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Help a Reader Out: Edgar Alllan Poe Historical Mystery

Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday rolls around and we get this request. How timely!

A reader asks:

I’m looking for a book about Edgar Allan Poe that takes place around the time of Poe’s death, and takes place in Baltimore. It is a mystery and I think the cover is gray and Poe’s name is in the title.

Ooh, I know this one!

It’s The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl. A young Baltimore lawyer with good propects who is also an admirer  of Poe’s, indignant with the tarnishing of Poe’s reputation at his death, starts prying into the details at the expense of his own reputation, finances, and sanity. It’s not horror, although some horrific things happen, but the author does an amazing job of recreating historical Baltimore and tracing the theories of exactly what did happen to Edgar Allan Poe.

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Women in Horror Fiction: Sarah Pinborough

     

Sarah Pinborough has written in a variety of genres, including horror, crime, YA fiction, and screenplays. Her recent novel, A Necessary End, written in collaboration with F.Paul Wilson, has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. Her solo novel Mayhem, an historical horror novel set in the Victorian Era. was released last month. Sarah answered questions posed to her by reviewer Dave Simms about women in horror, writing, and her two newest books. Read Dave’s review of A Necessary End  here, and look for our review of Mayhem coming up!

 

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1.)      Would you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m an author and screenwriter based in London. I’ve been writing novels for coming up on ten years and have written horror, crime, YA and cross-overs of all of them really. Oh, and some saucy fairy tale re-tellings. Not sure what else to say…that question always sounds like a dating site profile question.;-)

 

2.)     In celebration of Women in Horror Month, who have been your biggest inspirations, past and present? What authors are on your bookshelf, and which women authors would you recommend to others?

Of women, Daphne Du Maurier was one I loved growing up. Currently I think Lauren Beukes and Sarah Lotz (her novel The Three comes out in May– I’ve just read it and it’s awesome) are really making waves with supernatural thrillers. Also Alison Littlewood’s stuff stands out. I also loved Sarah Langan’s Virus.

 

3.)     How do you see the horror community now? Do you feel females command a stronger presence with the emergence of authors such as yourself, Alexandra Sokoloff, Rhodi Hawk, and others?

I don’t really ‘see’ a horror community per se as I straddle so many genres and so I just see a genre writing community. I think women have always had a strong presence in the field. A lot of editors in speculative fiction– in the UK at least– are women, and lots of women are doing well with their writing. I think people have a skewed vision of women in the horror genre, because for a long time the attendance at conventions was very male-dominated. That’s less the case now, and to be honest, lots of people have very successful careers without ever going to a convention. But the convention circuit and various Associations often only see that pond, as it were, and forget lots of people are doing very well who never attend or join. I spend a lot of time in the crime community and they’ve never had to address the gender issue because there are so many successful women working in that field and the festivals tend to be a relatively fifty-fifty split. Also, I don’t think editors pay any attention to gender when reading a pitch or manuscript. They’re just looking for a good story. But, all that said, I think it’s good that the horror genre is becoming more supportive of women’s writing and celebrating it. It might encourage more women to go to events.

 

4.)     What is your writing process like? Do you use music or require total silence? Do you have a specific place or can you create anywhere?

I write in silence, basically because I’m so easily distracted. I prefer to write in the morning – often in my bed with a cup of tea. Then I do some exercise and whatever chores I have to do then do some more in the afternoon or some plotting in a cafe. Have a break for a movie or a book and then maybe do some more in the evening or work on something else. I’m quite a hermit really. I like social stuff but if my diary shows more than two or three things in a week I start to hyperventilate at losing my quiet space.

 

5.)     With Mayhem, you tackle the legend of Jack the Ripper and Victorian London.  Even though the novel is much, much more than just about Jack, what brought you to historical writing?

I had just finished The Dog-Faced Gods trilogy and I read Dan Simmons’ The Terror and that was what inspired me really. I loved the blending of fact and fiction in it, and I always like to try new things. The Victorian Era was a good place to work in because people have an image of it already, so you’ve half-way set your world up before you start. I started searching for unsolved murder cases and the Torso murders came up. When I saw that they were going on at the same time as Jack the Ripper I knew I’d found my case to work with.

 

6.)     You’ve collaborated with F. Paul Wilson on the Stoker-nominated A Necessary End.  Was this process more natural or much tougher than you imagined? Is there anyone you would like to work with?

It was tough for Paul I think, because I was working on several other projects, all with deadlines, and so he often had to wait a while and nudge me when it was my turn to write. It was great fun though and at one point, when our two main characters were having an argument, we went on Googledocs and basically riffed it out – Paul taking on the female character and me the male. The argument went to places we wouldn’t have got if one of us had just written it. I’m not a natural collaborator though because I hate that feeling that someone is waiting for you. But Paul has collaborated before so he was great to work with. I think I’d like to try collaborating on a script at some point, but that would have to be a week away in the same room with someone and hammering out a first draft, rather than too-ing and fro-ing over the internet.

 

7.)     You entered the young adult fray with The Nowhere Chronicles. Do you see yourself continuing in this genre? How much of a  departure was the effort from your “adult” books?

I really enjoyed writing those books and I’m really proud of them. I just wish, on reflection, that they’d come out under my name. I didn’t really see it as a departure – they’re as well-plotted as the Dog-Faced Gods, I think, and once you get in your stride with YA you’re not thinking of it as any different to any other novel – the main characters are just younger. My next two books for Gollancz are YA cross-overs I guess – The Death House and then a teen thriller called 13 Minutes Dead.

8.)      You’ve been a teacher. How has that impacted your writing? Have/had your students read any of your work, critiqued it, or given helpful suggestions? Mine have always wished to be a part of the process and have been the most brutal, but helpful critics.

I was a high school teacher for a few years but I don’t think it’s impacted my writing other than help when writing teenage characters. Some of them read my early books and one student– whose name I used in The Nowhere Chronicles– read the first one before I sent it in, but I just wanted to see if it worked for a fifteen year old– which it seemed to. None of them critiqued me though– but then I don’t use Beta readers either.

 

9.)       You’ve written straight up horror, historical horror, YA, and suspense/thriller, along with re-telling of fairy tales in dark, witty manner. Which genre has been the most enjoyable to write, or which title?

Gosh, I like them all. The fairy tales were fun because I got to be humorous in them. I like playing around with different types of story-telling but I don’t think I have a favourite, although saying that, I think thrillers with a hint of weird is what I like best.

 

10.)        Screenplays have been added to your resume and an original television series is in the works. What can you tell us about them and how does the visual medium compare to novels and short stories?

The film I’ve sold is called Cracked and is an adaptation of The Hidden, my first book. I also wrote an episode of the BBC series New Tricks. The series is something different entirely but that’s under wraps for now. Screenwriting is an entirely different medium– primarily because so much of it is collaborative– producers and directors all have notes and changes. You don’t own it in the way that you do with a novel. I love it though and I think it’s helped my storytelling and dialogue in my novels. I like doing both.

 

11.)     You began with The Hidden a decade ago.   What’s the most important lesson you have learned about the genre, writing, and the publishing world, since that book was first contracted?

That’s really hard to answer because you learn as you go without realising how much you’re learning. I guess I’d say there’s nothing as valuable as a good agent, editor and copy-editor.;-)

 

12.)      Is there anything else you’d like to share with librarians and readers?

Can’t think of anything! Just keep up the good work – we NEED libraries! And of course, we need readers!

Women in Horror Fiction: Angeline Hawkes

Image of Angeline Hawkes

This month we asked a number of women horror writers to answer some questions for us about who they are, what they write, what it’s like to be a woman writer in the horror genre, and what they read and recommend for horror readers. The first person to respond to our questions was Angeline Hawkes, a writer of historical horror published primarily by small presses and independent publishers.

Angeline Hawkes is the author of Blood Alone (2013 ND3 Press), The Commandments (2012 ND3 Press), Shades of Blood and Shadow (2009 Dark Regions Press) and Symphony for the Forgotten (2008 Daverana Enterprises). She has collaborated with her husband Christopher Fulbright on such books as Sorrow Creek (2012 Delirium Books), Black Mercy Falls (2011 Delirium Books), and Scavengers (2011 Elder Signs Press). Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including Frontier Cthulhu: Ancient Horrors in the New World (2007 Chaosium), Beneath the Surface: 13+ Shocking Tales of Terror (2008 Shroud Publishing), and Dark Light (2012 MARLvision Publishing).

1. Can you give our readers a brief introduction?

I have been writing horror and (mostly) dark fantasy professionally since 2000. Before that my earliest publication credit was in 1981 – that makes me sound ancient, but in reality, I was only 11 at the time.  My earliest publications from age 11-19 were poetry and various non-fiction/journalism related work. I went through college on scholarship (East Texas State University which is now Texas A&M University-Commerce) and many of those scholarships were based on my writing and publications. In fact, for most of them my publications were the real selling point that persuaded scholarship committees in my favor.  I taught high school and middle school, then retired to write full-time. Since 2000, I have churned out quite a few short stories, but from 2006 to the present, I have been concentrating on longer works – collections, novellas, novels. I write independently and collaboratively with my husband, Christopher Fulbright. My collection, The Commandments, was a Bram Stoker Award finalist, and I have some short stories in a couple of anthologies that were finalists for various awards.  In my personal life, I’m a mom to four skin babies and 1 fur baby. I don’t do anything “just a little”.  Kids, writing – I’m a hard worker and don’t have an off switch.

 

2. Why do you write horror?  What draws you to the genre?

I have always been drawn to the supernatural. I wrote ghost and monster stories as a young child. I think my earliest horror story was probably written around age eight. I was raised in a very religious environment where there was a heavy influence on sin, Hell, and the general end of the world apocalyptic type of lifestyle. I always say that the Bible is the ultimate horror book. Contained between those pages is just about every horror you can cook up. So, religion would definitely have a huge influence on my draw to the horror genre. The cycle of sin and redemption, good and evil – it all translates well into horror. I didn’t start out to be a horror writer, professionally. I thought I was writing historical fiction. I finally had an editor reply that although he loved everything I had submitted and previously submitted, I just WAS NOT writing historical fiction – I was writing HORROR. Imagine my surprise. I started re-reading everything I had written and came to the same conclusion. I just didn’t see it before it was pointed out.

 

3. Can you describe your writing style or the tone you prefer to set for your stories?

I write primarily historical horror and loosely earth-based heroic fantasy. Both of those require an immersion into the era I’m writing about at the time. So, I tend to find my influences in ages past, more than with modern writers. My writing style has been described by many people as “British” in tone and style. I see that a little. Probably because my biggest literary influences were British writers: Shakespeare, Dickens, Hardy, etc. I was an English teacher with a specialty on British Literature. Makes sense. Also, if you take into consideration my early influences of the King James Bible, that style of writing comes naturally. I think my writing is one of “building”. I like to set a firm foundation full of atmosphere. I want the reader to feel, see, hear, smell – to BE in the story. Then the story climbs to a – sometimes – sudden climax and BAM! – the conclusion is upon you. When I read reviews that mention anything the reviewer “didn’t like”, the comments are always that the story was too short or that the conclusion was too sudden or that they wanted more. I don’t necessarily see these as “bad” reviews. Life isn’t a neat and tidy thing, is it? When the story is done, it’s done. Sometimes the conclusion isn’t all wrapped up with a shiny bow – because in real life, stories aren’t always wrapped up in shiny bows. The reader gets to know what the character(s) gets to know…and sometimes the character never knows. My work has been compared to Lovecraft, Moore and Blackwood. I’m flattered, but I can only hope to stand in the shadow of such masters.

 

 4. Are there any women authors who have particularly inspired you to write?

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, was a big influence in my adolescence. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, was terrifying to me, I think because there were so many elements that I could relate to in my restrictive upbringing. I knew people like the people in her novel. It was scary. Mary Shelley, Louisa May Alcott, George Eliot, Margaret Mitchell, Madeleine L’Engle, C.L. Moore– some of these are typical answers. I’ve never been a reader who selected my material based on the gender of the writer, but on the content of the story. Many of my female writer influences are not horror writers either, so not sure about the psychology behind the meaning of that.

 

5. What authors do you like to read?  Any recommendations?

I read a lot of nonfiction because I’m constantly researching for whatever I’m writing at the time. Some of my favorite fiction writers are Dickens, Tolkien, Moore, Howard, Shakespeare, Stoker, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Burroughs– all dead. Some of my favorite writers still kicking, that I find really fun to read, are Robert Weinberg, C. Dean Andersson, Steven Wedel, Steven Shrewsbury, Jeff Marriott, and of course, Christopher Fulbright.
6. Where can readers find your work?

My websites do not list everything. I try to keep the sites current, with not too many out of print works. A google search will bring up older works. Of course, Amazon has just about anything that is currently for sale – as does Barnes & Noble. As a short story writer, I’ve been fairly prolific in both horror and dark fantasy. I believe most of my longer works and collections are listed, with purchasing links, on my website: http://angelinehawkes.com/ and on Christopher Fulbright’s and my collaborative website: http://www.fulbrightandhawkes.com. I am currently writing for or have written for: Chaosium, DarkFuse, Dark Regions Press, Delirium Books, Elder Signs Press, and many others.

 

Interested in learning more about her, or checking out her work? Here’s a link to Angeline Hawkes’ Amazon page.