Vanessa F. Penney is a writer of dark things. She was born in northern Newfoundland and raised in rural Nova Scotia to families of cod fishers and coal miners.
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Her lifelong love of horror and mystery fills her writing with shadows and dark secrets and, even in darkness, she finds humour and heart.
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Her first feature script, Raising the Dead, was a semi-finalist in the 2021 Toronto International Screenplay Competition. She lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and writes for the Darkside Tales horror podcast.
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She works for a small non-profit that connects Nova Scotians with food, shelter, and other supports.
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The Witch of Willow Sound is her first novel.
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Some things she likes:
- Rainy days
- Wild pansies
- Nature reclaiming things
- Miyazaki films
- Stardew Valley
- Heavy metal
- Tea with her son
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Genealogy
Her family is from Scotland, China, England, and Newfoundland long before Canada - The thought of a new Gothic era
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Some things she re-reads:
- Frankenstein by M. Shelley
- Dracula by B. Stoker
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by S. Jackson
- A Wholesome Horror by B. Thompson
- Making Witches by B. Rieti
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by G. García Márquez
- Books about witchcraft
- Poems by Ai Ogawa
- Poems by Robert Frost
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