1. First job -- I came from a different era. When I was young, if a child wanted something they were expected to work for it. There was plenty to be done - yards to mow, walks to shovel, babies to sit. I was very industrious so I did all of these but my most memorable first job was cleaning house for some of the elderly neighbor ladies.

One woman in particular contributed not only to my finances but also provided fuel for my nightmares and future horror stories. Mrs. Clubb, was in her nineties and extremely decrepit. She lived in a three-story rundown Victorian style manor. She lived alone and kept the house dark because the light hurt her eyes. This was due in part to her medical condition and partly to save on electricity. She suffered from a severe iron deficiency and anemia. Her doctor advised her to consume raw liver.

I'm not sure if this was a daily regime or not but I know one thing. Old Lady Clubb, (as she was known), took great joy in pulling her carton of raw bloody liver from the fridge, sitting down at the kitchen table and consuming slimy chunks of the stuff while I swept and mopped her kitchen floor. I can still picture her today 30 years later with blood dripping down her chin. *shivers*

2. Favorite relaxing activity/hobby - I love listening to music while I read, write or crochet. I am one of those multi-tasking people who needs something to do with their hands while they relax. I'm sure I could have worded that better. Oh well.

3. Strangest thing you've ever eaten - My mom always said that I would eat anything that didn't eat me first so this is a tough one. To misquote one of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies The Unforgiven: "I've eaten just about everything that walks or crawls at one time or another." I would add to that flies and swims as well.

One of my favorite things to eat is octopus which is not considered strange in most parts of the world but here in the Midwest it still raises eyebrows. I think some of our hillbilly vittles might be classified as strange. I have eaten squirrel brains, frog legs, and chicken gizzards (which I love) but maybe the strangest thing for me was cow's tongue. It's just the thought that it is tasting me tasting it kind of blows my mind.

Another tough question. I have often thought I would love to spend a day in the life of the Dalai Lama. The first thing I would do is meditate of course. The ability to quiet my mind and just be has been something I have struggled with my whole life. I envy people who can mediate. So I would seek serenity from within.

This is a question that to me depends on time period and genre but since this is the Horror Newsletter I will stick to that. My all-time favorite horror writer is Edgar Allan Poe. There is really no one else in his league. The beauty of his prose and language is unsurpassed.

My favorite modern day horror writer is without a doubt Stephen King. What I love about King is his ability to make everyday life horrifying. The family dog, a car, a secluded hotel and eclipse, all things that normally are mundane suddenly become the most frightening things in existence. Also, I am fascinated by King's talent for writing such incredibly true-to-life characters that we can all relate to and care about. I think that is the true appeal of his work. I read his books as much to meet new interesting people as I do for a good story.

I am a voracious reader so I have read several books of late. My favorites were Lullaby: ($11.99 from Amazon.Com) by Chuck Palahniuk, The Dresden File Novels by Jim Butcher  , and 11/22/63: A Novel: ($17.52 from Amazon.Com) by Stephen King. All of which I would highly recommend to everyone. They are all great reads with a thriller aspect to them.

Write for yourself not for others. In other words write what you like not what you think will sell (so to speak). If you like marauding kittens then write about them. Don't write a zombie novel because that's the current flavor.

Another important piece of advice is to watch your language. I don't mean this in the prudish sense such as swearing. I'm talking about your prose -- writing style. Keep your diction clear, concise and simple as possible. Don't let your language get verbose and melodramatic unless of course you are intentionally writing purple prose. Even then you want to use simple language. It is nice to have a million dollar vocabulary but the key to good writing is knowing when to use it. Nothing will frustrate a reader faster than having to look something up in the dictionary.

I don't remember my first review but I'm sure it probably came from J. Marie Ravenshaw (62) she runs the group "Horror, Inc." and I entered their weekly contest. I won it several weeks in a row and from then on I was hooked. I became an avid contestant in various WDC contests. That is still one of my favorite pastimes. I love all the contests.

I also love writing reviews. It is fun discovering and encouraging new writers. I think I learn as much if not more from reviewing the work of others as I do writing myself. I see what others do wrong and know not to do that and on the flipside I borrow from what they do right. It really does improve my writing and it's beneficial to someone else as well.

This is a trick question since many books that are not typically considered horror today have aspects of horror in them. For instance, I grew up reading mythology, Grimm's Fairy Tales: ($9.95 from Amazon.Com) and Aesop's Fables: ($12.49 from Amazon.Com), all of which are pretty dang scary but not exactly what you think of when you think "horror."

The first modern horror novel I remember reading was The Exorcist: A Novel: ($13.77 from Amazon.Com) by William Peter Blatty. I heard about the book when I was in school. I must have been 11 or 12 years old. Everyone was talking about a book that had all this vulgar language in it. The f-bomb was still a big deal back then. Anyway, this book was supposedly based on a true story and so scary it would turn your hair white. I actually remember reading a dog-eared tattered copy the kids were passing around school during study hall. It really was a frightening book. I think I feared demonic possession for years after reading it. Okay, okay, maybe I still do - a little.

I would definitely say real-world horror is the scariest. Anytime there is a possibility that this thing could happen to you no matter how slight or unlikely it is more frightening. You don't have to suspend your disbelief with real-world horror. When I go to sleep at night my nightmares are filled with me and my family trying to survive real-world horrors, not vampires and zombies.

In fact the supernatural horrors are more fun than frightening to me now. When I read a good supernatural horror story or watch a zombie movie it is like going to a world class spook house. It's entertaining and fun. It reminds me of Halloween and getting dressed up to go to a party. It is a totally different experience from reading a good real-world horror story which often leaves me feeling traumatized. That's weird, right?