A guest on several previous spotlights, I'm pleased to welcome back Selah Janel to talk about her latest writing projects and work for the Horror Addicts channel.
Me: Hello and thank you for returning to this! Since last we spoke, you’ve released your new collection, “Visiting Hours: Reflections from the Shadow Realm.” What can you tell us about it?
Selah Janel: Thank you for having me again! My new collection includes most of my short fiction published from 2011 through the present, excluding a few pieces that have been made into standalone works or that I'll be expanding in the future. This includes everything from flash fiction I originally did as part of the Ladies of Horror Flash Project to longer pieces that were originally published in magazines, anthologies, and online zines. It includes pieces of various lengths and a lot of subgenres, including folk horror, cosmic horror, dark fantasy, vampires, weird fiction, and beyond. There’s something for everyone who enjoys dark fiction, though there are a few lighter moments, as well. There are also a couple of brand new stories in the mix.
Me: Where did the inspiration for the book come from? Were there any unique stories about its conception?
SJ: Initially, I fought the idea of a collection for a while. I wasn’t sure if people were still into short fiction, and I second-guessed whether I had enough to make it worthwhile. My friend and editor for my self-published work, Susan Roddey, talked sense into me. My trajectory has seen some curveballs over the last five years or so, and it became evident that this was something I needed not just to give these pieces new life, but to celebrate where I’ve come from and allow myself to move forward.
I also realized that I’ve put in a lot of work over the years! This gave me the chance to put everything I could in one place, and also revisit each story editing-wise. I’ve worked with some extraordinary editors over the years, but in some cases, I wanted to extend some scenes or tighten other stories up to align with my current style.
The title, ‘Visiting Hours,’ comes from a moody fantasy story of the same name in the book that’s one of my personal favorites. The name fit the vibe I was going for. In a lot of my short fiction, it feels like I’m letting readers have glimpses of broader realms or situations, so in a sense, this book invites you to visit a lot of different worlds and experiences. I've long maintained that the shadowy areas can provide insight, and stories can reflect a lot of feelings and insight back on us. This book is a chance to visit the shadows of my imagination. You’ll make it out, but hopefully some things will stick around in your mind.
Me: While dealing with the new pieces, was there anything while writing out the characters that you were surprised by in telling their stories?
SJ: Absolutely! The story ‘Tricks or Treats’ is one that I’ve had in various forms for a while, but it didn’t quite gel for me until I was revisiting it for the collection. I wanted to touch on the type of Halloween nostalgia I remember and also tap into an urban legend, scary story type feel. One thing that’s important to me, though, is finding a connection to the characters so they aren’t just a trope or stereotype. For the longest time, it was difficult for me to find the right reasoning for Jenna to be the way she is. I didn’t want her to be a stereotypical, snotty teen, and in revisiting the piece, I realized that she was pushing back on the pressures to grow up, the suffocation of a small town, and all the expectations of the adults around her that didn’t make sense to her, changing her mind and emotions. It helped balance out her character and make the story stronger, especially given the ending.
The other new piece, ‘The Fair, Terrible One Slumbers,’ is another story that I’ve had in different forms, but I finally got it where I wanted for this project. It combines two fairy tales, ‘The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ with Lovecraft-style cosmic horror. It’s a unique piece, and I had the opportunity to really lean into the Epistolary narrative and descriptive style from cosmic horror and combine it with familiar fairy tale archetypes into a strange, new world. I love both genres, but I definitely wondered if I was getting too weird for my own good. Every pass brought new discoveries and improvements. It was a lesson in trusting the process, even if it produces something unexpected.
Me: What type of work do you go through to ensure the characters’ personalities and behaviors are unique and different from how you’ve written people in other work? When do you learn to trust your instincts while writing?
SJ: Characters and plots usually develop simultaneously for me, so partly the character type is what’s needed for the idea. That being said, I try to put myself in a character’s position to develop a personality that will be unique to the story and drive the plot forward. I was a theater major, and I’ve been through acting classes that delved into character building and sense memory, so it’s natural for me to use modified versions of those techniques in writing. While a story may call for a certain type of character, I want them to have their own unique personal arcs and inner lives.
I can be a bit of an overthinker, but I also really love character development, so there usually comes a point where I can let things go and give myself over to the story. It’s a bit of a combination of internal (drawing on my own experiences) and external (letting the story take the course it needs to), which leads to trying different things and trusting the characters will make the decisions that work for them and the story. I may have to remind myself that it’s going to work out and I’ll figure out how to make things work, but there are always edits to fine-tune and revamp things if needed.
Me: Once it was finally written, what was the process for having it published?
SJ: In this case, since I self-published the collection, it was a lot of back and forth with my editor/formatter. Susan and I have been friends for a long time and are used to each other’s processes. She’s someone I trust as an editor because she’ll be honest and has a really great eye for detail.
A lot of these stories were reprints, so I was working off what were the final versions when they were originally published. While many of the stories were where they needed to be thanks to the talents of the editors from those various publications, I still reread everything to determine if anything needed to be changed, tightened up, or more context added. It helped to have Susan as an extra set of eyes on things. As an editor, Susan is great about talking out things she’s noticed while taking into account my reasoning in some cases. She also knows that sometimes I treat edits and changes as if a slight rewording could bring about world peace, so it helps that she’s willing to push me along when I need that and talk me down if I’m too in my head.
She’s also someone I trust with formatting and helping me with the process of setting things up. I cannot say enough about her talent as a cover artist, as well. We were friends before either of us was involved in writing and publishing, so she’s had a long time to get to know my thought process, even if some of these stories ended up surprising her. What she came up with for the cover is like taking a tour of the inside of my mind. It fits the feel of the book so well!
In terms of the actual process, it was a lot of back and forth with her with my edits, her edits, figuring out what was going to be included, double-checking everything with the final edits and formatting, and discussing the cover art. We both get busy, so a lot of this was when we could find time around other things, and then we were back and forth on the phone and messages during the upload process. This also happens to be a situation where, because we’ve known each other so long, we’re pretty cut to the chase, detail-oriented, and honest with each other, so when it comes to crunch time, we both are very to the point about what’s possible to get things done while still focusing on quality.
Me: As well, you have an appearance in the collection “Darkness Most Fowl.” What can you tell us about this book?
SJ: “Darkness Most Fowl” is a collection of bird-themed dark fiction across many genres. There’s traditional horror, science fiction, fairy tale, and dark fantasy, among others. It’s truly a collection with range. When I was invited to contribute, I was basically told that the sky was the limit in terms of subgenre, and there were very few limitations on bird choice. We have some extremely talented authors and breathtaking stories in the collection. I’m really flattered to be included.
Me: With the special significance of making the story feature a bird-theme at its heart, what went through developing your story through a dark fantasy lens with themes of trauma and systemic oppression?
SJ: Initially, I had the basic loose idea and the ending I wanted to get to. I took some time to think about what bird I wanted to feature. I had a few initial ideas, but didn’t want to be too close to some existing stories or films out there. I wanted to go for a bird that may not be obvious in a dark story, so I landed on the starling. They can mimic sounds, they can squeeze into small places, and they’re an invasive bird that tends to take over areas where they’ve taken hold.
These were all qualities that helped me form some of the underlying themes. It’s a story with layers, but colonialism is definitely part of the story, and how the city kingdom of Aerie is set up to empower some and oppress and restrict others crept up as I fleshed out the idea. A lot of those threads naturally fell into place the more I dug into the characters and what would motivate them. I didn’t go into this thinking, ‘I’m going to write a story taking on these oppressive social constructs’ or whatever. Those layers almost built themselves as the plot and characters came about, and I knew I couldn’t ignore them. I also have the benefit of having read some incredible authors that are big influences, like T. Kingfisher, Angela Carter, Nancy Collins, and Elizabeth Engstrom. Their work definitely empowered me to dig deeper and do more with my initial ideas.
At its core, my story, “Invasive,” is about a woman forced to confront her past and free her old homeland from a curse to also free herself from her abuser. Avis is somewhat locked down and very conflicted. She takes the actions that she feels are best at the time, for better or worse. Readers aren’t going to agree with all of her decisions, but I hope that at least they can see why she feels that those are the choices she has to make.
I really love the dark fantasy genre, so it was nice to play with a setting that contained magic and curses. This was a story that took a while to write, because while I had the basic idea, the why behind parts of it took longer for me to accept. I’ve sworn for a long time that I was not going to write a trauma-based story. So often in the horror genre, this leans into the gratuitous, and I have strong feelings about that tendency and that kind of thing as a default for a story with a woman lead. In the case of Avis, I really had to listen to that character and let myself walk down the road of what would push her to the point of the story. I gave myself room to think of any other options, but when it came down to it, I realized that her dealing with the abuse in her past was a firm part of her character.
From there, I decided that while some things are referenced and briefly described in a flashback, I wasn’t going to primarily focus on that. Instead, I wanted her story to be how she’s reclaimed power by learning magic, tried to move on, found her voice, and the conflict of potentially coming back under someone else’s power if she doesn’t fulfill her quest. She’s hardened but has also experienced kindness and love by that point. She has a lot to lose: the new family and place she’s found for herself, her freedom, her choices. She’s also faced with returning to a society that was never going to let her make choices for herself. It’s a pretty bleak story with a lot of world-building and some body horror, but it was important to me that it has a kernel of hope at the end. At the end of the day, I finally had to commit to writing it, sit down, turn off my WiFi, get rid of distractions, and push myself through it. It’s a story I’m very proud of. Elaine Pascale, the editor of the collection, was wonderful at hearing my concerns and helping me make sure all the different threads were woven together throughout the story. She was a fantastic sounding board and a big source of encouragement in fine-tuning the piece and making sure it was conveying the ideas and facets that were important to me.
Me: Outside of these pieces, you’ve also worked with the Horror Addicts channel, reading a new piece of yours. How did this originally come about?
SJ: I’ve worked with them off and on over the years. I’ve done blog takeovers for them before, been on the podcast, and had a nonfiction piece in The Horror Addict’s Guide to Life 2. A story in “Visiting Hours” originally appeared on the podcast. In this case, they were looking for authors to curate different topics for their new season, so I’ll be talking a bit about my love of dark fantasy and reading my story, “Bloodied Snow,” (also in “Visiting Hours”), which is a slightly different take on the ending of Snow White. It touches on one of the lesser-known endings of the story and lets me explore what would happen if Snow White weren’t quite as naive as she let on and if the Queen were the only one who realized it at the very last minute.
It was a lot of fun to record, and I think people are going to enjoy it. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to do a reading of any type, so it’s been fun to stretch those muscles again. It should be airing around the end of July on the HorrorAddicts.net podcast, so I invite everyone to tune in! If you love horror, you should be listening anyway. They showcase so much talent!
Me: What type of checks do you do to make sure new releases like this remain at your previous standard of quality?
SJ: In terms of books and stories, it always goes back to the idea and working through how plot and characters work together, as well as making sure there are thorough edits and different sets of eyes on things. In terms of things like reading for podcasts or online events, I’m big on making sure I know what expectations are, what time constraints are, all of that. I believe in communication and collaboration, so there’s usually a bit of back and forth, though I was given a lot of room to play on this one. At that point, it goes back to my theater roots: scoring the text like I would a script, tweaking things for time and readability if I need to, practicing a few runs until I’m comfortable with it, then doing a few recordings so I can choose which version I prefer. Since it’s been a bit since I’ve done something like this, there was some research on the tech side to make things easier on myself, as well.
Me: What else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers?
SJ: Right now, I’m developing and fleshing out a few longer ideas in different horror subgenres. Some of them are going to take some time to research and map out, but I’m really excited about what’s to come. I definitely want to play in the dark fantasy space more, and I have a few ideas that are more grounded in the real world that I’m outlining. There are a few vampire ideas I’m working on and pitching. Eventually, I want to take an older novelette, “Mooner,” which combines supernatural creatures in the era of Western Expansionism, and expand it into a fuller story with a broader world.
As always, readers can catch up with me at www.selahjanel.com
Me: Lastly, being that this is Women in Horror Month, what special message do you have for any women out there looking to join in the industry in any capacity as you are one yourself? Thank you again for your time!
SJ: Thank you again for having me and showcasing so many awesome women in the horror genre!
There’s always going to be a reason to talk yourself into going for it or talking yourself out of it. I’ve worked as a horror author and a costume designer/builder for haunted events, and have found the genre to be one that has a lot of opportunity. There’s always going to be pushback, but we need women’s voices, perspectives, and experiences contributing to the community.
I’ll also include the best advice I’ve ever gotten back before I started getting published. I was at my first horror convention and got into conversation with someone who’s now become a longtime friend. He told me to just keep working. I will admit that it ticked me off because it sounded so simplistic, and I felt very far from anywhere that I wanted to be artistically. It took some time and life experience, and I may have taken the bait to prove him wrong, but he was absolutely right.
His words stayed with me and were one of the big reasons I put serious effort into writing and getting published. When you put the work in, you learn how to develop your craft, whatever that may be. When you put intention into something, you grow, learn, and connect with others, which all lead to things happening. So at the end of the day, if you want to work in the horror genre (or really do anything), you have to make the decision to start and then just keep working.
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