Interview with Su Halfwerk

Hello everyone! After a brief interlude to switch countries (from Spain to England, more on that later) we're back with another interview of an interesting writer. Today our guest is Su Halfwerk, a paranormal writer whose latest release Zuphreen is out from Damnation Books.


Tell us a bit about your new release.
Zuphreen was released by Damnation Books in June. It is a horror-urban fantasy about three unlikely friends who unwittingly unleash the horrors of hell in a vain attempt to boost their grades. Duped by their scheming professor, the friends summon an evil demon and command him to bestow his gifts upon them. But the gifts soon become curses and the friends watch in horror as they slowly turn into monsters. In a desperate race against time, the students must undo the curses before the demon's gifts destroy them forever. How far will they go to lift these curses? How deep will they sink to save themselves?
You can find the book here: http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615721290


What inspires you to write about the paranormal?
I believe that the paranormal genre is the best to describe and summarize fiction. Of course, there are other genres that are fictional, but the rules are bent differently in the paranormal world. If bent romantically, then it’s paranormal romance, and if thrown into the darkest tunnel of fiction, then we cross over to horror. There’s something magical and freeing about this the paranormal.


What projects are you working on now?
I’m working on the story of a special type of hero. He’s after the man who killed his wife and daughter and scarred his son for life. But the hero’s powers come with a very frustrating sexual restriction, and he still has to maintain a good front for his glamorous day job. I’m also working on a mini-series that has few known concepts in common between them.


Besides writing, you also design book trailers. What goes into making an effective trailer?
That’s a very interesting question, Sean. A book trailer is a tool to engage the visual and auditory senses to garner interest in the book. A mash of music, photos, and sentences doesn’t always work. Having a closely-knit piece of artwork that teases the soon-to-be reader into (at least) checking the book’s price, is something different altogether.
When I work on a trailer, I start by deciding on the important scenes without giving away too much. Next step is the development of the text that will accompany the images. It shouldn’t be lengthy or telling too much, it should complement the images and not distract from them. After that, I search for the music and sound effects that goes with both text and images. Finally, the fun part, the joining of all elements into one whole entity. I work on the synchronization of the pieces together, music reaching crescendo just as a certain word of significance appears suddenly, or a musical note dwindling at the end of a sad line and even sadder image. I run the trailer by at least three people to get a feel of what emotions it invokes in them. If I get 80% of those emotions right, then I’m happy.


Where can we find you online?

· My website is: www.su-halfwerk.com

· You can catch my tweets here: http://twitter.com/SuHalfwerk

· Or read my Facebook wall posts here: www.facebook.com/Su.Halfwerk

· I blog about anything and everything over here: http://www.suhalfwerk.blogspot.com/

Thanks for being here!
Sean, thank you for the interview. I look forward to visiting again :-).