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Women in Horror: Interview with Patricia Gomes

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Poet Laureate of New Bedford, Massachusetts from 2014 to 2021, author and playwright Patricia Gomes is published in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including the New England Horror Writers Anthologies, Wicked Women and Wicked Creatures. A Pushcart Prize nominee in 2008, 2018 and 2021, and twice nominated for a Rhysling Science Fiction award, Gomes is the author of four chapbooks. Ms. Gomes recent publications include Tidings, Star*Line, Muddy River ReviewMotif MagazineAlien Buddha Press, and Apex and Abyss. Ms. Gomes is the co-founder of the GNB Writers Block as well a member of the Massachusetts Poetry Society, the SciFi Poetry Association, New England Horror Writers, the Horror Writers Association.

What inspired you to start writing?

My family!  I had, what I thought to be, the most interesting family and I was compelled to write down the tales they told — whether fact or fiction — and share them with literally everyone who wasn’t related to us. How could everyone not want to know these amazing people?

What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it?

I love the heart-pounding sensation of fear.  What an adrenalin rush!  To watch something, read something, or do a thing that makes your head spin, your stomach churn, and your heart feel as if it’ll jump out of your chest, then be able to sit back and go: “Whew!  I survived that — I am truly a bad ass!” Nothing Jump scares are kinda my thing.

Do you make a conscious effort to include female characters and themes in your writing and if so, what do you want to portray?

It’s not an effort for me; again, I go back to my family.  The women in my family have incredibly strong personalities and have taken self-reliance to a whole new level.  I love having the ability to demonstrate that in creating my female characters.

What has writing horror taught you about the world and yourself?

About myself?  Nothing.  I’ve always known I’m slightly twisted and more than a little dark.  But the world — ah, that’s something that pleases me to no end!  I am always astounded by how many people truly believe in the paranormal, the supernatural, things not of our world.

Not only do most people want to hear our stories, but they also want to share their own experiences with us.  They sense a kindred spirit, and in needing to tell someone — anyone — that they’re sure won’t pooh-pooh them, they talk.  Great for us really, because their tales often spark ideas for our own writing.

How have you seen the horror genre change over the years? And how do you think it will continue to evolve?

I’m reading a lot more dystopian tales, particularly with the escalation of AI and assorted epidemics/pandemics.  Splatterpunk, of which I am not a fan.  Don’t get me wrong, I love gore, just not gore for the sake of gore.

And stories are getting much shorter.  With the rise of Flash Fiction, we’re losing the minutia that make a story a tale to retell.   Fine points are being discarded as clutter in order to maintain a word count.   Sorry, but I want to know what color Aunt Rosalie’s dress was when she slid out from under your bed two weeks after you buried her.  Was her hair caked with dirt?  Were her eyeballs intact?  The devil’s in the details and I need the details!

How do you feel women have been represented thus far in the genre and what hopes do you have for representation in the genre going forward?

There are so many of us now!  The genre can’t ignore us — we have stormed the gates.  Thank you, Shirley Jackson!  Thank you, Ann Rice!

Who are some of your favorite female characters in horror?

Nadine Cross from The Stand by the father of us all, Stephen King.  All of the Mayfair women in Ann Rice’s witch series. Olympia Binewski from Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love. Shirley Jackson’s Eleanor.  I could go on for pages!

Who are some women who write horror you recommend our audience check out?

Susie Moloney; Christina Sng; Gwendolyn Kiste; Emma Jane Shaw Gibbon; Cindy O’Quinn; Eden Royce; Linda D. Addison, you, of course, in this new-gen of horror writers.  There are dozens more I’m missing.  Again, I could go on for pages!

What is one piece of advice you would give horror authors today?

Don’t rush the story.  I’ve come to loathe the label “slow burn.” Oftentimes a good story needs to simmer before it’s served.

And to the women who write horror out there who are just getting started, what advice would you give them?

Read!  You can’t write if you’re not reading.  Know your audience.  Again, don’t rush.  Write the tale, put it aside for a few days before you start to edit.  Put it aside again for a week or three before sending it off into The Great Unknown.  That little bit of downtime we’ll let you determine with your own eyes, your own instincts whether the tale is worthy of telling.

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