The one and only
Courtesy of Gina Ranalli
Upon first contact with Gina Ranalli, it was instantly clear that we were kindred spirits. Gina is a prolific writer with a punk rocker's soul and an activist's heart. She's a vegan, a feminist, and a wiseass rebel who has written a ton of books in the Bizarro/Horror genre, sold over 100 paintings, raised hell in punk bands, and just loves her 1977 Fender Strat.
Sounds like an ideal character for a Planet Green interview, huh?
Gina's Books (so far)
- Chemical Gardens (2006)
- Suicide Girls in the Afterlife (2006)
- 13 Thorns (with Gus Fink) (winner of the 2007 Wonderland Award for Best Collection) (2006)
- Wall of Kiss (2007)
- Mother Puncher (2008)
- Swarm of Flying Eyeballs (2009)
- Sky Tongues (2009)
- House of Fallen Trees (2010)
- Praise the Dead (coming soon in 2010)
My Conversation With Gina Ranalli
Planet Green: When did you become vegan? Was your motivation ethical, health, environmental, all of the above?
Gina Ranalli: I actually haven't been vegan for very long. Just a few years. I guess I'm a late bloomer in that regard, but I had been veg for many years before that and it was entirely for ethical and environmental reasons. I'm pretty much a city girl and had never seen any cows up close, but one day at a County Fair I met one, up close and personal. I gazed into that creatures beautiful eyes and knew there was a soul in there. I never ate beef again, which was quickly followed by becoming a full blown vegetarian and, as is often the case, becoming vegan was just a natural progression from there. I've never regretted the decision. I'm happier, healthier, and extremely proud to no longer be contributing to the cruelty of animals.
PG: Since vegans are still relatively rare, do you ever feel compelled to pimp veganism in your writing? I know when I write fiction, I'd feel creepy if one of my characters ate a non-vegan meal so I typically dodge food-related scenarios. How about you?
GR: I think I shy away from eating scenes a lot too, for that same reason. But for me, it's all about the characters. If I feel the character would be a meat eater, then he or she will be a meat eater, though I can't think of a scene at the moment when anyone has been chowing down on a steak or what have you. Doesn't mean you couldn't find one if you dug around in the books. I just can't remember any such scene right now. I do think in the future, meat eaters will become more and more rare in my work, though.
PG: While we on the plant-based side of the table might perceive "chowing down on a steak" to be bizarro behavior, there's a whole 'nother meaning to the word Bizarro in your life. Can you explain?
GR: Sure thing. Bizarro is, for lack of a better term, the genre of fiction that I currently write in. It's weird, it's surreal, it's bizarre. It's distorted, absurd and twisted. It's David Lynch on paper. There are no boundries, really. For a better, more complete definition of exactly what bizarro is, I would highly recommend checking out the website BizarroCentral.com http://www.bizarrocentral.com/about.html. It answers every question anyone could have about the genre, in addition to a catalog of Bizarro books, articles, author bios and an active forum where you can chat with the authors and other fans. It's the best jumping off spot for anyone interested in checking out Bizarro as a whole.
PG: Vegan, Bizarro author...so, what's punk rock got to do with it?
GR: Well, all three are kind of sitting outside the norm. Veganism, bizarro, punk—all three require a rebellious spirit. A refusal to just blindly accept what is put in front of you or fed to you. They're all about going against the grain, following your own heart and beliefs and ignoring the rest of society when it tells you "This is how you ought to be. This is what you should read, listen to, eat." All three are about proudly holding your head up above the crowd, taking a stand and saying, "You're way is not my way and nothing will dissuade me from my own path."
PG: What advice do you have for aspiring writers who want, like you, to go against the grain?
GR: I think the main thing to remember is just to work really, really hard. Be able to honestly say to yourself, "I work harder at this than anyone else I know." Put in the hours. Make everything you do as unique as possible. Ask yourself, "What can I write that no one else can?" There is no other way to do it.
