It all started from a prompt.
Jae, her nickname, was assigned to me as my prompter for a convention I founded for a fandom (this was in 2016). I was a bit excited. She was one of the best writers out there, and that meant she was going to give me a challenge.
And yes, she did. She also seemed to know me very well because the prompt caused my mind to wander further than its usual route. I already wrote a couple of horror stories for said fandom – Forbid, Den and Whisper – but this was the first time I needed to write a finished multi-chapter story.
The prompt : three dusty, unlit candles in the attic.
I started writing the story without a goal in mind other than the fact that it should be horror. That time, I was already starting to build a reputation because of my twisted stories, and I wanted to further seal that image in everyone’s minds.
It was about ghosts. The typical paranormal archetype that never failed to make anyone feel the shivers. However, like how my stories usually were, it started to take a different route. For some reason, while I was writing it, a moniker in college came to mind. Some of my classmates used to call me catharsis queen. And that’s when the epic ending came to mind.
I don’t want to spoil things here, but that will at least give you some clue.
So then… I finally had a destination in mind. The thing kept writing itself until I finished it, with barely a few minutes before it was my time to post it.
Ruthie, my very good friend/soul sister (you can find her at her blog), was a lover of anything twisted and dark. She was also a budding film maker and author. And she told me (with her film maker eyes), that she could see my short story play as a movie in her mind.
That, and while it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea in that convention, it gained a lot of followers and praises.
With the encouragement from these readers and from Ruthie’s help (she offered to become my editor), I decided to turn House of the Insane Sisters into a full-length novel.
Oh God. It wasn’t easy. It’s been a couple of years of hell – a year of trying to publish it on different platforms so I could improve it, and another year to finally write it seriously using my soul sister’s help.
The rest, as they say, is history.
And now it’s finally out! You can find House of the Insane Sisters here. I promise you a different kind of horror. A kind that starts from within.
Enjoy reading it!
katto writes 