O.F. Cieri is a writing powerhouse! She’s released several books as well as many short stories and analytical essays. Her storytelling style is to emphasize the voices and eccentricities of her vivid characters while also exploring complex philosophical and social issues. Take Backmask from Malarkey Books, a book that gives us the strange company of occultists and the US government and a grumpy record executive who all get together to study the power of hidden messages in music. You’ll definitely want to read more to get a sense of Cieri’s unique take on the Weird.
On to the questions!
I can tell from your work that you have a strong interest not only in cosmic mysteries, but in the history of attempts to study/harness paranormal forces. Where did this fascination begin for you?
I’ve always been a spooky kid, so I always gravitated towards spooky imagery.
I worked in medical antiques for a while where I developed an interest in the history of medicine and science. It started out just liking the way old medical instruments looked, but the field asks deeper questions about how medicine and science works, ontologically. The history of medicine and science is big enough that it spirals out into questions about governance and personal responsibility. Cleanliness and health have both physical and metaphysical aspects. Historically, institutional power has standardized those systems. Science and religion used to be the exact same thing, and up until fairly recently they were still treated as equal intellectual pursuits. People who studied one usually studied the other. Bringing all existing knowledge to a central location does double duty of allowing intellectuals to discourse and connect the health of the individual with the health of institutions.
However, knowledge generates outside institutions. People who can’t read, people who can but don’t make it to the big leagues, people who are charismatic but have no idea what they’re doing all have ideas. The fear of uprooted order and the subsequent loss of control creates dread, and the motifs used to discuss that fear get separated from their original context. All that spooky stuff I liked as a kid– bats, skulls, spiders, et cetera– were artistic representations of existential dread. Vermin infesting abandoned buildings with the remains of their caretakers still inside.
Outside of writing, do you have any other occupations/passions/hobbies that are extremely meaningful to you?
Love music, big music guy. Unfortunately I suffer from a debilitating case of working in the arts for my day job so I don’t have a clear division between work and play. I’m high effort enough to make it work.
Genre is tough! Who do you see as your literary grandparents (if anyone)? What does the Weird Lit genre mean to you?
I feel like there’s a difference between the style of writing I love and what I make. I’m drawn to any author with a strong voice. I like it when prose is so human it leaves a sensory impression. The sweatier the better. I’ve talked a lot about how I feel very drawn to Oscar Wilde but that’s a lot more like I have an extremely clear image of him in my head. I still agree with a lot of his craft opinions about composition and structure. I feel a big kinship to Vernon Lee and Clive Barker as well as less genre defined writers like Burroughs and Thompson. Burroughs and Thompson have this rambling quality to their words that slips in iconic lines as if by accident. Wish I could write like that.
I picked Weird Lit because it wasn’t well defined and gave me space to play without thinking about tropes. Going back to the kinds of writers I like, they often free associate themselves into extremely weird places outside expectation. I want to do that.
What’s life in New York City like? Have you always lived in the area?
I was born and raised here so I don’t know what it’s like. It feels like there are a lot of people who are resentful of the fact that this is a place with a culture that isn’t consumable. I’ve taken some of the city for granted but I’ve also seen a lot of people freak out and evacuate– quit jobs, change their phone number, delete their social media– when they realise they’re going to be poor here. In that way it’s just like any major city where the tinsel is being held up by millions of service workers.
What’s your favorite part of the novel-writing process? Least favorite?
My favorite is the first fifty pages when I’m full of motivation and the story feels like its writing itself. It feels like that Wallace and Gromit scene where Gromit is putting down train tracks while he’s on the toy train. My least favorite is when I’m in the second part of the novel, I’ve laid out all the important information, and now I need to make it all matter. Then it feels like parallel parking an eighteen wheeler. The way the third act behaves depends on how well the first two sections went.
You’ve written a new novel called Death Cleric! What are your plans for it, and how does it differ from your previous work?
It felt different in a way that’s hard to describe. It felt quicker and slimmer, but it took me years to write and hovers around 300 pages. It felt good, it felt like I nailed what I wanted to do without compromising it. I guess I’ve developed as a writer and can feel it.
I’m letting it breathe until I can give it the kind of release I think it deserves. I might finish and publish other projects before it ever sees the light of day if it means finding the perfect home for it.
For writers looking to get a taste of your writing online, where would you point them?
I’m very proud of the writing I did in SPIT BACK YOUR HEART: Three Novels About Musical Obsession - Glasgow Review of Books https://glasgowreviewofbooks.com/2023/12/01/spit-back-your-heart-three-novels-about-musical-obsession/
The importance of being Hermes on Strange Matters– https://strangematters.coop/oscar-wilde-occult-and-esoteric-influences/
And GIRLS IN BIKINIS ON ROLLER SKATES IN OUTER SPACE VERSUS BIKINI GIRLS WITH MACHINE GUNS on Misery Tourism https://miserytourism.com/girls-in-bikinis-on-roller-skates/
So three to choose; a book review, historical analysis, or actual fiction. Take your pick.
What question would you like to be asked? (And by all means, answer it!)
Q: SHOULD I COME TO VOIDCON?
A: NO. FUCK OFF.
(OF Cieri doesn’t mean it, and to prove it, here’s a VOIDCON flyer (made by Ira) just for you!)
