Kelly Creagh on Poe

Okay, readers. I have a special treat for you today. First of all, it's friday, but that's not the main treat (just part of the joy of today). I have a guest post from Kelly Creagh, author of Nevermore, which you should read if you haven't, and upcoming Enshadowed, which you should prepare to read, and/or pre-order
immediately.

I'm going to be honest and say that when I came up with the idea of doing a Poe inspired YA novel, I thought I was really original. I was somewhat bummed when I read about Nevermore (proving I was not so original, nor, indeed, even the most Poe-inspired author out there--check out Kelly's website--that's some serious Poe inspiration!) What we are doing with our Poe inspired novels is pretty different, (though we both reference The Masque of the Red Death!) and of course, there's room for plenty of YA books inspired by Poe, so the moment of sadness wore off fairly quickly. Then I realized that Kelly and I lived in the same town, and I read her book and loved it, and she joined my critique group.

Along with my Poe prize packs, will be several signed copies of Nevermore, a book that any Poe fan should have on their shelf! (Okay, I AM envious, perhaps even covetous of the title, that title is BRILLIANT!) but I digress.

Here's Kelly's Biography

As a child, Kelly would hold elaborate one-kid plays for patient relatives, complete with song, dance, and over-the-top melodramatics. Then, whenever Mom or Grandma called for a break, she would venture outside to slay dragons, run from make-believe ghosts and create magical feasts for fairies out of mud and pinecones.

In the third grade, Kelly wrote her first book titled Pink Lettuce, a story about a young girl who comes to the aid of her mad scientist neighbor, helping him to return his potion-pink lettuce patch to its original green and leafy luster.

Kelly holds an undergraduate degree in Theatre Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Today, she finds true joy in transcribing her dramatic daydreams onto the stage of the blank page. When not writing or curled up with a good book, Kelly can be found teaching, learning and performing the ancient art of Bellydance.

Okay, so here's what Kelly had to say about Poe. 

Though Poe has had an enormous impact on me as a writer, surprisingly, he is not the one who initially lured me to the writing life. Though there is a serendipitous tale that involves Poe concerning the writer who did.

As a pre-teen and young adult, my favorite story in the universe was (and still is) The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. I kept my ragged and dog-eared copy close at all times and relished any retelling, such as Susan Kay’s Phantom. Being familiar with Poe, I always wondered about the Opera Masquerade scene where the Phantom shows up dressed as The Red Death. What’s funny is that I didn’t find out until after I wrote the Grim Facade scenes in Nevermore that the reason Monsieur Leroux dressed The Phantom as The Red Death was because he was a fan and avid reader of Poe. Poe’s work was, after all, very popular in France.

                And now can you guess why I gave Varen only a simple white mask to wear at the Grim Facade? I did so because, like Leroux, I wanted to slip in a nod to a writer who inspired me and a story that influenced me. It’s one of those odd moments that cause me to agree with Eddie. That all we see or seem truly is but a dream within a dream.     

So, there's Kelly's inspiration! Check back next week to see how you can win that Signed copy of Nevermore, and tons of Poe stuff! 

Happy Reading!