Tell us, if you don’t mind, a little about yourself.
I’m married to a wonderful man who’s also a creative. He’s an oil painter and has shown his work in Columbus, Ohio where we live. You can see his work here: James Kurella’s Art Site. I came to Columbus via the rest of the world — Cairo, Moscow, London, New York, Chicago, etc. But I love Columbus and don’t want to live anywhere else.
Keeping to the horror theme, my parents met at a murder trial when they were both journalists. They’re still alive and well today and very supportive of me and my work, as are my step-parents and my in-laws.
Could you give us some background on how you began writing, and in particular, what drew you to writing horror?
I wrote Star Wars and World of Warcraft fan fiction for 19 years before my husband convinced me to work on my idea for an original novel. I started it while I was still working as a medical social worker, but was declared disabled 2 months into the 1st draft. Now I’m able to write part-time while taking care of myself full-time.
As for short stories, I love writing horror because it really allows me to get my hands dirty in my imagination. Sure, with fantasy stories I can conjure up monsters and things that go bump in the night, but with horror I can really let those guys off the leash. Horror’s liberating.
Can you tell us a bit about your story that appears in Turn to Ash, Vol. 1?
“Hollow-Eyed Boys” started as a 500-word idea from the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop in Fiction, which molded and changed over time. The story uses more of what I know than any other piece of fiction I’ve written. At the hospital, it was my job to ask patients about their living situations, and I had a lot of patients who lived in trailer parks, so I learned a lot about them. For Belle’s narration, I kind of borrowed my long-time friend’s speech patterns. He’s from Southern Ohio, and a great guy.
Do you have any recent and/or upcoming work that you’d like to share?
Nothing current. I’ve been focusing on my novel, which I just got back from my editor, Anna Genoese, and am beginning 4th draft revisions. I recently finished two short stories with fairies in them. They’re fantasy, not horror, but fairies are horrifying enough on their own.
If you’re looking for other published work, I wrote an essay that appeared on Salon.com last fall: Jordan’s Salon Essay
Where, if anywhere, can we find you on the Internet?
I’m the only Jordan Kurella on the Internet, and yes, it’s my real name.
Here’s my website: http://www.jordankurella.com
I’m also on Twitter: @jskurella
Anything else you’d like to share about your work or anything else going on in this universe (or any other)?
I keep my imagination going by not thinking linearly and doing a lot of research. Reality is pretty weird on its own, and history has a lot of secrets, but if you let your mind go play by itself, it can come up with some really scary shit.
Turn to Ash 