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Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Women in Horror Month #9: Lucy A. Snyder


Hey, everybody!  I'm absolutely delighted to have today's multi-award-winning guest today.  Let's meet her and then jump right into the interview.

About Lucy A. Snyder:



Lucy A. Snyder is the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated and five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of over 100 published short stories and 12 books. Her most recent titles are the collection GARDEN OF ELDRITCH DELIGHTS and the forthcoming novel THE GIRL WITH THE STAR-STAINED SOUL. She also wrote the novels SPELLBENT, SHOTGUN SORCERESS, and SWITCHBLADE GODDESS, the nonfiction book SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE HEAD FOR FUN AND PROFIT: A WRITER'S SURVIVAL GUIDE, and the collections WHILE THE BLACK STARS BURN, SOFT APOCALYPSES, ORCHID CAROUSALS, SPARKS AND SHADOWS, CHIMERIC MACHINES, and INSTALLING LINUX ON A DEAD BADGER. Her writing has been translated into French, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Czech, and Japanese editions and has appeared in publications such as "Asimov’s Science Fiction," "Apex Magazine," "Nightmare Magazine," "Pseudopod," "Strange Horizons," and THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR. She lives in Columbus, Ohio and is faculty in Seton Hill University’s MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction. You can learn more about her at www.lucysnyder.com and you can follow her on Twitter at @LucyASnyder.

Interview:


SK: How are you involved in the world of horror?

LAS:  I write and edit horror, and I mentor up-and-coming horror writers. In terms of my writing, I frequently contribute short stories to horror anthologies. I co-edited the CHIRAL MAD 4 anthology with Michael Bailey, and I provide developmental editing for private clients, many of whom are writing horror. Most of my mentoring happens in Seton Hill University's Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction program, but I also offer writing coaching for private students as well.


SK: Who or what terrifies you?


LAS:  In real life, I'm not bothered by many things that people are typically afraid of, like snakes or spiders or clowns. Okay, I mean, don't test this by leaving a clown in my bed or something; that's gonna be weird for me and the clown. The things that freak me out the most are heights and cockroaches. I would be very unhappy taking a hot air balloon excursion if the basket was filled with palmetto bugs.

But in fiction? If you think about things in just the right way, most anything can be completely terrifying. That's one reason why I appreciate the use of the uncanny in dark stories, because that's all about finding the sinister, frightening aspects in things that should be comfortable and familiar.


SK:  Are there unique challenges to being a woman in horror or do you feel like gender is irrelevant?

LAS:  Horror isn't insulated from the things that affect our culture at large; there are many well-documented challenges to being a woman in the arts, so of course there are challenges to being a woman horror writer. Women get published less and once they're published are reviewed less than their male counterparts. There's the issue of sexual harassment and assault at horror conventions. There are a whole bunch of ways that women are more negatively impacted than men are.

The good news is, the situation is getting better, though not as consistently or quickly as would be ideal. But that's a big factor in why I'm a writing educator and mentor: I want to help the next generation of writers along.


SK: Who are your favorite female horror icons?

LAS:  I tend to side-eye the idea of icons, idols and heroes because while a person's work might be brilliant, people are inherently flawed and we can all point to people who made great art but who did terrible things in their private lives. The dictionary definition of an icon is that it's someone who's the object of uncritical adoration or devotion. All of us working in horror need to approach work (and the people who create it) with our eyes open.

But anyway, in terms of women who have written horror, I most admire the work of Shirley Jackson, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Toni Morrison, and Joyce Carol Oates. Those are my top four; if I list more we'll be here all day, because there are a whole lot of women writing phenomenal horror novels and stories these days.

For horror actors, I've long loved the work of Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver. In recent horror movies, Octavia Spencer, Sally Hawkins, Essie Davis, Jessica Chastain, and Natalie Portman have been great.


SK: What are you working on/promoting currently?

LAS:  This month, my story “My Knowing Glance” will be out in 
MISCREATIONS: GODS, MONSTROSITIES & OTHER HORRORS (Written Backwards). My story “Abandonment Option” will appear in THE DYSTOPIAN STATES OF AMERICA (Haverhill House Publishing) very soon as well.

I'm in the midst of writing a serial novel, BLOSSOMS BLACKENED LIKE DEAD STARS, for Broken Eye Books. It's a Lovecraftian space opera, and once it's complete, BEB will release it as a paperback.

I have two new books coming out later this year. My short story collection HALLOWEEN SEASON will be out from Raw Dog Screaming Press in September. And my new Lovecraftian southern gothic novel THE GIRL WITH THE STAR-STAINED SOUL (Chaosium, Inc.) should be out sometime this year as well.

About MISCREATIONS:



What happens when we make monsters? What happens when we make monsters of ourselves? Grotesque beings lurch from our darkest dreams. Vicious beasts stalk our twisted pasts. Lost souls haunt our deepest regrets. They are the blood on our hands. They are the obsessions in our heads. They are the vengeance in our hearts. They are MISCREATIONS: GODS, MONSTROSITIES & OTHER HORRORS. Edited by Bram Stoker Award-winning editors Doug Murano and Michael Bailey. Featuring a foreword by Alma Katsu, and illustrations throughout by HagCult.

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