Dark Mysteries of Fate by Tiffany Hepworth
What led you into writing?
It is hard to remember as I was 9 years old. It all started when I got my first computer in my bedroom and I was a loner, so I wanted to pass time in my room after primary school. Once all my homework was finished, I would sit at my computer for hours writing. My first ever story was “Cyber Solider.” I got the inspiration after my mind went wild with ideas after watching a WW2 film on TV one night with my dad. After months of hard work after school, I soon had a 50k novel when I was 9, almost 10. Once I finished that one, I couldn’t stop. I went onto write “Into the Crowd” which was about how wrong it was to change yourself to fit in at school and standing up to bullies. I was around 11 years old when my writing took a dark turn and I began to write horror, thriller and mystery stories.
The first one I ever wrote was “Trapped” which was based in a hotel where an outbreak of unusual creatures forced guests to be locked in their rooms with no escape. Everyone around me complimented me for my unique ideas and great imagination, though many of my primary school friends didn’t believe that I had written full manuscripts at such a young age. Unfortunately, I lost my first three stories when my first computer stopped working with no warning. Since then, I have learnt to back up everything I write just in case. I will always remember being a film buff, as I still am now and that is what gave me inspiration and ideas for my own twisted tales. I didn’t read much when I was younger, so films were where my ideas came from. As I grew older, random ideas would pop into my head when out and about and became more and more original with time. I am unsure what originally gave me the urge to start writing at such a young age, but I know it has always been my greatest passion and something that I never grew tired of.
How does a typical day look?
A typical day for me consists of editing upcoming novels for clients as I own Tiffany Hepworth Books which is a novel editing business. I usually work from around 9am to 6pm. It used to be later but I kept going into burnout, sometimes I have to do overtime though when I have tight deadlines. I usually then write at least one chapter of my current work in progress (at the moment, that is “Regina Willow’s Grave”). I don’t always have time to relax at the end of the day but if I do, I watch TV, do diamond art or read a book. I also have a lot of medical appointments to fit in usually once a week. My life is very full on as I also have a side business selling horror merchandise mystery boxes. I am a bit of a workaholic, so working is usually my main priority. But I do try to fit in time with my partner and socialising with friends and family.
In what ways do your characters test your abilities?
I believe my characters test my abilities by making me create complex characters with positive and negative traits. It is often difficult to get into the mindset of a character I have created in my own imagination but it is always a challenge to create new people with minds of their own.
What’s your setup?
Most of the time, I sit and write on the dining room kitchen table with a cup of tea beside my laptop. But sometimes, I sit up in my bed with my laptop propped on my legs. I even sometimes write on buses or trains when travelling around. I believe having a change of scenery when writing now and again can help with creativity and it makes sure things don’t get too boring.
What lasting effects have your favourite authors had on your writing and style?
From a fairly young age, I have read the works of Stephen King, H.P Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe. More recently, I love the works of newer authors such as Lesley Kara, Alice Hunter and John Marrs. I believe no matter what books I read, my writing style always stays unique to me as I make sure what I read doesn’t change my author voice. But I believe reading classic horror books such as “Carrie” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” helped me to see how amazing writing the horror genre would be and it tempted me to do so. Stephen King in particular is always someone I will look up to and I am grateful that my stories have been compared to his style on many occasions.
What do you do for inspiration?
Inspiration usually comes out of nowhere or everyday things such as the conversations of passing strangers, someone looking suspicious as they walk down the street or even my own past traumatic experiences. But when I have writers block and I am struggling to think of what to write next, I usually watch some classic horror films to get me in the dark mood for writing something grizzly. This can be anything from the “Saw” franchise to “Silence of the Lambs” to “Halloween”. Sometimes for me, being in the right mindset to write something spooky is the only inspiration I need to get my creative imagination flowing smoothly.
What repeating themes do you find yourself pulling into your stories?
As a horror writer, I find myself writing about dark themes such as death, creepy time loops, fate, abandoned places, and torture. The themes are usually different depending on the story. As I also write sub-genres such as mystery and science fiction, I have noticed that a lot of my stories do have time loops more than anything else as it is a personal fascination of mine.
How do you wind down?
To wind down, I have many different hobbies. Sometimes, I want a cultured day out with museums, theatre etc. Other days, I want to go to a zoo or go bowling with family and friends. If at home, I binge watch a TV show, I spend time gaming, I watch crime documentaries or I read a good psychological thriller book.
What sort of challenges do you regularly overcome while designing your world/setting?
Something that has taken me a while to master is character development. The need to have every single character be unique in their own way has always been challenging to me. I suffer with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and so, understanding the thoughts and feeling of others has always been difficult, so creating people from nothing in my own made up worlds is definitely a big challenge. I also sometimes struggle with making my stories realistic enough. I will often read chapters back to myself and sit and think “would this really happen in real life? Is this dialogue realistic enough? How realistic does it need to be if its a sci-fi?” and I question my writing a lot. I also like to make sure that every single story I write has a completely different atmosphere to my others.
What are you reading at the moment?
I have just started reading “The Other Tenant” by Lesley Kara. I am only on chapter 2 as I have been unwell lately and have not had time to get into it. It seems good so far though as all her others have been. I recently finished “Keep it in the Family” by John Marrs which lives up to its hype. I was shocked to finally be able to give out a 5 star review as it doesn’t happen very often – I am a very harsh critic with my own work and other people’s.
What’s the most useful advice you could give to an aspiring author?
Never ever give up. Even when people laugh at you and say your dreams are too wild and they will never happen, they just might. Some people will try to stop you out of jealousy of your writing talents, others will try to stop you because they don’t want you to fail and are trying to protect you. Some may even think you are naive to think you can make it as an author. They’re all wrong. Yes, not everyone can be a successful author, but how will you know if you don’t try? I kept writing no matter what. No matter how bad my mental health got or what life threw at me, I kept going. If you have motivation, determination and plenty of knowledge about writing and publishing, nothing can stop you. When things get too heavy and you feel like giving up, remind yourself why you are writing and what you want from it. Set little goals instead of thinking of one big finishing line at the end (eg. write so many chapters a week). And always remind yourself of what you have achieved so far. Nothing happens overnight, it all takes time. If I can do it, so can you!
Tell us about the book you’re promoting.
“Dark Mysteries of Fate” was originally three completely separate stories. The 2nd story “The After World” was written during my first year of university in 2019 and it is set around 1,000 years into the future. I was inspired to write the short story after finishing a short story module for my degree. In 2022, I played a game called Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope and I loved the atmosphere and the creepy mist. It led me to eventually write “Ridgebrooke” the 1st story in the collection. I loved writing an eerie tale about a mysterious town that doesn’t appear on any map. People go there when they are due to die before their time for a second chance. It is full of mystery and a vicious time loop that keeps readers wondering. The 3rd and final story in the collection is “You Must Survive” which was written in 2024, just a few months before the book was released. It was written to replace “The Mystery of Shadow Blackwood” which I didn’t think fit the story collection in the end. It was only when I realised that all 3 short stories had the theme of fate in common that I thought it would be best to release them all in one book rather than as novels. The collection has gained a lot of attention for being unique and had many rave reviews at the beginning. It was my 3rd published novel, but it was the one that went the best after publication.
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