Our first interview this month is with an author whose most recent book released just last week! If you’re a fan of slowburning family mysteries, then Kelly J. Ford’s Real Bad Things is a book you should be checking out. In the meantime, though, sit yourselves down and have a read of our interview with Kelly, just to whet your appetite.
And don’t forget that you can follow Kelly on twitter too!
Have you always known you wanted to be a writer? How old were you when you wrote your first story?
Writing was never something I aspired to, it was just something I did because it was fun and a way to express my feelings. In junior high, my best friend and I would write poetry all night and then read it to one another. I didn’t pivot to prose until college and I had to turn in a short story to pass the class.
What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
I read across genres. If the premise sounds interesting, I don’t really care what genre it falls under. I tend to swap between fiction and non-fiction, though.
When you close your eyes and imagine an apple, what do you see? An actual apple, a sketch of one, a blackness? Do you think that impacts your writing process?
I see an apple. But that doesn’t surprise me because I write realistic fiction with a focus on issues of neglect, poverty, and sexuality. An apple is an apple! But I love the idea that others can see something else.
Which three authors would you say influenced your writing the most?
First and foremost, Kate Chopin. I read The Awakening in college and felt, well, awakened by the struggle of a young Southern woman who felt bound by her gender and society. I’m a sucker for tragedy. Before that, though, I was obsessed with V. C. Andrews, particularly her one stand-alone book, My Sweet Audrina. I loved the gothic setting and darkness of her worlds. But most especially Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was seminal for me in terms of realizing that I was not bound by my upbringing in Arkansas.
When you’re building your world, what do you focus on? How do you try to make it come to life?
For me, specificity is the key to bringing worlds alive. Flannery O’Connor is rumored to have said to hit at least three senses in a scene. Writers typically focus on visuals and hearing, to a lesser degree. My favorite sensory element for scenes is smell because it’s so tied to memory and can truly open up a character’s psyche.
What projects are you currently working on? Can you share any details yet?
I’m currently in the developmental edit phase for my third book, tentatively titled The Hunt. Of course, things can change significantly in this phase of editing, but the gist is that a small town stands divided as the local classic rock station prepares to host its first post-Covid Hunt for the Golden Egg scavenger hunt. Self-proclaimed “Eggheads” ready themselves for the largest payout ever, while anti-Eggheads rally against the Hunt and brace for the return of The Hunter, the alleged serial killer who has been using the Hunt as their killing ground for 17 years.
Three images that capture the aesthetic of your book?
River water, a darkened trailer, mud.
Three songs you would put in your book’s soundtrack?
“Edge of Town” by Middle Kids, “My Ego Dies at the End” by Jensen McRae, “Never Said” by Liz Phair.
What would be your dream project?
Working on an all-queer writing team for an all-queer streaming series. Being a novelist is great, but I love collaborating with other creatives from different backgrounds and with different sensibilities. I began writing screenplays before novels, so I’d love to flex that muscle again and in a professional environment.
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
Ada from my next book, The Hunt. She’s smart and sarcastic and has enough caution to think things through before inevitably diving headfirst into danger.
You’re stuck on a desert island and you’re allowed only three (LGBT) books. What are you taking?
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (queer vibes, don’t @ me! Lol), Denice Frohman doesn’t have a book of her own sadly, but I’d collect all her poetry into a book for myself.
You can collaborate on anything with anyone in the LGBT community: who would it be and why?
Jonathan Van Ness. I loved them before Queer Eye, when they hosted Gay of Thrones, the Game of Thrones recap show set in a salon. “Where are my dragons?!” What could be more fun than collaborating with them?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelly J. Ford is the author of Real Bad Things, coming Sep 1, 2022 from Thomas & Mercer, and Cottonmouths, named one of 2017’s best books of the year by the Los Angeles Review and featured in the “52 Books in 52 Weeks” from the Los Angeles Times.
An Arkansas native, Kelly writes crime fiction set in the Ozarks and Arkansas River Valley. Kelly is also an occasional co-host with Daniel Ford on the Writer’s Bone podcast. She lives in Vermont with her wife, cat, and dog.
Follow on Goodreads | Order Real Bad Things | Order Cottonmouths
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