R. Leigh Hennig gathered many of the amazing authors from Mother: Tales of Love and Terror for a council at the roundtable about writing, mothers, and horror. Join us as we pop in for a brief spotlight on how the stories of Mother, and their makers, worked their horrible magic to create this book.
Author Spotlight: Shane Hawk, author of “Ve’otse’e (Warpath Woman)”
Q: What inspired your story?
A: My story was inspired by a conversation I had with my mom about my older brother who actually has an intellectual disability and autism. The subject of prenatal testing was broached, and she said something along the lines of, “If they had that technology when I was 18, I’m not sure whether you’d have a brother.” And the notion nuzzled itself into my brain meat for years: that hypothetical in which a mom could choose to avoid a baby with intellectual or physical disabilities due to the future hardships or their suffering. The story is also rooted in my deep-seated resentment toward all the people who’ve harmed my brother in one way or another, and also my intense love for my mom, who I personally see as a warrior.
Q: Do you ever see yourself revisiting the topic or theme of your story?
A: Oh, yes, without a doubt. I wrote a story a couple of years ago about a fierce mother and a son with disabilities that got lost in a hard drive crash. The theme is near and dear to me. I would like to explore it more to see what else surfaces from my psyche.
Q: Did you know what you wanted to do with this story from the start, or did it surprise you?
A: My story, The Woman Warrior, was always going to be about the moral implications of technology and commentary on eugenics. Modern tech creeps me out, and I wanted technology at the root of the story. The story came about in tons of “shower thoughts” that seemed fun to string together, but like always, once I sat down with Word, the journey that was supposed to take place did, and the destination was set, but the way out of my mind’s maze always has surprise turns.
Q: What was your process for writing this, and did that at all differ from your usual approach?
A: My story for this anthology came to fruition in typical Shane Hawk manner: plenty of “tent pole” ideas came through to me in showers, on walks, and while driving. I didn’t touch a word processor until that anxious feeling of, “Oh, sh*t—That’s due tomorrow!” sunk in. I love to write in my mind, making swiss cheese of my ideas until I make a brick wall.
Q: What would you like readers to take away from your story?
A: To be honest, I understand if there are readers who don’t wish to read my story in light of awful recent events. Abortion is not an easy subject to think about or discuss. I’d maybe like readers to sit back and ponder the implications if we followed the slippery slope road of eugenics again and terminated pregnancies—not for health, socioeconomic, or desire reasons—due to wanting to eradicate certain types of people from our society. In this specific case, it would be an Indigenous baby, which is two-fold in a way, on top of having a high probability for intellectual disability. Moral dilemmas don’t have a correct answer. All we can do is have a healthy discussion and ponder this devastating example of ‘Would you rather?’
Q: If your own mother could read this story, would you send it to her? Why or why not?
A: My mom was one of the first people to whom I sent this story, and her immediate text reply after reading was, “Shaney, that was fan-f**king-tastic!” So, you know, I shed one of those tears you read about in magazines at the doctor’s office. I wanted her to read it to see how she’d react to a moral quandary she created some years back, and to allow her to pretend to be this tangible, badass woman kicking actual a*s for a change.
The Weird Team is comprised of several unhinged individuals that have a love of life and a lust for adventure. They scour the world to find the strangest, scariest, and most wonderful news in the universe.
