The Publishing Performance Show

Christina Graves - Horror Writing Tips and Indie Publishing Insights

• Teddy Smith • Episode 11

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Christina Graves is a creative writing student, indie author, and digital artist residing in the Deep South where legend and scary stories wander hand in hand. Her debut novel, "Still Dark Places," was released through Horrorsmith Publishing and launched their thriller imprint, Thrill Forge. With a unique blend of southern gothic atmosphere and thriller pacing, Christina offers insights into the world of indie publishing and the creative process behind writing suspenseful fiction.

In this episode:

  • Christina's journey from aspiring writer to published author
  • The process of writing and structuring a dual-timeline novel
  • Insights into the indie publishing process with Horrorsmith Publishing
  • Balancing writing with family life and other commitments
  • The transition from horror to domestic thriller in her upcoming work
  • The importance of authenticity in genre writing
  • Strategies for building tension and suspense in fiction
  • The value of networking and community in the writing world


Resources mentioned:


Book recommendations:


Connect with Christina Graves:

Upcoming work:

  • "What We Do in Secret" (domestic thriller set to release in April 2025, available for preorder)
  • "This Cabin is Ours" (serialized novella on Substack)


Connect with Teddy Smith:


Join our Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/publishingperformance/



[00:00:00] Teddy: Hi, everyone. Welcome to the publishing performance show today. I'm really excited to be joined by really promising new author called Christina Graves. She's been writing for a few years now, but she's only really starting to get some really great traction with her books. I'm really excited to see where she goes.

[00:00:20] Teddy: So in this episode, what we talked about today was her writing process, some tips for how she can get out there marketing the importance of it. Networking with your local community and the [00:00:30] wider author community and how she focuses on social media to grow her books in that horror genre. So it's a really exciting chat.

[00:00:38] Teddy: I'm really looking forward to seeing where she goes in her career And I think you're going to really really enjoy this episode.

[00:00:46] Teddy: Hi everyone. Welcome to publishing informant show I'm here with the author christina graves whose book the still dark places is published by horace smith publishing And today we're going to be talking about her Marketing tips, how she writes the book and also publishing horror books [00:01:00] and what that process is.

[00:01:00] Teddy: So thank you, Christina, for joining the call. 

[00:01:03] Christina: Thanks for having me. 

[00:01:05] Teddy: Great. Let's talk a little bit about your first book. So your first book is Still Dark Places. Why don't you tell us a little bit about that book? 

[00:01:12] Christina: The way I usually describe Still Dark Places my very, very first book, baby. Is a southern Gothic atmosphere at the pace of a thriller follows main character.

[00:01:22] Christina: It actually follows a dual storyline. But the main character Nora Gray, as she started over in this new life, [00:01:30] and the old one sort of comes back to haunt her a little bit. She was the 8th girl the final girl, if you will, a survivor of 7 girls that went missing about 10 years ago, and it's about her being pulled back into that mystery.

[00:01:43] Okay, it's based on a, around a true story or is it completely yours? 

[00:01:49] Christina: It's completely mine. Um, I do pull a lot of my ideas from true headlines because I want there to be some element of truth to it. But the story is fiction completely, a hundred percent. 

[00:01:59] Right, okay. [00:02:00] And so you talked about it being a Gothic Southern novel.

[00:02:03] Tell us what that means because I'm in the UK, so this is like maybe a slightly different concept to us. Okay. 

[00:02:09] Christina: Think sort of like big haunted houses, family secrets, sort of a slower atmosphere, a slower pace, creepy type of thing, 

[00:02:19] creepy.

[00:02:23] And is horror something you've always wanted to write about? Is that your kind of style you've always wanted to write in? 

[00:02:28] Christina: I know I've always wanted to write [00:02:30] darker fiction. I don't want to say that. I've always wanted to write just horror stories. I've definitely always lean towards scary stories, but I really just like to write about the darker side of human nature.

[00:02:41] Christina: And sometimes that does lean into horror a lot more than other genres. I definitely like the pace of the thriller a little bit better. So this was my attempt to sort of combine those two. I definitely felt with those dual storylines that I was writing two different books. 

[00:02:56] Right. Okay. And how did you balance that?

[00:02:59] Writing those [00:03:00] two different storylines along? Honestly, so the dual storylines are, they each have their own main character, their own plot, their own characters, their own theme. The past storyline with the other 2 main characters, Ruth and Helena is more of the Southern Gothic, you know, very creepy, slower atmosphere sort of creep up on you and then scare you type of thing where Nora's was more of the fast paced sleuthing so to write those 2 without them bleeding into each [00:03:30] other.

[00:03:30] Christina: Too much as far as like pace and theme. I had to write them both completely separate as separate stories. So I wrote Bruce story and Helena story separately. And then when I was finished, I wrote Nora. So I had to write them. I basically wrote 2 books. Okay, and then just kind of wove in the chapters where they fit.

[00:03:48] intertwine them into each other. That's very interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Was that quite a lot of work to get that doing the editing to make sure that they all lined up? 

[00:03:55] Christina: So surprisingly, the hardest part was after it was already [00:04:00] done trying to figure out, cause I didn't really do a lot of planning. I just I try to look at books and narrative from an artist perspective.

[00:04:06] Christina: I should not all the time. I definitely should be more technical with and strategic, I guess, with how I write these chapters and how I end them. So they have a designated place, but I did not do that because I was looking at it from an artist perspective. I just wanted to focus on the story and tell the story.

[00:04:23] Christina: So after it was finished, that's when I was like, okay, let's pray to God that these fit. And so that's when I [00:04:30] had, I had my chapter separated, and I basically just went through and tried to tell myself the story in a way and kind of weave in the chapters as I went and made sure that I didn't like. Put a chapter too soon that had like a reveal that hadn't even come out yet in the other storyline.

[00:04:44] Yeah. So that made it a little tricky. Next time I'll try to be a little more strategic, but it was fun. It was different. Did you plot the two stories alongside each other? So like create some kind of chart or something so you could see what events were happening at the same time? Sort of. Yes. Because those two storylines, [00:05:00] Merge at a certain point, and they do have a lot to do with the other so I definitely had to plot them sort of along the same lines.

[00:05:08] Christina: Like, at the beginning of my process, I do, the best way to describe it is like sticky notes. So I have, like, every scene on a different sticky note, and I have like a wall, it's like a mural and I, I, I. Basically put the scenes where they fit best in my head. They don't always stick with that structure, of course, because, you know, what you want as a writer is while you're [00:05:30] writing the story kind of takes on a life of its own and you have to kind of just follow the characters around.

[00:05:34] Christina: Yeah, but luckily, most of it sort of stayed pretty true to my original hope, my original vision of what it would look like at the end. 

[00:05:44] Oh, great. I'd love to see a picture of that post it note wall. That sounds amazing. 

[00:05:49] Christina: I definitely have some pictures. I'll tag you on Instagram. I don't have it anymore.

[00:05:54] Christina: Yeah, we had a house fire, so I lost a lot of my old studio where I wrote a lot of the book. I wish I [00:06:00] still had all of my old notes and stuff like that, but they're gone. 

[00:06:03] Got a picture of them. That's pretty sad. 

[00:06:05] Christina: photos. Yeah, I know. 

[00:06:06] Yeah, 

[00:06:06] Christina: it's fine. 

[00:06:09] A lot of the people, a lot of the authors I speak to on this podcast talk about either being plotters or pantsers.

[00:06:14] But by the way, it sounds like you're an extreme plotter. And also like, by the way, the style you write your books, it would be impossible to do it without you. Creating like a big plot. 

[00:06:24] Christina: I wouldn't say that. I'm an extreme plotter. I definitely like to be some hybrid of both I'm very non committal with my [00:06:30] process.

[00:06:30] Christina: i'm very just whatever works for the story Yeah, so with this one I I start out with a pretty steady structure because I feel like I have to have a plan to start So that's where the plotter in me comes out But at the end of the day, If the story takes a different turn and I have to restructure the novel like I had to do with this one Um that's just what the story calls for.

[00:06:50] Christina: And so with that, and that's the pants are in me where I'm willing to be, I'm willing for the story to be modified. If the story calls for it, this particular story, my 1st draft looks [00:07:00] nothing like the final draft that I actually published. Yeah, there's characters that disappeared. There's whole scenes that aren't in there.

[00:07:06] Christina: There's whole plot lines that are that were just so stupid and cliche. Thanks to a beta reader that very brutally said, this is you can do better than this. Yeah. Thankful for 

[00:07:16] those people. How did you get that feedback? 

[00:07:19] Christina: You, I collaborate with other writers that appreciate the genre. That's definitely one of my biggest pieces of advice to any writer is to talk to people that are better than you [00:07:30] Talk to people that are smarter than you and that can read this objectively and give you true feedback 

[00:07:36] How did you find them in the first place?

[00:07:38] Christina: mostly social media because honestly, I don't have a whole lot of I don't there's not a big writing community that I know of at least if y'all are out there. Hey, um, I don't really encounter a lot of people in my day to day life that actually write this genre And so social media is where i've i've found most of my people, 

[00:07:56] right?

[00:07:56] Okay, have you thought about going to any like conferences or [00:08:00] networking events to try and meet some people who in your Yeah, 

[00:08:03] Christina: yes, I'm trying to fit that into the schedule. I wanted to do books and brews this year, but I was not able to kill her books and brews books of horror. I don't want to say it's a conference.

[00:08:13] Christina: I think it's more of a get together. But they definitely have tables where horror authors sign copies and you can interact with people that are in the horror community. Killer Nashville is another one that's on my radar. It's in August. A lot of thriller writers that actually is a conference where there are classes you can take and speakers you can hear.[00:08:30] 

[00:08:30] Oh, great. Yeah. I've had some great experiences with doing conferences. In a few weeks. Yeah. So definitely have a think about it. I think that they are really good. With your books. So where. Where did you get your inspiration from? Did you have, are there any particular writers who you try and emulate in any way or anything like that?

[00:08:48] Christina: I don't necessarily think that I like to emulate any other writers. I definitely feel like there's some that inspire me as far as, like, work ethic. A lot of Indy authors inspire me with their ability to just. [00:09:00] I don't know, they just they're very efficient workers. I'm definitely not a hard worker. I'm an efficient worker.

[00:09:05] Christina: I want to be productive in the time that I am able to commit. And so they're Stephen King. Obviously, I have to name that when he's in everybody's top 10. But a couple of indie authors that sort of inspire me are Gage Greenwood, Asia Brito Guerrero. They're constantly doing something for their art.

[00:09:21] Christina: They're constantly trying and just learning and those type of people inspire me as far as story structure. Taryn [00:09:30] Fisher, Anya Allburn those are the people that when I felt something, when I read their book, the way they made me feel scared or anxious, or just surprised the hell out of me. Like toward the end I that's the feeling that I wanted people to feel whenever they read my books And so as far as that I wanted to see what about those books made me feel that and do my best to replicate it In my own way 

[00:09:55] Amazing now with your books you have a lot of parts where you try and [00:10:00] have like keep the tension there Which I guess is like that's whole part of like the horror theme.

[00:10:04] Is that is that something that you practiced or did on purpose did you, did you, how did you get that, that sort of tension into the writing? 

[00:10:13] Christina: I don't know that I can speak with any of authority, uh, because, because I don't ever feel like I do anything on purpose. I just tell the story. And so there are definitely scenes that I've gotten some positive feedback as far as the tension building in the scene.

[00:10:27] Christina: Like there's a particularly Creepy to me, it's [00:10:30] creepy. The other people called it suspenseful. Yeah, but, um, yes, Nora is a little girl. I don't want to tell too much, but like, Nora is a little girl and there's a game that they play in Stillwater. There's a haunted house and, you know, every town, every kid's got a story about a haunted house and everybody wants to go in and explore and and stuff like that.

[00:10:49] Christina: And so. She goes with her sister to this house. And like I said, they had a game where whoever can get the closest to the top of the attic wins bragging rights. I [00:11:00] guess they're cool. They get some, you know, some street cred, if you will. 

[00:11:03] Yeah, 

[00:11:04] Christina: but that scene in particular, I just remember being a kid and having similar games and, you know, just moments of just sheer in my head terror.

[00:11:12] Christina: And I really wanted to capture that. And so I focused on the feeling in the body. What do I feel when I'm scared? What do I feel when this anticipation is, you know, more, more frightening than the actual result of whatever you're [00:11:30] doing? That's what I wanted to capture, because sometimes it is the anticipation that is, that is the fear.

[00:11:35] Christina: And most things at the end are not as scary as, as they were. For the build up for it, I guess, in this case, it was, but that's, this is fiction, but 

[00:11:45] yeah, brilliant. Yeah. Cause I 

[00:11:47] Christina: think 

[00:11:47] that must be quite hard to build up that suspense. Cause it must be difficult to not want to like spill the whole story out in one go.

[00:11:52] Right. 

[00:11:53] Christina: And I do feel like if you try too hard, it comes off as non authentic. I inauthentic, like, I feel like you need to just [00:12:00] focus on how you feel when you are scared. Don't try to do more. Don't try to do less. Just do your best to report that in, in, in a, a very straightforward way, you know, add a little razzle dazzle with, you know, your lyrical writing or whatever and make it pretty.

[00:12:15] Christina: But at the end of the day, just focus on what you actually feel you, not somebody else, not a movie. Don't try to replicate other people's writing or replicate other people's, you know, style. What do you feel and just do your best to, [00:12:30] to report that accurately and honestly. 

[00:12:32] Yeah, that's really good advice. I, I, I've, I've not ever written in this sort of genre, so I, I think it must be quite difficult to try and get that sort of creepiness and like, really get that sort of shivers going down your spine.

[00:12:43] I think that must be quite hard. 

[00:12:45] Christina: It is quite hard. Um, and it's, it's actually ironic because I wrote this story thinking I was writing a horror, a horror story. And after it was published, you know, the feedback is like, this is the best thriller. Like, this is a great thriller. And I'm like, it's a, it's a horror novel.

[00:12:59] Christina: [00:13:00] And they were like, it's a thriller though. Yeah. And so, so I say it is hard when you try to keep a focus on any particular genre. That's why my, my thing that I try to keep 1st and foremost in my head is just write the story and then whatever it is, it will be just try to be honest with it. 

[00:13:18] Brilliant. Now, when you wrote the book, was this a book you had in mind for a few years and you, and it took you a while to get out?

[00:13:24] Or is it something, because I know you're published through Horace Smith Publishers, which we can talk about in a sec, but [00:13:30] was that something they commissioned you to do? Or was this a story you wrote and then took to them? 

[00:13:33] Christina: This was completely mine. They didn't commission me to write it. Um, I have a few years, more like 10.

[00:13:41] Christina: So I, I just am a very busy person. I have a lot going on in my life. So I have, To write when I can. And so I started, I think I started this story sometime around 2012 ish. I want to say it's like 2012. I wish I was 1 of those authors. That was like, I was on the train when I had this idea, but I don't [00:14:00] have that.

[00:14:00] Christina: I just it's always sort of story. Right? Yes. I wasn't going to say the name. But anyway, um. I do wish I had a moment of, like, Oh, my gosh, this is my idea, but I have so many ideas in a day. I'm never going to be short of those. So I don't actually remember when the seed of this idea was planted. I just feel like it's always been there.

[00:14:21] Christina: And I sort of just wrote it in my downtime. It's changed so much from the time that I wrote the 1st draft to now [00:14:30] that sometimes I think it's of it as a completely different story, but some structure of the story has always been there. Since that ebook boom in, like, 2012, I talk about that being like a turning point in my life because it was because in that point in time, I saw a lot of people just like me publishing their books for the 1st time on an ebook platform.

[00:14:49] Christina: And I looked at that and was like, I could do this. I could be a writer. I can publish a novel. Like, I've got book ideas. I can write, like, let's do it. And so I want to say that that is [00:15:00] when I started writing it. Seriously. I started dedicating. I started prioritizing the time for it, dedicating energy and investing in it.

[00:15:09] Christina: That being said, I, I was only able to write. I had, you know, 2 kids at the time. And so I was only able to write at night, sometimes for an hour or 2 and sometimes on the back of receipt paper while I was at my job. Um, started my career in 2014 and was allotted a lot more downtime because I had a swing shift and I worked [00:15:30] nights and it was kind of quiet.

[00:15:31] Christina: And so I was able to dedicate a lot more time, even though I had less mental energy. So it was a slow go. It definitely was not. I was not a fast writer when it came to this, but it has always been there. And I've always sort of worked on it on and off. I would get tired of it, get frustrated, hit a plot hole, work on a different project, come back to it.

[00:15:49] Christina: I always came back to it, though, and I never could just let it go completely. And I knew that I was not going to be able to move on until I finished it and published it. 

[00:15:57] Great. So you wrote the book, you've got the [00:16:00] manuscripts more or less More or less there. Did you have plans to just publish it entirely yourself?

[00:16:04] Or was that always the hope to go through a publisher? 

[00:16:08] Christina: I did not have a set plan when I set out to publish. So I knew I just needed the book out there. However, that happened first was going to be the way that I went, because in my head, there's pros and cons for traditional publishing, publishing with an indie press and self publishing.

[00:16:23] Christina: Nobody's wrong for whichever route they want to take. The most important thing for me with this book, it's all about what you [00:16:30] want with your book and what you want out of it. So, with this particular book, I just wanted it to get in front of people because I had not been able to market. I had not been able to spend a significant time on social media.

[00:16:41] Christina: So, I just wanted somebody to look at this book, tell me it was worth somebody reading and, and help me learn how to get it out to as many people as I can without selling my soul for it. And so that's where. I came in contact with Horace Smith. 

[00:16:59] Great. And [00:17:00] so tell me about Horace Smith. So how did that relationship starts?

[00:17:02] Like, what was that approach? Like, what's it like? 

[00:17:05] Christina: The best, the best way possible, I think word of mouth. So I was definitely leaning toward an indie press. I definitely, because the community is so tight knit and so personal a lot of the time. And a lot of people sell their books through word of mouth.

[00:17:20] Christina: And I really wanted to get in with this community. I'm not a good, I'm not good at like making friends and I'm not good at like, Just getting it, putting myself in front of people and [00:17:30] being like, hi, I'm Christina. I write books here. Can you, can you be my friend and let's collaborate with each other? I'm just, I'm terrible at it.

[00:17:37] Christina: Not shy, I just, I don't know, I just can't do it. And so I wanted to get in with this community through my work, if I could, I wanted to just write a good book and maybe some people that, you know, were within the same community would read it and be like, hey, I read your book. Let's be friends. And they would come to me instead.

[00:17:55] Christina: Um, so I actually found her through word of mouth. I commissioned an editor to look at it. [00:18:00] You don't have to, but I wanted to have the best book that I could submit to a publishing house. And so I wanted to go ahead and invest in myself and get somebody to look at it and, and clean it up a little bit.

[00:18:11] Christina: And so, when I was done with that, uh, the person that I commissioned was like, Hey, this person is publishing and they just opened submissions to other books. And I was like, great, let's let's submit. And so I googled how to write a query letter.

[00:18:29] Christina: [00:18:30] I queried her the best way I could. I'm sure that query letter is gonna be a nightmare to read in 20 years when I'm a lot better at it. But , she gave me, she gave me a break. It was like, this book sounds great and, and was really excited about it.

[00:18:43] Christina: And I think for the first time I had somebody excited to invest in me as much as I was investing in myself. And I didn't hesitate. I just jumped on board with it. 

[00:18:54] Brilliant. And so what do Horror Smith do for you? Like, do they do like, did they create the cover and do the [00:19:00] editing and all that sort of thing?

[00:19:02] Christina: So while I approach everything from an artist standpoint, I know how, I know how I want to write a story and stuff like that. I lack in marketing. I lack in knowing how to commission, you know, covers. I had, I was prepared to do it all myself. I do digital art and stuff like that as well. So I was prepared to do it all myself, but I don't know anything about, you know, what sells, what people are looking for.

[00:19:22] Christina: I definitely have my work cut out for me to learn that type of stuff. So I knew I wanted somebody who already had connections and their [00:19:30] toes in those waters. And so right now, they, they, I don't want to say they market for me because I am also equally responsible for my own marketing as well, but they do market for me.

[00:19:40] Christina: She creates graphics. She signs me up for for book deals. Like the book stuff like that. She commissions the covers there's in the final copy that got published, it has some illustrations and some cool little things that I didn't even realize we're going to be in there. But it's like, all illustrated on the inside.

[00:19:58] Christina: She commissioned a really [00:20:00] talented artist to do that. I mean, basically everything as far as, like, getting it in front of people. That's what she does. And she edits it as well. She's an amazing editor. She wants to keep the quality of the books that are on the bookshelves in bookstores. And she wants her books that she publishes to be able to stand by those as far as quality.

[00:20:19] Nice. 

[00:20:20] Christina: That's the biggest incentive. 

[00:20:22] Yeah. And now you're with Horror Smith, like, if you have like future book plans, what how do you, how would you work with them? Would you go to them and [00:20:30] say, Oh, I've got this idea and you'd, they'd brainstorm with you or is it a case of you'd just get another manuscript, send it to them and then.

[00:20:35] She's 

[00:20:35] Christina: a little bit of a coach too. Yeah, I could definitely, she's often, she, I haven't done, I haven't done this yet, but she has offered, you know, to help walk through me, help me walk through like plot holes and, you know, development stuff. If I, if I needed her to walk me through, like, the, the biggest thing about being a writer is it's very isolating.

[00:20:55] Christina: It's very solitary work. And while I feel like that's the best way [00:21:00] for it to be, sometimes you do just hit a hole and you just cannot get through it. And sometimes you just, you do need somebody in your corner to just be like, okay, you're on to something here. Let's think a little bit outside the box and kind of help you walk through it.

[00:21:11] Christina: So I love that. I have that offer from her in case I do get to that point again, because I got to that point so many times and still dark places that if I had had somebody. To kind of help that knew what they were doing and knew the genre and knew what I was going for and kind of could see inside my head in a way and and know where I was wanting to go with the [00:21:30] story.

[00:21:31] Christina: Could have, I probably could have finished the book in half the time. I'm not saying you need a coach to write a book. You definitely don't, but it can't hurt. Um, and so she's definitely offered that, our relationship is a professional 1, but she, she is very open to collaborating with her authors. She, she's definitely not the type of person to just be like, okay, these books are licensed to me now, and they're my property.

[00:21:54] Christina: No, she has always been collaborative with us. Um, she got my approval on the cover. [00:22:00] She showed me the edits and asked me if I had any problems with it. She showed me the illustrations to see if I approved those for future books. I, I have signed my 2nd book with her. It's not done. It's not done. So she signed me just with trust in me that I was going to make it fit.

[00:22:18] Christina: It's no pressure, but, I don't have to go through her for every book Of course, you can submit your book wherever you want and I do want to dip my toes in other in other pools as well I want my book out to as many people as possible but I do [00:22:30] feel like I will for the most part stick with her for A certain genre and then you know, I might put something on ku just to have something there Because she publishes broad not in ku And I might try for a traditional publisher in the future when i'm a little bit more established.

[00:22:46] Christina: But 

[00:22:46] yeah, 

[00:22:47] Christina: um, That's sort of our relationship in the future. She's open to accepting my books and seeing them. And, you know, she's obviously not going to sign me on name alone, but, you know, she will definitely give me a chance to to read the story. She [00:23:00] trusts me as an author. So I definitely feel like our relationship will only grow from here.

[00:23:03] That's amazing that you've got such a close relationship because I know sometimes people have a bit bit fraught with a publisher that I got deadlines and stuff like that. Yeah, I got really lucky with her. You mentioned about having a coach, you're right, you can obviously do everything yourself, but especially when it comes to things like marketing and getting your book out there, I think if you are going to be completely self published, it is always useful to try and speak to someone or at least listen to like podcasts going on because there's so much, there's so many tactics you can [00:23:30] use that you need to make sure you're using the right ones for your type of book, which is where sometimes having an outside person can help you.

[00:23:36] Christina: And it changes every day you know, the platform, as far as, like, what is where people are social media platforms, where people are talking about books. I mean, it changes by the minutes. It feels like I need to know. So, if you can employ, or at least collaborate with somebody that knows just a little bit more than you, I feel like you should always be collaborating with people that know a little bit more than you.

[00:23:57] Christina: So you can at least learn something. And I feel like a lot [00:24:00] of our, a lot of authors. Transcribed The areas that they lack are the areas that are not writing related. They're just marketing related. And I feel like having somebody in your corner can't hurt. 

[00:24:09] Yep. Definitely. Now, when it comes to marketing of books is a lot of that because you're with the Horror Smith, do they take a lot of that responsibility on or do you do?

[00:24:19] Okay. And so what sort of marketing have you done or have you done either together or by yourself that has, that has worked really well for your books? 

[00:24:26] Christina: Compared to what my publishing house is doing a very minor I'm [00:24:30] sticking with, like, social media. I think I was playing around with ads on Facebook and either tick tock or Instagram.

[00:24:36] Christina: I think it was tick tock. But as far as, like. Amazon ads and signing up for book promotion deals and things like that. That is, that is all Horace Smith and she's investing a lot of time and money into that while I pretty much just try to make my presence known on social media. 

[00:24:54] Brilliant. Okay. That's very interesting.

[00:24:55] So when you've got your books. Because you're through the publishing house as well, your [00:25:00] books are in the stores. Do you do anything like in real life rather than just online to try and get your books sold as well? 

[00:25:05] Christina: My book just came out in June. So I'm trying to move toward that, like even doing this podcast, I was just like, okay, um, We're doing great so far, 

[00:25:13] carry on.

[00:25:14] Christina: I'm trying, I think it will. I, I'm trying to get more comfortable with that. She's introduced, I think, in the last month or so with intention for us to do book signings locally with all of us, because we're, we're from all over. So, she was going to help us reach out to [00:25:30] bookstores and see if anybody is willing to, you know.

[00:25:32] Christina: Host a signing. I have no doubt that somebody around here locally would host me It's just a matter of getting up that courage to ask Like I said, i'm never that one that's going to walk up and be like hi Can I have a book signing at your bookstore? Um, but yeah, i'm trying to move toward that. It's really hard as an as I don't consider myself an introvert necessarily I'm an ambivert.

[00:25:52] Christina: I can fake it. Well, it just drains me and so 

[00:25:55] i've never heard that before 

[00:25:56] Christina: It's sort of a mix of both so I can do it [00:26:00] I don't feel like I'm dying while I do it, but it does drain me a lot. Social energy takes a lot out of me. Yeah. So I just, it's very hard for me to reach out to places, but that's where I love that.

[00:26:12] Christina: I have her helping me, but I'm trying to move toward it. Hopefully next year. I'll have some book signings. I'm going to try to make it a priority to have a table at some of these get togethers and and just try to put myself out there a little bit more. 

[00:26:25] Nice. Yeah, sounds like a great idea. I mean, doing anything you can do to get your name out there, I think is [00:26:30] really helpful.

[00:26:30] So that's really good. So thinking, let's go, we're coming towards the end, but I just wanted to pull it back to sort of your genre again, for anyone who's listening, who's thinking, okay, I'm like, I like the idea of writing in the horror. Maybe they're planning writing in the horror sort of thriller kind of category.

[00:26:46] What are some of the key things they should try and bear in mind to make that book as good as possible? 

[00:26:52] Christina: Two things. I think I touched on it a little bit before but just try to be true to what you think of as horror. Don't try to [00:27:00] stick with some sort of a pre. Put together a list of what a horror novel has to have because horror is very adaptable and it looks different for everybody.

[00:27:11] Christina: Sometimes somebody might read, read mine and be like, this is not horror. And then somebody else might read it and be like, I stayed up all night and saw things in my corner in the dark. You just need to stay true to what you love about the genre. If you love horror. Study, you know, authors that you actually like not kings of the kings and [00:27:30] queens of the genre necessarily, but people that you like, and people that make you feel fear and sort of.

[00:27:36] Christina: Water that seed of, of discomfort that, you know, accompanies all horror novels, because that's basically what it is making you face the, the uncomfortable truth about the world and society. Even if they do it in a weird sort of like alien or goal way, there's always a message. Just stick with what you think to be horror, be honest about your responses, be honest about how you see the [00:28:00] narrative play out without having, you know, without trying to like, you know, mold it into a conformed replica of somebody else's work.

[00:28:10] Christina: Just be honest. And second, as far as like writing in my genre is just talk to as many people as possible within the genre. You're going to be able to write your book. I mean, the fundamentals are all there. The tools are all there. The books, the classes. You'll learn to write. You need to start preparing yourself as early as you can for the after you've written part.

[00:28:29] Christina: So [00:28:30] you need to talk to people within that genre. You need to establish relationships. You need to network. You need to just open yourself up a little bit more than I have even been able to to getting to know people within that community because at some point you're going to be done with your novel and you're going to need beta readers that know what you're doing.

[00:28:47] Christina: And you're going to need arc readers. You're going to need people to collaborate with you. You're going to, you're going to end up at tables next to people at conferences at some point. So start preparing for that as early as possible [00:29:00] and, and learn from those people, learn what works as far as marketing and start before you're done.

[00:29:05] Amazing. Thank you. That's really good advice. Now, what are the next projects you're working on? Can you give us any sneak previews to the, to the next books you're working on? 

[00:29:13] Christina: My next book is a domestic thriller called what we do in secret. Okay. And great name. It's, yeah, we came up with it. Me and Hora Smith, Lindsay because I had another title closer apparently, that that's there's always a other books with that title [00:29:30] and that's just too generic.

[00:29:31] Christina: So what we do in Secret was the second choice. And I actually really like it. It's the working title is what I've always called it. I don't want to tell too much. Like I said, I am still writing it, but essentially it's about, it's, you know, your text. Textbook story about a woman who becomes obsessed with her neighbors but I want it to be a little bit more than that, because that story has been told a million times, but it's fascinating to me.

[00:29:52] Christina: And I've had to after my after my house fire, I lived out in the country. I didn't have a lot of neighbors. And so right about [00:30:00] the time that I started actively working on this book, I had to move into a suburb the 1st day that I was living in the suburb. I witnessed a domestic violence situation across the road.

[00:30:07] Christina: And so right about the time that I started actively working on this book, I witnessed a domestic violence situation across the road. I witnessed a domestic violence situation across the road. Right, and I was like, oh my gosh, my neighbors are very interesting. Let's just watch them And I was like, they're so strange.

[00:30:16] Christina: My neighbors are so strange as I watch them from the blinds No, I see the irony. I'm not sorry for it, though, because they are inspiring to me. The things that aggravate me about my own little neighborhood. I'm trying to, like, filter that into the story, [00:30:30] but essentially, it follows a woman who's just been released from a psychiatric hospital due to an unknown incident.

[00:30:36] Christina: She was involved in a violent thing, and that got her put away for a little while. And so she's been released, and on the first day that she's released, there's some sort of implication that something has happened. And then she sees her new neighbors move in. And she watches them dancing in front of their window, and she sort of just gets fixated with them a little bit.

[00:30:58] Christina: She, whatever [00:31:00] she was fascinated with or fixated on before sort of shifts on to this new person and they don't look like your typical person that lives in this neighborhood. They wear dark clothes. They have tattoos. They have odd hours. And she was like, these people are not normal. They've got to be hiding something.

[00:31:15] Christina: And my character has a weird little hobby where she likes to. To burglarize her neighbor's houses to to just be closer to them to spy on their lives. She doesn't really take anything. She has rules and standards, but, [00:31:30] you know, she likes to move stuff around and sort of do a switcheroo thing with them.

[00:31:34] Christina: And when she breaks into her new neighbor's house, she sees something that she shouldn't and thus introduces the story. 

[00:31:41] That's when it all goes wrong. 

[00:31:42] Christina: That's when it always goes wrong. Burglary is always, is always a negative. 

[00:31:49] Great. That's the moral of the story. Moral of the story is don't rob. 

[00:31:55] Christina: Leave your neighbors alone.

[00:31:55] Christina: Watch them from the lines, like a normal neighbor. 

[00:31:59] That's a really good [00:32:00] story. Cause everyone has those weird stories about their neighbors who are always like cursing, twitching, watching what's going on. So I'm sure that's going to resonate with lots of people. Mind your 

[00:32:07] Christina: business. 

[00:32:08] Yeah, exactly. Well, thank you so much.

[00:32:11] This has been really good. If people want to get in touch or follow you, what, where's the best place to do that? 

[00:32:16] Christina: I am basically Christina Graves author or some variant of that on every social media platform. I have a sub stack where I post short stories and I actually am serializing and unedited Unedited, please be, [00:32:30] be nice.

[00:32:31] Christina: Novella called This Cabin is Ours. It is a horror story and I'm gonna post it chapter by chapter, and then I'm gonna delete it, and then I'm gonna get it published and get it prettied up. But I'll, I'm on Instagram, I'm on TikTok, I'm on Facebook. I'm not getting on any other platforms. I think I'm on Threads, but I, I'm barely on there.

[00:32:49] Christina: But Christina Grave's author everywhere. But if you want to see my actual work and my stories, substack is, is where to follow me. 

[00:32:55] Brilliant. Thank you very much. And so one, we'll put links to all those in the [00:33:00] show notes, obviously, but there's just one final question. So, this doesn't have to be one of, this shouldn't be one of your books, but what book do you recommend that everyone really should be reading at moments that you think is great, but maybe is slightly underappreciated.

[00:33:11] Christina: Right now. Let me think for a second. We 

[00:33:15] can, we can edit, we can edit this pause out. Sorry, I've realized I've just thrown this question at 

[00:33:19] Christina: you. Please edit it out. 

[00:33:21] So, this could be like, it could be like a self help book as well. Is that something that has helped you with writing or it could be a, another novel that you think is really good.

[00:33:29] So. [00:33:30] 

[00:33:31] Christina: I'm just making a 

[00:33:32] note for my editor to edit this part out. 

[00:33:33] Christina: Yes, please edit the pause. I'm so awkward and I'm trying, I'm warring in my head between my favorite book or a book that I've really enjoyed this year to kind of. It doesn't have to be this year. I know a book that I really enjoyed that taught me a lot about writing was Chuck Palahniuk.

[00:33:51] Christina: Consider this, Chuck Palahniuk, oh my gosh, he is, he is, his insight, I know his writing is a little experimental and his books are either, are [00:34:00] touch and go when it comes to whether or not they're good, but his writing is always good to me, and so his novel, Consider This, is very much like Stephen King's novel on writing in that it doesn't really teach you how to write necessarily, but more how to pull from your own life, And turn that into something that's writable, and I feel like those kinds of of teachers are invaluable and and it is the basis of how I feel as far as, like, when I think of what kind of writer I want to be and how to get good at it, I don't need you to tell me, you know, [00:34:30] proper grammar.

[00:34:30] Christina: There's an editor for that. I need you to tell me how to take my experience and what's happened with me. And the things that I know and things that I feel and turn it into a narrative that is engaging to people. And so I, I definitely think consider this touched on that. Because if you like fight club, my favorite book if you like fight club or anything like that he talks about how an instructor of his took him to this dilapidated house where they had to clean up, like, dead animals and trash and that was their writing class for the day.

[00:34:57] Christina: And he was like, this isn't writing. What are we doing? And he was like, you're writing. [00:35:00] What are you talking about? And then he created the house on page street. 

[00:35:05] Yeah, amazing. That's a really good recommendation because I haven't heard that one and lots of people I speak to on this podcast obviously recommend Stephen King's On Writing, so that's a really nice alternative to that.

[00:35:14] If you like Stephen 

[00:35:15] Christina: King's On Writing, you will love Chuck Palahniuk's Consider This. 

[00:35:20] Well, thank you, Christina, so much. That was a really great interview. I'm really looking forward to seeing your next book come out and we'll speak again soon. 

[00:35:26] Christina: Thank you so much for having [00:35:30] me.