Know a Nominee, Part Twelve: Kate Jonez
Welcome to today’s installment of ‘Know a Nominee’. We’re glad to have you with us as we explore the minds & other dark spaces of this year’s nominated authors. Today is Kate Jonez & her thoughts on being nominated & all things creative.
DM: Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you’ve been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you’ve written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and discuss.
KJ: I got the idea for Candy House when I was pondering, as one does, the fate of the children in the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. Most people, especially those of us drawn to the dark side, know about the much more horrifying versions of fairy tales popular in earlier times and how these tales tap into elemental fears. In medieval times, it wasn’t unheard of for parents to abandon children they couldn’t support. This is horrifying when viewed from a 21st Century perspective, but it is what it is, a foreign cultural practice. For me, the more interesting questions were: why did these children survive against the odds? Who is the girl who could shove a grown woman in a fire and go on about her business? Why would a boy willingly allow himself be captured and put in a cage? And the witch in the house made of candy… what makes her tick?
DM: What was the most challenging part of bringing your idea to fruition? The most rewarding aspect of the process?
KJ: The biggest challenge for me was keeping the cast of characters within reasonable limits. I enjoyed creating the voices and back stories so much that I overpopulated the story. It killed me when I had to cut several characters from the book entirely. The most rewarding part of writing Candy House was hiding the Easter eggs. There are little riddles or jokes that only a few people will get. Or maybe only I will get them. I hid them pretty well.
DM: What do you think good horror/dark fiction should achieve? How do you feel the work for which you’ve been nominated work fits into that ideal?
KJ: Like good fiction in general, good horror/dark fiction should leave a piece of itself inside you. Good fiction should change the way the reader thinks or feels if even in a small way. All authors, but especially horror/dark fiction authors have to be brave. It’s essential to explore the dark corners. It’s not always a comfortable place to be. In Candy House, I explore some topics that I wouldn’t necessarily discuss in polite company, but I think, I hope, I raised some interesting questions and introduced some ideas that live on after the book is finished.
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? Where do you often find yourself getting stuck, and why?
KJ: I am a slow writer. Absolutely nothing moves it along. I can’t stand the sight of a half-baked paragraph. I can usually come up with something that will allow me to move on, but 1000 words is a good writing day for me. Against all the advice I hear, I’ll go back to the beginning and revise several times during a project. While I may be slow, when I’m finished I have a fairly complete draft. I’m also an out-liner. If I ever find myself stuck on a scene it’s almost always because of a structural problem. Reworking the outline usually solves it.
DM: As you probably know, many of our readers are writers themselves. What is the most valuable piece of advice you can share with someone who may be struggling to make their way in this life?
KJ: Some people want to be writers and some people have stories to tell. Neither path is wrong, but the burden is much lighter if you have a story to tell. If you want to know which you are, wait until your computer breaks down or the zombie apocalypse happens and see if you are still working on your story. If you find yourself scratching out words in the dirt with a stick, you’ve got a story to tell.
DM: What are you most looking forward to at this year’s Bram Stoker Awards/WHC (if you are attending)? If not attending, what do you think is the significance of recognitions like the Bram Stoker Awards?
KJ: I’m really looking forward to meeting all of the people I know only from social media. It’s great to be a part of such a welcoming community. I can’t wait to put faces to the names.
Kate Jonez writes dark fantasy fiction. Her Bram Stoker ® Award nominated novel Candy House is available at Amazon in print and in eBook. Ceremony of Flies is forthcoming from Dark Fuse in July 2014.
She is also chief editor of Omnium Gatherum, a small press dedicated to providing unique dark fantasy, weird fiction or literary dark fiction in print and eBook. Three Omnium Gatherum books have been nominated for Shirley Jackson Awards.
Kate is a student of all things scary and when she isn’t writing she loves to collect objects for her cabinet of curiosities, research obscure and strange historical figures and photograph weirdness in Southern California where she lives with a very nice man and a little dog who is also very nice but could behave a little bit better.
