Samantha’s story grabs you by the teeth and doesn’t let go right from the very first paragraph!
Meg never looked back as she walked, even though she could hear tendrils reaching for her and small, damp jaws opening and closing. Some things were better left unseen. She might be ignorant—Lord knows there were many things she didn’t know—but she wasn’t stupid.
How Does Your Garden Grow? by Samantha Bryant
Q (Crone Girls Press): Author Interview Question 1: What drove your story for this anthology? Tell us the “story behind the story.”
A (Samantha Bryant): I was teaching a community college short story writing class and brought in a few story-prompt toys for the students. One of these was a set of Dixit cards (a BEAUTIFUL story-telling board game). I always write alongside my students if we’re writing during class time, and I pulled a card depicting a woman sowing seeds and another with Venus flytraps. A lot of story ideas happen that way for me, an unexpected meeting of disparate ideas. Plus, art inspires art.
Q: What does it mean to read and write horror when you’re competing with news headlines (for example, this anthology came about in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V Wade)? How has it changed (or not!) your approach to the genre as a writer or as a fan?
A: I’ve always written about what frightens me, and right now that definitely includes my own government. Imaginary monsters and demons let me work through the emotions and helpless feelings. It helps to have somewhere to channel my outrage and dismay, and if it comes out extra violent? Well, that fits the genre.
Q: There are a number of different flavors of horror. Where does your story fit, and what drew you to this particular category?
A: Categorization is tricky, but a lot of my horror leans towards body horror, and I think this one does, too, even if the worst of what happens isn’t detailed on the page. As a woman who lives more in the brain than the body, I always find it jarring when I’m forced to come to terms with my meat sack and all the weirdnesses of biology. I also have a firm hate-on for damsel in distress themes, so the women in my stories tackle their problems for themselves and succeed or fail on their own. Meg, the main character of How Does Your Garden Grow?, has the same kind of stubborn self-reliance that many of my heroines do. Maybe it will be her undoing, maybe it will save her. But either way, she’s not waiting around for someone else to take action.
Q: Why do you write horror? What about the genre appeals to you as an author?
A: The first stories I can remember loving were fairy tales, and Tanakh (Old Testament); stories related to me by my rather severe German great-grandmother and other women in my life. As I considered monsters of both the human and mythological varieties, my brain just lit up. I felt alert and alive in a different way than I did when I read other kinds of stories. Maybe it’s the shock of it, the breaking of boundaries and taboos. Maybe it’s the sense that I’m getting away with something that “nice girls” don’t do. I don’t worry too much about why. I’m just glad to find something to read and write that sets my imagination alight.
Q: What’s next in your writing journey?
A: I’m working on the fifth and final Menopausal Superheroes novel. It’s hard going: ending a series is a level-up in my writing career and I’m in the self-doubting phase of it right now. So, I’m dangling this lovely Gothic romance out there as the bribe to keep myself moving. After I wind up my heroes, I get to go back to the imaginary corner of England and the ghosts of Rosenshere.
About The Author
Samantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her secret superpower is finding lost things. When she’s not writing or teaching, Samantha enjoys time with her family, watching old movies, baking, reading, and going places. Her favorite gift is tickets (to just about anything). You can find her Menopausal Superhero series from Falstaff Books on Amazon, or request it at your favorite independent (or big box) bookstore. You can find her online on her blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Goodreads, on the Falstaff Books page, or on Instagram.
Be sure to check out their story in A Woman Unbecoming
Crone Girls Press 