Darkhouse

by Karina Halle

Paperback, 323 pages

Published May 1st 2011 by Metal Blonde Books

ISBN: 9781461079859

There’s always been something a bit off about Perry Palomino. Though she’s been dealing with a quarter-life crisis and post-college syndrome like any other twenty-something, she’s still not what you would call “ordinary.” For one thing, there’s her past which she likes to pretend never happened, and then there’s the fact that she sees ghosts. Luckily for her, that all comes in handy when she stumbles across Dex Foray, an eccentric producer for an upcoming webcast on ghost hunters. Even though the show’s budget is non-existent and Dex himself is a maddening enigma, Perry is instantly drawn into a world that both threatens her life and seduces her with a sense of importance. Her uncle’s haunted lighthouse provides the perfect catalyst and backdrop for a mystery that unravels the threads of Perry’s fragile sanity and causes her to fall for a man, who, like the most dangerous of ghosts, may not be all that he seems.

Buy Darkhouse by Karina Halle: Amazon (Print) / Goodreads (epub) / Kindle

Guest post by Karina Halle:

A Series of Challenges

Writing a novel can be a daunting task. The only reason I was able to finish Darkhouse is because I gave myself a month to do it. It was all part of this “habit forming” theory I had in September 2009. 30 days to build a habit. I applied it to writing everyday and exercising everyday. Well, the exercise went out the window in Day Two but I kept on writing, before and after work. And six weeks later, Darkhouse was born.

But that wasn’t the end of Experiment in Terror. Because I had decided this was going to be a series. Originally I had plotted out five books but by the time I finished writing the second, Red Fox, I was too in love with my characters to let go after five and they had far too many secrets that needed to be spaced out. So then it expanded to seven, and, after I wrote the third book, it went to eight.

Eight books is a tall order. But that is the end of the line for Perry Palomino and Dex Foray. With a ninth book there would be nothing left to say (at least not in their current time period). You don’t want a series to drag on, you want to go out with a bang like Lost or Seinfeld (OK, so neither of those final episodes were very good, but you get what I mean).

Of course there are challenges that come with writing eight books (let alone one book). It’s my job to lay my cards close to my chest and carefully deliver the crucial information piece by piece. Some people lament that Darkhouse was too “mysterious.” Well, I’ve got eight books here, I’m not going to give you all the answers at once. What is the incentive to read on? Both of my main characters have shady pasts, both are connected in a unique way and both have their own relationship with each other to explore. There’s no rush, and they will get there, and unlike Lost, I’m not going to ignore all the major questions either. You know, like what was Perry’s accident? Who is Creepy Clown Lady? What is wrong with Dex? Can Perry really see ghosts or is she crazy? Or is she crazy because she can see ghosts? And who the hell is Jacob? (actually that last question is kind of mean since Jacob doesn’t show up until Book Four).

Anyway, these all get answered.

Like Lost though, I also do an annoying thing of answering questions and then raising new ones. Sorry about that. These are complex people here and everyone always has more baggage than they think they do.

The challenge for me, personally, is to keep myself interested in each novel. Now, each book is roughly plotted out. Some have entire scenes written, others just have a hand full of notes. Some have pre-chosen titles (pretty sure Book Eight is called Ashes to Ashes), some don’t. The thing that I do is space out the scenes I like to write most and the milestones of the entire eight-part story and put a little one in each book. Now I’ve got four books ahead of me to write and each one possesses some aspect that I can’t wait to get into. It’s like little treats for myself. Some books have more treats than others (though I am currently writing Book Four, I know Book Five is going to be amazing to write). And some books have a really fun supernatural plotline (like Book Six). In the end though, as exciting as it will be for me to write these books, the best part is getting readers just as excited to read them. Now that’s the real treat.

Buy Darkhouse by Karina Halle: Amazon (Print) / Goodreads (epub) / Kindle

Karina’s sadly neglected personal blog can be found here: www.ontheblogbandwagon.blogspot.com

Karina’s not so neglected writing blog can be found here: www.experimentinterror.com