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Know a Nominee, Part Twenty: Rain Graves

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Thanks for joining us for the latest installment of our ongoing interview series with this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Featured today is Rain Graves, who is nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection for Four Elements (Bad Moon Books/Evil Jester Press), along with her co-authors, Marge Simon, Charlee Jacob and Linda Addison.

 

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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.
RG: We each had an element in nature to work with in Four Elements, and mine was water. There are so many things you could do with such a broad subject. I decided to make it a transition from myth, legend, and old interpretations into more modern ones, instead of an entirely earth-mother or magical interpretation of water, which is what people expect. I went with a lot of topics, from Medusa and Poseidon to mollusks and wine. My favorite parts to write were the first short-short at the very beginning, and the last set of six poems. “The Alligator God and the Sea” is a condensed moment in time between a dying character that was a myth turned into a god, and a dying body of water that is the Sea. It represents the old and the new. The final poems are about Hades and the five rivers in hell, narrated by Charon, who gives a soul passage on the rivers. It is finality, navigating through hell, and worked well as an end to my section.

 

DM: What was the most challenging part of bringing your idea to fruition? The most rewarding aspect of the process?
RG: The editing of the book was my most challenging part. I often find that I write poems a certain way, and then through the editing process, they must change in punctuation, line setting, or rhythm to create a better flow. The most rewarding aspect was certainly working with Linda Addison, Marge Simon, and Charlee Jacob. It was very easy to work with them; they are talented and professional. Everything just fell into place, and decisions were made as a group.

 

DM: What do you think good horror/dark fiction should achieve? How do you feel the work for which you’ve been nominated fits into that ideal?
RG: I believe good horror makes you feel something. It may be fear, laughter, disgust, love, or terror…but it must make you feel. I believe that poetry makes people feel by nature. If you don’t identify with something in the work, you aren’t going to like it. It’s also very subjective, so it’s hard to say dark poetry fits into any ideal. I think our book resonates on a personal level for each reader, in each section. It can be raw, and takes you into a place where we may have been raw writing it. We felt deeply as we wrote each word, and if our readers feel deeply as they read it, we have done our job.

 

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?
RG: I find that I do my best work in one sitting, though for book-length manuscripts, that isn’t always possible. I take the larger manuscripts in 10,000 word chunks. I like to find cafes that have a certain vibe to them that lends to my inspiration. Maybe they have velvet curtains, or a black and white tile floor, with marble tables and iron claw foot chairs. I can write in a place like that for a full six to eight hours, if they have decent food selections. I absolutely cannot work in a Starbucks, or other contrived chain. It stifles my creativity, rather than engages it. Give me an independent, locally owned cafe any day.

When I’m done with the first draft, I leave it alone and don’t look at it for at least a week. I can look at it with fresh eyes, and catch more errors that way. I usually do another pass, and then send it to three people I know for opinions. One that is industry, one that is not, and one that has sharp editing skills. I get a good, broad perspective on what works and what doesn’t that way. If I get stuck during the process, it’s usually because I can’t get into “the zone,” where it’s flowing freely in my head. I have to stop and do something else, because if I force the idea, it’s going to be the worst story or poem I’ve ever written. Sometimes you just have to know when to scrap something. If it’s worth salvaging, however, I’ll try researching something in the story, which often leads to inspiration. I wrote a Roman werewolf story that was like that for an anthology called Tales from the House Band, edited by Deb Grabien. Just in the research of Roman naming conventions, there was a lot of inspiration for character development and foreshadowing through nomenclature, that it made the story much more interesting to write.

 

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?
RG: Never stop reading. Never stop writing. Finish what you start.

 

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?
RG: I am looking forward to seeing everyone enjoy themselves. These things are great at making people happy and unhappy at the same time, but it’s nice to watch your friends and colleagues feel good about the nomination, whether they win or not.

 

 

About Rain Graves
Rain Graves is an armed fictionist, spoken word performance artist, and gifted Tarot reader. Publisher’s Weekly described her work in BARFODDER: Poetry Written in Dark Bars & Questionable Cafes (Cemetery Dance, 2009) as “Bukowski meets Lovecraft.” She is a Bram Stoker Award winning poet (2002), for her work in The Gossamer Eye with Mark McLaughlin and David N. Wilson. Her latest book, Four Elements (Bad Moon Books, 2013), is written with Charlee Jacob, Linda Addison, and Marge Simon. Her short fiction has been published in various magazines and books since 1997, with more recent works in ZOMBIES vs. ROBOTS: Women on War! (IDW, 2012), Tales from the House Band 2 (PlusOnePress, 2012), and High Stakes (Evil Jester Press, 2013). She is the creator and hostess of The Haunted Mansion Writer’s Retreat, and creator/organizer for the Anthology Series: The Haunted Mansion Project (Damnation Books, 2012, 2014). Her poetry on wine has given her a notable place in the wine-writing world, from commissioned pieces by wine-makers far and wide, to her poetry honored on the corks for Gentleman Farmer wines in 2009, 2010, and 2011. For more information, visit http://www.raingraves.com and http://www.hauntedmansionproject.com.

 

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