Know a Nominee, Part Twenty-Three: Stephanie M. Wytovich
Welcome to today’s Know a Nominee. We’ve come a long way & there’s more to come yet. Today we talk to Stephanie M. Wytovich, Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, about being nominated for a Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection.
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.
SW: Hysteria began to accumulate during a series of paranormal investigations. I had been researching the histories of asylums and prisons—particularly West Virginia State Penitentiary and the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum—and the more time I spent in these locations, and the more I learned about their pasts, the more inspired I became to write the book. The inmates and patients within my collection each have their own stories and I wrote quite a few of them while I explored solitary confinement and walked the halls of the infirmary wards.
DM: What was the most challenging part of bringing your idea to fruition? The most rewarding aspect of the process?
SW: The most challenging part of writing Hysteria was opening myself up to some dark places. I spent a lot of time doing onsite research in places where the energy is thick with violence and anger. I saw confinement cribs, stood next to a whipping post, laid in a hydrotherapy tub. I read journals and heard stories about unspeakable treatments, treatments that to this day, still make my skin crawl.
The most rewarding aspect of the process was getting lost in inspiration. It was horrifying, but it was an experience unlike any other that I’ve had as a writer. I pushed myself to go deeper, to go darker than I had before, and it was an adventure. I didn’t just fall down the rabbit hole with Hysteria, I created a new Wonderland, one where the Mad Hatter reigns, and sane is a figure a speech.
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?
SW: I think good horror/dark fiction should make readers ask questions. The author’s goal should be to put their readers in a state a crisis where he/she is questioning everything that he/she knows and believes in. Dark fiction makes the impossible, possible and it flips the possible upside-down and inside-out.
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?
SW: I always have a notebook on me and I’m usually scribbling and sketching in it most of the time. But when it comes to actually drafting, I need to be at my writing desk and on my laptop. If I find myself getting stuck while working on a project, I’ll usually switch to something else that I’m working on so that the creative juices are still flowing. It’s my way of getting re-inspired while still making art.
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?
SW: Write every day. It doesn’t matter if it’s a page, a paragraph, or a phrase, just let it out. It’s important—if not necessary—to create habits, and when I started writing poetry, I pushed myself to write one poem a week for a year. When that became standard, I doubled it, and then before I knew it, I was writing a poem a day. Time will always be difficult to come by, but if you’re a writer, you’ll always find it.
DM: What are you most looking forward to at this year’s Bram Stoker Awards/WHC?
SW: World Horror is such a great experience because it’s a way to take a break from writing without actually taking a break. I get to be immersed in the genre that I love, catch up with friends, colleagues, and mentors, and make new memories while learning from the best in the field.
About Stephanie M. Wytovich
Stephanie M. Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, a book reviewer for Nameless Magazine, and a well-known coffee addict. She is a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association and a graduate from Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her poetry collection, Hysteria, can be found at www.rawdogscreaming.com. Follow Wytovich at stephaniewytovich.blogspot.com and on twitter @JustAfterSunset.
