Interview with Zara Dane Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Interview with Zara Dane - Article Example Certainly, the good times will help fuel the writer’s muse, but at the end of the day, the good times tend to swallow up the productive times whole. So, when a friend of mine mentioned that she had knew someone who was a friend of an obscure horror writer, and that she had met with her to discuss her craft, I was envious.And yet, I found myself in just such a situation recently, being given the singular pleasure of meeting with Zara Dane, American ex-pat thriller/horror author extraordinaire, now living in Manchester. I admit, I have certain prejudices. All week, I have been fantasising about what our meeting will hold. Her reputation as a fiction writer who specialises in the horror genre precedes her. Will we meet within the gates of a cemetery at midnight? Am I to expect similarly odd behavior? Will she be†¦a friendly person? The last question is answered after a brief conversation with her on the telephone. My suggestion to meet at a local eatery is turned down, and i nstead I am graciously invited to her home. I’m first met by a small, but beautiful historic two-story in Manchester. Those familiar with Dane’s work are aware of her entrancing way of interweaving beauty, sensuality, innocence and corruption into her tales of murder and mayhem, and her abode certainly gives a very similar impression. Its brick exterior is a warm, but fairly subdued pink, (a tribute to the home she left behind in New Orleans, US) the color of flushed cheeks. Feminine, but not cloyingly so.... This is my first time meeting Zara, and I am instantly captivated by her green eyes and mischievous smile. My first impression upon meeting her is that I have met one who is not really from this planet. Social, hospitable, intelligent, all of these things describe her, but there is somethingwhat is it I leave the outside with its shouting children, scorching asphalt and the smell of heavy, French cooking from nearby restaurants, and enter into a place of coolness, serenity and iced sweet-tea. We settle down on her dark green sofa in preparation for time spent doing a question and answer session, when the ice is very much broken by a loud racket coming from upstairs. Dane excuses herself and takes a moment to shout at her uproarious dog who has been sequestered to one of the upper rooms. A strange mix-the, calm, Victorian surroundings, that one would normally associate with a very buttoned-down, proper personality (and impeccably clean! So much for messy artists) that are the home to this vivacious, creative, almost eccentric, auburn-haired woman who is outfitted entirely in black, right down to her boots. Zara returns, friendly and flustered, and apologises profusely, then offers to refill my tea. I decline, then awkwardly plunge into my first question, considering all of the perversity and horror of your storiesdid you have a normal life growing up Zara laughs. "Oh, my, I guess you could say that. My dad is a lawyer, my mum is a professor. I grew up in a fairly well-to-do neighborhood and attended a horribly competitive private school. I got good grades, was on the swim team and things like that, but I was in a very, very unhealthy situation. I had very caring friends,