I lost my cool in this interview with Zola Books, particularly talking about how we depict violence and serial killers and a friend’s murder that still makes me upset.
But I also say nice things about indie bookstores (my local, The Book Lounge, in particular) and narrative view points and mapping out murder across multiple time-lines.
They were good questions and Kelly caught me on a fairly articulate day. It’s worth reading in full, if you’ll forgive me saying so.
Kelly Galluci interview at Zola Books
SNIP:
In an io9 interview, you share that part of the inspiration behind the book was your reaction to the horrific death of a friend and the lack of justice she received. In your blog, when you tell her story, you end by saying you need to find a way to let go. Has writing Kirby’s story helped in any way?
No. Thomokazi is still dead. Her boyfriend who poured boiling water over her and stabbed her and locked her in his shack and walked away, so that it took four months for her to die from her injuries, is still out there, probably with a new young girlfriend. And he probably beats her up too and yanks her hair out of her scalp. And there are thousands like him. Millions. Men whose first language is violence.
I wish fiction could fix the world. Maybe it can make us see it in new ways, maybe it means a journalist reporting a murder will talk a little more about the person we’ve lost and a little less about what was done to her, but it doesn’t change the tedious monotony of women being killed every day, not by serial killers, but by the people who supposedly love them.
So, yeah, still angry. Still not able to let this shit go. And we shouldn’t stand for it. We can’t.