Apex Book Company

Jennifer Pelland has been a fan favorite and Apex staple since issue three when her breakout story, “Big Sister/Little Sister”, hit the markets. The story that features a pair of sisters with an unfortunate history has chilled many and played havoc with the squeamish. She followed the success of “Big Sister/Little Sister” with a frightening story of “Erasure”, a piece that shows you that sometimes the source of evil is not what you think it is.

Besides her Apex sales, Jennifer has had stories appear in Strange Horizons, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Abyss & Apex, and more. She runs a popular blog that details her successes, failures, and philosophies regarding genre writing.

We are proud to present this interview with Jennifer Pelland and to have her as our April ‘06 Featured Writer.

Apex Online: Your issue three short story “Big Sister/Little Sister” has been one of the best received stories by the readers of Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest. Yet, you say you’re not really a horror writer. Explain yourself?

Jennifer Pelland: In my mind, “BS/LS” is a dark science fiction story. To me, horror is about either things that really can happen (monstrous serial killers, rabid attack dogs, sadistic torturers), or things that we don’t want to believe can happen, but in our hearts, are afraid might actually be real (poltergeists, the undead). It’s about the things that leave us lying awake at night with the light on. So while I agree that “BS/LS” is creepy, I don’t find it scary, because waking up with my sister’s face protruding from my belly isn’t something that leaves me lying awake at night. I’m certainly glad that people like it and are creeped out by it, but I just don’t see it as a horror story. It feels more like a dark version of the classic SF “what if?” scenario.

Oh, and for the record, my sister and I get a long smashingly.

AO: While I won’t label you with the ‘horror writer’ brand, much of your work tends to focus on the darker aspects of humanity. Both your Apex stories fit this description (”Big Sister/Little Sister” and “Erasure”), “Flood” (in Abyss & Apex), and “MarsSickGirl” in ASIM…why do you think your writing treads darker ground than most traditional science fiction writers?

JP: I’m sure it’s because I’m a rampant pessimist. Optimism looks like so much fun, but I’ve always been one for envisioning the worst in any situation. So when I sit down to write a serious story, it tends to be fairly dark in tone because that’s just where my brain lives. I hear you can take pills to go to Happy Town, but what would I write about then? Besides, happy stories are boring. Dark places are where the interesting emotions live. It’s much more interesting to try to get into the head of someone who isn’t stable or nice than it is to get in the head of a grounded, happy person. And it’s fun, too.

You know, for a while now, I’ve felt that writers are just sociopaths with a really good coping mechanism. I get to sit around and think up all sort of horrid things to inflict on other human beings, but I then inflict them literarily on my characters rather than inflicting them physically on a real person. The dark thoughts are the same, but the outlet is far more socially sanctioned.

AO: Your story “The Burning Bush”, available at EscapePod, contains one of the funniest bits of dialog I’ve read…

“The thing is,” he said, gesturing at the book, “there’s no proof in here. It’s all just faith. My scientific mind demands rational proof!”

“What will it take?” I asked. “A burning bush?”

And then my pubic hair caught fire.

Tell us a little bit about the origin of this story?

JP: Up to the part where the pubic hair caught fire, that was a real conversation between me and my husband, conducted in bed, in the nude, on a hot summer night. He was studying world religions in the hopes of coming up with answers to life, the universe, and anything, and was ranting about how none of it stood up to the scientific method. When I asked, “What will it take? A burning bush?” I immediately covered my pubes with my hand, just to be safe. After we finished laughing, I realized I needed to write a story. By the way, can you tell I was raised Catholic?

AO: You run a popular blog that I would encourage anybody looking to make a run in the highly competitive world of genre writing to follow for a period of time. You wear your heart on your sleeve and aren’t afraid to share your thoughts, disappointments, and successes. Do you find that the support you receive from your readers helps or adds more pressure to your desires to succeed?

JP: Hey, thanks. And if you think I wear my heart on my sleeve in the public entries, you should see the private ones.

The support is great. I have enough pressure to succeed applied to me by my own ego, so the blog is where I go to let off steam. I’d say that about half the comments I get are from non-writer friends of mine who are rooting me on to succeed, and the other half are from writer friends who are in the same boat who are glad to have someone to commiserate with. I suspect the latter want me to succeed as well, but not before they do. They have egos too. And that’s not a bad thing. Writers without egos don’t shop their work around.

AO: If I recall, you attended last year’s Viable Paradise workshop. Can you share something you learned from your peers and/or teachers while there?

JP: Actually, I was there as support staff last year and will be again this year for both the workshop and the tenth year reunion. I was a student back in 2002.

I think the most important thing I learned at VP was the reality of the business. Most people who succeed do so through a long, slow slog that takes them through hundreds of rejections (I’m over 200 myself). Only you don’t usually hear their stories. The people you hear about are the ones who hit it out of the park on their first try. But they’re in the minority, and you can’t model your career path on theirs, because that kind of success can’t be replicated. A writing career is a marathon, not a sprint.

Okay, how many sports metaphors did I mix in that answer?

AO: Do you have a writing mentor? If so, who would that be?

JP: I don’t have an official mentoring relationship with anyone, but I’d say that I come awfully close to having one with Jim Macdonald. He’s one of the Viable Paradise instructors, and he’s been a great teacher and supporter of mine. He’s always happy to answer questions for me, give me a boost when my spirits are flagging, and introduce me to other writers as someone to watch out for. He and Debra Doyle, his wife and writing partner, make their living as writers, which is very inspirational. I love them both. It’s wonderful to have someone so successful believe so strongly in you.

AO: Who’s your favorite science fiction writer? Horror writer?

JP: My favorite living SF writer is probably Lyda Morehouse, who wrote the Archangel Protocol series. Alas, it didn’t sell well enough, and now she’s writing non-SF under a pen name, but if there’s any justice in the publishing world, she’ll get back to writing SF again real soon now. My favorite SF writer of all time is Octavia Butler, who died too damned soon. She also wrote about the dark places in life, and wasn’t afraid to tackle difficult and painful stories. I aspire to someday write half as well as she did.

As for horror, I’m a wimp. I can’t read it, I can’t watch it. A Stephen King story about a mobile washing machine kept me awake for a month, so I haven’t touched the genre since. Although I did watch the TV version of The Shining several years back and thought it was pretty good. And I still managed to sleep, mostly. But you’re talking to the woman who kept the lights on after seeing Jurassic Park in case there were any velociraptors in the house. Velociraptors! Sheesh. I am a wimp.

AO: It’s agreed among publishing circles that you’re a writer on her way to great and bigger things. Who do you think is a rising star in the genre field?

JP: Which publishing circles are you talking about? Are there any agents in those circles? I have a couple of novels that they might want to take a look at. Seriously, though, I do appreciate the sentiment, but I think I still have a long way to slog before I’m recognized as a potential up-and-comer.

As for new writers who are on their way to greatness, I’m so bad at keeping current on my reading that I really can’t tell you. But you know who should be? N.K. Jemisin. She’s a member of my writing group who garnered an honorable mention in one of last year’s Year’s Best anthologies. And she’s written a knock-out novel that landed her a terrific agent. The only reason it doesn’t seem to have found a home yet is because it’s so distinctive and unique that no one’s quite sure how to market it. I love her work, and am always astonished when she has trouble selling it. Another star from my writing group that I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot from is Margaret Ronald, who is revising a novel that she’ll have no trouble selling. I feel funny singling out just two people from my writing group, because they’re all so good, but N.K. and Maggie are on the fast track to Successville. The rest of us will catch up eventually.

AO: One day you’re relaxing at home re-watching the pilot episode of the new Doctor Who for the twenty-third time, when your house is suddenly rushed by a large group of angry, right-wing neo-con Christians. They’re toting pitchforks and torches and have taken self-rightous offense to your ‘burning bush’ reference and demand retribution. You realize you must make your escape, but you have time to save one book in your collection. What book would that be?

JP: Just one book? *Gibbering* But…but…I have so many! Actually, it would be my idea book. Everything else I can buy again, but if I lose my idea book, then I lose nuggets of my imagination. Besides, it’s amazing how easily you can diffuse Christian ire when you point out that you were raised Catholic. People like that seem to get that people like me might have issues with the faith.

AO: I once wrote an editorial about you and Bryn Sparks. It was titled “A Love Letter to Bryn Spark and Jennifer Pelland.” Were you honored, or just plain creeped out?

JP: It was amazingly flattering, and I’ll have you know that I immediately saved it to my hard drive. But you know what stood out most for me? I’d never been referred to solely by my last name before. It was a weird professional moment to have finally reached a point where I was referred to as “Pelland” without a “Jennifer” or a “Jen” tacked in front of it. It made me feel like an official writer.

AO: Twenty years from now, you win the Hugo, Nebula, and Stoker awards for best novel. This prompts your fans to dig up the “Jennifer Pelland” time capsule that was dropped into a dirt pit outside the Supreme Court in 2006. Tell us what you placed in this time capsule.

JP: If we’re talking this Supreme Court, then probably an empty packet of birth control pills and a copy of the Bill of Rights. But putting aside politics, perhaps a thick stack of rejection letters from both editors and agents, along with copies of all my published stories. Maybe also printouts of the two completed novel manuscripts as they currently stand. I don’t know. I’m such a pack rat that I wouldn’t want to give anything away. You know what would be funny? Putting in a stack of novels that I hated with post-it notes on them explaining why each one sucked. I wouldn’t mind getting those out of my house.

AO: Robert Reed should: A) Make room for more female talent in Fantasy & Science Fiction and give up writing or B) Hell yeah, keep on keepin’ on, my man!

JP: How about C) switch genres? I don’t want the man to give up writing, but couldn’t he, say, try his hand at gay cowboy stories? Look at how good that genre was to Annie Proulx! Yes, the world needs more gay cowboy stories, and Robert Reed is being awfully selfish by not sharing his gift with the gay cowboy loving world. Shame on you, Robert Reed! Shame!

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Jennifer Pelland is a Nebula-nominated author who currently lives in Waltham, MA. Her first collection of short fiction titled Unwelcome Bodies was released by Apex Publications in February ‘08. You can discover more about Jennifer at her website www.jenniferpelland.com.

Unwelcome Bodies is available directly from the Apex Shop or from the Apex aStore (Amazon).