:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T13:04:36","slug":"interview-with-the-author-vanessa-finaughty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/?p=168","title":{"rendered":"Interview With the Author – Vanessa Finaughty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Website – https:\/\/vanessafinaughtyfantasybooks.wordpress.com\/<\/a>
X – @VanessaFin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. What\u2019s the story behind your very first piece of writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t actually remember the very first thing I ever wrote \u2013 as a kid, I used to lock myself in my room and write stories. My first published work was a short story called Mantis<\/em>, which was published in South Africa\u2019s Something Wicked<\/em> horror magazine in 2007. I\u2019d been told repeatedly to expect lots of rejections until someone accepted one of my stories for publication, because it\u2019s the norm, so, when the editor approached me at a horror convention to inform me that my story had been accepted, I was convinced he had the wrong author and kept asking \u2018are you sure\u2019 \u2013 as if he wouldn\u2019t be!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. When did you first realize you wanted to be an author?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the moment I could read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Do you outline your stories, or do you discover them as you write?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I outline some stories (usually, the more complicated ones) and discover others as I write. The latter is 20,000 times more fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Which authors or books have had the biggest influence on your writing style?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definitely Dean Koontz. I love his fast-paced style and the endless twists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. What\u2019s your writing routine like \u2013 daily habits, rituals, or quirks?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a normal week, I try to spend the last hour of every work day writing, at a minimum. If work allows, I might spend an extra hour or two writing on a week day, and at least a few hours on a weekend if possible. If I\u2019m not writing, I\u2019m making book covers, writing blurbs or marketing during those times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Do you prefer writing short stories, novels, or something else entirely? Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like a bit of everything, depending on my mood. Short stories are nice and quick, great for a story with a twist that isn\u2019t too complicated. Novellas are the sweet spot for me \u2013 much faster to complete than a novel, but still something substantial to sink your teeth into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. What\u2019s the hardest part of writing for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deciding on the title. I Google all my title ideas before deciding which one to use \u2013 you\u2019d be amazed how many other books or movies are out there with the same brilliant title you just thought up! I don\u2019t like to use a title that\u2019s already in use, because that risks disappointing readers if they clicked my link, but were looking for the other book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. What\u2019s the most rewarding part of being an author?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a reader tells me my book was enjoyable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. How do you handle writer\u2019s block or creative burnout?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have the opposite problem to writer\u2019s block \u2013 I have too many ideas and not enough time to write them all. Creative burnout, I handle by writing a short story or something unrelated to my current WIP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. If you could give one piece of advice to a new writer, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Network as much as possible with other authors, and try to publish at least one or two new books every year to keep your readers interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. What themes or questions keep showing up in your work, even unintentionally?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone bad getting what they deserve \u2013 I hadn\u2019t realised this until a writer friend pointed it out to me a few months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what\u2019s on your playlist?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually prefer silence, but, if I am in the mood for music, it\u2019s usually instrumental \u2013 if it has lyrics, I end up singing along instead of writing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13. What\u2019s one book (outside your own) you think everyone<\/em> should read, and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gift of Fear<\/em> by Gavin de Becker. It\u2019s a non-fiction book that teaches you how to differentiate between illogical paranoia and your intuition warning you about danger. It\u2019s an excellent read and everyone on the planet would be a little safer after reading it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14. What\u2019s next for you \u2013 any upcoming projects you\u2019re excited about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve already started writing Wizard of Ends, Book 4: Tainted Magic<\/em>. Simultaneous to that, later this year or early in 2026, I\u2019ll be putting out a call for submissions for a sci-fi fantasy short story anthology titled Space Wizards<\/em>. In between all that, I\u2019m co-authoring a crime thriller titled Dead Inside<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. Finally, what do you hope readers feel or take away after reading your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope they were entertained and feel disappointed when the book comes to an end. I also hope they find a character or two to whom they can relate, and walk away with a sense of justice having prevailed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Website – https:\/\/vanessafinaughtyfantasybooks.wordpress.com\/X – @VanessaFin 1. What\u2019s the story behind your very first piece of writing? I can\u2019t actually remember the very first thing I ever wrote \u2013 as a kid, I used to lock myself in my room and write stories. My first published work was a short story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":true,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172,"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions\/172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curioustalesbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}