"Thin Places" and Lovecraft

Stuff has happened, as ever, and I'm slowest to update here, again as ever. Part of that's because I'm three weeks into the Litreactor course and behind on my feedback, after two crazily busy weekends in a row. But the rest is just me being slow, frankly.

First up: my very short horror piece "Thin Places," done for The National Post's Halloween week coverage, is up here (http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/books/thin-places-by-gemma-files). It was partially inspired by having to go to choir camp with my son, but don't worry, none of that ended up happening. The power of pre-visualization in action!;)

Second: I was interviewed about H.P. Lovecraft, the all-female anthology She Walks in Shadows, and how I can reconcile my own dislike of Lovecraft's racism/gender issues far enough to write Lovecraftiana here (http://www.ttbook.org/book/racial-and-gender-problems-hp-lovecrafts-work), on NPR's To The Best of Our Knowledge. Having already been called an idiot for my views at least once since this link went up, I'll preface this by stating that my position on Lovecraft is two-fold: not only can I state without equivocation that he did indeed hold what are now truly unacceptable views while still feeling he has things to contribute to horror culture, but I feel like the impulse to consign him to the dustbin of history constitutes a sort of distancing we really shouldn't allow ourselves, especially if we check off more than one box on the supposed white/cis/male/straight mainstream cultural default.

In Othering Lovecraft, in other words, we're trying to say we're not like like him and never will be--but if there's one thing I believe wholeheartedly, it's that there's nothing more universally human than the impulse to Other other people. Lovecraft's guilt and hypocrisy is thus everybody's guilt and hypocrisy, and we owe it to ourselves not to let ourselves forget that, especially if we consider ourselves fans of horror...because part of an appreciation for horror, maybe the biggest/best part, is the deliberate cultivation of an ability to consider and process our own worst qualities, our most negative traits, with passionate objectivity.

This is a large part of what I was trying to get across in the interview, and if it didn't translate, then that's my fault. But it feels good to say it here, if nothing else.

By the way, "Red Words" is finished, and I'm on to the next one(s). In case you were wondering.