tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83793959582211352562024-03-10T12:13:30.159-07:00Music at MidnightOr: The courage to find inspiration in dark places.Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-45463359124088973982018-02-16T21:26:00.001-08:002018-02-16T21:26:33.961-08:00Publication Day!Finally some new stuff. My first collection from Trepidatio Publishing/JournalStone, Spectral Evidence, is out today. Here's the ordering link (http://journalstone.com/slider/spectral-evidence/), and here's the gorgeous cover:
Would you believe that was crowd-sourced? Well, it was! Daaaamn, there are some clever people out there.;)
At any rate: With new books come new interviews and Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-63637665916763947492017-10-31T19:46:00.004-07:002017-11-01T06:08:33.893-07:00Patreon Post: Fun Horror
FUN HORROR
By Gemma Files, for Patreon
My Facebook friend
Daniel Braum calls fun horror "the smallest category in [his]
genre food pyramid," but to me, that's the category from which
all Halloween playlists should be programmed. Because Halloween is
mostly about a celebration of horror culture, it should embrace the
grotesque and spectacular—the monster movies/mashes, classic and
otherwise,Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-90295532368159838982017-10-18T22:09:00.003-07:002017-10-18T22:53:42.256-07:00Patreon Post: Self-Made Awful ObjectsSELF-MADE AWFUL OBJECTS: BLOOD CREEK VS. APT PUPILBy Gemma Files, for PatreonEvery once in a while—most 'specially when you're a former film critic with a library full of DVDs and BluRays to program from, I guess—a thematic mash-up double feature suggests itself that's odd enough on the face of it, you really just have to make it so. So by “you” I obviously mean me, for which I apologize. The Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-25224967669234687342017-10-03T13:22:00.001-07:002017-10-31T20:27:43.653-07:00Patreon Post: Cats, Masks, AristocratsCLASSIC JAPANESE FOLK HORROR MOVIES: CATS, MASKS, ARISTOCRATS
By Gemma Files, for Patreon
One of the things I absolutely love about watching horror from around the world is the same thing I love about watching foreign movies in general—this sense of immersing myself in a different culture, one whose historical references and mythological cues I sometimes don't understand and can have a great Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-91840638686734235812017-09-12T07:27:00.005-07:002017-09-12T07:27:40.505-07:00Anne M. Pilsworth and Ruthanna Emrys Take On "Hairwork"...at Tor.com's Lovecraft Reread, "in which two modern Mythos writers get girl cooties all over old Howard’s sandbox, from those who inspired him to those who were inspired in turn." The link is here: https://www.tor.com/2017/09/06/medusas-side-of-the-story-gemma-filess-hairwork/Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-48651227811817819402017-09-04T21:02:00.002-07:002017-09-04T21:02:44.389-07:00Three Hours of Me, Myself and IThe guys at This Is Horror UK let me waffle on for so long, it took three damn episodes to get through it. Here's the result:
Part One: http://www.thisishorror.co.uk/tih-163-gemma-files-on-experimental-film-autism-and-story-lessons/
Part Two: http://www.thisishorror.co.uk/tih-164-gemma-files-on-films-and-fiction-planning-stories-and-memory-work/
Part Three: http://Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-21596500464239748342017-04-21T07:28:00.001-07:002017-04-21T07:28:23.879-07:00Experimental Film: Now GlobalI'm incredibly excited to announce my very first translated edition: Experimental Film, from Biblioteca de Carfax, with a stunning new cover. The info is here:
Esta maravilla de @gemmafiles llega en junio.La ilustración, una preciosidad de Rafa Martín#escritorasdeterror #cine #diosasmalasmalísimas pic.twitter.com/Pcl8iuXDAW
— Biblioteca de Carfax (@bibliocarfax) April 21, 2017
Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-54070527547381347772017-02-21T05:32:00.002-08:002017-02-21T05:32:25.412-08:00Multi-MediaHere I am talking to the charming and voluble Kris Abel at What She Said eBook Cafe, on SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/whatshesaidtalk/author-gemma-files-talks-experimental-film-what-she-said-ebook-cafe). The topics range from Experimental Film (natch) to Matthew Bright's Freeway and John Connolly's Charlie Parker mystery series. Abel's a fun guy, and asked some interesting questions.
Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-77696392125466143622017-02-12T13:05:00.002-08:002017-02-12T13:05:13.514-08:00Am I, Am I NotSo this is very interesting (http://www.ada-hoffmann.com/2017/02/11/autistic-book-party-episode-29-experimental-film/), particularly because it's the first review I've ever seen of Experimental Film that acknowledges that Lois Cairns herself might be on the Autism spectrum. And since I modelled Lois so directly on myself, it basically boils down to me feeling like I've been "recognized" by a Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-43277508764285755262017-01-20T06:48:00.000-08:002017-01-20T06:48:56.556-08:00New Year, New PostFirst post of 2017! I was going to keep off the Internet today for fear of sending clicks that guy (I think we all know the guy I mean)'s way, but just wanted to link to Bob Pastorella's kind profile of me/review of Experimental Film, here: http://www.thisishorror.co.uk/exploring-the-cold-desolate-cosmos-gemma-files/ A very nice way to start the day indeed.Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-25745030793102729992016-11-22T14:44:00.003-08:002016-11-22T14:44:38.796-08:00Murray Leeder at Luma Quarterly asks me some interesting questions here (http://lumaquarterly.com/issues/volume-two/006-fall/interview-with-gemma-files/). I also found this while surfing around randomly on YouTube, which is so weird, seriously.;) Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-1430557501225159832016-11-17T03:59:00.000-08:002016-11-17T04:02:07.826-08:00Two more podcast links: The Writer and the Critic dissect Experimental Film here (http://writerandcritic.podbean.com/e/episode-56-experimental-film-aickmans-heirs/), while I talk with the Unreliable Narrators here (http://unreliablenarrators.net/2016/10/26/45-0-author-spotlight-gemma-files/). As ever, the interview was a lot of fun, though we had a bit of technical difficulty here and there. I Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-25722102544802810082016-11-01T11:55:00.002-07:002016-11-01T11:55:37.668-07:00Me with Alex Dolan on Blog Tour Radio's Thrillseekers PodcastGemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-73191530614959987222016-09-15T05:46:00.005-07:002016-09-15T05:46:54.791-07:00Sunburst AwardSo...Experimental Film won the 2016 Sunburst Award for Best Adult Novel. Link here: http://www.cbc.ca/books/2016/09/gemma-files-wins-2016-sunburst-awardl.html
This has basically been a really, really good year.Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-3804411987689066022016-09-04T09:30:00.000-07:002016-09-04T09:38:07.605-07:00StoryBundle Tie-In Interview: Kenneth Mark Hoover
Kenneth Mark Hoover is the author of Haxan, another book available in the same Weird Western StoryBundle as my own A Book of Tongues. Last night he published an interview with me, here (http://kennethmarkhoover.me/2016/09/04/guest-interview-weird-west-writer-gemma-files/), so I'm returning the favour. Mark's a gentleman and a brilliant writer, someone whose investment in the genre is both deep Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-18286045234115779972016-08-17T10:38:00.000-07:002016-08-17T10:38:12.492-07:00Weird Western StoryBundleHere's the skinny:
THE WEIRD WESTERN BUNDLE
The Weird Western Bundle - Curated by Blair MacGregor
Welcome to our Weird Western Bundle, where wide frontiers, flintlocks, whiskey and revenge meet swords, airships, terraforming, magic, myths, and dragons. You'll find stories here set in the snows of old Alaska and the heat of contemporary Arizona, post-Civil War San Francisco and Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-85805520565933378832016-08-11T23:52:00.004-07:002016-08-11T23:52:59.359-07:00Ploughshares Article on Experimental FilmThis summer is digesting my brain, bur if I haven't linked to this article about Experimental Film in Ploughshares (http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/every-movie-is-a-ghost-story-on-writing-about-film/) before, I really should've. It's quite brilliant.Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-92021976340537408732016-07-18T08:58:00.003-07:002016-07-18T08:58:46.315-07:00Locus Review Now UpI added a direct link to John Langan's flattering Locus review of Experimental Film, which they've now put up on the Web, possibly because of me winning the SJA. You'll find it in the side column, or here: http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2016/07/john-langan-reviews-gemma-files/Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-32521554400170114762016-07-12T07:15:00.004-07:002016-07-12T07:15:59.947-07:00LitreactorBy the way, this is also the third year in a row that I've been asked to teach my course about writing what you fear--still cunningly entitled Write What You Fear--at Litreactor. It starts October 18, 2016, so if you've got the money and you're interested in getting feedback from me, please do sign up. The deets are here (https://litreactor.com/classes/write-what-you-fear).Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-91628781085652235362016-07-12T06:51:00.000-07:002016-07-12T06:51:32.611-07:00My Cup of StarsSo: as you may or may not have heard, Experimental Film won the 2015 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel. I also came home from Readercon to discover I'd made the Sunburst Award shortlist, in the Adult Fiction category. It's been a pretty good weekend, all told.;)
This is the text of my acceptance speech, which I scribbled down about five minutes into the ceremony:
"Somebody asked me last Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-37688226371874876512016-07-06T14:26:00.002-07:002016-07-06T14:32:23.863-07:00Readercon!...is where I'll be, as of tomorrow afternoon. My schedule, for those who might be attending:Thursday July 078:00 PM C The Works of Clark Ashton Smith. Michael Cisco, Gemma Files, Lila Garrott, Tim Powers, Darrell Schweitzer. It has been over a century since Clark Ashton Smith's first publications, when his first book of poetry appeared in 1912. He was something of a prodigy in those days, Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-83693639548707667262016-06-17T10:18:00.004-07:002016-06-17T10:18:37.286-07:00New Review of Experimental Film!
John Langan reviews Experimental
Film, very favourably, in this month's Locus Magazine:
There's a cache of lost films at the
centre of Experimental Film, the fine, compelling novel by
Gemma Files. The movies were made in the early years of the 20th
century by a woman who herself went missing during what should have
been a routine train journey to Toronto. Shot on highly unstable
silver Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-19338238221470489062016-06-16T08:43:00.003-07:002016-06-16T11:26:43.718-07:00Patreon Post #2: GHOST STORY and the Uncanny
I've been re-reading Peter Straub's Ghost Story and making notes about what I like to call the Haunted Mechanical Dollhouse method of horror: invent a small town full of characters with secrets like you're cobbling together some sort of spook-ride Rube Goldberg machine, lay in orbiting outliers (both threats and and potential protagonists), then make them converge to start the whole thing Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-56012870498766911042016-06-09T07:54:00.002-07:002016-06-09T08:38:04.101-07:00THE INDEFENSIBLES, INSTALMENT #1: The Collection (2012, dir. Marcus Dunstan)
Ever since I finally signed up for
Netflix, my attitude towards movies I don't necessarily expect to
like has changed sharply; instead of waiting for them to present
themselves in a form I can financially rationalize (second-hand, on
sale, late-night TV), I can just search for them or stumble on them
randomly, load them, press a button and hey presto: instant
gratification. If I don't connect Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379395958221135256.post-20275059294803587982016-06-07T12:02:00.003-07:002016-08-14T10:43:24.594-07:00Patreon Post #1: Clive BarkerRemoved due to its impending appearance in Thinking Horror #2: The Horror Boom.Gemma Fileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07480180851740150282noreply@blogger.com0