The Final Chapter: An Interview with Shelly Campbell.

As the owner of Eerie River Publishing, it has been my honour to watch the Dark Walker Trilogy come together. Seeing these characters struggle, grow, learn, and fight alongside one another has been a wonderful experience, and Shelly has done a phenomenal job carving out their uniquely flawed personalities.

From the moment I read Gulf, I knew this was a story I wanted to help bring into the world, and I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity.

It has been a pleasure getting to know Shelly, and I am thrilled to introduce both her and this incredible series to you on our blog. If you haven't picked up this series yet, now is the time—you won’t regret it.

1. How did you get into writing?

I think I’ve always been into writing. I’ve written stories for as long as I can remember. And they’ve always been a bit dark. Dark enough that my parents were called into the principal’s office at my elementary school because my language arts teacher was particularly concerned about my disturbing stories and their unhappy endings. Sorry, Mom and Dad. The stories keep getting darker and darker, but I’m a bundle of sunshine. Honest.

2. What initially drew you into the world of horror and sci-fi?  Have you ever considered veering into other genres?

My debut novel series is actually a fantasy set in an alternate stone-age world with dragons. I didn’t know how close it was nudging toward grimdark territory until readers told me so. I gobbled up fantasy and sci-fi novels from my school library growing up, so I suppose it’s natural that I’m drawn to writing speculative stories. Horror is newer for me. I think I’m drawn to it because I like to build characters that respond to extremely distressing situations in far better ways than I’m capable of. I admire bravery in characters. I’ve led a sheltered and privileged life and haven’t had to practice bravery much. 

3. In David, you have produced a heartbreakingly relatable character that your readers have really seemed to gravitate towards. Is David inspired by qualities you see in yourself, or someone you may have known in your life?

Oh gosh, I wish David was inspired by qualities in myself. I’m not nearly as brave, funny or selfless as he is. Also, I have zero survival skills. Rest assured, I’d be the first side character killed off in any apocalyptic situation. It does make me incredibly happy that folks out there find David relatable. He’s inspired by all the quiet people in my life who think that no-one sees them, feel like they’re invisible, and desperately want to save the world around them but feel utterly incapable of doing so. The whole series is a love letter to anyone who feels invisible, unseen, or swept aside. You can do big things. You don’t have to be loud to be the hero of your story.

4. How would you say this book stands out amongst the series?

Well, Seed is the finale to the Dark Walker trilogy, so I really wanted to stick the landing. It’s hard to keep upping the ante in a series, but I wanted to expand David’s story as the series progressed. Gulf is a quiet horror mostly set at the cottage David’s family rents. It’s like a one-set play, except we’re peeking backstage and seeing some unsettling things, but there’s a lot of vagueness and mystery to the worlds David is exploring. In Breach, David’s world is blown wide open, and he’s thrown into another dimension entirely. Larger cast. More complicated set. The stakes are bigger too. He’s not just saving his family anymore. There are entire dimensions at stake. Seed though, it's the final act. It has to shake David down to his core. I make him face a foe on a cosmic scale. It has to feel impossible for him to succeed, but it also must answer all the questions and solve all the mysteries the first two books laid out. I’m not sure if I have the writing chops to pull all of that off, but that’s what I was trying to accomplish with Seed. I hope readers love it, because it was a blast to write.

5. What would you consider to be the biggest influences in your writing?

Whatever I’ve just finished reading and loved last from my to-be-read pile. I’ve got a short memory and am inspired by all sorts of sources. Books, tv series, movies, conversations with friends. I think, like most writers, my influences are coloured by whatever media I’m enjoying at the moment. Recently, I have loved reading MISPLACED by Brittni Brinn. ANDOR was a very bingeable Star Wars series. Really vibing with ARCANE right now, and Stephen Graham Jones THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER has got it’s claws—or teeth—locked into me.

6. When you sit down to write, how do you get yourself into the mindset of the Dark Walker universe?

For some reason, the Dark Walker universe was a really easy one to fall into. I didn’t have to prepare much. The whole series was one of those rare birds where I just sat down and wrote and everything just flowed. It doesn’t usually happen that way with my other novels. Most of the time, I’m wrestling ideas onto the page. I’m scrapping and redoing often. I’m battling to get a first draft complete—oh how I hate first drafts! But the Dark Walker series was different. It felt like playing. Don’t get me wrong. It’s dark. And I put David through hell. My main characters go through a lot of suffering, but I really, really loved writing this series. It was one of those rare times where I didn’t need to get into the mindset of the story. I was just there, and the story just happened. Every writer’s dream, right?

7. Would you say this book reflects some of your own beliefs about the universe? Do you believe in the possibility of other dimensions or realities?

I’m not smart enough to hold any firm beliefs on how the universe works, but we’re discovering new things about our own planet all the time, and both our lack of knowledge and the universe itself are vast and unending. There certainly are dimensions outside of the ones humans can detect, because we are limited by the confines of our senses. Birds navigate using electromagnetic fields. Bees see ultraviolet light. Elephants sense vibration through their feet over long distances. Who knows what else is out there right in front of our faces that we can’t perceive because it's outside the realm of our senses?

8. You accidentally stumble upon a portal to another dimension, and you simply have to go through and explore–what three things are you bringing with you?

Ha, this is fun! I’m a consummate coward, so there’s no way I’m going through that portal unless someone shoves me from behind, but I’ll play along. Three things. Okay. First, I’ll be needing a new pair of pants. Second, some sort of forcefield bubble so I can roll around this new place like a hamster in a ball and perhaps avoid something nefarious eating me in one bite. Third, maybe a good stiff drink? 

Thanks so much for the interview. I’m so excited to share the completed Dark Walker series with the world. Until next time, keep feeding your imaginations!

Bio:

At a young age, Shelly Campbell wanted to be an air show pilot or a pirate, possibly a dragon and definitely a writer and artist. She’s piloted a Cessna 172 through spins and stalls, and sailed up the east coast on a tall ship barque—mostly without projectile vomiting. In the end, Shelly found writing stories and drawing dragons to be so much easier on the stomach.