apexdigest ([info]apexdigest) wrote,
@ 2008-07-24 13:27:00
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Entry tags:jennifer pelland, unwelcome bodies

Author Q & A

As part of our new online content, we’d like to do a fan-based author Q&A series.

Our first victim will be Jennifer Pelland.  You can ask Jennifer about any of her writing, and not just her Apex work.

To refresh your memory, here is Jennifer’s Apex bibliography:

“Big Sister/Little Sister” - Apex SF & Horror Digest issue 3

“Erasure” - Apex SF & Horror Digest issue 4

“Blood Baby” - Apex SF & Horror Digest issue 8

“What to Expect When Expectorating” - Apex SF & Horror Digest issue 11

“Clone Barbecue” - Apex Online April 2006

“YY” - Aegri Somnia anthology

Unwelcome Bodies collection

You can find her complete bibliography at her website.

Leave your question in the comments of this entry, or email them to jason@apexdigest.com.


(10 comments) - (Post a new comment)


(Anonymous)
2008-07-24 08:18 pm UTC (link)
Jennifer;

A great deal of your stories in Unwelcome Bodies, deal with the extremes of disease or natural disasters, what draws your fascination to these subjects?

In "The Last Stand of the Elephant Man" there is a great deal of emphasis on humanity's attraction to morbid sights, this this a commentary or reflection of your own interests in the horror culture?

Thank you,

Brandon Layng

(Reply to this)

question
[info]nfonseca [blogspot.com]
2008-07-29 08:30 pm UTC (link)
Not trying to over-enphasize Brandon's question, I think Unwelcome bodies was aptly named, and the overall theme does seem to be a certain "uncomfortable-ness" from which they stem and that they generate, but is it central to your writing, a phase, or a one-time thing?

Plus, are you working or thinking of doing a lengthier work?

Thanks,
n.fonseca

(Reply to this)


[info]leatherzebra
2008-07-30 06:21 pm UTC (link)
Jennifer,

1. You've said that "Captive Girl" would be a completely different story if the main characters were male and female instead of both female. (And yes, you are very right.) Do you feel that some topics are easier, or less inflammatory to explore through minority characters?

2. What's been your "highest" moment as a writer so far?

3. When are we going to see a story about a belly dancer? :)

4. There's usually so much in your stories that people often come away saying it's about different things. Has anyone seen something in your stories that surprised you?

(Reply to this)


(Anonymous)
2008-07-31 01:33 pm UTC (link)
What was your inspiration for YY? Was it a challenge maintaining such a hight level of intensity throughout the story?

~Brian

(Reply to this)


[info]geoffrey_girard
2008-07-31 02:58 pm UTC (link)
You're stories, to me, seem much more driven by theme and human emotion/condition than typical spec fic. When imagining a new tale... Which usually comes first for you? The "WHAT IF" and fun of the spec goodies (I know you're kinda twisted), or the challenge of exploring a new theme/emotion? (ie: "The girl in the tub" -- was it simply the physical image of the girl that got the Pelland wheels rolling, or was it the what-is-REALLY-going-on-HERE factor?) Thanks, Jenn!

(Reply to this)


(Anonymous)
2008-07-31 05:35 pm UTC (link)
Jennifer - You do the horror/sci-fi mix so beautifully in your work. What's your background in writing (or life) that you believe gives you this uncommon and wonderful ability to find the perfect balance?

Fabulous collection!

What's next for you?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]franfriel
2008-07-31 05:37 pm UTC (link)
For some reason my last post came up anonymous, but I swear I'm not a stalker...no really.

Hugs from CT,
Fran

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]artemisin
2008-08-04 05:32 pm UTC (link)
Hi Jennifer,
Your are some of the most disturbing stories I've ever read. I commend you for them. I'm particularly amazed by your understanding of illness, both mental and physical. I seldom see that in abled bodied people from Western cultures: we have these lenses through which we see the world, and only the sane, young and beautiful qualify for observation. Still, you write horror, so there's a need to horriblify and dramatize disease and insanity. Have you ever written a story about these themes without turning it into horror? (ie: just dealing with the facts and the way people usually deal with them).

I've noticed that in most of your stories the horror comes from the way people deal with their disabilities--unhealthily. In real life, disabled people cope a lot better. Is horror the cross between catastrophe and a psyche accustomed to living in a perfect world? Are we handicapped in some way, us who confuse "normal" and "standard" with "young, healthy and sane"? Isn't it a lot healthier to realize that real life is seldom "normal"?

Thanks!

(Reply to this)


[info]apexdigest
2008-08-06 02:28 pm UTC (link)
So hey, I will exercise my BigBorg authority and ask a question as well.

What has been your favorite reaction to your fiction?
Are you a fan of David Cronenberg? There's a thematic similarity between your stories and his films.

(Reply to this)


[info]20hrsinamerica
2008-08-07 11:23 am UTC (link)
I'll ask another question (or ten) for this Q&A...

If you had been to write it as a male and female in Captive Girl, how would you have executed it? Would it still have been Captive "Girl"? Or did the idea ever occur about a captive man? Do you find that idea would have been more predictable (man and captive girl)?

How easily does writing come to you? I know you mentioned years as a fanfic writer, but does the actual writing come easily, or is it more challenging? Do you have ideas that crop up, you write half the story and then pass them over, or does every idea develop fully first and become a finished story? Do you find you like stories that are harder to write (take that anyway you want, either as content or style, etc) or the ones that seem to go from mind to paper with ease?

Thanks again, Jennifer!

(Reply to this)

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