Month: September 2015

“The New Babysitter”

M. Walsh Short Stories , ,

This is one of my first short stories, and I think the first work I ever tried to get published. I’ve never been really sure what genre it should fall under—a sort of horror-comedy-thriller, I guess. Can’t say if it holds up, but it has a special place for me.
It’s a twist on the old babysitter story where said babysitter gets harassed on the phone by a creepy guy lurking outside.

I know I have problems.

My parents knew—I knew—we were taking a risk letting me babysit the McAllister kids. But in my defense, honestly, what are the odds? I certainly didn’t go in that night thinking things would escalate the way they did. I didn’t want anyone to die … Continue reading →

Advertisement

Interview For Hungry Monster Book Reviews

M. Walsh Graylands , ,

After his review of The Ghost Princess, I was interviewed by Hungry Monster Book Reviews about my book and its characters….

(minor spoilers ahead)

There are some intriguing characters in your novel and they all intersect in different ways. How did you develop the characters interactions?
The core protagonists—Katrina, Lily, Krutch, & Scifer—were developed individually in short stories I’ve written (none have been published). I had an idea of these characters existing in the same world, but they were each built up in my mind by themselves. When I finally decided to just write a novel, it was a matter of thinking of a plot that would tie them all together. Even though Katrina is essentially the central character, I always thought of The Ghost Princess as much Krutch’s story and Lily’s story as it is hers. So that was how I approached the writing. The first draft was divided in three sections—the first entirely from Katrina’s perspective, the second from Krutch’s, and the third from Lily’s. With the second draft, I started putting the three POV’s together. I was happy to find how well everything ended up syncing together…Katrina and Krutch, in particular, forming a sort of anti-”Hero’s Journey.” And Lily wound up fitting in the middle of that perfectly.
Continue reading →