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Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte

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Author Interview: Teagan Olivia King

Q1: Use this first question to introduce yourself.

Hi! I’m Teagan. I am a gothic horror and dark fantasy author from Michigan. Last year I bought a 100 year old farmhouse and now spend most of my days typing away at my desk tucked beneath the attic eaves. When I’m not writing, I’m usually curled up with my dog and a good book, or out adventuring with my partner, Hunter! I drink too much black coffee, despise anything cooked with bay leaf, and am particularly fond of power-naps.

Q2: Spit Back The Bones was such a powerful debut horror-romance novel. Can you tell us a little about it? What inspired you to write it?

Ah, thank you, that is so sweet to say! Spit Back the Bones is my debut horror novel that I wrote in a month back in 2022. It’s a bit of a fever dream, to be honest. I had a very bare outline and a very rough idea, and just kind of went for it. I knew that I wanted to write something to honor the memory of my brother, Jed, who I lost a long time ago. I was also dealing with a lot of religious trauma at the time and the two ideas kind of molded together to create what is now SBTB! I specifically remember standing in front of my bathroom mirror one night, thinking about this story, and who the characters were, and all the names hit me out of nowhere! Like, picture me, ratty old pajamas, sprinting to my desk to jot down all these names.

Q3: Which character did you relate to the most?

Definitely Mila. People ask me all the time, “So, is Mila in the story you?” And I always go, “No! She’s just a character I wrote.” But yeah, I definitely inserted some personal feelings, moods, vibes, FOR SURE. Like Mila, I hold a lot of anger. Unlike Mila, I don’t deal with it by punching people in the throat. I go to therapy and take long walks with my dog instead. But all jokes aside, 100% Mila. She has a lot to be angry about.

Q4: What was the hardest scene to write? The easiest?

The hardest scene to write was a scene at the end. I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but I will say this: every time I read it, I still cry. Like full-on sobs. In terms of the easiest scene to write, probably Mila coming home in that first chapter.

Q5: You captured the bog so beautifully. What inspired the bog as the main setting?

Growing up where I did, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I grew up around bogs like other kids grow up around trees. They’re everywhere. And you’ve got to be careful because one wrong step and that’s it, you’re sucked in and gone. I always found that fascinating and terrifying as a kid.

Q6: Were there any songs, books, movies, etc... that helped you when writing Spit Back The Bones?

Midnight Mass was a huge inspiration, as was the music of Ethel Cain, and the book Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand.

Q7: What do you hope readers take away from each of your books?

I hope people see themselves in my books. I want people to feel a sense of hope at the end of my books and a sense that whatever they are facing, they can do something about it.

Conclusion

Thank you again for taking the time to answer all of these questions, Teagan!