Premee Mohamed is a Nebula, World Fantasy, and Aurora award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She has also been a finalist for the Hugo, Ignyte, Locus, British Fantasy, and Crawford awards. Currently, she is the Edmonton Public Library writer-in-residence and an Assistant Editor at the short fiction audio venue Escape Pod. She is the author of the 'Beneath the Rising' series of novels as well as several novellas.
Premee’s story “Quietus” originally appeared in her collection, No One Will Come Back For Us and Other Stories, from Undertow Publications. It combines epistolary format with traditional prose to make its explorations all the more harrowing.
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Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-nommed story, please.
Unhinged military scientists experiment on the brain of a young test subject, trying to make him asleep and awake at the same time—but where does he go when he isn't conscious?
What does your writing routine look like? Do you have an office? A preferred coffee shop? The back of the bus? Standing under your neighbor’s eaves, avoiding the rain? Are you one of those true modern Weirdos who write your entire novel on your phone?
I do 99% of my writing in my spare room, which is my office now! I switch between a notebook (outlining, brainstorming, idea generating, getting unstuck, choreographing fight scenes, doodling maps, whatever) and my clacky mechanical keyboard (drafting). Mostly these days I write when I have time. One thing that I've been surprised helps me a lot is a second monitor, and now I can barely remember how I wrote without it—I keep the draft on one side and the outline or inspiration images on the other side.
What does “Weird” mean to you, in the context of storytelling? And what creators/experiences/influences helped sculpt this definition for you in your creative journey?
I guess I'm thinking of it as an offshoot of surrealism—you know, in fantasy, we expect strange things to happen that are explained by magic or the gods; in sci-fi, we expect strange things to happen that are explained by either weird physics or something that humans have invented. In Weird, what I expect are strange things happening because they're interesting. I like that move away from constant rationalization and justification, and more into a space of connecting closely with readers who are curious, open-minded, and not too legalistic. I think for my Weird specifically, I've been influenced most by writers like China Mieville, Christopher Priest, Gene Wolfe, and Phyllis Gotlieb.
China Mieville was one of the first influences that the Tenebrous Uni-Brain bonded over, so excellent choice there.
On the Tenebrous Discord, we ask folks to introduce themselves as a Film-meets-Music Artist (Citizen Kane x Metallica, f’rinstance). It doesn’t have to be your favorite, and don’t spend too much time overthinking it; now GO.
*panics*
Mirrormask meets Talking Heads!
What’s the Weirdest thing—capital W—that’s ever happened to you (that you’re comfortable sharing)?
Oh, probably getting my first book deal. I thought you had to have this long list of credentials and qualifications but nope, they'll just give them to anyone! SUPER WEIRD.
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BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror, Volume Two, is out June 26th.
