Fear. It’s the strongest of human emotions one can possess. The mystery of a cemetery, the allure of the darkness and the secrets it keeps is what draws the Cemetery Six to their gathering every Friday night. Until the spirit of a murdered girl asks for their help. And the only answer is yes.
A love of horror is what bonds them, the tradition of telling bone-chilling tales under the midnight moon is what brings these six friends together. Only now there is a seventh, ready to tell her own vivid nightmare. Drawn into their visitor’s sinister recollection, the Six are determined to stop the vicious murderer that has never been found.
The Cemetery Six will soon learn that some secrets within the tombs hold a terrifying reality. Will they be able to overcome the fear and find the truth, or will they succumb to the fate of their own horror?
Q. What inspired you to write this book? Was there a particular moment or event that sparked the idea?
Ans. After retiring and moving to Thailand, I visited many places in the country that are said to be haunted for one reason or another. Thai people on a whole are very superstitious and believe in the spirit world. As I rode past a Christian Cemetery on my bicycle one gloomy day, I began to think 'what if'? What if 6 High School kids came out here on the weekend to hang out and tell creepy stories of local legends. That's how my writing started.
Q. What research did you undertake to write this book? Were there any surprising or unexpected findings that you discovered during your research?
Ans. My wife and I visited many locations in Thailand to explore their culture. I have visited most of the places which I then fictionalized in the stories. For instance the story about the kids trip to the Mekong River. We visited Laos by crossing the river in a long boat. That was a scary experience in itself. My biggest surprise is regarding the way Thais feel about death. They tend to 'revere' death rather than fear it like many in the western world and they are quite superstitious tying it to their Buddhist beliefs.
Q. What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing this book? How did you overcome it?
Ans. Learning how to write an engaging book for readers. Writing is a craft and I'm still learning the nuances of writing. I have an easy time coming up with story ideas then writing them down. It's bringing the story together to make it more engaging that I feel is the hard part.
Q. How did you go about developing the characters in the book? Were any of them based on real people or events?
Ans. Yes, The Cemetery 6 teens are actually based on 2 people in our Thai family. My niece and nephew and the others are based upon some of their friends. Nua's aunt in the book is my wife. The stories themselves contain all fictional characters.
Q. Can you share any interesting anecdotes or stories related to the writing of this book?
Ans. I know this may sound a bit odd but the day I mentioned riding my bike past the cemetery and coming up with the idea for the book, there was an eerie cool breeze that blew by as I stopped to look at the cemetery. It gave me goosebumps. From that moment on, I knew I was going to start writing as I had wanted to start writing for some time before that after I retired.
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