This anthology will collect noir and hard-boiled style stories from some of Wattpad's brightest authors, as well as some up-and-comers that I think we'll be seeing a lot of in the future. This dark group will spread their stories across several diff...
Jesse, your stories are pretty well known for dabbling, if not plunging, into the darkness. I felt like it would make you a natural for our little noir collection, and Never Leave came out a perfect fit. Do you remember the first time you encountered the noir style? What was your initial reaction?
I think I first encountered noir in old detective films and dime store novels. I've always been interested in the entertainment of past eras. I liked the mood of noir from the get-go but I was never much of a mystery sort so it wasn't necessarily my favorite.
What do you feel separates noir from the rest of dark fiction? And did you have any inspirations for this particular piece?
For me, there is a blurry line separating all types of dark fiction, including noir. The same way the line between fantasy and scifi can get very hazy. So any answer I give would never really cover it, because you don't define a piece of work by one specific thing it's all about the little things that add up. So much of noir comes from the world outlook—the tainted heroes, tainted worlds and bleak futures. But you can find that elsewhere...so I don't know how I would define it. There's something at the heart of a piece that will say what it is.
Never Leave had actually been sitting half-written on my computer for ages. I fell in love with the image of the ghost girl and the exorcist with a haunted book. And when I was invited to do this collection, the story just seemed like such a perfect fit.
Which elements of noir did you find the most satisfying to weave into your stories? (i.e. dialogue, characters, narrative, etc.)
Characters. But the characters are always the most satisfying, aren't they?
Hard to say, there's so many things to love about noir. Do you see yourself coming back to the noir/hard-boiled style in future works? And speaking of future works, what projects have you got on deck for your readers?
I think I will come back, I've been drawn to pieces that were decidedly noir before and I'm sure I will again. I don't think I've ever written something that wasn't dark but each piece knows the direction it needs to go and as an author it's great to have an understanding of multiple styles and genres so you can sort of mold your piece into the place it wants to fit.
Right now I'm actually finishing up My Spider trilogy (Spider's Game, the first book, won a Watty in 2016) So as far as Wattpad that's what I'm posting. I have a short story coming out in an anthology which has been tentatively titled Undeath by Chocolate which will be published on Amazon and in print and includes me and other wonderful Wattpad authors including the wonderful @StevenBrandt who has put the whole thing together.
So many anthologies, so little time! Thank you Jesse, for being a part of our collection!
To explore more of her dark fantasy/sci-fi/horror, check out more stories like Spider's Game on her profile JesseSprague .
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