Top Nine Places Meant to Inspire Horror Writers by Ruschelle Dillon, Author of Arithmophobia ~ @RuschelleDillon #Numbers #Magic @TCMPublicity

Ruschelle Dillon's Arithmophobia Blog Tour November 5-12, 2018

Please welcome Ruschelle Dillon to the blog today!!

Ruschelle Dillon’s Top Nine Places Meant to Inspire Horror Writers

(Her collection Arithomophobia is bubbling with 9 creepy and sometimes humorous stories. So that’s why you're not getting 10.)

 Inspiration isn’t always easy to find. Especially as a writer. We go through the old haunts in our minds; castles, cemeteries, turnpike restrooms. But nothing seems to excite us, or bite us in the ass (which sometimes excites us).  Personally, I believe in road trips. An afternoon or evening drive to a fresh locale experiencing the sights, sounds and stenches will impart a new twist on the what you believe may be familiar!

Trust me, these little excursions to everyday and not so everyday places will give your inner beast something new to snack on. 

But why would you trust me, a stranger? Because I have candy...and a van.  And here’s your candy, in the form of some tips for best places to find some inspiration:

1.       Metaphysical stores - Spells, crystals, and strange offerings are just what an author needs to invoke the spirits of the dark. And maybe a few other spirits, if you're feeling creative and feisty! Word of warning: never burn patchouli, drip menstrual blood candles and chew Swedish Fish over a Chutes and Ladders game board. You'll just end up summoning a demon with eternal cramps who'll possess your Netflix account, streaming only the movie Mean Girls. Worse yet, it’ll hack into your Facebook account and remove all the duck lips from your selfies.

2.       An Uncomfortable Space- What location fuels your fears and tests your anxiety with barely a nip of thought? A tiny, dark closet?  A trip to the dentist? A strange convenience store after midnight with an overly helpful attendant named Ricky?  A weekend at your in-laws? {{shudder}} Maybe the dentist isn’t so bad.

3.       Basement Tours- This isn't a “thing"…yet. But after this blog post- it will be!  Get your best friends together to explore each other's dark, musty, spider-infested coal or cold cellars, sheds and basements and discuss the unloved, unused and unwanted items that are stored there. The stories create themselves.

4.        A Mattress Store- These places are brightly-lit, sterile and usually void of any life. Honestly, they are the most BORING stores in the world. If this place doesn’t elicit murderous thoughts of blood and brains staining every pristine white mattress topper and overpriced box spring, turn in your horror writer’s membership card.

5.       Your Local Morgue - There's nothing scarier than a corpse being prepared for burial. Or peeking into the refrigerated lockers to see what might or might not be inside. Okay, if the cops show up asking why you broke into the morgue that might be a little scarier.

6.       The Woods - A no brainer here. A slasher writer’s playground. But for those scaredy cat authors, substitute your local park. But even city parks hold real dangers. Deranged power joggers? Venomous squirrels? Accidentally rousing a family of bums nesting in a large shrubbery because you drank too much crapo’cchino will send you screaming for your mommy.

7.       The Middle of a Large Body of Water - Take a leisurely boat ride out into the middle of a sizable body of water and just sit. No music, no cell phone...nothing. Except some pen and paper because…hello…you’re a writer. Write.

8.       Get Lost…Somewhere - Fill your gas tank and follow an old dirt road somewhere. Find your way out of a tiny town without a map or GPS. Talk to the locals; ask about historical sites or the town ghost story.  A word of caution; if you hear banjos… there’s probably a country music concert in town. The traffic might get rough.

  

9.       Walmart - Honestly, is there anything scarier?

Get ready for a great blog tour featuring Ruschelle Dillon! Arithmophobia is a very creative and unique collection of tales that centers around the magical, mysterious impact of numbers! This collection spans a number of genres, including dark humor, mystery, thriller, and horror!

 

About Artithmophobia: 

Adam is a young preacher, with a loving wife and a child on the way. His family, his congregation, and his affinity for one particular science fiction movie are enough to keep him happy with his life. But when a new member of that congregation begins to haunt him at seemingly the worst possible moments, he begins to question the weight of his life’s responsibilities. Can he handle being “the one” – the one so many look to in times of need?

Detective Oswald Quinn is not so happy with life. His marriage has not turned out quite as happy as Adam’s, but his responsibilities have become just as heavy. The latest of these burdens have led him to the investigation of a serial killer who seems to seek perfection in the number 3.

Meanwhile, Scott seems completely unburdened by responsibility, save for his endless pursuit for a full glass at the bar. The drinks should be flowing freely on May 5, or “Cinco de Mayo”. But on this date, Scott discovers a failure much more haunting than an unquenchable thirst.

Arithmophobia is a collection of short stories that leads you on a journey to consider the sometimes haunting, sometimes humorous impact of numbers. Whether it be the value we assign to our lot in life, a date on a calendar, or the numerical magic that mother-nature can offer, Arithmophobia’s nine stories examine the magic and mystery that begins at the intersection of life and a single digit. 

Meet the Author:



Ruschelle Dillon is a freelance writer whose efforts focus on the dark humor and the horror genres. Ms. Dillon’s brand of humor has been incorporated in a wide variety of projects, including the irreverent blog Puppets Don’t Wear Pants and novelette “Bone-sai”, as well as the live-action video shorts “Don’t Punch the Corpse” and “Mothman”. She also interviews authors for the Horror Tree website. Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and online zines. Ruschelle lives in Johnstown with her husband Ed and the numerous critters they share their home with. When she isn’t writing, she can be found teaching guitar and performing vocals and guitar in the band Ribbon Grass. 

Author Links:

Website: www.ruschelledillon.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruschelledillon.author/
Twitter: @RuschelleDillon

Tour Schedule and Activities:

11/5 Horror Tree https://www.horrortree.com Guest Post
11/5 Shells Interviews http://shellsinterviews.blogspot.com/ Author Interview
11/6 Breakeven Books https://breakevenbooks.com Author Interview
11/7 I Smell Sheep http://www.ISmellSheep.com Review
11/7 Sonar4 Landing Dock Reviews http://sonar4landingdockreviews.blogspot.com/ Review
11/8 The Seventh Star http://www.theseventhstarblog.com Guest Post
11/9 Sapphyria's Books https://saphsbooks.blogspot.com/ Guest Post
11/10 The Book Lover's Boudoir https://thebookloversboudoir.wordpress.com/ Review
11/11 Jazzy Book Reviews https://bookreviewsbyjasmine.blogspot.com/ Vlog or Guest Post
11/12 Willow's Thoughts And Book Obsessions https://wssthoughtsandbookobsessions.blogspot.com/ Review

Book Purchase Links:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble