Graveyard Shift Sisters

By Eden Royce (@EdenRoyce)

I’m so happy to be back with Graveyard Shift Sisters this year doing interviews with women horror writers of color. This year, I want to expand this feature to include women of color who are directors, filmmakers, even editors. That brings me to my interview with Tonya Liburd, author, editor, and supporter of People of Color in dark fiction. I’ve had the privilege to chat with Tonya about on a number of writing and publishing topics and we’ve shared in process versions of our stories with each other.
When I asked her, Tonya readily agreed to an interview and I’m pleased to have her as my first Graveyard Shift Sisters interview of 2016.

I'm a product of my generation in a sense that as a casual cinephile, I would watch all the mid to late 1990's teen targeted films and see the beauty in each. Especially the genre products. But I caught 2001's vampire tale The Forsaken just last year during an archive film binge marathon of sub-sub genres, so while I hopelessly defend unrewarded cinema, The Forsaken lies somewhere between awful and underground cult creation with a re-watch percentage. Here's the lowdown:
Strapped for cash, Sean (Kerr Smith) an editor for an independent film company takes an odd job driving a swanky car to southern California with a few rules but one that was made firm; no hitchhikers. Of course, along the way he loses his wallet and busts a tire, leaving him  he no choice but to pick up an insistent hitcher named Nick (Brendan Fehr) who has the money he needs to make up for the highly inconvenient mishaps.

From her roots in Brooklyn, New York to Austin, Texas, I.T. veteran and author V.H. Galloway has had a fruitful existence with plenty of tales to share. Her work crosses oceans and time in settings, demonstrating her interest in multiple cultures as well as the fantastic. Her latest horror/sci-fi hybrid, The Un-United States Of Z is a trilogy series that even for non-zombie fans has been described as "tasteful insanity" in a most delightful manner:
In a near-future Los Angeles, Dr. Zen Marley is torn between two conflicting realities: his buried southern roots and his preppy west coast professor persona. He must travel home to face the reality of his mother's failing mental health. But he finds an aberration: a monstrous imposter wearing the rotted shell of his mother’s skin. In a twisted case of self-defense, he kills her, but not before he is also infected.

With his humanity eroding, Zen sets off on cross-country quest through a racially divided America to rescue his si…