I’m really excited to be able to welcome another brilliant Darkstroke author, Morwenna Blackwood, to my blog today.
Hi, Jo, and thanks for having me over today!
I can’t remember there being a time when I didn’t write. It’s the one constant in my life.
The first ‘proper’ story I wrote was about a frog, and I wrote it obsessively when I was six, but never gave it an ending. Writing was just something that I felt compelled to do; it was also the only thing I felt confident about doing. And the brilliant thing about it was – and still is – that’s it’s completely absorbing. I can lose myself in a different world for hours and hours while I’m drafting a story, but I love the editing process, too. I’m currently writing dark thrillers, but I’ve written fantasy, prose-poems, short stories, and I recently had a stab at horror. That’s the beauty of writing – you can literally be anywhere in space and time that you want; and if you’re writing diaries – I’ve kept one since I was nine – you can get things off your chest, record things you want to remember, and have a silent conversation with yourself while you make sense of the world and your life. And you can keep it totally private if you like, or if not, there are loads of ways of getting your ‘work’ (if you choose to call it that) out there.
I’ve suffered with my mental health since early childhood, and have always felt like an ‘outsider’. I remember loving the stories my first headmaster, Mr Thomas, would tell in the afternoons at school when I was about five. He used to make them up – I think spontaneously – and they were about a little boy called Jeremy. I used to love it, because everyone was sitting quietly on the floor and for that half hour, or however long it was, and there was no chaos around me, or in my head. Learning to read was a revelation, and I had a book with me wherever I was; when I learned to write, it was freedom and bliss.
Although I’ve spent my whole life writing, it wasn’t until May 2020 that my debut novel, The (D)Evolution of Us, was published, by darkstroke. It’s the first in a planned series – the second novel is finished, and am currently writing the third – and I’m never going to stop. Who knows, I might even finish that story about the frog…
About the Author:
When Morwenna Blackwood was six years old, she got told off for writing an endless story when she should have been listening to the teacher/eating her tea/colouring with her friends. The story was about a frog. It never did end, and Morwenna never looked back.
Born and raised in Devon, Morwenna suffered with severe OCD and depression, and spent her childhood and teens in libraries. She travelled about for a decade before returning to Devon. She now has an MA in Creative Writing, from the University of Exeter, and live with her husband, son and three cats in a cottage Bilbo Baggins would be proud of. Her debut thriller, The (D)Evolution of Us, is out now, published by darkstroke http://mybook.to/devolution. When she is not writing, Morwenna works for an animal rescue charity, or can be found down by the sea.
She often thinks about that frog.
Links:
Website: www.morwennablackwoodauthor.com
Social Media:
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/morwennablackwood
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MorwennaBlackw1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morwennablackwood_/
Books:
The (D)Evolution of Us is available from Amazon: mybook.to/devolution
Morwenna’s new novel, Glasshouse, is now available for pre-order at mybook.to/glasshousenovel
