Comprising of Sasha LaShae and Sasha Edward, the duo behind the writing team of Sasha Deux Fois have enjoyed success separately before coming together as a collaboration to work on their debut project Doppelganger. Now, in honor of Women in Horror Month and Black History Month, I talk with them about their writing process, the previous work and coming together to write as a duo.
Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, when did you get into horror in general?
Sasha LaShae: I didn’t become a huge fan until I met my husband, he is the ultimate fan and he introduced me to the classics and I was hooked.
Sasha Edward: I have a distinct memory of walking into the living room and seeing Freddy Krueger come ripping out of Jesse’s limp body. It was the most horrific and exhilarating thing I’d ever seen at 7 years old and though it gave me nightmares for years, I couldn’t get enough and became obsessed with the genre. It also helped that my mom worked at a video store.
Me: Were you into genre films growing up? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
Sasha LaShae: Funny thing is I was terrified of scary movies, didn’t watch my first scary movie until the age of 16, it was the first Nightmare on Elm Street. The old classics Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Shining, Psycho got me intrigued and led me to some of the horrors of today.
Sasha Edward: Oh, yes! I’m still a huge Nightmare on Elm Street fan, I also loved the Chucky Franchise, Fright Night, Hellraiser and Puppet Master. There’s always been something about evil never dying that intrigued me.
Me: Who were some of your favorite writers growing up? Do you try to take influences from their style with your own voice in your work?
Sasha LaShae: I have been a fan of Stephen King since I picked up my first book by him at 19. I actually just got an interest of writing from him but my style isn’t similar at all.
Sasha Edward: The first books I ever read were that of V.C. Andrews, R.L. Stine and then later on in my early 20’s I got my hooks into Stephen King and never let go. Each author has influenced me more than I’d realized until I began writing and saw small and simple nods with how the characters were developed.
Me: What was the starting point to become a writer? Were you always into writing growing up?
Sasha LaShae: Me, deciding to write my first book was actually from a friend of mine, she started a publishing company and knew I always thought about writing so she asked would I be her first author so I said why not. I had never written anything before then.
Sasha Edward: I’ve been writing since I was about 11 years old. I’ve always had this sort of narrator in my head and decided to begin writing down my thoughts and fantasies. It evolved as I got older as a way of escapism and allowed my characters or whatever I was writing about to speak for me. Meeting Sasha Lashae was the ying to my yang because it was like she could hear and compliment the narrative. I had no idea we shared the same interests until we became more involved in the process.
Me: What is your writing process? How do you stay focused on writing?
Sasha LaShae: As a solo author I have the whole idea and ending to begin with, my writing process is to just start and figure out how to get to the ending I want, with Sasha Edwards it was a bit different….
Sasha Edward: As soon as an idea comes it's like an explosion and I have to catch all the shrapnel right away. I always have my phone handy to take note and once I’m settled I get it into an outline immediately. From there it’s a really easy process because the scenes play themselves out in my head and quickly to paper, from the character’s facial expressions, to what they are wearing, and even who is around them and their energy. As cliché as it sounds, it literally flows naturally. Thankfully, Sasha Lashae is extremely understanding and patient with this process and was able to match my energy. Long before social distancing we wrote mainly using FaceTime, phone calls and Messenger. It was a little tedious but we got the job done. I stay focused by maintaining a writing schedule and on those days I block off anywhere from 2-4 hours to work. I do take breaks occasionally and put on an old flick or Lifetime to maintain inspiration.
Me: Having written the novels "The App," "The App 2.0" and "Degree of Murder" earlier in your career, what was the inspiration behind these stories?
Sasha LaShae: My career has always been in technology, telecommunications and data analyst, so I was naturally drawn to technology and wanted to find a great story can that can incorporate technology, sensual love stories and murder.
Me: Were there any writing tools and skills you acquired working on those that transferred to future projects?
Sasha LaShae: Since we are self-published I had to learn how to make a professional finished product, and get it out to the world, I now design the covers, format the manuscripts and upload for publishing, and not only us, I have provided this service to other upcoming authors as well.
Sasha Edward: I definitely had to brush up on editing skills but mainly to save money.
Me: How did you two settle on the plot for your novel Doppelganger?
Sasha LaShae: The love for horror films got kicked up a notch the year I surprised my husband with tickets to a horror convention, from that point on we were going to 3 or 4 a year. So we thought what if there were actual murders that happened there, how would you know who is a threat vs who is just a fan of the genre.
Sasha Edward: I agree with Sasha LaShae. We loved the concept that this is a completely vulnerable setting and that it hasn’t been done (that we are aware of at least) yet. Also, being able to include how the crowd would react since we have been in that setting allowed us to skew the view in a sense and take away the innocence of the event.
Me: Was there any special contribution either of you contributed to the project? How did the collaboration work between you?
Sasha Edward: There wasn’t really any special contribution per say. I did take a few elements from a project I’ve been working on but remained careful not to duplicate the plot itself. Regarding the collaboration itself, I’d like to think it was a pretty easy fete because again, Sasha LaShae has the intuitive ability to be able to match the energy and we elevated each other by doing so.
Me: Was there any part of your real sense injected into the characters?
Sasha LaShae: I started out writing for Josh, in person I am as sweet as can be, a bit of a nerd even, but my alter ego Sasha is my Psycho/Sexy side and allows me to combine all the things I love about horror films and twist it to give an interesting story.
Sasha Edward: I would have to say that I’m pretty bubbly as well and have become even a bit of an introvert. But there is a darker side that rarely shows itself and in order to keep that in check, I cast my energy into the work. I write especially well on days that are crappy and I’ve wanted to smack someone, so more often than not the characters act it out in one form or another. A lot of people don’t know this but our pen names pay homage to our own alter egos both named “Sasha” and it was another moment where we connected with something we weren’t aware of, hence Sasha Deux Fois.
Me: Once it was finally written, what was the process to having it published?
Sasha LaShae: Because I had previously self-published my 3 books, I took the reigns and got everything done, except for the editing. I am no good at that, I left that Sasha Edwards, she was amazing at it.
Sasha Edward: I would count this as another classic Sasha yin and yang moment and Thank the Lord for Sasha LaShae, as I had no idea about how self-publishing worked and honestly was so enthralled with the process it wasn’t an initial thought. However, I have a decent eye for editing so we were able to beautifully play off of each other’s strengths.
Me: How did moving from short story to full-length novel challenge your writing skills?
Sasha Edward: Honestly, it just evolved over time. We kept saying as we wrote that we couldn’t find a good stopping place to allow it to remain a short story. We didn’t even really have the intention of making it a novel which explains why “Book 1” is so short. However, when we did get to the end of “Book 1” we knew we had to continue and tell Josh’s side as he’s too intriguing of a character to give a quick cheap ending to…and we were having too much fun!
Me: Did writing together present any hurdles to your friendship or strengthen your bond together? Are there any plans to continue collaborating together with either new works or a continuation of the story?
Sasha LaShae: Yes, the hardest part was trying to work around our busy lives to find time to work together, we had meetings at restaurants or video chat, it made our bond even stronger we began to learn how each other thought and would sometimes want to write the same thing, Sasha is my friend and “Partna” for life. We have plans to continue this story for now and no idea what the future will hold.
Sasha Edward: I 100% agree with Sasha LaShae. In fact, we haven’t physically been in the same place in about a year. We are like horror pen pals and our letters spill out into the pages of our work for all to read. I think it was more than fate that we have this sisterhood and she will always be my friend and “Partna” for life.
Me: Beyond writing together, what else are each of you working on that you’d like to let our readers know about?
Sasha LaShae: I stay busy with my Graphic Design business K&T Graphics (www.kandtgraphicdesigns.com) I do all types of graphics but, I focus on Author services, book covers, book trailers, bookmarks and formatting and self-publishing services. As far as writing, I have plans to release my 4th book of short stories this year and it’s time for us to continue our story Doppelgänger.
Sasha Edward: I am currently working on my first screenplay “D.E.A.D” and continuing to put the finishing touches on the outline for “Doppelgänger Book 2” in between working full time and being a managing partner for ChefBobbombs a collaboration with my husband (phew!). Boredom be damned!
Me: Lastly, being that this is Women in Horror Month, what special message do you have for any women out there looking to join in the industry in any capacity as you are one yourself? Thank you again for your time!
Sasha LaShae: Uplift and give your fellow writer that push to do what they may be fearful to do, and don’t worry about how you will get published, just do what you love for now write!
Sasha Edward: Keep writing and living your truth. Throw away the narrative that limits you and begs to fit in. Your story is your truth no matter how it sounds or looks. Even when it doesn’t make sense, the best inspiration can be drawn from peculiarities.
This interview ran as part of our Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out all of our reviews and interviews about the occasion:
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