Janice Horton talks Voodoo!

Hi Janice, and welcome to the blog. With spooky Halloween right around the corner, now is the perfect time for you to tell all the readers of the blog about your Voodoo Romance Series.  So, let’s begin our interrogation interview! Pull up a chair (though not the one plugged into the wall…………mwahhhhahhhahhhhaaahhaaa – cue thunder and lightning!)

 

JB: Where did your inspiration come from for this series of spooky books?

JANICE: I believe the best inspiration for a story comes from something that happens in real life. The ‘what if?’ factor kicks in and my writer’s imagination takes over.  You might think it’s a bit weird and spooky, but I got the idea for the first book in this series on a flight back from the Caribbean. I actually witnessed a spat between two female passengers and one appearing to put a curse on the other. I’d scribbled the opening scene for ‘How Do You Voodoo? before we’d landed!

JB:  What sort of research did you have to do for the books? 

JANICE: I’m guilty of enjoying the research as much as the writing! A central scene in the first book takes place at the Necropolis in Glasgow, a huge Victorian city centre graveyard known locally as the City of the Dead. I took a research trip out there on a grey autumn day last year and it was fabulously atmospheric and really spooky!

JB: Tell us the most interesting thing you found out about voodoo.

JANICE: I became pretty fascinated with Marie Laveau - the so called ‘Witch Queen of New Orleans’. You’ll find out a bit more about her in Voodoo Child.

JB:  Did you develop an unhealthy interest in voodoo or a healthy respect?

JANICE: I would say both. I loved reading about the nature of the ‘loas’ or spirits associated with the voodoo belief and I probably found out more than I needed to for the books. That said - I’m still an atheist!

JB:  Have you ever been tempted to try a bit of voodoo yourself?

JANICE: No. Definitely not. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t…!

JB:  Tell us a little about the main characters in the Voodoo Romance Series.

JANICE: The main characters are Nola and Louis. The three books in the series cover their relationship from how they meet and fall in love, get married, and have their first child. Just your average love story then, you might think? No, not really, because Nola starts off thinking she’s been cursed by voodoo and that Louis is a witch doctor. Actually, he’s a medical doctor and he prefers to believe in science and medicine rather than spells and magic. But as Nola gets to know his wonderful but wacky voodoo family, who are all quirky sub-characters in the plot, she gets to realise exactly what Louis is up against as there is magic and mayhem at every turn!

JB:  Tell us about a spooky thing that happened to you.

JANICE: At the Edinburgh Festival in August, I went on a midnight ‘ghost tour’ which included going down into Edinburgh’s vaults. The ‘Vaults’ are an underground network of dark damp and reputedly haunted tunnels under South Bridge where in the 18^th Century the poor of Edinburgh lived and died. That was very spooky indeed. I can recommend the tour if you are in Edinburgh this Halloween!

JB:  Do you have any Halloween traditions?

JANICE: Not now that our three sons are all grown up. But when they were young,  we would all dress up and do all the trick and treating and attend the party in the village hall afterwards, where there would be messy black treacle scones hanging on strings and apple dunking to be done in barrels of water. The Scots really do know how to celebrate Halloween. It’s always been a special event in Scotland.

Special Halloween Offer!

You can download the first humorous romance in this series How Do You Voodoo?

Absolutely FREE until the 31^st October!

Amazon UK   Amazon US

About the Author: Janice Horton lives in Scotland. Janice writes contemporary fiction with humour and heart. Look out for her Amazon Kindle bestselling ebooks ‘Bagpipes and Bullshot’ and ‘Reaching for the Stars’ and her voodoo romance novellas. Her latest title is a nonfiction guide ‘How To Party Online’. Janice is a regular blogger and you’ll also find her on Facebook and Twitter. She is a member of the Romantic Novelist's Association and Editor of the Bookshelf Reviews feature at Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine.

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Associate Editor at: Loveahappyending Lifestyle Mag