The Spooky Six with Elizabeth J. Brown and Willow Croft
Elizabeth J. Brown grew up in the sprawling countryside of Kent, England, amidst cobbled streets and castle ruins. It was here that she cultivated a quintessentially British obsession for tea and cake. But caffeine and calories aside, her real passion is writing supernatural horror. Her current series, Brimstone Chorus, immerses readers in a world where demons, witches, and other nightmarish creatures reign supreme. Her debut novel, The Laughing Policeman, sets the stage for a chilling journey filled with blood debts, dark magic, and spine-tingling twists that explore the darker side of human nature where inner demons can be just as terrifying as the external ones.
A child of the 1980s, Elizabeth was captivated by the darker side of pop culture. While other children were entranced by Button Moon and The Magic Roundabout, she found herself spellbound by horror classics like Poltergeist—pressing her nose up against the TV, to get a closer look at the eerie girl trapped inside the screen (though, to be fair, she never missed an episode of Mr. Spoon’s space adventures either). It was this early love for the strange and supernatural that sparked her imagination and set her on the path to writing tales of horror.
When she’s not conjuring up new dark and twisted stories at her laptop, or spending time with her family, Elizabeth is usually lost in the pages of a book or graphic novel. She’s an unabashed Wolverine fan and credits him for her love of anti-heroes and morally grey characters.
Elizabeth enjoys nothing more than connecting with readers, whether to discuss the haunting worlds she creates or to chat about which Gremlin she’d most like as a pet (it’s Stripe, in case you were wondering). Join her Readers’ Group for an inside look at her upcoming books, behind-the-scenes insights, or simply to share your thoughts on the perfect slice of cake. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361685394266696/
Website: https://elizabethjbrown.com/
Etsy store: https://ejbrownauthor.etsy.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Elizabeth-J.-Brown/author/B09LTJF727
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethJBrownAuthor/
Facebook readers’ group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361685394266696/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethjbrownauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EJBrownAuthor
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elizabethjbrownauthor
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@elizabethjbrownauthor
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elizabeth-j-brown
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7271444.Elizabeth_J_Brown
Willow Croft: “Hey, look at that derelict Victorian mansion . . . let’s go explore it!” What’s the most unusual setting you’ve read about in a horror/thriller book, or included in your own creative works?
Elizabeth J. Brown: I’ve drawn a blank. That’s a great start for the first question isn’t it? Did it suddenly get hot in here?
I read a book, it wasn’t horror or thriller but dark fantasy, where the house the main character lived in was sentient. It had secret rooms that contained magical treasures that only they could access. But even more interesting was the race of humanoid lizard men that lived underground and carved statues of the past occupants. That’s probably a pretty tame answer as far as unusual settings go… oh! It also contained a book, and if the character read from that book then they were transported into a monotone room where they could speak to one of their ancestors. There, I think I saved it.
I’m not sure I really have unusual settings in any of my books. I’ve got an 18th-century school for unwanted and orphaned children in The Foundling. And I’ve got a disused dockyard in The Fractured Few. Other than that the settings are all pretty standard, houses, cars, police stations, huge Romanesque buildings that contain secret organisations responsible for concealing the existence of cryptids… you know, just the everyday sort of things you’d expect to find in a book.
Willow Croft: “It was a dark and stormy night . . .” What are your go-to comfort foods, drinks, or other ways to wind down after a long day (or night) of writing?
Elizabeth J. Brown: It’s no secret that I like sweet things. I absolutely adore hot chocolate. I’ve even got one of those Velvetiser machines from Hotel Chocolat. It’s amazing, you just pour in a sachet of your chosen flavour then add the milk and you get a rich, silky, perfect hot chocolate every time. And, no, before you ask, I’m not sponsored by Hotel Chocolat (though I wouldn’t say no, wink wink). What I didn’t discover until recently is that they do a Pumpkin Spice flavour that I’ve never tried, I need to rectify that as fast as humanly possible, but not until after 22nd September. For some bizarre reason, unknown even to me, I decided to go on a chocolate ban. Okay… that isn’t strictly true, I decided to cut out caffeine, which chocolate contains in small quantities, but I thought it might be a good opportunity to see if I could go without it for more than a few days. Well, that was in January and I’m still going strong, but I fully intend to gorge myself come my birthday, it’s a biggie after all. So I guess that’s my really long-winded way of saying that hot chocolate is my comfort drink.
As for winding down, I’d probably say reading is my go-to activity. My hubby and son would probably disagree and say it’s scrolling reels on Facebook (I’m a sucker for Bistro Huddy – don’t ask me why, I’ve just become really invested in all the characters), but generally speaking, once I put the phone down it’s definitely reading. Writing takes a lot of mental energy for me and once I get tired I find it hard to string a coherent sentence together, but losing myself in someone else’s world? That’s a special kind of magic.
Willow Croft: “Did you hear that noise?” Everyone, even us horror/suspense writers, have our night terrors. What is it that frightens you the most?
Elizabeth J. Brown: I don’t know that I have anything that particularly frightens me the most. I’m a writer, so obviously I have a very overactive imagination. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m very good a freaking myself out, especially when I have to put the tumble drying out at night (our tumble dryer is in the garage) and then I imagine someone chasing me and trying to open the back door while I’m locking it. When I was younger I got a little phobic around balloons. I’m not a fan of loud noises, and the fact that I would always over inflate them and have them burst in my face really made me not want to go anywhere near them. I still jump out of my skin whenever they explode in the same room as me.
But, gun to my head, if I had to pick something it would probably be small spaces. I think I’m a little claustrophobic. I’m not sure what caused it. It could be the time I rolled myself up in the duvet like a burrito and then got stuck (I was maybe around 10 at the time). Or, it could be the time I went to a gig and the crowd was so tightly packed together that when they were jumping up and down I was physically being lifted off the floor. It hasn’t stopped me going to gigs (that was my 9.30pm bedtime that did that), but it has made me wary of large, crushing crowds of people. So… yeah, probably that.
Willow Croft: “I’m sure it was nothing. But I’ll just go outside and check, anyway. Alone. With no weapons.” Have you ever gotten writers’ block? If so, how do you combat it? Do you have certain rituals or practices that help get you into the writing (or creating) mindset?
Elizabeth J. Brown: God, yes. I didn’t think I had writers’ block for a while, in fact I adamantly refused to acknowledge it. Writers’ block was for authors who’d burnt themselves out, not for those who only had a couple of books under their belt. But after staring at the screen all day every day and barely writing more than a couple of hundred words, I finally had to admit that something was wrong. Getting to the root of what took a little longer. I’m a plotter, I like to outline. The outline for The Laughing Policeman was almost novella length in itself. I’d outlined all my other books, albeit to a lesser degree, so I knew what I needed to write, I just couldn’t get the words out. The issue? Perfection. I was striving for perfection in my first draft. It’s easy to look back on a novel that you’ve drafted, redrafted, had edited, and forget just how much work it took to get to that stage. You start comparing the WIP to an end product and wondering why it’s not as good, questioning whether you’ve forgotten how to write. So you start tweaking. Rewriting every paragraph, every sentence, striving for it to be perfect. Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t try to make your book the best possible version of itself, that’s a given, what I’m saying is that done is better than perfect. Anyway, I started to panic. I hadn’t released a book in over a year and I was still only 30k into the first draft. The panic was making me stressed, and the stress was making it even harder to write.
So, I bought myself a book. It’s called 5,000 Words Per Hour by Chris Fox, and in a nutshell it’s about writing sprints; short bursts of writing where you’re not allowed to go back and touch what you’ve written. No editing, no correcting typos, nadda. “But isn’t the writing terrible?” you may ask. And the answer to that is, honestly, it’s not great. But that’s not a problem, because you can edit not great, you can’t edit a blank page. Even though I know I’ve got my work cut out for me in the next draft that’s okay, because at least the first draft will be done relatively quickly. Just to put it into perspective, between January and August I’d written a little over 30k words, this week using the sprint method I’ve written just over 25k. For me, it’s working. But if you hear someone swearing in a few weeks, that’s probably just me redrafting.
I can’t say I really have any writing rituals. I need a tea, but that’s true for any day of the week. Erm… I guess the only thing that’s a must is that I need silence. I can’t listen to music or I get distracted. Sometimes I try to find something instrumental, because it’s usually the lyrics that distract me, but even then I find it can pull me out of the “zone”. I don’t mind the quiet. I usually drive with the radio off too, though that could be more because the touchscreen display in our car got damaged well over a year ago and still hasn’t been fixed…
Willow Croft: “Don’t go into the basement!” Are you an impulsive pantser or a plotter with outlines galore? What other writing/industry advice would you share with your fellow writers & creators?
Elizabeth J. Brown: I think I might have covered this one above. Definitely a plotter. That novella length outline for The Laughing Policeman I mentioned? Yeah, that was around 22k.
I did give pantsing a go once (does anyone else instantly think of people having their trousers pulled down when they see the word “pantsing” or is that just me?), but it didn’t go well. I got a few chapters in and just stalled. I ended up needing to go back and plot the whole book out before I could go any further. It doesn’t mean I stick to the plot religiously, it just helps me know which direction to take. I like to compare plotting to having a map, as long as I know the route from point A to point B I don’t mind taking a few detours along the way.
My advice would be to outline, even if you’re a pantser. Having the rough skeleton of your story will save you time in the long run. It still allows you to have the creative freedom to add new scenes, twists etc. but it stops you running into major plot holes down the line.
Willow Croft: “Ring ring!” It’s the middle of the night and the phone mysteriously rings. Which notable writer, or person from history, would be on the other end of the line?
Elizabeth J. Brown: When I read the first half of this question I got a little twitchy, the only time the phone has ever rung in the middle of the night was when someone died… I’m glad the second half stopped me mid spiral!
Well, I’m a millennial (yeah, I know, boo), so my initial reaction would be to ignore it. I was terrified of using the phone pretty much up until my 20s. Perhaps I’m overexaggerating, but not by much. I don’t mind it now, in fact I’d rather deal with a human than all that automated rubbish that has you screaming at the phone like you’ve got a screw loose. But I’m rambling…
The answer is Terry Pratchett. If you know me, that won’t come as a surprise. His Discworld series is what rekindled my spark for reading, and if it hadn’t been for that I doubt I would have ever decided to become an author. I love the world he created, the wit, the wisdom, the characters. I think he’d have been a lot of fun to speak to.