I'M THRILLED TO HAVE A CHANCE TO CHAT WITH SHANNON YARBROUGH TODAY, ONE OF MY FAVORITE CONTEMPORARY SOUTHERN AUTHORS. WELCOME BACK, SHANNON!
BUT I'M GUESSING YOUR LATEST RELEASE, DICKINSTEIN (SEE THE FANTASTIC TRAILER- I LOVE IT!),ISN'T SOUTHERN FICTION. WOULD THAT BE RIGHT?
Hi Melinda! You are absolutely correct. Dickinstein is a mash-up that falls in the Gothic horror genre. Truthfully, I was a bit scared to step away from my comfort zone and try something new. I'm sure most writers who attempt to write something completely different feel that way. But I'm glad I did.
I'VE READ THAT YOUR TWO BIGGEST INFLUENCES WHILE WRITING THIS NOVEL WERE EMILY DICKINSON AND FRANKENSTEIN. I JUST HAVE TO ASK, HOW IN THE WORLD DID THESE TWO ENTITIES MESH INTO AN IDEA FOR A NOVEL?
It all started back in June of 2012 on the release date of the movie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, based on the book by Seth Grahame-Smith. I had listened to the book on my iPod in 2011 and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was excited to see the movie. On the way to work that morning, I got to wondering what might have inspired Seth to write the book, so I Googled him!
Then, like most writers do, I began to ponder what kind of mash-up I would write. Frankenstein immediately came to mind because it's a classic horror story that often gets overlooked. Vampires and werewolves have taken center stage these days with TV and movie adaptations like True Blood and Twilight. And now the latest craze is zombies.I think the "giving life back to the dead" theme is definitely more centered around zombies than anything else.With his stiff walk and arms extended, some might even consider the Frankenstein monster to be a type of zombie which is why he hasn't gotten the attention he deserves.
I'm not sure where Emily came into the picture exactly, but she popped into my head and demanded some attention. Her well-known obsession with death and immortality as themes in her poetry mimicked the underlying themes of Frankenstein perfectly, so it was as if they were meant to be together.
Shortly thereafter, I sat down to write their story that was forming in my head and it just came pouring out!So, I guess Emily and Frank were indeed meant to be together.
ARE YOU A FAN OF EMILY DICKINSON?
Oh yes!I was acquainted with her and her poetry long before I wrote Dickinstein. In college, I took a summer writing workshop and the teacher would frequently say, "We all must bow to Miss Emily." I had no idea who he was talking about until I later read some of her work in a poetry class. The southern writer in me loves a tragic and bizarre story, so I continued to read her outside the classroom. About six years ago, I acquired a complete volume of her poetry which I have thoroughly enjoyed reading over and over. It was also a good reference while writing Dickinstein. Only during my research for Dickinstein did I really get to know more about her and her personal life.
I SUPPOSE IN FAIRNESS, I SHOULD ALSO ASK:ARE YOU A FAN OF FRANKENSTEIN?
Honestly, I had never read it until I started researching my novel. It was never required reading in any of my literature courses in school or college. Thanks to pop culture and movies, it's one of those stories that you think you know all about so you don't have to read it, but I'm so glad I did.I was amazed to discover how different the book actually is from anything that's been portrayed on the big screen or on television. While I do pay homage to the old black and white Boris Karloff movie in my book, I relied on the real themes in Mary Shelley's story while writing. In Dickinstein, Emily even receives a first edition copy of Frankenstein as a gift from a dear friend which becomes the catalyst for the events that play out.
THE RESEARCH FOR THIS NOVEL MUST HAVE SEEMED, AT TIMES, OVERWHELMING. CAN YOU GIVE US A GLIMPSE INTO IT?
Indeed it was! As I said, I had to read Frankenstein first! I also purchased several books about Emily. Most were various volumes of her poetry that also included letters she'd written or biographical introductions. I also contacted the Emily Dickinson museum and home in Amherst, Massachusetts via email and had some wonderful correspondence with an employee there who answered questions for me.I would have loved to have visited the museum, and still hope to some day, but since I couldn't Jerome Liebling's photo book,was a valuable tool.
And of course, I did lots of research online. I would find bits of information that I thought would be useful, so I'd check it with several different sources to find out if it was true or not. Following a real timeline of Emily's life and building around real historical events was very important to me because I want the reader to believe this could have actually happened. I created character profiles and collected notes and photos using , which is a wonderful and free site that I highly recommend for authors who take notes
or do research online.
YOU DID A SERIES OF HILARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH EMILY DICKINSON AND FRANKENSTEIN ON YOURTHAT I WANT TO BE SURE TO MENTION. WHAT GAVE YOU THE IDEA?
Being an indie author, I've followed and friended many other indie authors online though the years, and they do the same. So, there's always been this growing web of information and connections out there, filled with marketing ideas like this that are fun and different. One of my friends tweets as the lead character in her young adult series. Another friend interviewed her lead character a few months ago.
For those authors and readers so tapped into social networking, marketing concepts like these are fun to read and definitely fun to write. So, I knew I was going to do an interview with Emily, but I needed some way to make my attempt at this different from everyone else's. I'd like to point out that Frankenstein's monster is not a character in my novel, but including him in the interview seemed unique. The hardest part was deciding whether or not to make him the intellectual being he actually is in Shelley's book or interview him as the scary grunting monster we know from film and television. I went with the latter.I also purchased miniature dolls of Emily and Frank from an artist on Etsy and included their photograph with the interview to give it a fun look.
THE CONCEPT IS SO UNIQUE, I THINK THE BEST WAY TO EXPLAIN THE STORY IS WITH AN EXCERPT.WOULD YOU MIND?
I'd love to! This scene comes from the prologue of the book. Emily has already passed away and her sister is contemplating entering Emily's room for the first time since Emily's death:
Emily's small writing table, a gift from their father, stood in front of the opposite window. It was a plain table of sorts, unlike the curves that made up all the other pieces in the room, giving them their splendor. Just a drawer beneath a square surface atop four legs as long as those of the white crane that nested in the loft of the barn last year. But it must have suited Emily just fine, for she loved the little desk and never desired anything more substantial.
Vinnie sat down in the chair at the desk to admire the oil lamp that Emily read by. She found it odd that the lamp was on the desk instead of by the bed. Did Emily write at her desk late into the night? She looked up and out the window by the desk. It offered another view of the opposite side of the garden, and from where she sat she could just look through the orchard and into the distance at the bowed tops of the trees lingering over Amherst, leafy clouds of gray and green. Emily could have almost seen the sun rise from here, and Vinnie wondered if she slept in that chair at the desk just to watch it every morning.
Out of curiosity, she opened the drawer in the front of the desk and found several pencils along with a single piece of paper. On it was a poem:
Sweet hours have perished here;
This is a mighty room;
Within its precincts hopes have played, -
Now shadows in the tomb.
The last word, tomb, made Vinnie wince. It was as if Emily was speaking to her from the very grave where they'd lain her just weeks ago. How ghastly! As coincidental as it sounded, she knew this could not be a sign of any sort. Or could it?
"What hopes, Emily?" she said out loud to whatever ghost might be listening. "What hopes were shattered for you, my beloved sister?"
She felt a tear swelling in her left eye. It was all too much to bear right now. Vinnie stood and was about to walk out of the room when something caught her attention. The mirror on the wall was still covered with a black cloth, but a beam of sunlight streaked down it in a perfect stripe. Vinnie looked out the northeast window but the sun had already passed over the house. She wondered where that light was coming from.
She stood up and looked behind her. Emily's closet door was ajar just a few inches and that beam of light appeared to be reflecting through the crack and onto the covered mirror on the wall. Vinnie glided over to the door and opened it carefully. Had Maggie left the door open? Maybe so, but there was no light in Emily's closet so why would luminosity be coming from there now?
The light appeared to be coming from a hole in the ceiling. It was a single beam of daylight from overhead, shining down and refracted across the shoulders of Emily's dresses that hung there. The stark white of her clothing allowed the light to shine on, carried across the length of the closet and escaping out the open door.
Vinnie recognized it as sunlight, but there were no skylights atop Homestead. The light had to be coming from a hole in the roof. Perhaps this was a mouse hole. How dreadful, she thought! She would have to have the groundskeeper check the roof first thing tomorrow morning.
The longer she stood there looking up at the odd hole in the top of the closet, the light coming from it made clear to her a square outline cut into the ceiling. Vinnie moved Emily's dresses over to allow some space for her to step inside so she could get a closer look. That's when she noticed two hinges at the back of this outline. She had not noticed them before because they had been painted over to blend in. This outline was a door and the hole in the ceiling was a notch so you could reach up and open it.
She thought about calling the groundskeeper right now to have him investigate, but she was still not ready for anyone else to come into Emily's room to disturb anything, and she knew Emily would not like that either. She'd already done that herself, but it was Emily's instruction to her sister that entering her room would be required for her to see to her late sister's last requests.
With a bit of hesitation, she reached up and stuck her index finger into the hole. With a slight tug down, the beam of light grew into a square, underscoring the box shape in the ceiling. Vinnie could see the blue sky overhead as she removed her finger from the hole and let the small trapdoor fall open. As it fell back against the inner closet wall, a small ladder unfolded and slid down signifying someone could climb up and out if they so desired.
"What is this?" she whispered to herself.
She knew she would not be able to sleep through the night unless she climbed the ladder to see where it led. The sunlight was fleeting so she would have to do it right now without a bit of delay.
She placed her hands on the sides of the ladder, wrapping her fingers around the wood. She put one foot on the bottom rung and pushed down. With her hands, she pulled the ladder toward her, but it would not move.It was obviously very sturdy and she wondered who had built it. Father had never mentioned a secret ingress anywhere in the house. Emily would not have been capable of cutting this hole into the ceiling and constructing this ladder by herself. Or would she?No, it couldn't be. Lavinia would have heard the construction and spotted Emily carrying such tools up to her room as would be needed to perform such a feat.
She lifted her other foot to the second rung and began to climb. Being a tall woman, she was not even halfway up the ladder before she was completely outside from the shoulders up. Directly in front of her she could see the side of the roof, and beyond that, the upper gable on the top of the house. She turned to look behind her and could see the edge of the roof just a few feet away, the length of Emily's room.
She steadied herself as she finished climbing the ladder and stepped out onto the outer nook above Emily's bedroom. She walked to the edge, careful not to get too close to it, and looked down at the conservatory below the windows where she had just been standing hours ago when tending to the greenery. From this view, her sister could get a wider glimpse of the gardens.Vinnie shook her head in disbelief and at the childishness of the thought of climbing around on the roof.
"My dear sister, it's a wonder you didn't fall to your death from here," she said out loud to herself or to Emily if she was listening.
It was when she turned around that she noticed a contraption sitting on the roof that she had not noticed there at first. It was half covered with a dusty black tarp that some dead leaves had settled on. She picked at it lightly with two dainty fingers to remove it the rest of the way so she could see what it was hiding. The machine resembled some sort of communication device. Two copper coils were mounted atop a platform that bore a resemblance to an old cutting board that had gone missing from the kitchen many years ago. Maggie had assumed Mrs. Dickinson had thrown it out and replaced it without asking.
Several crude wires protruded out of a wooden box mounted to the bottom of the slab. They had been nailed down to the edges of the board on top to keep them in place as they connected to the tall coils. A heavy glass dome sat between the coils. The dome was nestled into a smooth groove that had been carved into the slab to keep it in place.
The dome had a brass bobble on top of it that was used as the knob to lift it. Vinnie recognized it at once as being the lid to an old terrarium in which Emily had kept a diamondback terrapin one summer in the conservatory. Emily told her she'd dropped the lid and it had cracked so she'd had it thrown out. The base of the terrarium was now home to one of Emily's rare dancing lady orchids.
A lever was embedded into a compartment next to the coils, with several wires running from the coils to the lever and under the slab again to the box underneath. Vinnie noticed two buttons at the base of one of the coils. One was pushed in and the other was out, possibly some sort of on and off switch. Dare she push the button?
DICKINSTEIN WILL BE PUBLISHED BYIN MID OCTOBER, AND I'LL BE THE FIRST IN LINE.
THANKS FOR STOPPING BY, SHANNON!
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