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Women in Horror Month: A Look Back

An enormous amount of content was produced by and about women in horror during Women in Horror Month, 2014. I linked to a lot of this content via our Facebook page  However, since a lot of people don’t visit our Facebook page, I’m going to provide a list of links to places I visited and shared during the month that are related to WiHM(I really recommend that you visit there often, because not only will you get all kinds of awesome content that comes my way, but there are also links to all our blog posts– not just this blog, but the one for Reading Bites, and the one that notifies you of new reviews. So it’s a great way to see everything current).

Enjoy!

Mary Shelley Letters Discovered in Essex Archive-– The Guardian, January 15

Flowers in the Attic: The Value of Young Reading Perspectives-– Kelly Jensen, BookRiot

The Ghost of V.C. Andrews: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Mysterious “Flowers in the Attic” Author—  Kate Aurthur at Buzzfeed. For the first time, the family and colleagues of the author speak out to provide a fuller picture of her life.

The Literary Gothic— A web guide to biographical information on early supernaturalist authors, set to close down in June

Please Don’t Bring Me Flowers— Allison Peters, BookRiot

20 Black Women in Horror Writing— Sumiko Saulson. Essential reading for the month of February, for multiple reasons. Saulson also published a short ebook on black women horror writers in February of this year, available for free at Smashwords.

Women in Horror Recognition Month Facebook page

Gothic Pioneer Ann Radcliffe May Have Been Inspired by Mother-In-Law— The Guardian, January 30

Women Who Write Lovecraft by Silvia Moreno Garcia of Innsmouth Press

RA for All: Horror— Becky Siegel Spratford asks who your favorite woman writer in horror is.

Ania Ahlborn’s interview with J. Lincoln Fenn

The Rise of the Women in Horror Movement: Admirers, Haters, and Everything In-Betweeners at Brutal as Hell

Statistics on genre writer submissions by gender at Tor UK, by editor Julie Crisp. Crisp’s statistics demonstrated that women submit fewer manuscripts than men, at least at Tor UK, so sexism by the publisher isn’t the only factor at play.

Women in Horror Month: Girls Can Kill, Too!— Bloody Disgusting

Writing female protagonists, by Lisa Morton– HWA blog

Genre-blending from Mary Shelley to the present by J. Lincoln Fenn– HWA blog

Horror Roundtable on Sexism— HWA discussion. Read the comments section– it’s very interesting!

Women Destroy Science Fiction Kickstarter— Lightspeed Magazine. In spite of everyone’s insistence that all-women issues are not desirable, this Kickstarter campaign to fund an all-women writers’ issue of Lightspeed Magazine was so successful that the people at Lightspeed expanded to include issues called Women Destroy Horror (published as an issue of Nightmare Magazine) and Women Destroy Fantasy (published as an issue of Fantasy Magazine). The campaign is over, but this shows there is clearly a demand for work by women writers. Look for the special issues later this year!

Mary SanGiovanni on her personal experiences as a woman writer of horror.

Creating female protagonists, by Lisa Morton (again, although not the same piece)– RA for All: Horror

Women in Horror Month: Pseudonyms and Author Anxiety— KC Redding-Gonzalez

Rabble Rouser Wednesdays: On the Issue of Misogynist Writers and Readers by Paula Ashe

Hugh Howey on Self-Publishing

Mark Coker responds to Hugh Howey

Tonia Brown on her personal experience with self-publishing

What’s Wrong With Female Werewolves in Popular Culture? at Darkmedia

Women in Horror Month Archives 2014— Darkmedia

Spreading the Writer’s Word— A daily spotlight on a book by a woman writer of horror

Siren’s Call Publications— download their free ezine devoted to Women in Horror Month

60 Black Women in Horror by Sumiko Saulson— free download to this guide at Smashwords.

 

There is some great stuff at those links and I hope you will take the time to explore them. I hope you had a great time learning about women in horror, and especially women in horror fiction, during the month of February. Don’t think that just because the month is up that it’s time to stop, though! Keep your eyes open for news on how Monster Librarian plans to keep women writers visible over the next several months– it will be a challenge to keep it up with the Stokers coming up and all kinds of reviews to edit, write, and share, but it’s totally worth it. So welcome to March– another month set aside to recognize women’s contributions to the world. Let’s see where it takes us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women in Horror Fiction: Alexandra Sokoloff

Image of Alexandra Sokoloff

Alexandra Sokoloff is the Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker, Anthony, and Black Quill Award-nominated author of the supernatural thrillers  The Harrowing, The Price, The Unseen, Book of Shadows, The Shifters, and The Space Between, and the Amazon bestselling new FBI thriller series Huntress Moon. The New York Times Book Review called her a “daughter of Mary Shelley”, and her books “Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre.” It’s no surprise that reader’s advisory expert Becky Siegel Spratford spotlighted her as one of the top women writers in horror in the Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror Fiction

As a screenwriter she has sold original horror and thriller scripts and adapted novels for numerous Hollywood studios. She has also written two non-fiction workbooks: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, based on her internationally acclaimed workshops and blog (ScreenwritingTricks.com), and has served on the Board of Directors of the WGA, west and the Board of the Mystery Writers of America.

Alex is a California native and a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, where she majored in theater and minored in everything Berkeley has a reputation for. In her spare time (!) she performs with Heather Graham’s all-author Slush Pile Players. Fellow bandmate (not sure that’s a word, but I’ll run with it) and Monster Librarian reviewer Dave Simms asked her to answer some questions for us.

On a personal note, The Price was, for me, unforgettable. Since I read it, the story has never quite left me. Beyond the awards and bestseller status, Sokoloff is a genuinely talented storyteller and well worth recommending even to readers who wouldn’t traditionally approach anything labeled as “horror”.

 

1. Can you give our readers a brief introduction?

I’m the bestselling, Thriller Award-winning, Bram Stoker and Anthony Award-nominated author of ten horror, thriller and crime novels, with number eleven, the third book in my Thriller Award-nominated Huntress Moon series, coming out in May. I started my career in theater as an actor and director but turned to screenwriting so I could, you know, eat… then I worked as a film writer in L.A. for ten years before I snapped and wrote my first novel, The Harrowing (best career move I ever made – I’m MUCH happier as an author.)  I’m both traditionally published and independently published; I also teach a very popular story structure workshop based on my Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks and blogs.

 

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

I have to admit that a big reason I read and write horror is because I’m an adrenaline junkie and I love the sensual exhilaration of terror. But as a writer I also find horror one of the only genres adequate to express my outrage at the cruelty that exists on this planet. Horror allows me to explore the life question that most troubles me: Why is there evil in the world and how can we mitigate it? That being said, I don’t think of myself as a straight horror writer; I write more of a mix of mystery, suspense, thriller, and horror.

 


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

Being a woman I’m a fan of the slow, sensual build (!) My books have been described as nail-biting, poetic, page-turning, terrifying and addictive, always good stuff to hear. My particular style is to blur the line between horror, thriller and mystery: keeping the reader guessing about what’s really going on: Is it supernatural, or the distressed mental state of an unreliable protagonist, or a con, or even a crime?  My current series, the Huntress Moon thrillers, aren’t really horror at all, there’s just the slightest possibility of the supernatural – which can easily be explained away. But the level of tension and suspense is still excruciatingly high, and the underlying theme is exactly the same as in my horror novels: What can good people do about the evil in the world?

 

4. Who are some of your influences?  Are there any women authors who have particularly inspired you to write?

I discovered Shirley Jackson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman when I was quite young and I was deeply affected by their mix of terrifying suspense and an overwhelming psychological state that is particularly feminine, and feminist, encompassing  mental illness and a soul sickness that comes from societal repression, as well as the possible supernatural. I think women have a particular understanding of horror because we live with it on an intimate, daily basis that men in non-warring countries (or outside of prison) rarely experience. For us, a simple walk out of the grocery store to the parking lot at night can turn into the most horrific of nightmares. We have a lot to say about terror. A lot.

 

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

Besides the above mentioned, I’ve loved Daphne du Maurier and Madeleine L’Engle since I was a child. More recently – Mo Hayder is one of the most terrifying writers I’ve ever read, and I’m a big fan of Denise Mina and Val McDermid. I’m lucky to have extremely talented friends who provide me with lots of reading pleasure: Sarah Pinborough, Sarah Langan, Rhodi Hawk and Lisa Morton come to mind. There are some men, too. 🙂

 

6. Where can readers find your work?

And everyone has e readers now, right? You can find everything on Amazon, naturally. But you can browse the books on my website,http://alexandrasokoloff.com, and readers can sign up for my newsletter there to get announcements about special deals and giveaways. And libraries, of course – please support your local library!


7.  You’ve been in a very cool group – the Killer Thriller/Slushpile Band – for years now.  What has that experience been like for you?

The best! Maybe even lifesaving. I grew up doing music and theater, but I never expected to be in such a great group as part of my author life, and to be acting and jamming with my own literary idols like F. Paul Wilson, Heather Graham, John Lescroart, David Morrell, and Michael Palmer, plus so many new author friends like Scott Nicholson, Blake Crouch, Harley Jane Kozak, Beth Ciotta, Daniel Palmer and (ahem) Dave Simms.  I guess it shouldn’t be surprising – so many authors have musical and theater backgrounds, and let’s face it, we’re such hams. When we’re writing we’re so much in our heads that it’s fantastic to be able to cut loose and perform with such talented friends.

 

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

For librarians – I am so aware that times are tough, and if you’d like to get more of my books into your branch, please contact me directly. And readers – I love to dialogue on Facebook. Please stop by my page and keep me from writing! I mean, say hi!

 

Interested in learning more? Visit Alexandra Sokoloff’s Amazon page, her website, her Facebook page, and, for tips on screenwriting,  her blog, Screenwriting Tricks.

 

Women in Horror Fiction: Becky Siegel Spratford on Discovery of Women Horror Writers for Public Library Collections

    

 

Becky Spratford is a Readers’ Advisor for patrons 13 and up at the Berwyn (IL) Public Library. She is also a steering committee member for the Adult Reading Roundtable, which provides Readers’ Advisory training in the Chicagoland area.  You can see more of Becky’s work on her two popular and critically acclaimed blogs, RA for All and RA for All: Horror, or in her book The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, 2nd edition (ALA Editions, 2012). She is also a proud member of the Horror Writers Association.

As the expert in readers’ advisory for the horror genre in the library world, Becky is sharing with us her tips for librarians and mainstream readers interested in discovering women horror writers. Thank you so much, Becky!

 

Discovery of Women Horror Writers for Public Library Collections

 

A guest post by Becky Spratford

 

One of the biggest complaints I get from my fellow librarians is that it is so hard to identify new horror authors in general, and to find women writers is almost impossible.  In honor of Women in Horror Recognition Month, Kirsten and I have teamed up to provide a month of posts aimed at helping you, the public librarian, to identify good female horror authors to add to your collections.

Now of course, the two places you should start your search for answers to any horror collection questions at your library are RA for All: Horror and Monster Librarian. But the larger question is, where do we get our info? That’s what I am going to do in this post–share my favorite resources for discovering new books and authors.

One of the problems with horror fiction is that outside of the biggest names, most horror is released by small presses.  Now the good news here is that many of these presses highly value librarians. To help us both discover and purchase their titles, they are making a better effort to make their books available through Baker and Taylor and Ingram. Even just as recently as 4 years ago, I would have to get administrative permission to make purchases from specific small presses on a case by case basis; now I can simply include them with my regular collection purchases on Ingram.

Now you can go to my full list of horror small presses here, but the ones I have had the best luck with in recent years for discovering authors (including plenty of women writers) who are best for public library collections are:

 

47 North

Cemetery Dance

Dark Fuse

Dark Moon Books

JournalStone

 

Speaking of JournalStone, one of the best things they do to aid your discovery of new authors is the annual writing contest they host. This year’s winner happens to also be a woman Cynthia Tottleben.  Her winning novel, The Eye Unseen, has just been released and is getting a lot of attention.

But just relying on the small presses and their marketing campaigns has its limitations; for example, are the books they are touting actually good for a general audience?  One way to figure out the cream of the crop is to look at who is being nominated for the horror industry’s most trusted award, The Bram Stoker Award.  Now, I speak from experience because as a member of the Horror Writers Association [who sponsors the award], I can, and do, recommend books for each year’s award. Starting early by looking at the Stoker Preliminary Ballot each year is a good idea.  It comes out in early February each year.  Click here for the current preliminary ballot. But spending a little time looking at the nominees and winners from the last few years is also helpful for your collection development.  If you are particularly looking for up and comers, I suggest the First Novel and the various short story categories.

In general, the Horror Writers Association’s website has many resources, reviews, and links that you can use.  I suggest setting up an RSS feed to the Horror Writers Association’s blog which will allow you to see an ongoing conversations about horror fiction today.

So there are my trade secrets about how I discover horror authors for my library’s collection, but so as not to make you do all the work yourself, here are some of my current favorite women in horror.  Please note, all write to a YA or adult audience.  Links lead either to my blog or Goodreads.

 

Ania Ahlborn

R.B. Chesterton

Mira Grant

Elizabeth Hand

Kate Jonez

Caitlin R. Kiernan

Sarah Langan

Alison Littlewood

Lisa Morton

Sarah Pinborough

Alexandra Sokoloff

Maggie Stiefvater

Cat Winters

 

Once you know where to look, it is not that hard to discover great new women writers. Just remember that RA for All Horror and Monster Librarian are both there to help you, the librarian, help your horror patrons.