Winter DuBroc interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

My name is Winter DuBroc. I'm just a small-town northern girl from the French province of Québec in Canada. The art world was where I grew up. I studied visual art, imaginative literature, classical ballet, acting, and storytelling. I'm certified in: vampirology, demonology, cryptozoology, and specific historical eras such as Viking, Celts, and Mediaeval.

I am extremely introverted with antisocial personality disorder, chronic social anxiety, and OCD. Some people see this as a handicap, and they could be correct, but as a full-time artist and author, it proves to be an asset.

I developed a passion for the mediaeval era and folklore from my youngest years. I always had my nose in a book, even before I could read. History is my passion, and Gothic horror drives me to write stories.

I was never a popular kid, always hiding in corners and in the library. All I wanted was to create my own stories. People went on with their lives, and I kept travelling from one book to the next until I could write my own.

When did your love of books begin?

I am an only-child from an only-child mother. Without a father, my maternal grandparents raised me. My grandfather worked at a printing and binding company. It was common for him to come home with boxes of novels, encyclopaedias, and other prints that didn't meet expectations from publishers. Often it would be tiny details: not the right Pantone, wrong margin, etc.

There were pictures of me as a baby surrounded by books, so I grew up with them all around me. I had my nose in books before I could read. All I wanted was to be able to understand what each page contained. The second I could read, I drowned myself in books and never looked back.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

I wanted to be an author almost the same time I started reading. It was easier for me to create comic books since it has fewer words. So, at first, I would draw and write. But I had stories in my head that would form as I read other work.

Drawing and reading were my two passions. My favourite comic book writers are Scott Snyder, Neil Gaiman, and Tom King. They are darker authors who wrote for DC Comics and the Batman title, while Neil Gaiman inspired me very much with Lucifer and Sandman.

Stephen King remains my number one inspiration as I read IT when I was twelve. But my most significant influence is Bernard Cornwell, who wrote The Saxon Stories and is behind Netflix's The Last Kingdom—my favourite series of all time. Another influence of mine is Oliver Bowden, who wrote the novelizations of the best portion of the Ubisoft video game franchise, Assassin's Creed.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

I have a natural tendency to write a story like one would watch a movie or television series. The main plot is separated into chapters and subplots. I write in scenes and cut in acts since I'm more of a series writer than a standalone. I believe that my schooling in performing arts, especially acting, helped me with the visual process of outlining a story clearly.

Once the writing is over, I go through three rounds of editing with my editor and work out the writing, the developmental story, and the characters. It's a long process but a necessary one that I wouldn't recommend any author to overlook.

When the novel is ready, it's time for the marketing to commence, which is a beast like no other. Half is the writing, and the other half is promoting. It is quite hard as an independent author to manage social media, find your target audience, find the best time to post, where, when, SEO, find places to have interviews, etc. 

Many authors have a PA or VA — Personal Assistant or Virtual Assistant to help manage the promotion and marketing. I work sixteen hours a day as a full-time author, and I can say that it's a call to be one because of all the work it asks from its artist.

What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

Read what you love, watch movies and series that you love, and take notes on the pros and cons. It's crucial not only to read but to see what drives you to wish to keep going reading or watching. Often authors say, "Read, read, read, etc." But the visual aspect of a story is just as important. 

If you watch a movie and are engrossed in the story, find out why you are so passionate about it or invested in the series. Do the actors and story suck? If so, then what is it about those actors you like? Take notes because you can create your own characters based on those characteristics. 

The same goes for a story. Sometimes the acting isn't good, but the story is worth the watch. If so, what is it about the story you loved that made you sit through the bad acting?

While cinema is visual art and books are literature, I consider it visual because readers create those images in their heads. You want them to be transported into your brain and watch that big screen in your skull. So, watch and read lots, and you'll find the style, genre, and visual you enjoy most.

Tell us about your book/books:

Under the name Lexie Wayne, I wrote two novels for the Lord Impaler Series, a Gothic horror story with romantic undertones. It's for a mature audience and was reviewed by The World Of Goth Magazine as a five-star.

The third novel is on its way. It tells the story of a vampirologist named Dr. Clémentine Roy. She is a descendant of a strong and ancient witch bloodline and another creature that is unknown but revealed later, making her a Gravedigger. She is a Mont La Bellerose dweller — a town protected by an ancient spell that only allows moonpeople to reside within its landmark. It means the people are 'monsters' or open-minded to monsters.

Clémentine can read someone's past, present, and future with one drop of blood. She can even manipulate their thoughts and memories to crush them to a pulp, rendering them catatonic or lobotomized. Her abilities don't go unnoticed, and soon she finds herself face-to-face with her greatest hero, Vladislav Drăculești, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler.

Throughout the series, we witness portions of Vladislav's past from when he walked the Earth as a human Warlord of Wallachia. We go through the torture he went through as a multiple-time prisoner, and when he turned into the monster, history condemned him to be. We learn how the vampire world divides the moonpeople and threatens their lives. Vladislav is the only vampire strong enough to hold the peace, but also the most significant target.

The legend of Vlad the Impaler continues with him as a vampire, but now Clémentine is also part of his life, and love can either be a weakness or a forceful bite. The series uses vampires, rougarous swamp monsters known as swampers, witches of all kinds, lycanthropes, werewolves, mummies, wendigos, revenants, ghosts, demons, and more!

The story begins with Mrs. Blackwood's novella and continues in Gravedigger, with the third instalment coming soon!

©Lord Impaler Series is only the tip of the iceberg for an entire world of intertwining series. For those who like crossovers in their television series or movies, Lord Impaler mentions Clémentine's best friend, who has her own series coming soon! It's a demon series, ©The Satan Series!

Mont La Bellerose is the common denominator and birthplace of so much good and evil in the most paranormal way possible. So, be prepared for a world where demons and monsters collide with historical figures of our past!

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Prepare yourself for The Satan Series under the name Winter DuBroc, where anyone who turns the pages of Nia Luminița Ó Rinn's story loses all hope. We are going deep, nine circles deep into Hell. It's a Gothic Horror series with a demonic love story.

Nia is the founder of Fangtastic Demonology and frees places possessed by demonic entities. Excellent knowledge surrounds Nia with a team of historians, theologians, effects artists and technicians.

But her story is Gothic, wrapped in horror and hopelessness regarding her greatest desire: find the gates of Hell and meet Satan himself. Nia possesses a gift like no other. She can swallow any demon and reject them back to Hell in the most brutal way, but after nearly two hundred exorcisms, residual left behind from the demons she hosted stains her soul.

Even the ex-Romanian priest, Ștefan Bălan, finds himself growing weaker around Nia when she last welcomed close to a hundred demons all at once. His love for her grew stronger, but Nia feared for the safety of the one man she loved most.

Each possession had Nia slowly go through all stages of a Roman Catholic Possession. Two pupils and irises in each eye, voices in her head growing stronger, speaking in forgotten tongues and hearing whispers of Satan's name grow stronger. 

It left Nia falling in love with the Devil, the halo's broken, the wings are gone, and he is so beautiful because he was the most innocent and pure of all angels...a drop of light in the pit of the night.

The Satan Series is intertwined with the Lord Impaler Series but can be read alone. It is for mature audiences and expects the most demonic of all stories, the one that began with a fall.

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Writing as Winter DuBroc, I wanted to give myself a chance and write a dark psychological romance. The Poison Ivy Series is a personal project of mine highlighting the life of a highly introverted nerdy woman with a colossal dream as a love story. For mature audiences only, Poison Ivy is 50 Shades without a contract and many steamy beautiful sexual scenes.

Ivy is an author who, when looking up inspiration for a character for her story, stumbles upon a movie star that captures her attention. She had seen him in movies before, but he now haunts her dreams, and she decides that instead of writing her dream, she would live it. Ivy knew she might have lost her mind but understood that she would regret it if not given a chance.

Since she was a toddler, Ivy despised her looks and found herself stupid. As a teenager, she became a masochist and would cut herself into feeling pain. Now a woman, Ivy's self-destructive personality has her fight her antisocial personality disorder, social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress syndrome, among other phobias.

After marriage and a relationship with her first love that lasted for seventeen years, Ivy decides to leave and start over. With her heart gone in flames after her ex cheated on her, Ivy wishes to reach for the 'star' and maybe make a foolish dream come true.

With her two closest friends, Ivy goes to Ireland and crosses paths with Richard Donoghue…but something seems wrong. The journey is not without trauma for Ivy, who travels across the Atlantic Ocean to find the movie star of her dream. Tracking his whereabouts with help from a few friends was the easy part. When his eyes met hers, it was like 7 of 9 from Star Trek met Prince Charming. One was a nerd writing about space, while the other came from a fairy tale admired by all who laid eyes upon him. Even if it would work, where would they fit in?

The first book in the Poison Ivy series will come out in 2023, unveiling the story of all nerds. What if I met the man of my dream…would I fit in?

***

Liberty is a hard military sci-fi packed with action and an undertone of romance. It's Star Trek The Next Generation merged with Event Horizon! Book One: Vacuum Of Space is out, and Book Two: Under Animus will soon be released! 

Under Lexie Wayne, the hard science-fiction series named Liberty came from a future from a different Earth and found its way to Amazon.

The story revolves around Cat. A. Combs, a human woman from the twenty-first century taken from her time and placed on board the LSS Slicer in 2506. She is the only intelligent lifeform in possession of the greatest codex known to the universe, the Grey codex. It allows Cat to learn the function of the entire ship at an inhuman speed and understand the physics of travelling between stars.

Catacombs is not without resources regarding martial arts, going on missions to retrieve Grey technology, and solving problems, but she has many issues. Cat has many mental disorders, and the entire amalgam makes her a textbook psychopath.

The captain of the LSS Slicer is Jason Caldwell, as far as anyone knows, a humanoid from the planet Scorpio, who fled his xenophobic planet after attempting genocide and freeing the alien prisoners. He is the original Jason Caldwell, meaning twisted medical testing was done on him to replicate his evolved abilities, i.e., clones.

Because it isn't enough that Cat fell in love with Caldwell, and they try to make it work on board a battlecruiser in the middle of an intergalactic war in the twenty-sixth century. Caldwell must have clones of himself. She has to be the target of the most dangerous corporation the galaxy has ever known, the Dome. 

Hell has no fury like a woman scorned, and the Dome is coming after her man, Caldwell. Catacombs is coming for you, and she's bringing Hell with her.

The Liberty Series is for mature audiences. Like all my books, it has trigger warnings and is LGBTQ+ friendly.

 

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Under my name, Winter DuBroc, historical fiction with undertones of romance, will soon see the light of day with, A Viking Story series. Imagine The Last Kingdom crashing into Brave!

The story took place in 8th century Ireland, when Vikings were invading the lands of the island dwellers. While King mac Cennétig was blessed with six sons, one of them had to become a royal prisoner to his brother. 

His youngest son, Anlón, becomes his uncle's sole heir to the throne of his land. After an attack led by the great Viking, Eiríkr Blóðøx, Anlón may one day become the sole bearer of the Cennétig mac Lorcáin left to avenge the Dál gCais and, therefore, defender of the Tuadhmhumhain people.

After Queen Bé Binn inion Urchadh, Princess of the Uí Briúin Seóla and Queen of Thomond, passes away, committing suicide, preventing herself from becoming a trophy to ravage by the Vikings, Anlón was never the same. 

We follow the prince on his journey to becoming one of the greatest warriors of his time. A hero hiding in the corners of a unique story would soon have his fate intertwined with a shield maiden.

The story of how Ansflède's grandfather defeated the lord of the County of Flanders, and eighty of his men, became legends. The king of Montreuil lost a part of his left arm to the lord, who claimed Ansflède was not of nobility. He stated it left the king without a rightful heir or even a granddaughter to use as a pawn to ensure his legacy.

It was now time for Ansflède to change her fate. Her great-aunt would send her on a quest to find her true father in the dreadful Viking kingdom of Iceland. Raised as a princess with knowledge of politics and religion, she was also a tactical warfare woman. 

Capable of fighting, mastering swordsmanship, archery, and command, the princess was her clan's only hope. Ansflède would leave Francia, cross over the many Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and sail to Iceland to rally an army of Vikings to save Montreuil.

Little did Anlón and Ansflède know their frozen hearts could still be warm enough for love. But before it happens, SHIELD WALL!

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

The writing community is a mix of wonderful people and the 'popular table.' My crowd comprises horror, paranormal, and romance authors that are a little like me. I am a person who is odd, awkward, nerdy, and introverted.

Social media has helped me find many people like me, but also some people that can be overly dramatic. The writing community is vast, but names circulate fast. I avoid drama like the plague, as I despise gossip and small talk. I set myself strict guidelines and quickly unfollow people who start drama.

Like any community, the writing field has many faces, and once you find those that are supportive, you can grow fast. It's all about balance. If someone boosts me up, be sure that I'll do the same in return. If we wish to come out victorious, we must help our own, which means the writing community.

I try to do my part and help others with Gothic Bite Magazine, a daily webzine promoting indie artists, including authors. I try my best, along with five other writers, to share as much as possible about everything the Gothic and Horror light touches. As we do so, we also promote indie artists that reach out to us.

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

Thank you for being so patient with me. Many obstacles have shown up in my path for the last three years. I was drowning and fighting to keep my head above water. I reached the shore now and came out stronger.

Four novels are scheduled to come out in 2023, including the third instalment from Lord Impaler, the second novel from Liberty and two new ones! I am filled with ideas and cannot write them all fast enough for you!

As usual, you can expect mature subjects, some horror, gothic, and twisted mental games! The stories are coming your way…new nightmares await! Romance is always there because where would we be without it? Be patient, my pretties.