3Q’s – Sarah Budd prepares to Enter the Darkness

As these 3Q’s move along, one of the best things about this feature, is I get to have a brief chat with so many amazing authors!

Today’s author is no exception and a truly fantastic writer.

Please say hello to Sarah Budd!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try to write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
Sarah: Hi Steve, thanks for having me. I do try to write in the mornings and any other snippets of time I can get! I’m not super strict with myself, I don’t have any word counts to hit per day and I don’t like to force it. I feel that if I’m not having fun writing something then readers won’t have fun reading it! So, if I hit a stumbling block in my work, I find what’s best is a good long walk where I usually have my eureka moment and figure out the solution.

Steve: If you could write a story for another author’s fictional world/series, which would it be and why?
Sarah: Oh, this question has had me pondering for days! For years I’ve been obsessed with Daphne Du Maurier’s gothic masterpiece Rebecca. It’s the tale of a young woman marrying a richer older widower. She is quite literally swept off her feet and brought to Manderley a stately home haunted by her husband’s dead wife. I’ve read this book so many times and would love to write a tale exploring Rebecca’s side of the story. I would love for the wives to meet each other, even from beyond the grave, and form an alliance, that would be wild! Can’t say too much without giving spoilers away but I’m dying to know more about her.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Sarah: I still can’t believe it, but Brigid Gate’s Press will be publishing my debut novella, Enter the Darkness in September 2022. They have been putting out so many amazing anthologies and other tales I’m dying to read so I’m very excited to be working with them!
I was inspired to write Enter the Darkness after a visit to Chislehurst Caves in south London, not sure why but I’ve always been fascinated with caves and just knew I had to write about this place. I had so much fun writing this and hope people will enjoy reading it!
Enter the Darkness starts off with Garth a young man who has lived by the caves all his life. Since childhood he’s had a strange connection with the caves and jumps at the chance to work there as a tour guide. However, these aren’t ordinary caves, even the darkness behaves differently, it has a mind of its own and will draw you in if you’re not careful!
The worst thing that could happen to someone in the caves is to get lost, which is exactly what happens in my tale! On the eve of the Spring Solstice, four people go into the cave but only one will come out unscathed.

https://brigidsgatepress.com/upcoming-releases

Steve: Bonus Question! Do you have a cherished book?
Sarah: Another really hard question. I have my nose stuck in a book so much I get told off for it! I have so many favourites but one book I really love is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Reading this during my twenties made me fall in love with books all over again and inspired me to start writing again.

Fantastic! Thank you so much for doing this, Sarah!

As always – check the links to discover more of her work!

Website: http://www.sjbudd.co.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SjbuddJ

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/S-J-Budd/e/B06XR9Q8SK