INTERVIEW: Rena Mason

By L. Marie Wood

I had the pleasure of speaking with accomplished dark speculative fiction author and Bram Stoker Award® winner Rena Mason about her experiences in the genre, her influences, and her thoughts on Weird Tales.  Mason’s first novel, The Evolutionist, an unapologetic exploration of suburbia through the darkest of lenses, effectively changed the landscape of horror fiction and introduced her to the world as a force to be reckoned with. Her story “To the Marrow” will be featured in Weird Tales #364 in October, available in print, eBook, and audio. 

Here’s what she had to say about her story creation process, diversity in the genre, what she is doing these days, and more.

L. MARIE WOOD:  Were you a fan of Weird Tales magazine in your youth? If so, is there a specific author who stood out?

RENA MASON:  I remember skip-reading an issue of Weird Tales when I was in my early teens but couldn’t relate to the stories or characters that I found very male-intensive, like Conan the Barbarian, so a lot of it went over my head. I enjoyed the works more as I got older because I think of them as appropriate for their time and they feel nostalgic, adventuresome, and fun. Of course reading them as an adult, I realized there was more there than the pulp, so it’s like I’d stumbled onto a trove of fiction I’d missed out on. I’d have to say Robert Bloch’s stories stay with me the most.

Weird Tales has an interesting history. While it is heralded for its contribution to speculative fiction, one of their mainstay contributors was controversial author H.P. Lovecraft. As an author of Thai-Chinese descent, what are your thoughts about the reboot of the magazine and its effort toward the inclusion of diverse voices?

RENA:  I think any medium that puts an effort toward including diverse voices is fantastic. I appreciate what H.P. Lovecraft brought to the genre, but the people and worlds I want to read stories about take place across this Earth and beyond, which includes all races and then some, such as imagined peoples and places we authors create, like extraterrestrials, from single-celled lifeforms to human-like beings from different dimensions, universes, or times. Or they’re similar stories but told from the perspective of someone who is diverse, making them completely different and new. To me, stories written by diverse authors are like glimpses into a cultural variety of fears through literature, linking the reader and author in that shared fear.  It is this basic and fundamental commonality that connects us no matter who we are or where we come from. Perhaps if I could’ve related to a character or two in the stories of the Weird Tales issue I’d read when I was younger, I’d have kept reading the magazine. It’s so important for people, especially younger people, to be able to see themselves in characters that they read. They need to see themselves reflected in a positive light and as main characters, not always the villains, the expendables, or the antagonists.

MARIE:  Who do you credit as influencers to your writing and why? 

RENA:  Wow, there are so many. Scary stories have always been my favorites, but I didn’t start reading the genre seriously until I was around twelve, my first book being We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I’d ordered it through Scholastic because I couldn’t get into all the horse story books the other girls my age were reading, and because the cover reminded me of myself, a young girl looking through a hole in a fence with long dark hair. But as I read it, I could absolutely relate to the characters. I grew up with two other sisters and we were latchkey kids who weren’t allowed to leave the yard until my mom came home from work late in the evenings. My childhood life was full of girls and women, and we were always taught to be suspicious of strangers, so the book took my imagination to dark places, which at the time, was very liberating. Then I started reading Poe and fell in love with all things Gothic, including classic works from the Brontë sisters, Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and many others from the nineteenth century. I still consider Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black one of the scariest stories I’ve ever read. From there, I moved onto Stephen King, and then my love for horror really took off after reading The Books of Blood by Clive Barker. I mostly read a lot of history and science in my youth and teens. Discover magazine was one of them (I still have an online subscription to this day) and OMNI was the other. I used to buy OMNI for the non-fiction but hated wasting the rest of the magazine, so started reading the fiction. I credit OMNI and Ellen Datlow for all the great science fiction I read in my early teens, which also sparked my imagination and love for reading. Everything I listed above, and probably more, influenced my writing because I enjoyed reading it. From the Gothic to the non-fiction to the science fiction and horror, which is why much of my work is described as speculative fiction.

MARIE:  You get an idea… you sit down to capture your thoughts… and then what? Are you an outliner or a pantser? Why? 

RENA:  Honestly, I’m a little bit of both. I get an idea, and then I think of the beginning, the middle, and the end. If the idea has all these components and is something I think would be a “good” story with a point, I’ll then think it all the way through before typing a single word. Sometimes this takes a few days or even months, often depending on the deadline. There’s nothing I hate more than wasting time. Whether I’m writing a novel or something shorter, I always jot down notes. I wouldn’t consider them outlines, legitimate outlines, as sometimes I’ll write them down with just a chapter number, and a brief description. For example: Chapter 23 – Boy dies.

There’s a lot to fill in with those two words, but it’s already been in my head for a while because I’ve thought it through. “Boy dies” is my trigger to get that part of the story out of my mind. I also let stories evolve on their own as I’m writing, which I’ve found allows for a lot of interesting subplots to develop. For some reason I always feel like my story is going to be too short, but then I end up making the word count or going over, and I think my way of “outlining,” and the notes I take, and thinking the story through from beginning to end before starting, really help with making the word requirements. Even with everything I’ve mentioned, there have been a couple of times where I haven’t been able to make a story come together. But with more time and thinking, I’ll be able to finish those. I think there are three. 

MARIE:  Short and long fiction are two different animals.  Both require distinct skillsets beyond simple storytelling to produce a well-rounded piece.  Which do you find most satisfying?  Which is harder to finish and why?

RENA:  I find writing novels the most satisfying because they encompass all my thoughts and ideas into one story, or a two to three novel series. Novels are also definitely harder for me to finish because of the revision process. I’ve been working on the revisions for my next novel for the last seven years, but in my defense, I was overextending myself with volunteer work and taking on too many commitments. Short stories also take a lot of my time, thinking them through, and are sometimes harder for me to pin down as far as what I want to express than a novel. Novelettes are a sweet spot for short fiction in my opinion. Novellas, for me, tend to wander into the novel arena, so if I tell myself I’m writing a novelette, it gives my short story idea a little more room. I have to trick my brain with word counts and deadlines.

MARIE:  You admit to writing a kind of dark speculative fiction that mashes genres and I imagine that you enjoy the fluidity that allows, however, if you had to label yourself, which subgenre would you choose to describe your writing? Why?

RENA:  I’m truly all over the place with genres and subgenres, but one thing I’m noticing more and more, and have been told often, is that a lot of my work is romantic. I was in complete denial of it for a long while, but I’m finally starting to “see” it in my work and understand its importance and what those elements bring to my stories. Another element I incorporate into my fiction is the term suburban. I know my mind dives into these subgenres because I’m familiar with them. Most of us know and have experienced romance and love and living at home. So if I’m able to take the familiar and turn it upside down, I feel I’ve got a story to tell. I’m typically known for being a horror and dark speculative fiction author because no matter what genre or subgenre I write, it’s going to be dark and have strong horror elements to it. 

MARIE:  Incorporating reality into your writing makes for a texture that purely fantastical tales do not possess. What do you find that you incorporate most into your stories – personalities, locales, scenarios, etc.? Why?

RENA:  I’d like to say all of that, because together as a whole, that’s what makes a great story in my opinion. I’ll admit, though, that I typically start with and focus on the scenario in most cases, and then think of the people involved in that scenario, what kind of personalities they would have in order for them to learn and grow from the experiences I will put them through, and then lastly, I consider where the scenario would best be played out. I also like to incorporate some real history, facts, or science into a story, which I feel grounds my fiction and makes it more real, or at least possible.

MARIE:  Fiction has always been challenged by an author’s ability to create imagery to sustain response and horror fiction ups the ante. How do you create visuals that linger in your readers’ minds long after they have put your book down? 

RENA:  I was an oncology, home health, and operating room nurse for many years, so when I’m writing graphic scenes in a story, I’ll put everything I remembered based on my real experiences into those, using all the senses, like smell and even taste, when I can. The same goes for many fears, too. I’ve been scuba diving for over thirty years and know what it is to feel claustrophobic, agoraphobic, nyctophobic, and thalassophobic, just to name a few, so I do my best to incorporate every detail of those memories into my work. I’ve traveled a lot, and have experienced many things, some considered extreme sports, and sometimes when I’m writing I close my eyes and re-live the memory. The feelings usually come back with reliving the experience. For me, it’s a matter of finding the right words most of the time, which is why I take a while with revising. When authors can relay personal experiences to readers, whether they’re physical or emotional, it’s a wonderful connect.

MARIE:  You won the coveted Bram Stoker Award® for your debut novel, The Evolutionist. Tell me about the book and the experience. 

RENA:  Writing The Evolutionist was cathartic in that I’d moved from Las Vegas, Nevada to Olympia, Washington and had a lot to unload about the decade I’d lived in the desert of Sin City. The story’s about a suburban housewife who never really “fit in” among the other school and soccer moms. I never describe the main character’s appearance other than she has brown hair, but her “friends” are mostly blonde and plastic perfect. Strange things start happening to the MC, interfering with her daily routines, her family, and her friendships. She suffers from horrific nightmares that have nothing to do with her reality of life in the suburbs, and this scares her the most. She sees a psychiatrist but then her life unravels even faster until she comes to understand that she was never who she thought she was to begin with, and all the changes taking place in her life are out of her control. One of my author/educator friends, Bryan Thao Worra, told me that he’d used the book in a class as an example to teach Asian students how to write character metaphors. That was the highlight of writing The Evolutionist for me, but yeah, winning the Bram Stoker Award® for it in the First Novel category was pretty awesome, too. 

MARIE:  You are a member of several professional writing organizations, including  Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. Likewise, you are active in industry conventions, speaking on panels that cover a wide range of topics under the speculative fiction umbrella. How do these interactions with writers and fans alike feed you emotionally and creatively? 

RENA:  Once I started attending conventions and retreats, I couldn’t stop. The energy I get from meeting authors, making new acquaintances, and chatting with friends and fans about everything under the sun—what I’m reading, what I’m working on, my life in general—is priceless. It’s both an intake and a release of “fresh air” and since the pandemic, I’ve never felt so alone in my creativity. The cancellations and postponements of this year’s conventions have been crippling in ways I can hardly express. It took me about a month to be able to write again. (Three looming deadlines also helped get me back into the writer’s chair.) But then I wrote three short stories I’m very happy with, and I started reading again as well. I’m going to get back to my novel revisions soon too. But I really and truly miss my friends and the friends I have yet to make. The hugs, the late-night discussions, cocktails, and laughter. Yeah, it’s been a sad 2020, especially because I’m a recluse and rarely leave the house other than to attend writer events. I try to attend new events every year, and last year I attended Bouchercon and MultiverseCon, and will most definitely be returning to both of those once traveling restrictions and the possibility of infection have diminished. Self-doubt is one of those terrible things that comes with the writing territory, so sitting at home and working and thinking gives me too much time for that beast to rear its head. It’s at the conventions and retreats where camaraderie and talking with fans reminds me why I write and makes it feel worthwhile. 

MARIE:  What are you working on now?

RENA:  I’ve taken a hiatus from writing short stories so that I can finish the revisions on my next novel, which I’ll be querying to agents. Then I’m going to work on a couple screenplays before I get back to work on the revisions to the follow-up to my next novel release. Then I have another novel to write, and another one after that. I may also be tossing my hat into the ring as a co-editor. I try not to think too far ahead, but the ideas just keep coming.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

L. Marie Wood is an award-winning author and screenwriter.  She is the recipient of the Golden Stake Award for her novel The Promise Keeper, as well as the Harold L. Brown Award for her screenplay Home Party.  Her short story, "The Ever After" is part of the Bram Stoker Award® Finalist anthology Sycorax's Daughters. Wood is the Director of Curricula for the Diverse Writers and Artist of Speculative Fiction (DWASF) and the Director of Programming for the horror track at MultiverseCon. Wood’s novel, The Realm, a modern horror/sci-fi mash-up, will be released in September 2020 by Cedar Grove Publishing. – www.lmariewood.com Twitter: @LMariewood1