Welcome back to SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT!! This is the day of the week where I have the honor of talking with an author who might be new to you. I get to tell you a bit about them, their social media sites and their book(s). That isn’t the best part though…the best part is interviewing them or having them do a guest post. This allows potential readers to get to know a little bit about the author behind their amazing covers.
My goal with these posts is to introduce you to a new author or book. Take a chance, maybe you’ll find something you fall in love with. There are so many amazing authors in the world that go unnoticed because they are not in the spotlight. I want to change that. If you are an indie or lesser-known author, get in touch with me. I would like to help share your work. I do this all free of charge, publishing a book is expensive enough. I promote authors because I love what they do. I will never charge for promoting a book or author on my Saturday Spotlight posts.
I’m booking for August and September now so if you are an author or know one who would like some free exposure, get in touch with me. I would love to help support you.
Today I have an incredibly special guest…Erin Craig! I was so happy that she agreed to participate. I am starting her book on Netgalley and I can’t tell you how super excited I am! Let’s get started, shall we? We have a super fun interview for you so keep scrolling.
Interview
The Bibliophagist: Alright, it really isn’t a secret that House of Salt and Sorrows is released soon, August 6th! Are you doing anything special to celebrate? Could you tell us a little about the book?
Erin: I can’t believe it’s almost here! Woohoo!
I’m having a launch party at one of our local bookstores—Novel. (Incidentally, if you’d like to have an autographed copy of the book but can’t make it to any of my signings, pre-order HOSAS before August 6th at www.novelmemphis.com and I will sign it at my launch. If you’d like a personalized dedication, leave it in the comment section at check-out!) I LOVE a themed party and have had so much fun putting together nautical elements for this. I’m making sand dollar shortbread cookies that you’re not going to want to miss!
HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS is gothic YA retelling of the ‘Twelve Dancing Princesses.” Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last–the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge–and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.
Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that her sister’s deaths were no accidents. The girls have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who–or what–are they really dancing with?
When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family–before it claims her next.
The Bibliophagist: The story for your novel is unique and I knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as I read the summary. Ghostly visions, sisters sneaking out to attend balls, and a cursed family…sign me up! Authors find inspiration in the strangest places, sometimes closer to home than we think. Where did the idea for your debut novel come from? Did you pull from any experiences from real life?
Erin: I’ve always been drawn to writing retellings and intended to write one based on Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Annabel Lee,’ but I kept starting and stopping it so many times. I loved the concept but when it came time to actually start writing it, I never could seem to make it work. Shortly after my daughter was born, I was puttering around the house and stumbled across some old photos from my sister’s Girl Scout troop production of ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses.’ My mom was the troop leader and roped me into playing the Soldier. We toured it to local libraries and retirement centers. When I saw the pictures, memories of helping to make glitter-covered trees and my mom sewing all those tulle skirts came rushing back to me and I suddenly knew what my story needed. I wanted to keep and honor the dark, gothic twists I’d set out to write, but infuse it with a delicious and shimmering fairy tale.
The Bibliophagist: If you had to make a playlist that would go along with your novel, what would it look like?
Erin: I’m the worst at this! HOSAS was drafted in silence—usually while I was trapped under a sleeping baby—so it’s hard for me to pick the music for it now. I usually write along to big, epic movie soundtracks— while editing HOSAS, I relied heavily on THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE’s music, so I suppose I’ll go along with that!
The Bibliophagist: If your book were to be made into a movie, who would your dream cast be?
Erin: Oh, I’m terrible at this game too because I never pick people who are the proper age for anything! The only casting that would actually fly is Doug Jones for Viscardi, both man and monsters. He was always in the back of my head as I wrote those scenes! I imagined a young Ruth Wilson as Annaleigh and Alan Rickman (sob!) for Ortun. Beyond that—your guess is as good as mine. I CAN say with absolute certainty that I’d love Guillermo del Toro to direct, with Colleen Atwood designing the costumes, and James Newton Howard penning the score!
The Bibliophagist: If anyone reading this follows you, they know you love typewriters. Can you share how you fell in love with them and maybe sh
ow us a picture of your collection as well as your favorite one?
Erin:
My mama got me my first typewriter—a 1957 bubblegum pink Royal Quiet Deluxe—for Valentine’s Day about 15 years ago. It was in the window of an antique store and I squealed out loud when we spotted it. I love writing on it and out of all my collection, Pinkie is still my favorite.
On our first date, I learned my husband owned a gorgeous old Underwood and Remington. I think we had five total when we got married and now we’re up to… 35? I think? Maybe 37? Clearly, I need to go check! Most of them are in workable condition. The couple clunkers we have get used as bookends or are kicking around the garage for parts.
There’s something satisfying about creating on a typewriter. The ideas go straight from your head to paper and you instantly have tangible proof of those thoughts. The taps of the keys are so melodic and I feel like their music really does help to pull the story from you. There becomes a rhythm to the writing and something about the analogue-ed-ness of it really speaks to me.
Here are some pictures of part of the Craig collection. They’re scattered all throughout the house but we’d love to eventually have special shelves built to showcase them all together!
The Bibliophagist: Seeing as House of Salt and Sorrows is your debut novel, what was the most challenging aspect? Was the publishing process different from what you expected? For those looking to get their books published the traditional way, can you outline the process for us and maybe give them some advice?
Erin: By far the strangest part of everything has been the hurry up and wait flow of publishing. There were some super quick turn-around times during edits and then long waits where I wouldn’t hear anything from anyone for weeks. So much stuff happens behind the scenes and because it was my first time going through it, I just wasn’t sure what to expect!
HOSAS is the second book I’ve written. I queried a very beloved and creepy Edwardian Peter Pan for about six months before realizing I needed to start writing my next project. I joined my first cabin for July’s Camp Nanowrimo and started putting down a first draft. There was a #PitDark twitter pitch party at the end of October and I really pushed to have the book ready by then. It was SUCH a crazy day! I had sixty-some agents request me to sub to them. I broke it up into rounds, sending out queries and pages to my top 10. Of those, I ended up with five offers of representation and was absolutely giddy to sign with Sarah Landis as Sterling Lord Literistic. We went through three rounds of edits to get the story ready to go on sub in March. Eight days later, we heard from Wendy Loggia at Delacorte, saying she was going to be putting together a preempt offer (squeeee!) and the rest, as they say, is history.
My biggest piece of advice is to just keep at it. It can sometimes feel like a slog but good things do come to those who put in the work and you never know when you’re about to get that awesome call!
About Erin Craig
After getting her B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, in Theatre Design and Production, she stage managed tragic operas with hunchbacks, séances, and murderous clowns, then decided she wanted to write books that were just as spooky.
An avid reader, a decent quilter, rabid basketball fan, and collector of typewriters, Erin makes her home in Memphis, TN with her husband and daughter.
She is represented by Sarah Landis at Sterling Lord Literistic.
In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.
Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?
When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.