Have you looked? Have you seen?

Today I'm delighted to be part of the Southern Haunts 3 virtual book tour. If you haven't read books one and two, they're highly recommended - great collections of great scary (and southern) tales. (Click on the links for my reviews.) But here on my blog today, I have author Melissa Robinson telling where she found the...

Inspiration for Docta Bones

by

Melissa Robinson

            Inspiration for “Docta Bones” hit, as you can imagine, on a cold winter day. Sitting in front of the Mississippi River,  I was discussing local legends with my fellow author, Alexander S. Brown. Out of all the legends we had talked about, this one stuck in my mind. The depravity of a man sacrificing his own daughter in a dark ritual held a certain allure for me. I typically write about monsters, but the chance to write about a real life human monster was one I could not pass up. Listening to Mr. Brown explain the legend made the wheels in my head start to turn.

            I could almost envision the entire scenario. I saw him in his home, and I saw the girl that met her tragic end at the hands of her father. A friend volunteered to take me to the spot where he'd actually lived. Excitement took hold of me then. I had to know more about this man, this monster. Although the house had long been demolished, the air around the property is still heavy. I absorbed the feeling, and breathed in what I could only imagine was both of them reaching across the decades and the barrier between life and death to tell me the story.

            I focused in on the tree in what would've been the backyard. The tree was one of the focal points of the story in my mind. No other words exist beyond it felt important to the story. I've always been a fan of studying history. I was now being given a chance to put my own spin on a historical figure of Vicksburg, MS. I left the site, went home, and immediately began typing the story. However, I couldn't get the “flow” right. It was suggested to me to try typing the entire thing in the dialect of the main character. Once I began that, the story poured out of me.

            I wrote like a woman possessed. It was almost as if the story had me in its grip and would not release me until it was told in its entirety. Hour after hour I'd spend staring at my screen. Finally, the story was complete. Years working in law enforcement have taught me that a human being is capable of being every bit as vicious and cruel as any mythical monster that visits us in our nightmares. Perhaps, in writing “Docta Bones”, I simply pulled back the curtain a little to let everyone see the darkness in people. Most people would like to pretend that we are civilized and things like this just don't happen, but they do.  This story is a way to open eyes to the horrors that are out there every day.

            It was with that in mind that I did not shy away from the violence. Before undertaking this project, I'd said multiple times I would not write about violence against a child. The more I thought about it, I decided to do this project because the victim was a child. I wanted to make it gut-wrenching and horrible for the reader. I wanted people to be saddened and sickened by something like this happening to a child. I wanted that so that people could take a look around and truly see the world we live in. 

Thank you Melissa, and what a cool, scary introduction to your writing. Sometimes we really do need to look around and see what's wrong with the world. And sometimes, as you say, it's fiction's clever disguise that takes us out of our comfort zone enough to make us look.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.

Southern Haunts Three - Magick Beneath the Moonlight Virtual Tour

About the Editors:

Alexander S. Brown: Alexander S. Brown is a Mississippi author who was published in 2008 with his first book Traumatized. Reviews for this short story collection were so favorable that it has been released as a special edition by Pro Se Press. Brown is currently one of the co-editors/coordinators with the Southern Haunts Anthologies published by Seventh Star Press. His horror novel Syrenthia Falls is represented by Dark Oak Press.

He is also the author of multiple young adult steampunk stories found in the Dreams of Steam Anthologies, Capes and Clockwork Anthologies, and the anthology Clockwork Spells and Magical Bells. His more extreme works can be found in the anthologies Luna’s Children published by Dark Oak Press and State of Horror: Louisiana Vol 1 published by Charon Coin Press.
Visit Smashwords.com, Amazon.com, and Barnesandnoble.com to download his monthly short stories known as Single Shots. These are represented by Pro Se Press and they are known as stories that will be featured in the upcoming book The Night the Jack O’Lantern Went Out.

Louise Myers: Louise Myers was born in New Orleans and during her teenage years was uprooted from everything she knew and was replanted in Mississippi. Though the transition was difficult, she is very glad to have the opportunity to have both worlds under her belt. She says this because she knows from living in both places, they are both a world all to their own. She is the wife of a wonderful husband and mother of three beautiful children, as well as the proud parent of a spoiled mutt.

She was assistant editor of Southern Haunts: Spirits That Walk Among Us, co-editor of Southern Haunts 2: Devils in the Darkness, and co-editor of Southern Haunts 3: Magick Beneath the Moonlight.
 
She is a beta reader, book doctor, editor, and author. Though this is her second story in print, she has been weaving tales for many years for pleasure. She has many thoughts on several topics she’d like to write, mostly surrounding ghost stories.

About the book

 

Southern Haunts 3: Magick Beneath the Moonlight: Deep within the South, read about the magickal folk who haunt the woods, the cemeteries, and the cities. Within this grim anthology, eighteen authors will spellbind you with tales of hoodoo, voodoo, and witchcraft.

From this cauldron mix, readers will explore the many dangers lurking upon the Natchez Trace and in the Mississippi Delta. They will encounter a bewitched doll named Robert from the Florida Keys, and a cursed trunk that is better left closed. In the backstreets of New Orleans, they will become acquainted with scorned persons who will stop at nothing to exact their revenge.

These hair raising tales and more await you in Southern Haunts 3: Magick Beneath the Moonlight. Read if you dare.

 Amazon Links Kindle Version
http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Haunts-Magick-Beneath-Moonlight-ebook/dp/B01778OK8A
Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/southern-haunts-alexander-s-brown/1122860995?ean=2940150901841

Authors:

Alexander S. Brown

Angela Lucius

David Blalock

C G Bush

Della West

Diane Ward

Elizabeth Allen

Greg McWhorter

John Hesselberg

Jonnie Sorrow

Kalila Smith

Linda DeLeon

Louise Myers

Melissa Robinson

Melodie Romeo

J L Mulvihill

Robert McGough

Tom Lucas

Southern Haunts: Magick Beneath the Moonlight is the third title in the Southern Haunts Anthology Collection. Look out for...

About the Tour

Tour Schedule and Activities
5/2/2016 Book in the Bag Review
5/3/2016 SwillBlog Review
5/3/2016 Beauty in Ruins Guest Post
5/4/2016 Connie P Guest Post
5/5/2016 Jorie Loves A Story Review
5/6/2016 Sheila's Guests and Reviews Guest Post
5/6/2016 L. Andrew Cooper's Horrific Scribblings Review
5/7/2016 Sapphyria's Book Reviews Top Ten’s List
5/8/2016 Come Selahway With Me Interview
5/8/2016 Deal Sharing Aunt Interview