I grew up reading and listening to ghost stories – so I guess it was natural that when I started writing seriously I would try my hand at horror and tales of the supernatural. I also sought out real life mysteries and accounts of paranormal phenomena – spontaneous human combustion, demons, vampires...vengeful ghosts and poltergeists. The idea of encountering any of these things in the cold light of day (well, not vampires, obviously!) is what provides the inspiration for the stories I write. I am also intrigued by the workings of the human mind – the tricks it plays on us, and its ability to create the fantasies both wonderful and terrible that play out in our sleep. Dreams and nightmares will always have a place in my stories.
Tales of ‘monsters’ do not scare me, and blood, guts and gore either leave me cold or feeling queasy. And it’s the scare factor I look for, along with the feeling that this really could happen. I also like to be tricked or seduced into reading something I’d really rather not, but the writing is so enticing you just have to read on...
I always enjoyed writing as a child, often reading out my work at school events - at least until teenage awkwardness kicked in! I was then more than happy to watch others bring my words to life – and it was at that point I really started to consider the audience, and started writing with a view to affecting how they felt and thought.
I have been working on a novel for quite some time, however life tends to get in the way every now and then and I’ve also taken the odd detour. I’ve taught creative writing for ten years and have also written four television screenplays. My first short story, Dreaming, Not Sleeping , was epublished earlier this year, and I am on the brink of completing the novel, While Yet A Boy I Sought For Ghosts – a more gentle supernatural mystery.
While Yet A Boy... is more of a traditional ghost story, with mysteries to be solved and tragedies to be played out. I set the story in the area where I grew up in England, and local landmarks make an appearance. The wonderful Ely Cathedral with its surrounding buildings is a central landmark in the story, and we spend some time in the forests of Norfolk and Suffolk. But it is the ghosts I love the most – evil, flawed, vulnerable and vengeful – they prove a real challenge for forensic artist, Nick Colton, as he tries to lay his own, personal ghost to rest. I hope these spirits get to see the light of day very soon.
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Born in the University city of Cambridge, England, Julia Kavan has spent most of her life living in Cambridgeshire - atmospheric and the perfect inspiration for ghost stories.
She has taught creative writing classes for the last ten years, whilst writing screenplays, tackling a novel and experimenting with short stories.
A true Scorpio, her tastes definitely err towards the dark side. She devoured horror stories as a teenager, including James Herbert and Stephen King in her list of favorite authors, moving on to Clive Barker and Peter Straub. As a child she would watch anything that even vaguely looked as if it may be scary... so perhaps it is only natural that this is the area her writing tends to wander into - even if she don't always intend it to!
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