Debut Author Tori Scott

It's time to celebrate a wonderful new voice in the published writing community, Tori Scott. Tori is represented by Laurie McLean of Larsen-Pomada, who has her YA novel.  Today, though, we're focusing on the great short story she's recently published. It's called FOUR HOUSES.

Tori, welcome to Critique Sisters Corner, and congratulations on publishing your short story!

TS: Thank you and thank you. So happy to be interviewed!

It's our pleasure, Tori, and thank YOU for my copy of FOUR HOUSES. It's a fascinating premise—told in a haunting and surreal way, and yet very real in terms of its exploration of a seventeen-year-old's emotions about her (possibly) final choice in life. This story felt like a primal dream to me when I read it. How did it come to you?

TS: I had a vision of a girl standing in a field with four houses surrounding her. The rest unfolded as I lay in bed trying to sleep. Insomnia. It's a writer's BFF.

Ha! I can see how insomnia could be your BFF when your mind is swirling with a story like this. That vision certainly came out clearly on the page. Those houses are great metaphors for how we frame meaning in our lives. And I love how you've gone to the dark places in your protagonist's soul, as well as the yearning places. That is powerful. Does writing about our dark impulses come easily to you? Or was it a deliberate choice?

TS: Writing about the dark comes very easily, and it was a deliberate choice. I love exploring the wicked yearnings that lie in people's hearts.

Wicked yearnings. A good place to come from in storytelling. And it seems like a short story is a good place to explore them. I understand that you have a YA novel, THE COLLECTOR, with your excellent agent, so I'm guessing that you spend lots of time working on the long form. Did FOUR HOUSES come to you before you started that novel? Is there something in the short story that informs the novel in some way?

TS: It was actually something I wrote before starting THE COLLECTOR. I had just finished writing my first YA novel, VANITY, that my agent and I decided to table. I felt like I needed something to break up the doldrums of writing another long manuscript. A short story seemed the perfect solution. It rejuvenated my creativity and left me ready to tackle THE COLLECTOR.

That's inspiring. Those of us who write novels are all too familiar with those doldrums that sneak in and sap our creative energies. You're giving us a great reason to try writing a short story now and then.

After reading FOUR HOUSES, I can easily imagine you carrying that darkly humorous tone into your novel. How can people get FOUR HOUSES? What formats are available, and where do we go to find this great story?

TS: It's available as an estory through BN.com and Amazon. You can find links here: www.ToriScottYA.com/Work/FourHouses

Thank you so much, Tori, for stopping by at CSC to share your story with us. And the very best of luck to you!

Check out FOUR HOUSES, everyone. It's a fast read that will make you think about your own dark yearnings and leave you wanting more.

~Linda