Horror Author Jan Stinchcomb #Interview
Jan Stinchcomb Interview
Congratulations on the release of your book The Kelping! I absolutely loved it! Could you please tell readers a little about the story?
The Kelping is a part of the Rewind or Die novella series. It is a story of transformation and body horror, centering on a beautiful and wealthy family in Southern California. You can read the whole thing in one good bathtub soak.
2.If The Kelping were made into a movie, who would play the leads?
Jon Hamm would be perfect for Craig but I don’t think he would agree to the project. I’d like to use Samantha Robinson in the role of Penelope, but she’ll have to wear blue contact lenses. Keanu Reeves is my Dude Pelikan. And Patricia Clarkson would be Mrs. Delmar, of course.
3. Do you consider yourself a feminist writer? If so, what does that phrase mean to you?
First of all, I have been a feminist my entire life, which means I am accustomed to being unpopular. I don’t see how my writing could be anything but feminist. The simplest definition of feminism is something like “working for the social, economic and political equality of women,” and we can expand “women” to mean people living in a female body or identifying as such. In my lifetime this modest goal of equality has been ridiculed and reviled, often by women themselves, as recently as the day of a certain election. In my writing I often describe the experience of living in a female body in an unfriendly world. I tend to have more than my fair share of monster women and troubled mother/child relationships. A feminist writer is someone who challenges gender assumptions and imagines justice.
4. How much of your work is autobiographical?
All of the monster stuff is true! But seriously: when I was younger I thought there was a strict line between fiction and autobiography, but now I see it’s beginning to blur in my own work. Most writers tend to draw from all their life experiences. That said, it’s vexing when readers/critics assume a woman writing in first-person is unable to fictionalize.
5. How would you like to see the horror writing industry evolve in the next ten years?
I want more genre blurring and more underrepresented voices. I want to hear more women talking about their work. I love the way short form is valued in horror writing and hope that will continue. The number of good novellas in horror is a delight.
6. When did your love of writing begin?
I made the fatal choice in seventh grade. My teacher predicted I would become a writer, and I believe she laid a curse on me.
7. Let’s have a little fun. Would you rather spend a summer at Camp Crystal Lake from Friday the 13th, or the cabin from Cabin in the Woods?
I’m a true Gen-X alumna of Camp Crystal Lake.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
I have three more stories coming out this year, and one of them is in The Horror is Us (Mason Jar Press). I’m finishing a short novel and shopping around a story collection.
9. Where can people find you online?
My website or on Twitter & I’m on GoodReads where I mostly share what I’m reading and try to support indies.
10. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say?
Trust your instincts always, always
