Mav Skye writes slipstream subversive fiction. Supergirls is the story of two women corrupted by a lifestyle whose propaganda they feed on, a dystopian narrative of sexual predation hiding inside broken ideals. The protagonists are driven by the desire for wealth and their own conditioning by the fictional heroisms of TV and the myth of the superhero. Mav met me at The Slaughterhouse where we talked about her novella and the Great American Dream.
Tell us about Supergirls.
Supergirls is the story about two sisters raised in the under shoe of society. They reach for the great American promise, so focused on the stars, so desperate to escape their poverty, they run right off the cliff into that midnight void between dreams and reality. This void is where monsters lay waiting for dreamers, gnashing their teeth like starved piranhas. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is what our founding fathers wished for us, they died for it. As American children we are taught that we deserve all three simply by existing, but really the American promise is more multiple choice, you might achieve one. Heaven help the woman or man who tries to achieve all three.
How do you view the Great American Dream?
My personal views are rather old fashioned and reflected in older sister Jenn’s character. Jenn dreams of a green countryside where the air is fresh and a thousand gems twinkle in the night sky. A cabin sits on a hill, a lazy curl of smoke sauntering out of the chimney. Flowerpots line every porch step. Two rocking chairs sit on the porch, where they’ll rock and watch the stars rise and fall every night. It is the ultimate safe haven vision of tranquility—the opposite of their current life where thugs are regularly knocking down the door of their tiny studio stealing (younger sister) May’s meds and their rent money. They prostitute and work at gas stations to get by.
Americans have been taught that if you work really hard and believe in yourself, your dreams will come true. Jenn and May take this belief a tad too far. Okay, maybe waaaayyyyyy too far.
How does the theme of corruption feature in your writing?
Okay, so my story doesn’t deal so much with political corruption, but of moral corruption.
Jenn and May are born into the sewer of society, their dear little hearts were corrupted long before this tale begins. Their moral compass is skewed, except when it comes to one another. They both are willing to sacrifice anything and everything for the other’s happiness. Problem is, the only tools in their survival tactics toolbox are the seven deadly sins. They are desperate to escape their situation, but the only way out is down, down, down…
It’s easy to justify one “bad” deed if the good you hope to accomplish outweighs the evil. But… that didn’t work out for Walter White did it? Still, we love the mighty Heisenburg and his outrageous behavior, because it’s all for the sake of his family.
Same thing with Jenn and May. They jump into the abyss putting their souls and sanity on the line, for the sake of their love and their dreams.
What else is on the cards for you this year?
There’s a wicked little horror romance I’m hoping to release in the fall called, Wanted: Single Rose. Beta male, Sir Sun, catches the eye of charismatic fox, Velva Jones. It’s a real find when a beautiful stranger sees you for who you truly are and decides to help you blossom into the person you were born to be. Unless, of course, the person you were born to be is a ruthless kills-for-thrills psychopath.
I’ve also written a sequel to SUPERGIRLS called, Night without Stars. I can’t give away too much, but I will say this– the darkness we discover in the first book goes even deeper in the second. I disturbed myself quite a bit writing this. I hope to release it in early 2015.
And I have three previously written novels waiting to be edited and polished– Devil’s Eye, Xscents, and The Dread. So lots of writing and editing, which means lots of fun.I hope my readers have just as good of time reading as I do writing.
Thank you Mav for a perceptive and informative interview.
Links:
Supergirls can be had at Amazon US and UK
Find Mav Skye at her website and on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.
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