 Writing is such a reflective pursuit, constantly trying to decide ‘what kind of writer’ you want to be: who is your audience, what is your purpose. For me, I focus on the lives of women, young women, girls, old women; women from different walks of life, age and stage. Piper Mejia is an advocate for New Zealand writers and literature and is a co-founder of Young NZ Writers - a non-profit dedicated to providing opportunities for young NZ writers. Her short fiction has appeared in a range of publications including Babyteeth, Conclave, Spec-Fic Short Cuts, Short Cuts Track 1, Te Korero Ahi Ka and Tricksters Treats 3. A collection of her short stories, The Better Sister, will be published by Breach in July 2020. As a child, Piper stayed up late laughing at horror films. As an adult, she spends a lot of time being disappointed by plot holes and yet somehow she has never lost her love for Science Fiction and Horror; two genres that continue to ask the question “What if …” Find out more about Piper here https://authors.org.nz/author/pmejia/ Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing? A major influence on my writing are my students, whose lives are often beyond belief, and yet they get up each day, get dressed and come to school. They are amazingly resilient and when they decide to be honest sometimes you wish they weren’t. 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? To me, at its core, horror reveals the extent people are willing to be cruel to each other, how far they are willing to go, what excuses they use to justify their madness. Good horror is honest, a metaphor for the continuing atrocities committed every day, in every walk of life. Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it? There are a range of reasons for reading horror, sometimes it reminds us of how lucky we are, that we are safe, that our world is kind. Sometimes we read horror to remind ourselves to our humanity. Sometimes we read horror to vent the darkness inside of ourselves, rather than to let the darkness take over us. I read horror for all three of these reasons. In the past authors were able to write about almost anything with a far lesser degree of the fear of backlash, but this has all changed in recent years. These days authors must be more aware of representation an the depiction of things such as race and gender in their works, how aware are you of these things and what steps have you taken to ensure that your writing can’t be viewed as being offensive to a minority group? When you say ‘almost anything’, the default was white and male. Instead of ‘backlash’ perhaps it should be viewed as a cry for representation, of what society actually looks like. At the same time, I am not so sure I agree that we shouldn’t be offensive. Slavery is offensive. Poverty is offensive. Assault is offensive. I think it is important to be challenged as a writer and as a reader, not to fall into lazy stereotypes, to take opportunities to explore abuse of power and how it impacts of a range of groups in society. I like to write feminist horror in which my protagonists are more often women, from a range of cultures (of which I am familiar). Sometimes I am told that my stories are not ‘real’ horror, but to me they are, as being trapped by gender is an all too real experience for women, trapped by our religion, our culture, our traditions, our families, our lack of education and opportunities for economic freedom, even simply the freedom over our own bodies. What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off? Each year I try to challenge myself to read authors I have never read before. One year it was ‘classic horror’, another year it was ‘an author from every country in the world’ – which was impossible, but I gave it a good shot. Currently, I am concentrating on POC, in particular from, NZ, Australia and Pacific Islands. Lee Murray is a favorite and she has a new anthology of Asian writers called Black Cranes. For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why? Writing is such a reflective pursuit, constantly trying to decide ‘what kind of writer’ you want to be: who is your audience, what is your purpose. For me, I focus on the lives of women, young women, girls, old women; women from different walks of life, age and stage. Even in what I read I want to read about women, in the past, in the future, fact and fiction. The way we accept, or don’t accept, our lives is where the horror aspect of my writing comes in, often it is subtle, because I don’t think women act in haste. Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next? My collection of short stories – The Better Sister – published by Breach, is coming out at the end of July, 2020. This collection of stories explores the complexity of the sister-trio relationship in worlds where women struggle for a voice, a place to stand; and peace in themselves. I am currently working on two more collections of short horror, one aimed at secondary students and the other at adults. The first looks at the hidden lives of young women and the second looks at how women become invisible as they grow older.  Breach #11 continues our quest to find the best dark fiction from emerging and established writers. Ably assisted by guest editor Lee Murray (Into the Mist, Hounds of the Underworld), we present five stories and one poem from your new favourite writers. Opener "Brought to You by Abyss Cola" by Chris Moss takes us to the bottom of the Mariana Trench for a corporate-sponsored challenge, while Andrea Teare’s "Seaweed" basks in its painful memories of a childhood accident. Kel E. Fox’s poem "Butterflies and Thunderbirds" provides, as Lee Murray puts it, "a rare moment of whimsy and a message about how things that might appear innocuous or enchanting at first view can sometimes transform and ultimately threaten our safety." Greg Kelly's "The Hikikomori and Death" offers a Harajuku-set update of an old Aesop fable that we feel makes compelling reading. We end with the return of two old friends, Hari Navarro and Piper Mejia, whose stories could not be more different. Navarro's prose poem "The Hotel Excelsior Deluxe" is a dark tale of a tower, a lake, a pine tree and a young couple, written in Navarro's signature evocative style. Mejia's "Keen" may seem familiar to readers of Barry Crump, but our hunters in an NZ backblock have more on their minds than culling deer. A tin shed, a cup of tea and something lurking in the dark bush - a brilliant end to this edition of Breach. "I hope readers will enjoy these stories as much as I have." - Lee Murray   THE HEART AND SOUL OF HORROR REVIEW WEBSITES Comments are closed.
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