Clubhouse Chat Guest: Destiny Pifer

Welcome to Clubhouse Chat page. Those of you who are not a member won’t be aware that the location of the Clubhouse is shrouded in mystery. The only way to visit it is via membership or an invite to the tearoom. Every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation with all sort of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers. Over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, I shall be chatting with my guest about their work in progress, or latest book release.

Today I’m welcoming Destiny to the tearoom. Welcome. I hope you enjoy your visit Destiny.

This is fun. Lots to see Paula around the clubhouse and the tearoom is amazing. I can’t live without my Iced Tea.

Now we have our refreshment I’ll start by asking you when you first begun your writing journey what drew you to your chosen genre?

I have always felt drawn to the horror genre. I had a few spooky things happen to me in my childhood that led me down the path of the unknown. One being that my grandparents house was haunted and I remember seeing my first ghost in that house. Another being that my mother and her friends were always playing with a ouija board, and I found it fascinating to watch.

Tell us a little about latest writing project. Is it a new idea, or one you have been mulling over for some time?

Well, right now I am trying to get my horror novel off an old laptop that crashed so I can send it in to a publisher. Another is something different then the horror genre and that’s writing a family memoir, but I am a little leery because I am afraid of upsetting certain people.

When reading your work through do you ever find that your daily mood swings are reflected in your writing?

Yeah I find my frustration coming out through my character. When I am angry my character is angry. So yeah my moods often come out through my characters.

Were any of your characters inspired by real people?

No, they’re always made up characters in my head. I’ve always been a loner and spend so much time in my head. This allows me to just make up these random characters.

Is there anything about you your readers might be surprised to find out?

I guess one would be that I am a witch who has practiced wicca for many years. I love studying up on not only witchcraft but voodoo as well. However, I am not completely all about horror. I was a news reporter for five years for my local newspaper and really enjoyed tackling human interest stories. I still write human interest stories for sites like Medium.com. 

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

It depends on how I feel when I wake up but I often try to write when I first get up in the morning. When that doesn’t work then I write late at night. I wish I could have a better schedule like the great authors Stephen King and the late Jackie Collins but I work around two jobs and being a single parent so sometimes the only time I have to write is when I am sitting out in the parking lot waiting for my son to get out of school or on a lunch break at work.

Do you set yourself a daily word count?

I try to aim for a 100 words a day. 

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

No because I prefer that everyone know that I am the one who wrote the story. I grew up feeling like a nobody and being treated like I was invisible so I always swore that when I got published I would use my real name.

How do you select the names of your characters? Do you know everything about them before you start writing their story?

Usually I try to give my characters a really unusual name that will stand out to the reader. I love unusual names. Before I write a character I always try to have them pictured in my mind and what type of character I want them to be.

How long on average does it take you to write a book or story?

It took me a year to write my novel. In the past I wrote three other’s that I sadly lost in moves and one took me two months, the other four months and the third one  lost was five months. Mind you those were written long before I had my son. It’s a bit harder when you have a kid or at least it is for me.

Thank you for joining me in the tearoom, Destiny. Our driver Brutus will run you home when you’re ready to leave.

To find out more about Destiny’s writing click on her blog link.

If you want to find out more about Clubhouse Member’s Books don’t forget to check out the Clubhouse Bookshops too.