DEALT IN SIN
by
Sasha Hanton
Morgan wants power so she makes a deal. What she doesn’t account for is deals with a demon always come with a hidden cost.
Sasha Hanton grew up in the tropics of Darwin, Northern Territory. From a young age, she devoured books and iced coffee, both of which she continues to intake on an almost daily basis. Now living on beautiful Bribie Island in Queensland her time is split between writing and spoiling her puppy Miley.
Sasha, who has a Bachelor of Journalism from Bond University, has dabbled in the journalistic profession but finds fiction far more fascinating. Her first published work The Short Story Press Collection draws on her love for a diverse range of genres and passion for short stories.
Throughout her life, she has been a lover of history and mythology, and at any time will find some way to weave one or the other into her storytelling. When she’s not writing or reading she can be found walking her dog and volunteering.
Q. Which book left you empty inside once you finished writing it?
I have an ebook called Customerpocalypse which was pretty draining on me to write. Mostly it left me empty because I wrote it during a difficult stage in my life, I was working in a tiresome job and coming home dead tired but forced myself to write it for NaNoWriMo. The subject material and genre were also very outside my normal zone; it’s more of a comedy and handles working in customer service and living in a post-apocalyptic society.
Q. Have you ever read the ending of a book after only reading the first few chapters? If no, why, if yes…why?
Yes because I was very dissatisfied with a plot development that was occurring so I peeked at the ending to see if I was interested in finishing the book (it was the first in a series)—I wasn’t.
Q. Who is the best villain you have written to date?
To date probably the only overtly villainous character I’ve written is Celtic, a malevolent spirit in my manuscript It’s All Magic to Me (which I’m currently sending out to publishers).
Q. Best closing scene, you have written?
I actually really like the closing scene I wrote for Customerpocalypse, both the original closer I wrote for it and the epilogue closer I added later. For a book that completely drained me I’m really satisfied with how I ended it.
Excerpt from your story.
The heady smell of lavender choked the air. Shadows danced across the walls, twisting with the flicker of candlelight. Morgan sat in the centre of the room, her burgundy hair tumbling over her shoulders and creating a veil over her face.
She had agonised over every little detail in her preparation and it had taken days of planning to acquire the resources for the ritual. The thick white chalk lines alone had taken over a day to correctly mark on the cement floor. Twisted words rolled off her tongue as she started with a whisper, slowly raising her voice. Her eyes were closed, the strain of keeping them that way but a small price to pay if this worked. She felt a breeze surrounding her, heard the low whistle piercing the silence and sensed—deep in her gut—the pull of magic, fear and anxiousness.
“Who summons me?” The voice assailed her ears, its words creeping inside her and writhing beneath her skin. Biting her bottom lip and clenching her nails into her palms, Morgan struggled to keep her eyes closed.
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Thank You for taking the time to chat to us about your writing and your book.
