"Q&A With Bon Blossman"

February 7, 2020

Book: Wormhole

Photo by Scott Womack

Author: Dr. Bon Blossman

Author Bio:

“Known for both her academics and quirky charm, Dr. Bon Blossman has emerged in the entertainment industry as an exuberant television personality, author, and entrepreneur.

Dr. Bon is best known for her role on four seasons of Style Network's hit series, Big Rich Texas, with the fourth season being a spin-off of her family surrounding the birth of her grandchild.

Aside from Dr. Bon's role on BRT, she is also a twelve-time novelist with the most recent release being book two of the Behind the Mirror trilogy. Dr. Bon is an award-winning author, having received multiple awards for the Fiona Frost Mystery Series, Dregs Island, The Noxhelm Murders, and Behind the Mirror (Book 1).

Dr. Bon has also been involved in the commercial scene with her claymation in a Pepsi-Cola company commercial in 2007 and starring with her daughter in a Hasbro Games commercial in 2012.

Dr. Bon has earned her Ph.D. in physiology and has published her research in multiple peer-reviewed journals.”

1. What is it that intrigues you most about the dark fantasy genre?

My home as an author is with the mystery genre - specifically, murder mysteries. After writing over a hundred mystery party games and a YA series of murder mystery books (Fiona Frost), I wanted to venture out and try new genres.

I wrote a thriller with my son, a horror/mystery, and then put my hat in the ring of dark fantasy. Albeit, the series won two medals - one in special interest thriller and the other in science fiction. Therefore, this trilogy has some overlap going on with genres. But my very first writing project that is still unpublished was a YA fantasy book. So, I've come full circle.

2. What were some books that you read growing up that inspired your writing?

The books that I read as a child did not inspire what I write today. As a child, I read heartwarming stories like Charlotte's Web and Judy Blume books. That's a far stretch from what I write today.

3. Why was it important to you to write a story that examines the horrors that lie behind what is externally seen?

Being a murder mystery author (my company is MyMysteryParty.com) has skewed the way that I look at life. I'm always looking at things through a dark perspective, thinking about the 'what ifs' and what could lie beneath.

I'm an overall positive person, and definitely not a conspiracy theorist, by any means. However, I have an unrelenting, overactive imagination. I drive my husband nuts with it.

4. There is a quote that reads, “She torments every thought I have, drowns my mind with words of terror, but when I go to knock them from her mouth, all my fist finds is the mirror.” How does this quote relate to the “Behind The Mirror” series?

Interesting quote! I don't believe it relates with my series, as my take from the quote - a person who hates a woman so much because she is verbally abusing him or her, tries to punch her, misses, and their fist smashes into the mirror. My series is about a parallel (cloned) world that lies on the other side of portals, which happen to be mirrors (or at least look that way).

5. What is something readers can learn from “Behind The Mirror’s” main character, Ella?

Ella grew up with a difficult, overprotective father as an average teen in an ordinary suburban town. She finds out in book one that everything she knew about herself, including about her father, was a lie.

Ella overcomes self-doubt and gains the confidence to conquer everything during her journey to become the strong warrior she needs to be to stop an apocalypse between two worlds. I think Ella's overall story arch is uplifting and motivating for young girls and shows that they should never give up - no matter how impossible the future seems.

6. What is the secret to holding and maintaining suspense throughout your novels?

Editing the holy crap out of your manuscript and ensuring there is a hook to the next chapter to keep the pages turning. If a sentence doesn't add to the story - get it out. I keep the energy high, but also give a few breathers at the start or midway point of random chapters every now and then.

7. What scares you?

Clowns. It was uneasy for me to write about them during the haunted house chapter that dealt with them. I had to go there. It was kind of therapeutic.

8. What is your favorite horror movie and why?

The Shining has to be my overall favorite horror movie. It has a lot of depth to it that you can't capture with one viewing. I want to read the book now that I've read Doctor Sleep and have seen the Doctor Sleep movie.

I'm sure there is much more that is explained in The Shining novel. Maybe I love this because it scared the heck out of me as a teen? Whatever the reason, the soundtrack makes me want to run and hide.

9. Pick your favorite and why: Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allen Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe would be my preferred of those three. I wouldn't necessarily want to curl up by a fire and read Mr. Poe's stories, mostly because of the 'hope and despair' style of his Gothic writing, but I feel that he has so many layers that were brought into each story that they are fun to discuss with others. They're depressing but thought-provoking.

10. Overall, what is your writing process like?

Hand-written spiral outline of each chapter, tracking A-D storylines - transfer to PC outline - add bullet points - then flesh out each chapter in a rough skeleton draft. I write about three chapters and then go back and edit them, adding more description, before moving on.

Then, edit the whole thing all of the way through a million times. Okay, maybe not a million times, but at least five times, maybe more if I'm not confident yet. Then, I run through Autocrit, Grammarly, and then I release it to the editors. I have some beta readers that read before release. But I am old school and like to write it down on a spiral myself first.

11. What's your best advice for getting over writer's block?

Write every day. Keep your mind in creative mode, and don't let it sleep. If you have an interesting thought for a plot, dialogue, character - write it down. I use my notepad on my phone. I've never had writer's block, but I think it's because I write each day - even if only ten minutes.

12. What was the best book you read last year?

Doctor Sleep was my favorite. I had said there was no way they could make it into a movie, but they did. Many things were changed and left out, but overall, the movie was pretty good. I had to explain things to people watching it with me, though.

13. Do you plan on writing more books in the future?

I'm currently taking a break from the Behind the Mirror Trilogy to work on an anthology of scary short stories with my son, Zakk Myer. The release date on this book is May 7th, 2020. My best selling book was co-authored by him (Dregs Island).

Don't know if it's just the best cover or if he's a good luck charm, but we shall see! I'll be back to working on the trilogy next month. I need to finish book three for a September 2020 release. Then, I can see myself going home to YA murder mysteries.