A native of Ireland and author of several works in horror fiction,
Nolene-Patricia Dougan has been called the new Anne Rice by the
Californian Chronicle. Born on April 13, 1977 in Belfast, County
Down, Nolene later moved to the townland of Ravara, where she
draws inspiration from the isolated rural landscape that surrounds
her.Even as a child Nolene chose writing poetry over other passions, and began to write short stories as a teenager. "Writing takes me into another place and time," she explains, "and it's also very cathartic. If you have a row with someone, you can always base one of your characters on that individual and kill the character off within the first two pages"
Gradually she found herself gravitating towards historical mysteries and through extensive research she became intrigued by ancient myths and religious philosophy. A lingering fascination with Francis Ford Coppola's film Bram Stoker's Dracula led her to ask what had become of Vlad the Impaler for four hundred years before he appeared as Dracula in Transylvania and England. Plenty of myths had influenced the portrait of Vlad over the centuries, but there were facts, too. In her research, Nolene found discrepancies in the accounts - where was Vlad buried? Are stories of his brutality true or just propaganda? It was after this search into the origins of the legend that she decided she must describe the missing years and investigate unanswered questions. She began to write a novel and so brought into being the fascinating journey of two vampires - Vlad and a woman named Isabella-in Vrolok.
In addition to her own fiction, Nolene is cofounder of the website www.spinetinglers.co.uk, a monthly short story competition that gives a prize of 50 every month to the winner. This site is intended to encourage aspiring writers, and along with the competition it offers a service for book and author promotion. 'It's great to be a part of Spinetinglers," Nolene says, "it's amazing to see the standard of undiscovered talent that is out there and I hope Spinetinglers will help get, quite a few, of the next big names in horror discovered."
She has also contributed an extensive series of reviews for several websites, written feature articles for national and local magazines and book reviews for Eason's Ireland, a major book retailer.
What else drives her? "Movies," Nolene readily admits. "I collect them, all kinds, all genres, for in film there is such a release, such a scope for the imagination. The effect of one film, just two hours or less, can last a lifetime." Her ambition is to write a movie review column and make the knowledge she has gained available to readers.
Why horror fiction? What about it draws her in?
According to Nolene, it is because "I am fascinated by all things otherworldly. I think there are many things that science can't explain. However, I am an open-minded cynic, for I do not believe every story that I am told is true-I need convincing! I also love this genre because it gives its readers and viewers an adrenaline rush like no other. It makes your heart beat faster and your pulse race! It shapes, as Mary Shelley said of Frankenstein, 'a storyone which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling horror-one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart." That is what all horror writers aspire to do-we want to thrill our readers!"
What next? There is a prequel to Vrolok planned. Nolene is also working on a contemporary tale of corruption set in Northern Ireland that will undoubtedly be controversial. "Like Vrolok," she says, "this will be a fictional story that is set around real events and real peopleonly in this case, the setting is Northern Ireland."
Into the world of Vrolok:
- Vrolok-debut novel, published October 2005; 2nd reprint, September 2006
- Number 19 on Amazon.co.uk Horror Best Seller List for five weeks
- The Daily Mirror-"Fang-tastic, a blood curdling tale to get your teeth into."
- Californian Chronicle-"Dougan is the new Anne Rice. Rice fans will love Dougan's work."
- All Books Review-"Historical fiction at it's finest."
- Mid-West Book Review-"A superbly crafted and complex dark fantasy novel"
- Harriet Klausner Number One Amazon Reviewer -"The encounters with Van Helsing are some of the best vampire interludes in recent years."
Other interesting facts:
- Nolene writes on average at least 1,000 words a day. She spends much of her time reading chosen books from her genre and researching the current project she is working on.
- Nolene was chosen to be the face of World of Women Exhibition in 2003.