Wednesday, May 7, 2014

An Interview with Lana Moon

E.M. BRYANT INTERVIEWS LANA MOON:

In early 2014, Lana Moon joined the SHORTIES scene as a contributor...but she's also a writer in her own right!

Here is a quick Q&A session with Ms. Moon--the "sugar and spice" counterpart to my "dark and dirty" works.

BRYANT: I've had curious emails and FB messages about you! You do have an interesting background. Care to share more? 

MOON: I spent some time moonlighting as a ghost hunter. When that group dissolved, I still had the strong desire to explore old buildings and abandoned properties. It wasn't really about the thrill of hunting the paranormal--I genuinely love the beauty of those old forgotten places. 

BRYANT: And do you incorporate that into your writing?

MOON: Oh, very much so. Every setting I write about is specifically a place I've either lived in or visited. 

BRYANT: What is your favorite genre to write?

MOON: I grew up obsessed with those cheesy romance books--the ones our mothers would hide and read while we were at Girl Scouts or Volleyball camp. And I STILL LOVE those books, but I also love classical literature--anything by the Bronte ladies especially. There's something absolutely enthralling about a dark(er) romance, or a romance that takes place in a really horrific time or challenging setting. 

BRYANT: What were some of your earliest influences as far as literature that really drove you to want to write?

MOON: Jane Eyre is still my favorite book. And literary critics have ripped it apart and dissected it a million times, but to me, it's simply a wonderfully pieced together romance. The same goes for Henry James' Turn of the Screw. It's just a beautiful book and a haunting story. 

BRYANT: You debuted your short story Lost Love on this blog. We've gotten a lot of great feedback about it. What do you have on the horizon now?

MOON: I'm finalizing a paranormal romance now, and I also have a Gothic romance in the works that I'm hoping readers will enjoy. Lost Love is a bit biographical and very lighthearted, but my writing isn't typically so bubbly, but there is a vast amount of romance.  

BRYANT: I'm not always one for happy endings as I like grittier stories, but what about you?

MOON: I'm a hopeless romantic--I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE happy endings! Life is hard enough, and as a reader, I don't typically want a love story with a devastating ending. I look for something hopeful. At the same time, I love throwing a thousand obstacles at the leading players, tearing their budding relationship apart, and then putting it all back together. That's life, right? A series of obstacles. And it's the people that stand with us that ultimately remain with us. 

BRYANT: Thanks for doing this quick Q&A. One last question: For the record, did you find evidence of ghosts during your brief stint as a ghost hunter? 

MOON: Ha! Thanks for that one! We (the group) never disclose names or specific locations of places that were investigated, or conclusions that were made or disproved. That is always and only up to the property owner. But as someone far more famous that I'll ever be once said, "The truth is out there." 

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