Jack and the Women of Horror

It's nearly 3 am in Portugal and here I am, wide awake and raring to go. Alright, I lied, I'm bleary eyed, on the verge of a full-on snore-fest, and I just want to sleep. It was a busy day for me and it involved things like translating words I didn't understand into something I did understand and handing over a large amount of money for something I desperately need for future identity proving endeavors. Keep your fingers crossed on that one.

So who is Jack and what's this about the Women of Horror or #womenofhorror as the hashtag goes. Well, a few years ago I read a book called I Zombie I. I quite enjoyed it and for the first time in my life sought out the author of said book on, well, FaceBook. Because I'm a sad git like that. To my shock he was really there, he was really using his page, and he was, gasp (!!) really interacting with people. He's since done a slew of other books, including turning the I Zombie into a series, and other books such as Suicide Station and Gothica.

Jack, though he may not realize it, is shedding some light on the darkness I call "self-published author limbo." Whether he realizes it or not, I see how I fail when I look in his direction, mainly because I like to sleep, am too prone to follow the Portuguese edict of "amanha", which means tomorrow, and basically have no clue. Jack is a whirlwind of activity and he makes my head spin watching all of the projects he produces. I just don't have that much energy anymore!

I am still getting over what turned into pneumonia, though, I quietly tell myself. You aren't failing, just recovering. So yeah, there's that.

Anyway...the women of horror is a feature Jack has going on his blog. Apparently somebody told Jack women can't write horror. Obviously ladies such as Anne Rice, Mary Shelly (though hers might be a bit bony) and Carrie Ryan would give whoever that was a big ole middle finger. Or maybe not, they might be too ladylike for such vulgarities. I'm not sure but maybe.

I've never run into that kind of thought, I've never been told that I can't write something because I'm a woman. Sure, I can't write technical manuals on the Linux operating system but that's because I'm not trained in it. My only experience with the OS comes when I have to go on my fiancée's decrepit laptop for some reason or another. I poke at it, my finger barely touching the keys, afraid to break this odd thing that makes his laptop work despite it having a dead hard drive. His computer is a zombie folks! It really is.

So, yeah, distracted there. Sorry. The first lady featured is Leigh M. Lane. I read her guest blog post and it drew me in, her mastery of language is inspiring, it's beautiful, it's musical. I don't write like that, obviously, but it's poetry really, the beauty of how she writes. It really is. I'd give it a read, and suggest checking out her work. It looks promising! :)

I'm off to bed now but I'll leave you with this thought. If we're only meant to write what we know, what we've experienced, why is it said that women can't write horror? After all, we, as females, have experienced some truly horrifying events in our lives, throughout our own timelines and throughout history. What idiot came up with the theory that women can't writer horror? Don't they know what we've survived?

PS: A link to Leigh's guest post would be helpful...

http://monkeypantz.net/women-horror-leigh-m-lane/