Women in Horror Month #8: Carmilla Voiez

Another quality post brought to you by Steve!

Hi, everybody!  For those of you who don't know, February is Women in Horror Month.  If you haven't been following along, I've been doing an interview series over on my personal blog.  But I thought today's guest was so exciting, that I had to introduce her to all of you fine people as well.  So let's get to it!

About Carmilla Voiez:

Carmilla Voiez is a proudly bisexual and mildly autistic introvert who finds writing much easier than verbal communication. A life long Goth, living with two kids, two cats and a poet by the sea.
She is passionate about horror, the alt scene, intersectional feminism, art, nature and animals. When not writing, she gets paid to hang out in a stately home and entertain tourists.
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​Carmilla grew up on a varied diet of horror. Her earliest influences as a teenage reader were Graham Masterton, Brian Lumley, and Clive Barker mixed with the romance of Hammer Horror and the visceral violence of the first wave of video nasties. Fascinated by the Goth aesthetic and enchanted by threnodies of eighties Goth and post-punk music she evolved into the creature of darkness we find today.
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Her books are both extraordinarily personal and universally challenging. As Jef Withonef of Houston Press once said - "You do not read her books, you survive them."

Interview:

SK:  How are you involved in the world of horror?

CV:  I write horror stories, usually with a dark fantasy slant. I have a series of novels and a collection of short stories already published, plus two graphic novels. I've also had short stories included in anthologies ranging from ZOMBIE PUNKS FUCK OFF (Weirdpunk Books) to ELEMENTS OF HORROR: WATER (Red Cape Publishing.) 

SK: Who or what terrifies you?

CV:  Fire. I suspect because it seduces and kills. When I was young, my uncle had an accident with a barbecue and a lot of paraffin, and the results were terrifying to behold. 

SK: Are there unique challenges to being a woman in horror or do you feel like gender is irrelevant?

CV:  I think women have unique stories to tell based on the experience of growing up female, just as people of colour have their own stories due to racism or cultural influences. Throughout literature men's voices have been historically prominent. That's certainly not exclusive to horror, but I feel the balance is shifting and that previous silenced voices are being heard, and that change is particularly exciting in horror. 

SK:  Who are your favorite female horror icons?

CV:  Barbie Wilde, The Soska Twins, Toni Morrison, Vampira and goddesses like Lilith and Kali.

SK:  What are you working on/promoting currently? Why should folks check it out?

CV:  I'm working on the final book of the STARBLOOD series, so I'm promoting the novels to anyone who hasn't started reading them yet. It's female driven, with bisexual main characters who are Gothic and messed up, strong and highly intelligent, yet fragile, complicated and frequently stupid. It's an adult read for mature audiences. Mixed in with plenty of visceral violence and psychological conflict, it deals with sex and sexuality, love, obsession and the idealisation of the objects of our desires. It's a massive story with a wide range of characters, and the first book won a few awards when it came out.

About RIBBONS:

The rum bar seems a cosy setting to wait out the apocalypse. When the rain stops falling those who are still breathing are forced to reevaluate their lives. Edensun, The Bringer of Chaos, and Freya’s paths are destined to cross, but when they come face to face who will be the hero and who the villain? The Morrigu gather; they are told their fate is to save the world from Chaos, but they worship a goddess of war whose intentions are dubious. Only the witch in the tower block seems to know the truth and she is unwilling to share.

RIBBONS is the fourth book in the STARBLOOD series and an LGBT love story full of horror and dark fantasy