EP 12 With Elana Gomel

In this episode, we are honored to speak with academic, sci-fi, and dark fantasy writer, Elana Gomel.

Elana Gomel has taught and researched English literature and cultural studies at Tel-Aviv University, Princeton, Stanford, Venice International University, and the University of Hong Kong. She is currently dividing her time between California and Tel-Aviv. Elana is the author of five academic books and numerous peer-reviewed articles on posthumanism, science fiction, Victorian literature, and serial killers. 

Her fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories have appeared in numerous publications, including Apex Magazine, New Horizons, and The Fantasist. Elana’s stories have been featured in several award-winning anthologies, including Zion's Fiction, Apex Book of World Science Fiction, and People of the Book.

Elana’s first novel A Tale of Three Cities was published in 2013, followed by her novella Dreaming in the Dark in 2017. In 2018 she published her first collection of short stories Un/home and her dark fantasy novel The Hungry Ones. In 2019 she published her sci-fi hybrid horror novel The Cryptids. Most recently, she signed a contract with Vernacular Books for her novel Nightwood. 

When she is not busy writing or teaching, Elana is on a plane headed somewhere far away and exotic in search of new monsters.

 We talk to Elana about her soon-to-be-released tribute to California, Nightwood from Vernacular Books.

 Elana shares her thoughts on the intersection, or not, of her academic work and her creative works. 

 She writes and publishes frequently and we wanted to know how she manages her time .

Elana explains her world-driven writing. We were thrilled to hear that the monsters are her favorites and the surprising place that the inspiration for them comes.

 Elana won the 2020 Gravity Award for “Where the Streets Have No Name”, we asked her about the winning story and about the award.

 She shares a bit about her process for writing a piece and how long it takes her.

 In addition to Nightwood, Elana’s novella Little Sister is coming out on October 15 from Crystal Lake Publishing. Elana shares her childhood memories of the USSR, KBG visits, the strong women in her family, and the forgotten history that inspired the story. 

 We chatted about her piece The Niddah as her response to the pandemic and what we can learn from it.

Find out more about Elana and her work here:
https://www.citiesoflightanddarkness.com
and here:
https://www.amazon.com/Elana-Gomel
Find some of her works here:
The Niddah from Apex Magazine
https://apex-magazine.com/the-niddah/
Tanri from Of Metal and Magic
https://ofmetalandmagicpublishing.wordpress.com/tanri/
Pareidolia from Frost Zone Zine
https://frostzonezi

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