Visit the Creepfest Blog Hop page for a complete listing of participating blogs and have fun!
Don’t forget to check at the bottom of this post for some crazy prizes you can win 
Red Tash is the author of This Brilliant Darkness and quite an intriguing woman. From her website:
Red Tash knows that all you really care about is that she writes good stories. She does that. Red’s books make you think, make you wonder, make you laugh, and keep you turning pages. They’ve been known to keep hardened readers up at night, racing to the end of the book.
Visit her at her website for a free sample of her brilliance, dark or not.
Who would you say is the one person who has had the most impact on your life?
I assume you mean to imply positive impact. I honestly don’t want to answer that, because of the super-corniness factor, but I will give you a hint. His birthday is coming up very soon, and it’s kind of a big deal.
Negative impact is a sad story. Not very holly jolly, but I would be lying if it I said it didn’t affect every longform fiction piece I’ve worked on so far.
Who is the one literary character you would date and why? Where do you go and what do you do?
There is no one I’d wish to date again in a million years. I am very happily married, and I’m a newlywed, and at my age, there is nothing appealing about dating whatsoever. I will say, though, that it would be super cool to hang out with Charles Simic, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, JK Rowling–these are my writing idols. Elizabeth Bishop. Mark Twain. Poe. Stop me! I like people, the stranger the better.
As far as completely fictional characters go, I used to say I didn’t understand why people ran off with the Doctor, on Dr. Who. But now, I think if the Doctor would have asked me when I was much, much younger like he did Amy Pond, I’d probably have gone.
Tell us what your writing process is like. Pantser or plotter?
A little of both. I’m down to the end of Troll or Derby, and I’ve got each of the last few chapters outlined. Scenes keep stretching themselves out, and that’s irritating me, so I’m having to kinda force some of that pantsing to fit my plotting. It’s okay. It’ll work out.
Sit on Santa’s lap and tell him your five deepest desires for Christmas.
You really want to know this? You want me to break out into song doing My Grown Up Christmas List? Because I can.
There is truly nothing I desire for Christmas as a human errand. All those desires are on the shoulders of angels.
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing writers today?
Deciphering the market. If you want to try and go indie, do you have a strong enough platform to support your sales? How many hours per day are you willing to promote, and will you be satisfied with the resulting sales? If you’re trying to be traditionally published, how long are you willing to let your story sit and bake in the sun, waiting for someone to buy it? Can you stand to watch indies with lesser stories become best-sellers, releasing book after book, while your masterpiece rakes in rejection after rejection?
I wrote to one of my former favorite agents last week. Got a nasty reply in response. Just, really, you know–uncalled for. Rude. I was considering querying for my upcoming novel. It’s so good, and I would really love to have that advance and that pre-release support. The prestige of being chosen, as lame as that sound to many, still exists in the eyes of most book-buyers. So, do I query or not, considering my favorite choice was a total bitch? How much of that do I feel like putting up with? It’s one thing to tell yourself that it doesn’t matter what people say, but the book I just published sat in a drawer for years because of what one unqualified reader decided about it. The power of “no” is huge, and I don’t know if I want to deal with that again.
How has your journalism background impacted your fiction writing?
Very, very much. I see the story unfold in my mind, and I report it expressly as it happens. My non-fiction is much more emotionally charged. All my writing benefits from snappier pacing, a distinct writerly voice, and well-researched background. Geez, let us not forget the virtues of writing in AP style. 
Tell us about your upcoming projects. Inquiring minds want to know.
Troll or Derby is a YA fantasy with a heavy dose of sex, drugs, rock & roll, and roller derby. It’s set in rural Indiana, in the realm of the evil troll overlord McJagger and his Fairy Godsmacker roller derby team, home court entertaiment at his illegal casino. Roller Deb, a teenager raised as a human, discovers she’s a fairy, and falls in league with McJagger’s rogue troll nephew, and the two of them create havoc everywhere from the flea market to the feed store. There’s a lot of magic, blood, fire, and a Thunderbird named Biggie Smalls. In other words, it’s a love story.
After that I might do the sequel to This Brilliant Darkness. There is also a line of folks asking for a non-fiction book I promised under my respectable journalism identity and all that. So, we’ll see. I might work on two books at once. Well, three. I already have a memoir half-written, as well.
When you are feeling at your lowest, what book or movie do you read/watch to make you feel better?
There are so many good ones, but my all time fall back is Harry Potter. I love the books and movies, but there is little to compare to the pure escapism of listening to Stephen Fry narrate the British audio versions. The American versions by Jim Dale are also nice, but Stephen Fry + J K Rowling is a home run.
I have also been known to watch Christmas movies year-round. Elf, A Christmas Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Love, Actually. If I someday write a Christmas book, it’ll be because of those.
Prizes!
Here’s the deal: At the end of the Blog Hop, on December 24th, I will give away twelve e-copies of “Athena’s Promise”, one for every day of Creepfest. But that’s not all! I will also give away one autographed print copy. WAIT! One more thing — I’m so excited about Creepfest, I will also give away one Amazon gift card in the amount of $20!
Since this is a sweepstakes and not a contest, entering is easy-peasy, and you can enter as many times as you like. Here’s how:
Leave a comment on any (or all) blog posts here during Creepfest.
Sign up for my Once in a Blue Moon Newsletter. (No spam, I swear.)
Like my Facebook Fan page.
Like “Athena’s Promise” on her Amazon page.
Tweet about this blog or AP and use the hashtag #AthenasPromise so I can track properly.
Mention this blog or AP on YOUR blog.
That’s it. You’ll get one entry apiece for each action – up to 17 entries if you do each of these things! Damn! I will tally the results from all twelve days and choose the winners via Random.org. Make sure you leave a comment that lets me know what you did and include a working email address so I can make an accurate count and contact you if you win.
Spread the word! The more the merrier
Hopalong to the Creepfest Blog Hop page for a complete listing of participating blogs and plenty of chances to win cool, free swag!
