 Kristi Petersen Schoonover still sleeps with the lights on. Her short fiction has appeared in several magazines and anthologies; she’s also the author of Bad Apple, and This Poisoned Ground. She curated the Ink Stains anthology Volume 7 and was the recipient of three Norman Mailer Writers Colony residencies; she studied under Daniel Pearlman at the University of Rhode Island and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She serves as co-host of the Dark Discussions podcast, and lives in the Connecticut woods with her housemate, Charles, her husband, Nathan, and two cats. Follow her adventures at kristipetersenschoonover.com. Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself? I like black coffee, white wine, and dirty martinis; I still smoke cigarettes; I prefer large sunglasses and mostly wear dresses; I’m a bag girl not a shoe girl; I love to clean my house while listening to film commentaries. My favorite flavor of ice cream is Butter Crunch. What do you like to do when you're not writing? I consider reading part of writing, so I bird watch in my yard, engage in audio, video, and scrapbook projects, volunteer at a local aquarium, and co-host the Dark Discussions podcast. Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing? The places I visit, urban legends and National Geographic articles. I fall in love with anywhere that’s abandoned, cities and towns, or amusement parks and attractions. A story often starts when I set foot somewhere new and connect it with an urban legend or a tidbit I read in National Geographic. The term horror, especially when applied to fiction, always carries such heavy connotations. What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions? Horror is subjective; what’s scary to one person isn’t necessarily scary to another, and this is because we each have different life experiences. There is plenty of real horror in the world, and the monsters we encounter in movies and books are exaggerated stand-ins for the world’s real ones: grief, loss, death, disease, famine, abandonment, abuse, corruption…it’s a long list. When people think of horror, they don’t think about the work as metaphor. If we were to reframe horror as commentary on the world’s afflictions, we might get there. But this also places a responsibility on the creators of horror to want to make it something deeper as well. A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years? I’ve already seen a strong trend in themes dealing with identity (probably due to the rise in social media) and grief (probably due to our wider exposure to tragedy). I think, as social media and the focus on the self and individualism continues to rise, we’re going to see more psychological thrillers embracing these themes. I also think, as we, through social media, begin to accept vulnerabilities—such as depression and social anxiety—in ourselves and others, we’re going to see more characters reflecting those vulnerabilities. What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author? My work is heavily influenced by Poe, Koji Suzuki, creative memoir, and classic short stories like “Leiningen vs the Ants,” “The Monkey’s Paw,” and “The Yellow Wallpaper.” As far as what started me on all this back when I was a kid, my earliest film influences were back in the 1970s on Saturday afternoon television: Trilogy of Terror, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, The Haunting, The Fall of the House of Usher, The UFO Incident, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Jaws, Grey Lady Down, The Towering Inferno, Telefon, and Raise the Titanic. As far as books, I was always reading about volcanic eruptions, shipwrecks, sharks and the Bermuda Triangle. I read National Geographic cover to cover and 1970s thrillers. I remember I really loved Ghost Boat and Irving Wallace’s The Word. What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice of? There are some fantastic short story writers I’ve recently discovered. Douglas Bruton wrote an incredibly emotional piece called “Thirteen Wedding Dresses” that recently appeared in an issue of The Fiction Desk. He’s won some awards for his work, but he’s over in Scotland and I’m hoping he gets a more international following. Kris Ashton is an Australian writer, and his short work—mostly speculative—is wonderful, too. His short “Highway Memorials” is both sad and thought-provoking. Again, I’d like to see him get more attention over here. How would you describe your writing style? It really depends on what I’m writing, because I look at each story as a captured moment in my life rendered in fiction, so sometimes, they have very different feels depending on what mood I’m in when it was created. I’ve been told many of my stories are sad, and that’s probably because grief is a theme I don’t seem to be done writing about yet. A hefty chunk of my stories features the unreliable narrator, because it’s the most like reality: we are all unreliable narrators in our own lives (that’s also my love of Poe bleeding onto the page). My other hallmarks are vibrant settings, at least one “out-there” or “larger than life” character, drastically varying speech patterns in dialogue, and single effect—rarely is “red” just the color red—everything usually means something else. Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative, that have stayed with you? Yes. A Shock Totem reviewer of my novel, Bad Apple, gushed about how wonderful it was, going so far as to note it was such “a powerful and enlightening tale…completely feminine in the best of ways”…and also noted that I’d been painted into a corner at the end and used a technique that he wasn’t thrilled with. But he was absolutely right about the ending, and I felt it was a fair review. I have never forgotten that, and since then, I’ve been careful to make certain it doesn’t happen again. It was a powerful lesson for which I’m thankful. What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult? I find it takes more time and focus to create the raw material than it does to polish; to me, the exciting part is the revision process. That’s where the art and craft come in. Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? I don’t consider anything taboo—whatever shows up, shows up—but I’ve found I naturally don’t write graphic violence and/or sex. I like a good slasher or something sexually explicit, but I don’t enjoy writing it. How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Names are crucial, but they’re usually finalized at the end of the process. When I’m in the throes of writing, I slap down the first names that come to my head, but in the end, I like to contribute to the single effect, so I’ll choose them based on meaning. Unless, of course, it just feels right. Sometimes the original name turns out to be the best fit. Writing is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? Everyone says to be a good writer, you must read, read, read. That’s true. The other thing that makes one a good writer is training and studying, and having the humility to accept that you’re never an expert. I’ve developed because I’ve read, and I’ve studied, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing that, because it’s the only way to improve. I’ve also found that taking breaks from writing and working on something else creatively—and I’m talking about long breaks, a few months—is refreshing; my work is often tighter when I return to it following a hiatus. What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers? A coffee cup, a candle, a pen and paper, and a playlist. What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing? There are a few that come to mind, but the two I tend to live by: My dad was a teacher, and he always used to say about his job, “if I reach one person, I’ve done my job.” I adapted that to my writing, meaning that if a piece I wrote affected even just one individual, if I made him think or shifted his perspective or inspired him—which many times we writers don’t hear about—then I’ve been successful as an artist. The second is from my mentor the late Daniel Pearlman, who said that “you have to make sure the movie that’s in your mind makes it to the page so that the reader isn’t confused.” Meaning, make sure that everything is clear, because sometimes, we think we’ve put things we intended to into the work but really haven’t—because we, as writers, are living in that world and know things about it the reader doesn’t. Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject? I don’t write for recognition or to make a living, because for me it isn’t about that. Getting it out there so that people read it in the hopes I’ll reach that one person is what it’s about for me. Yes, I have to do my marketing; yes, I have to put myself out there; yes, I have to write blog posts, and I have to be willing to spend money to promote and do what it takes so the stuff gets read. But in the end, if that’s all I’m focused on, I’m really not much more than a car salesman. Most of my time is spent on the craft and the work. You can’t change people’s lives if what you’ve written isn’t powerful enough to affect them. So my advice is, quality first, promotion second, and where the latter’s concerned, just do as much as you can without sacrificing the time you need to make great art. There’s so much noise out there that even if you obsess on it and do everything right, there’s no guarantee you’re going to get the results you expect. The sooner you accept that, the happier you’ll be. To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favorite child, and who is your least favorite to write for and why? My favorite is definitely Todd from This Poisoned Ground, because he’s so complex; getting him to come alive on the page required understanding his inner workings, and how his conflicting emotions and paradoxical personality traits could co-exist. He was a huge challenge, and one I could embrace. Helene, from “Under the Kudzu,” was my least favorite, because she was deliberately written to be a blank slate. She couldn’t be fleshed out, but still had to be rendered so the reader could engage with her. She was a challenge also, just not a fun one. What piece of your own work are you most proud of? My latest short story, “Wrecking Malcolm,” was inspired by a recently-discovered shipwreck graveyard in Rhode Island. I had some personal issues going on at the time, and what I needed to express collided with my fascination with the graveyard and some unresolved issues from my past. What came out was a well-blended supernatural cocktail. Although I’m also enormously proud of the four prize-winning tales I wrote for the Toasted Cheese Dead of Winter Contests: “Wailing Station,” “King of Bull,” “Bridging Christmas,” and “A Bone to Pick.” Twisting a given theme on its ear is one my specialties. And are there any that you would like to forget about? Of course. I’ve been getting work published since I was 13 years old, so there is plenty (although, thank God, there wasn’t the Internet or Amazon for over half my career, so most of it’s gone now). A short (published) story called “All Dolled Up” is pretty clichéd and predictable; the short (published) pieces “Growlers” and “May You Grow Old and Bitter” feel like they just need more work in terms of the endings, and the published “The Lace in the Window,” which I wrote for my wedding, feels contrived. I have a dozen or more that I’m not super proud of, but I don’t beat myself up over them for two reasons: A, this is all a growth process, and as a writer, you should always be improving; and B, honestly? I’ve read much worse by others that’s actually won awards. So it’s very much about the journey, and about understanding that one’s man’s junk is another’s treasure. For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why? “Splendid Chyna”—one of three novellas in a collection called Three on a Match—is a great example of how I take an abandoned amusement park setting and turn it on its ear, and it’s also got one of my signature “out there” characters—everybody seems to love Farah. This Poisoned Ground is where Poe’s influence is extremely strong, and both “A Bone to Pick” and “King of Bull”—which are available online at Toasted Cheese—are my best examples of the unreliable narrator. One of the stories featuring my most vivid settings is “Wailing Station,” also available at Toasted Cheese. Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us? There are so many passages that I love, but it’s not necessarily because of how I wrote them. I often feel that I’m writing something just for me. My favorite new passage is from an unpublished story that hasn’t found a home yet, so I don’t want to reveal it here. But one passage I like to read repeatedly when I feel sad—it comforts me; I feel not so alone, and that things in my life could be far worse—is this one. It’s the opening of the short story “Roots,” which is being reprinted in the upcoming The Shadows Behind: The only place I see my daughter Anna’s face now is on a milk carton. She was just five years old when she wandered out the back door into the woods behind the house and disappeared, but in that moment, less traumatic but still painful, I lost more than the Anna I loved. The other women on Merrow Street—neighbors, friends, confidantes—withdrew; they didn’t understand because they still had their children. Oh, certainly, in those first days they were all aflutter, alighting on my doorstep with their lasagnas, cookies, and wine. Two weeks in, their voluntary visits tapered off, and despite my well-in-advance invitations, they had their excuses: Bethany was in the weeds picking up after the girls; Diane had to take Derek and Tyler to soccer practice; Sabrina had to give Miranda her piano lesson. I knew, of course, that they weren’t really that consumed; they hadn’t been too busy for me when I had my Anna. They regarded me as though I had an infectious condition; as though the loss of a child were viral; as though being near me were to guarantee that one day their children would disappear, too. Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next? The Shadows Behind is a collection of new and reprinted short stories. Each story deals with the monsters that live inside us and has supernatural elements (I’ve often thought of my work more as magic realism than anything else). My next project is a novella called “Tidings.” It has to do with one of my passions—birds—and although it’s typical of my style, it’s also a love story. I don’t want to talk about specifics, because if I do, I’ll let all the energy out of it, and I won’t finish it. If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice? I toe-curl at the “moving into a haunted house” scenario, although the reality is? If you believe in that phenomenon (my husband is an occult researcher), that’s the way it happens in real life. I love ghost stories, and we have seen new ways to tell them over the years, but this scenario just won’t let us go. What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you? I often read in other genres besides horror, and so the last great book I read that I couldn’t put down was Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World by Noah Stricker. It’s a creative memoir about a man who embarks on an international Big Year. Powerfully written, moving, and solid. The last book that disappointed me was A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons. I loved The Terror, so I was excited to read this. It was fine, and I’d even recommend it to people who like ghost stories, but it wasn’t what I’d hoped. What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer? The question I’ve always wished someone would ask was this: Was your family supportive of your writing? If not, what advice would you give to other writers who may feel as though their loved ones don’t support them? My parents constantly discouraged me from spending time on my writing in favor of “something more productive” (mostly whatever their own agenda was that day), or critical when I got something published (“you could’ve thought of a better title” or “why don’t you write something happy?”). In fact, my father stopped paying for me to go to college in my senior year because I refused to move home and finish out locally. But, eventually, I not only finished my BA but also got my MFA—and I paid my own way and went to the schools I wanted to. I’m grateful, because their objections just made me persist. I wouldn’t have gotten this far with my work if they hadn’t been so unsupportive. So, if you’re a writer and you’re constantly undermined by those you love? Don’t let that discourage or stop you. Use it as fuel instead. You might find that your determination to succeed is that much stronger for it. For more information on Kristi please follow these links Links Website, Goodreads Facebook, Twitter LinkedIn, Pinterest Amazon, YouTube The Shadows Behind by Kristi Petersen Schoonover In the shadows, monsters lurk. In this disturbing new collection from award-winning short story author Kristi Petersen Schoonover, a hungry volcano demands more and a talking piranha predicts the future. A plastic Easter bunny taunts a struggling husband, ancient Egyptian jars tempt a former convict, and a man-eating tree mocks a bereft mother. Kudzu devours a sleeping town, and seagull bones whisper long-buried secrets. These monsters are simply stand-ins for those we face every day: shape-shifting grief and overwhelming terror; soul-consuming love and all-possessing fear. We can rail against them or embrace them, but they are always there. Waiting, and unconquerable. "Kristi Petersen Schoonover does it again with this original collection of observant and haunting stories that will leave readers turning pages long into the night as they tell themselves: Just one more story . . . just one more . . ." ~ Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of Zombie Abbey "Deliciously scary." ~ Stacy Horn, author of Damnation Island and Imperfect Harmony "The Shadows Behind explores the uncanny, strange, and underlying darkness behind white picket fences. The stories . . . are curated as perfectly as a rose garden, only one will need to watch out for the thorns.” —John Palisano, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Ghost Heart    Comments are closed.
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