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Know a Nominee, Part 8: Rena Mason

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Welcome back to “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that puts you squarely between the ears of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Today’s update features Rena Mason, nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Short Fiction for “Ruminations.”original bio pic

DM: Please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work(s) for which you’ve been nominated.

RM: Two strangers separated by universes, bonded by loves and losses, that are able to fill the needs of the other through “cracks” that came by chance. (In short, Multiverse Theory and Singularity slips caused by intense emotional linkage.)

DM: What attracted you most to the project?

RM: I’d heard great things about the editor, Michael Bailey, and wanted to work with him. I’d originally pitched the idea to him for one of his other anthologies but was told the story was a little too sci-fi for what he needed, but then was asked by him if he could hold onto it for possible use in a different project that would blend sci-fi and horror. Of course I said, “Hell yes.”

DM: What was the most challenging part of bringing the concept(s) to fruition?

RM: Creating a believable sci-fi universe for a short story that jumps back and forth from a “normal” world like ours, to a warring one.

DM: The most rewarding aspect of the process?

RM: That Michael Bailey liked the story and wrote again to ask if he could use it for Qualia Nous.

DM: What do you think good horror/dark literature should achieve?

RM: Unease.

DM: How do you feel the work(s) for which you’ve been nominated work fits into (or help give shape to) that ideal?

RM: I think it stirs up that “What if?” feeling. Many of us wake up from our dreams thinking That felt “so real.” And “What if?” it was? Science today has taken science-fiction to a whole new level. Scientific unknowns, and the “What ifs?”, those make me feel unease.

DM: I’m curious about your writing and/or editing process. Is there a certain setting or set of circumstances that help to move things along?

RM: Goals and deadlines. I’ll see an interesting sub call for something I might have an idea for. Then if I can think a story through from beginning to end in my head, I’ll write it with the sub call deadline keeping me on track.

DM: If you find yourself getting stuck, where and why?

RM: Always on the first page, I think, No way is this going to make the word count. Then I usually end up running over the limit. I’m not sure why it happens, but I wish it would stop. Could be my subconscious thinking, It’s still early in the story. You could quit now and no one would be the wiser. I hate my subconscious by the way. It’s probably the subconscious of a nemesis me in a parallel universe.

DM: As you probably know, many of our readers are writers and/or editors. What is the most valuable piece of advice you can share?

RM: Everyone says it all the time, but just “Write.” It sounds so simple until you factor in the whole life aspect.

DM: If you’re attending WHC this year, what are you most looking forward to at this year’s event?

RM: I always look forward to seeing friends I haven’t seen in a while and catching up. Also making new ones. Just having a good time and forgetting about all the work-related things that need to be done. Focusing on the fun and fruits of labor. (I do a lot of volunteer work, so it’s nice to see people coming together and having a good time.) I particularly like helping RJ Cavender out with the pitch sessions, and it’s really rewarding to see people leaving with smiles on their faces, even though they came in nervous and talking to themselves. That’s what it’s about. Helping out writers at every level, any way I can.

DM: What scares you most?

RM: People who are false.

DM: Why?

RM: I don’t have time for them. And I hate wasting time.

DM: How (if at all) does that figure into your work or the projects you’re attracted to?

RM: It gives me drive and encourages me to succeed.

DM: What are you reading for pleasure lately?

RM: I’ve been doing research, but these classic works are still very pleasurable reads to me, so some Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Shirley Jackson, and Katherine Anne Porter. I also read Carole Johnstone’s The Bright Day is Done — Excellent collection.

DM: Can you point us to new authors or works we ought to know about?

RM: Kenneth Harmon’s debut novel The Amazing Mr. Howard is fantastic, and I’m looking forward to reading John Mullhall’s Dark and Broken Things, and Bloodborne by Kya Aliana.

 

About Rena Mason
Rena Mason is the Bram Stoker Award® winning author of The Evolutionist and East End Girls. A longtime fan of horror, sci-fi, science, history, historical fiction, mysteries, and thrillers, she began writing to mash up those genres in stories revolving around everyday life.

She is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association, International Thriller Writers, an Affiliate member of the Mystery Writers of America, and the International Screenwriters’ Association.

An avid SCUBA diver since 1988, she enjoys traveling the world and incorporating many of the experiences into her stories. Most of all she relishes time spent with great friends, her family, and beloved pugs. She currently resides in Reno, Nevada.

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