then become leaders--either of themselves or others . CRM : How do you get into the mind of such dark characters without losing a part of your soul ?
TANANARIVE : I was fascinated by the idea of what makes someone “ monstrous .” No villain believes they ’ re a villain--our new President , for example , probably has no idea why the country is freaking out over him . So “ dark ” characters act out impulses that we suppress . Otherwise they are probably quite nice--like David dotes on Kira , but he would kill any of us in a heartbeat if he felt he needed to protect himself .
CRM : Excellent point about what truly makes someone “ monstrous ”. What do you wish Black readers understood about horror stories , in general , and your work , specifically ? Why should someone who has never picked up a horror novel give it a try ?
TANANARIVE : I can ’ t imagine not knowing why horror is awesome ( LOL ) --just kidding- -but for me , part of it is morbid fascination ( like the way we slow down at car accidents ) and part of it is pure escapism ( since zombie hordes can also represent soldiers or police , but most of us are lucky enough that we have not had to flee from soldiers ). On some level , as humans , we all know that at some point the sh ** hits the fan and we need to get moving--although that doesn ’ t always mean “ running ” in modern times , but it means “ acting ” in some way . Changing . Moving out of denial . The third component is that I have a hunger to create characters who face unbelievable odds and behave with courage .
CRM : I find speculative fiction a deeply spiritual genre . Do you agree ?
TANNARIVE : Yes , I think so , because we are asking really “ big ” questions about the meaning of life , the meaning of time , the legacy of the past , human possibility , and best or worst case scenarios . The one common factor is a human response--if the characters are human--but even non-human characters reflect back on who WE are ( and are not ).
CRM : The Black community tends to be very wary of speculative fiction in general and horror specifically . How have you dealt with this resistance in your career from both readers and publishers ?
TANANARIVE : That is a great question , and I do suspect that my writing in this genre has hurt some of my hiring chances at institutions not automatically familiar with my work , or who may be dismissive of the idea of “ horror .” I recently taught a UCLA creative writing workshop where students were thrilled to be allowed to write speculative fiction . So there is a lot of work to be done , but institutions are getting more progressive . Slowly .