KZ: Hi Reece! A Girl Called Corpse is your first novel, but can you remember the first story you ever wrote?

R: I’ve been writing stories ever since I was 11 years old, if you can believe it! My very first one was about two boys who found an ancient scroll buried on a beach at Rottnest Island – a scroll that was filled with dark secrets they would have to put right using a magical emerald. The problem? The emerald had been lost for a century! I don’t remember how the story ended but do I remember designing a cover, printing it out, and binding it like a real book. Hmm… I wonder where it is now?

KZ: There are so many interesting creatures in the book, including witches, zombie skeletons and weresquids! Which one was the most fun to write?

R: The Witches were, without a doubt, the most fun to write because they are truly horrible. Every time one of them stepped into a scene or appeared on the page I felt myself shiver… but that was what was so fun about it! They’re wicked, sinister and seriously creepy, but it was deliciously dark fun to write them.

KZ: What is your favourite illustration from A Girl Called Corpse?

R: I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s a big fight scene towards the end of the book, when Corpse and her friends are taking on the baddies, and there’s an illustration of that moment – complete with a magic spell being performed by one of the nasty and horrible Witches – which absolutely blows me away every time I look at it. The illustrator, Simon Howe, is so incredibly talented. I don’t know how he did it, but it’s like he reached into my brain and plucked out my thoughts because everything he drew looks exactly like how I imagined it when I was writing the book.

KZ: What do you think are the coolest things about being a ghost?

R: Ghosts have all sorts of powers, but I think my favourite one is that they can talk to animals (at least, they can in my book!) I’m a big animal person and I talk to my dog Hagrid anyway, so it would be cool if he could talk back to me.

KZ: What top tips can you share with K-Zoners for creating their own spooky character?

R: Creating your own spooky character is all about trusting your imagination. There is inspiration everywhere, but the tricky part is shaping it into a three-dimensional character. To do that, you need to ask yourself five key questions: What is my character’s name? What do they look like? Do they have a scary sidekick? Do they have any special abilities or powers? And, most importantly, what does my character want?

The reason I say that last part is most important is that what a character wants tells us whether they’re good or bad. For example, a spooky character who wants to save their friend can still be good even if they are a little scary looking – like Corpse! On the other hand, a spooky character who wants to destroy the world is going to be your baddie.

Regardless of whether they’re good or bad though, asking those five questions, and trusting your instincts on what is scary, is how to create a fully fleshed-out spooky character!

A Girl Called Corpse is out now!

Check out Reece’s shout out video to K-Zoners!

Want to read more of our interview with Reece? Grab the November 2022 issue of K-Zone, out now!