Author Interview: Mary Lindsey

Fiction Freak: Why Edgar Allan Poe and why Annabel Lee? How did you get the idea fowhr your take and how was it, expanding a poem into a 400 pages story?

Mary Lindsey: I've always been an Edgar Allan Poe fan. From the first time I read "The Tell-Tale Heart" in fifth grade until now, he has always been one of my favorite authors. 

I did not consciously go into my second novel searching for a fairy tale or classic to retell, it came about organically. My husband had a collection of short stories on his nightstand, and while I waited for my ereader to charge up, I grabbed it. 

It flipped open to Edgar Allan Poe's short story, Ligeia. I had read it many times before, but for some reason, it resonated with me that night and I started thinking of how cool it would be to expand that amazing story into a novel. I woke up pretty excited and bounced the plot line off of my seventeen-year-old daughter, Hannah. 

Hannah was used to being a sounding board, so she acted interested (as usual) and settled in to listen to my inevitably long and animated description of my premise. But instead of smiling and nodding as usual, she stopped me.  "You can't do that. It's already a complete story."

She was wrong, of course. It's been done successfully many times with short stories, but I held my tongue because good plotters and listeners are hard to find. :)

She suggested instead, that I take one of Poe's poems because they are more like a story spark. Re-imagining one would not seem like a simple expansion or a fan fic.

A bit put-off that my ideas of how to novelize Ligeia had been smushed like a bug, I challenged her to find the perfect poem for expansion into a novel. 

Never daunted by a dare, Hannah took it upon herself to research all of Poe's poems. I bought a Poe anthology, and she went to work. After a weekend at our river house, she handed down her results of the three poems she felt best suited for my project. 

1. "Annabel Lee"

2. "The Haunted Palace"

3. "The Raven"

Once I read through "Annabel Lee," things just clicked into place. 

FF: How was writing Ashes on the Waves compare to writing a book like Shattered Souls?

ML: Writing Ashes on the Waves was VASTLY different from Shattered Souls.  I did a good bit of research for Shattered Souls regarding the history of Galveston Island during the Civil War and the Great Storm of 1900 (Most of the historical content was cut during the editorial process), but it was nothing compared to the research that went into Ashes on the Waves.

I read two biographies, many books on Celtic Lore, and 2,500 pages of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems stories, letters, and essays, including critical analysis. I did four months of full-time research before I wrote the first words. Dozens of Poe works are referenced in the book. Every chapter begins with a quote from a Poe story, poem, or letter, and the chapter tone, flow, and content reflects the piece in that epigraph. Weaving the multiple works into the novel was like a 112,000-word riddle.

FF: What are 5 adjectives you'd use to describe Ashes on the Waves?

ML: Haunting, romantic, gothic, suspenseful, mysterious

FF: Do you believe in true love? 

ML: Absolutely. I found it. 

FF: What do you think of your cover?

ML: I adore the cover. It was created by Nekro, the Spanish artist who did Anna Dressed in Blood and The Space Between. My only complaint is that it is so feminine and the book would appeal to guys as much as girls. 

FF: Who's your favorite character that you've written? 

ML: Liam. He is complex, deep, and at the same time, funny. 

FF: Possibly the hardest question: which books that you've written are closer to your heart?

ML: It’s impossible to say. I was certain it was Ashes until I wrote Fragile Spirits, the second book in the Shattered Souls Series, and fell in love with that world all over again. Ashes on the Waves was a tremendous challenge and accomplishment, but Fragile Spirits was just flat-out fun to write.

Thank you, Nikki, for having me on your blog today! 

Ashes on the Waves Blurb
Liam MacGregor is cursed. Haunted by the wails of fantastical Bean Sidhes and labeled a demon by the villagers of Dòchas, Liam has accepted that things will never get better for him—until a wealthy heiress named Annabel Leighton arrives on the island and Liam’s fate is changed forever.
With Anna, Liam finally finds the happiness he has always been denied; but, the violent, mythical Otherworlders, who inhabit the island and the sea around it, have other plans. They make awager on the couple’s love, testing its strength through a series of cruel obstacles. But the tragedies draw Liam and Anna even closer. Frustrated, the creatures put the couple through one last trial—and this time it’s not only their love that’s in danger of being destroyed.

Author Bio

Mary Lindsey lives in Houston with her husband, three kids, two dogs, her daughter's pet rats, an Australian bearded dragon, and dozens of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches (The roaches are along story. Don't ask). 

She is the author of Shattered Souls (2011), Ashes on the Waves (2013), and Fragile Sprits (2014), all YA from Philomel/Penguin. Mary also writes paranormal romance under the name Marissa Clarke for Entangled Publishing. The first book in the Underveil Series, Love Me To Death is scheduled for release in 2014. 

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