These are a few woman I found. Each one is talented and unique.
L’Erin Ogle
Let’s take a look at L’Erin:
L’Erin is a writer, ER nurse, and mother living in Kansas. She loves scary movies, scary books, and all things that go bump in the night. She has stories available at Psuedopod, Daily Science Fiction, Syntax & Salt, Metaphorosis, and Vastarien. She is hard at work fighting COVID but hopes soon she’ll be able to focus back on storytelling.
The Interview:
1. Was the publishing process hard?
Once I got past the rejection part, the publishing process was pretty easy. Morris Allen at Metaphorosis bought my first story, and then four others, and he was a dream to work with. Helpful and specific with rewrites, gave advice easily, and very pleasant. Contracts were pretty standard and easy to read and payment was always prompt. I have heard nightmare stories from others, but I haven’t had any problems.
2. What is your favorite piece you have had published?
My favorite piece is “The Girl Who Ate Galaxies,” published at Syntax & Salt.
3. What gives you inspiration?
Inspiration starts for me as the good old what if—What if there was a house full of dead girls hellbent on revenge? What if the hunger for love turned into devouring any&everything? What if dead girls came back to life and they brought something dark with them? I’m a write as you go writer—often the story tells itself.
4. What advice do you have to people who want their work published?
My advice for those trying to get published is—know your markets and who you are submitting to. Send everything in Shunn manuscript format unless directed otherwise. Take feedback and criticism as a plus—if an agent or editor took the time to comment, it’s because they saw promise either in the piece or the prose. And know rejection is just a part of life.
5. How do you feel women are represented in horror? Do you think it should change?
I think women are finding stronger representation in horror, both as creators and as characters. I grew up on Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm St, Halloween in grade school. Scream and the sequels in high school. Not the fiercest of female leads, not ALWAYS helpless, but close. And the dirty girls always got offed first. One of my favorite recent horror flicks is the Descent, which is composed of some bad ass women, a complete opposite of the movies I grew up on, and one of the first I remember focusing just on women. I grew up loving and devouring Stephen King. But as I’ve aged, I’ve struggled with finding strong female characters in his works. I liked Vic McQueen in NOS4A2 by his son a lot, though. I can tell you two of my stories snapped up by female editors did not fare well with the first publications I had sent them too—they received some criticism that were exactly what the others loved about them. There’s always the difference between markets and the readers of that publication. Most of my work features a female protagonist that’s pretty pissed off (write what you know, I suppose) and I have found those are a bit harder to sell.
I’d always love to see more women in horror, more horror geared towards women, stronger characters. I love Gillian Flynn’s work—I’d consider Gone Girl and Sharp Objects horrifying. It used to be the women in horror movies were crazy, or slutty, or stupid, or vulgar. The one sweet virginal character was always the heroine. What I love about Camille from Sharp Objects and Amy from Gone Girl is yes, indeed, they were disturbed, but they were fully fledged characters, multi dimensional. I love seeing how women, both as heroines and villains, have evolved and become much more complicated and complex. I don’t think it should change so much as keep evolving.
6. Tell us about an experience you’ve had as a writer, good or bad. Something to show new writers what the field is like.
My first sale was to Morris Allen, at Metaphorosis. He asked for a rewrite of “Nobody’s Daughter and the Tree of Life”. I had been submitting to Metaphorosis regularly—for two reasons other than liking the stories. The turnaround was 1-3 days, and Morris gave personalized rejections for every submission. The rewrite process was excruciating. I’d never worked with an editor or anyone on a rewrite before—so Morris had to explain things like line breaks, proper spacing, etc to me. He has the patience of a saint, that’s for sure. I’ve sold him several more stories as well as been published in a couple of anthologies he edited. It’s been a great experience. C.C. Findlay, former editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction was also such a great source of feedback and kind words. And one story I wrote, “The Girls Who Ate Galaxies”, was snapped up by Syntax&Salt team who showed me it was ok to keep writing angry, broken female protagonists and not hold back.
The joy of one acceptance can make up for a thousand rejections in one thrilling e-mail.
Links:
Memory Drive by L’Erin Ogle – literally stories
Timelines by L’Erin Ogle – Syntax & Salt Magazine
The Girls Who Come Back Are Made of Metal and Glass – L’Erin Ogle
PseudoPod 651: The Coven of Dead Girls
The Girl Who Ate Galaxies by L’Erin Ogle
Mean Streak – L’Erin Ogle – Metaphorosis Magazine
Personal thoughts:
L’Erin is so nice and fun to work with. She is a very good writer and is working hard being an ER nurse. You can link to most of her work with the links above or go to her page: L’Erin Ogle – Writing in the Dark About the Dark. Please check her out and give her support.
Kriss Orlea
A little inside to who Kriss is:
Kristina Orlea is a geek that writes horror, silly children’s stories, poetry, and is an amateur artist. As a writer and a poet she has been sharing her love for the art since 2000. She has been a featured guest speaker for National Poetry Month and Women Writing for a Change’s VDAY celebration.
Kristina shares her life with her husband Josh and their son Zack. The three reside outside of Cincinnati along with five cats, two German Shepherds, and an incredibly angry vacuum cleaner.
The interview:
1. Was the publishing process hard?
Self publishing is fairly easy. Amazon does make it very user friendly but there are some things (like formatting) that does require trial and error. Which is fine cause if gave me a chance to understand some of what is required that I might not have learned has a publishing house taken the lead.
2. What is your favorite piece you have had published?
My favorite piece published? Hmm, I’d have to say my first poetry book “Thoughts of Chaos & Desire”. Something about your first, ya know.
3. What gives you inspiration?
I’m a writer and an artist- so I find inspiration in pretty much everything. I once wrote a short story based on an elderly woman I saw at a grocery store.
4. What advice do you have to people who want their work published?
My advice to people looking to publish is get ready for rejection. Expect it. Plan for it.
But, never stop trying!
If you’re looking to self publish – never stop learning. Ask for advice and feedback from friends and colleagues. Be open to criticism but don’t let it define you.
5. How do you feel women are represented in horror? Do you think it should change?
I feel like with most things, women can be underrepresented. For so long women were viewed in horror as such – “Oh sure, you can be sexy, scream like a banshee, and be the virgin still alive; but write the story? No you’re talking nonsense.”
But I feel like a lot has changed and more and more women are busting through that veil and writing, directing, and acting in kick ass horror.
Representation matters. So as long as women keep writing and supporting each other, it can only get better!
6. Tell us about an experience you’ve had as a writer, good or bad. Something to show new writers what the field is like.
One of the coolest things for me has been hearing my work made into an audio adaptation for a podcast. The addition of music and voice bundled with my words was definitely an exhilarating experience.
Writing a creepy piece of horror that now exists as an audio production that can infiltrate the ears of people is really freaking cool!
Links to her work:
Personal thoughts:
Kriss has an extremely fun personality. I can tell from the few conversations we’ve had and just reading her website. She has three works on amazon: Thoughts of Chaos and Desire, Thoughts of Love and Truth, and The Darkness Within: Everyone Has a Story… All of which are free on Kindle Unlimited or if you don’t have that, they are all under $2.00. Please check her out! She is so cool! I love her already!
Rachel Weaver
About Rachel:
Rachel Weaver is a 23 year old Minnesota resident that has enjoyed the horror genre since the age of 5. When she’s not being seen watching Hereditary for the 100th time or scrolling through her Shudder account, she could be found writing at coffee shops, thinking about theater with her boyfriend or playing with her two cats. She has been an aspiring writer since finding her niche with horror writing at the start of the pandemic. She posts weekly on her Wattpad account when she has time and is thinking about hitting up CreepyPasta at some point. Happy Haunts guys and ghouls 👌
The Interview:
1. How do you feel women are represented in horror? Do you think it should change?
I feel like since the 70’s it’s been decent representation. Protagonists like Nancy from Nightmare on Elm Street and Lori from Halloween are Prime examples. I don’t think it should change from the films I’ve seen.
2. Tell us about an experience you’ve had as a writer, good or bad. Something to show new writers what the field is like.
I haven’t had a lot of bad experiences as a writer; my best advice is to always be open to constructive criticism. I wrote a short horror play when I was in college in 2017 and a cast member told me that the dialogue was crappy, but I took it with a grain of salt.
3. What made you want to write?
Really good movies and escapism, or finding a place where I can be happy.
4. What is your favorite piece you have written?
Monstro Therapy. A short play starring classic movie monsters like Dracula and Wolfman.
5. What gives you inspiration?
My boyfriend, who always encourages me to write.
6. What advice do you have to people who want to start writing?
If you want to start writing, do it often and keep going till you find a style. It took me a few years to figure out my style but it’s so worth it!
Links:
Personal Thoughts:
Rachel is a personal friend of mine so i might be a little biased. She is super cool and creative! I love her work and her ideas. So check her out and support this cool woman of horror.
Shelby Scott
Bio:
Shelby Scott is from Southern California and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her favorite past times are writing and cooking.
The Interview:
1. What’s your favorite story you have written or read that will or has been on the podcast.
My favorite story I’ve written is probably Nuclear Flight. I thought of it when I was actually on a plane and I completely terrified myself at the idea of “what if we just can’t land? Where do we go?”
2. What made you decide to do a podcast?
I really wanted to get my own work out into the world, and I wanted to combine my love of ASMR and horror. I thought it might be something a few people might be interested in, and come to find out almost 3 years later, there are way more people than I thought there would be who are into falling asleep to horror stories.
3. What gives you inspiration?
The world around me. My stories are usually pretty rooted in normal everyday things. Like grocery stores, airplane flights, and dealing with aging loved ones. Things that we deal with often enough that I want my stories to be a sort of thought in the back of your mind. I aspire to write stories that really stick with you and sneak up on you long after you’ve heard or read them.
4. What advice do you have for new writers and new podcasters?
To new writers, I like the advice that Stephen King once gave about putting your finished work away for 2 weeks without looking at it, so when you read it again it feels like reading someone else’s work. You catch a lot more plot holes and mistakes that way. My own personal advice is to read your work aloud. It gives you a different perspective and it’s a good way to catch if you’ve used the same words or phrasing over and over again, and it’s easier to see if you have any dragging and unnecessary parts of your narrative that can be edited out.
To new podcasters, I say treat your first episode like the first pancake. Throw it out. Or at least don’t upload it. Do an entire test episode from start to finish, full length. Take that and learn and let people you know and trust give you constructive criticism. Also make sure your sound is as professional sounding as possible. You don’t need fancy equipment, but research the equipment you do have to make the most out of it. If you sound like you’re recording into a tin can in an echoey bathroom people are going to turn it off after a few minutes.
5.How do you feel women are represented in horror? Do you think it should change?
I think it’s getting better, but I have seen things within the horror podcast world that concerns me. More than once I’ve seen on Facebook and Twitter people expressing that they refuse to listen to female hosted podcasts because “women have annoying voices”. It’s a really gross deep-rooted misogynistic view and I really hope the fact that more and more women are beginning to rise up in the podcast world will change that!
Links:
Personal Thoughts:
Shelby’s voice is great and when you hear it on the podcast its just magic. She really brings the characters to life. She is so nice to work with and I’m really glad I got the chance to do this! So please listen to the podcast and see what I’m saying!!
The Creepy Celery 