We chat with author Heather M. Herrman about Lady or the Tiger, which is a twisty, darkly seductive anti-hero origin story, starring a teenage killer whose trial in the Wild West is upended when her first victim, her husband, arrives alive with a story to tell.
Hi, Heather! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a recent Texas transplant who grew up in Kansas. I love horror, academia, and stories with wicked women. My favorite kind of writing blends beauty and the macabre, and I love fiction that straddles the borderlands of genres. If you’ve ever read and loved Cixous’s “Laugh of the Medusa,” we would definitely be friends. I’m especially drawn to horror because I love the way it holds a mirror up to our world and provides us with a new way of seeing ourselves and our problems.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
My grandparents were farmers, and my grandfather was also a music teacher who liked to go to auctions and collect old books. I remember being down in their basement, which was basically a library, and spending hours browsing books and reading. It was such a treat, and I definitely learned to love stories from them, especially my grandmother, who was also a poet. She was alive at a time when women like her, a farmer’s wife, didn’t have a lot of options for their voices to be heard, and yet she still wrote and published her own work. I really admired that, and it inspired me to tell my own stories.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Alice in Wonderland was the first one I remember reading on my own, but I loved listening to my mother read me fairy tales from an early age.
- The one that made you want to become an author: It by Stephen King tied with The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (I’m from Kansas, so I grew up believing that going to Oz was a kind of birthright. I’ve never stopped trying to get there) tied with A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes.
Your latest novel, Lady or the Tiger, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Fierce, Teeth, Diamonds, Blood, Twists
What can readers expect?
A reckoning. This book is a response to the current state of YA which seems to have become synonymous with romance. While I love a good romance and am in absolute awe of all the talented authors who write them, I’d like to see more room in the genre for stories that don’t center romantic love. Romance, by its very nature, places a person’s happiness in the hands of someone else. I want to see young readers discovering that power first within themselves. Suggesting that true love is the main ingredient to a happily ever after, particularly for young women, seems far more dangerous to me than exposing them to some symbolic violence, much of which they are already subject to in real life. I want stories that reflect a reader’s ability to handle these truths, not pretend that they don’t exist. Happily Ever After does not end or even begin with a true love’s kiss, especially as a teenager. Young readers have so many rich and necessary experiences and relationships to discover and explore, particularly the ones with themselves. Girls, especially, are so often taught to please others. I’d rather see them pleasing themselves.
Where did the inspiration for Lady or the Tiger come from?
I was always interested in Westerns, probably because I grew up in Kansas. The myth of the frontier, or what had once been The “Wild West,” was prominent. Famous cowtowns like Dodge City and Abilene were just a short car ride away frm my home. My family also came from a long line of farmers, so there was a constant reckoning with the land, which is a key ingredient in any Western. But we typically think of the “Wild West” as a white, straight, male-dominated space with those men as the only protagonists. This was absolutely not the case, and I wanted to push back on this flawed monomyth.
For example, the “damsel in distress” trope has always stood out to me—Western films and novels often revolve around cowboys rescuing beautiful women or, if not rescuing them, using their untimely deaths as backstory for the hero. Often, these women serve as justification for a hero’s violence. I wanted to subvert that convention by placing a woman at the heart of the story rather than on its margins. I also wanted to give her the same depth and moral complexity typically reserved for the rugged male outlaws and antiheroes who dominate the genre. I tried to also challenge the myth of a homogenous, cisgender American frontier by including diverse characters and historically grounded details that reflect the cultural richness that existed long before white settlers arrived and continues to exist today.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I love Belle. Being her let me explore all my darkest inclinations with complete freedom. Things that I would never do but Belle would.
I think the world is still very uncomfortable with a woman choosing to do something that doesn’t serve other people but, instead, serves herself. This, coupled with the discomfort surrounding a woman’s sexual autonomy and desire, often gives us girls who can save the world but don’t know how to save themselves. This is why I’m so drawn to the antihero in fiction. These women are allowed to be exactly who they are without cowtowing to the demands the status quo places on them to be both helpful and beautiful. Including more female antiheroes in young adult books gives readers a chance to see the parts of themselves they’ve often been asked to discard—their shadow selves or “outlaw energies” as Jungian psychologist Lisa Marchiano dubbs them—being accepted and valued instead of ignored. Girls and women deserve to be whole. And only by accepting our shadows can we ever truly shine our light.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Yes, actually! I started Lady or the Tiger with the wrong protagonist. In my original story, a young journalist goes to interview the infamous serial killer Belle King as she awaits trial. But both my editors were like, “you seem far more interested in this serial killer than the journalist, why not just write it from her pov?” And I was like, “Wait. I can do that?” Once I gave myself that freedom, the beginning came very quickly and very easily, starting with that first line. Belle was just pushing her way out of my pen. It was wonderful. Writing isn’t always easy but Belle’s voice was so clear and distinct that I often felt like she was doing most of the work.
What’s next for you?
While I can’t officially talk about it yet, it’s a project that I am very, very excited about. Let’s just say there’s a lot of sharp teeth and blood involved. I’m hoping to make an announcement very soon!
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?
I just finished two horror novels that I loved. Nat Cassidy’s When the Wolf Comes Home and Lamb by Lucy Rose. I’m really, really looking forward to A Girl Walks into the Forest by Madeline Roux (we release on the same day!), Helen Oyeyemi’s Parasol Against the Axe, and Lyndall Clipstone’s Tenderly I am Devoured.
