Monday, April 23, 2012

Author Interview - Bethany Griffin

Welcome to day 1 one of my Masque of the Red Death event. Stopping by the blog today I have the author, Bethany Griffin for a fun Q & A about the book, the characters, and her writing.


1. Describe Masque of the Red Death in 3 words

dark, romantic, suspenseful.


2 Describe your novel's main character Araby in three words.

desperate, disillusioned, stronger than she thinks she is (cheated a bit on that last one)


3 What sort of research did you do for Masque of the Red Death? 

I read a few biographies of Poe, as well as reading The Masque of the Red Death multiple times, reading about Poe's life was what gave me the idea to set the story in a world right after his death. I did basic research about knowledge and terms from the time period, and then changed them to suit myself and the story.


4 How would Araby describe Will and Elliott?

She would describe Will as painfully good looking, and intimidating (at least in the beginning) she would describe Elliott as brash, arrogant, and driven.


5 What was it about Edgar Allen Poe's short story that inspired you?

The world, and the darkness, and the theme of not being able to avoid death.

6 Do you listen to a play list while you write? If so what is the one song you listened to the most while writing Masque of the Red Death. 

I don't actually listen to music WHILE I write, it distracts me. But I do usually have a playlist, for when I'm thinking about the book. If I had to pick an overarching theme song for everything I've ever written, it would be Something I can Never Have by Nine Inch Nails


7 Who is the first person that gets to read your writing?

Usually my husband, sometimes my real life critique group.


8 What is the last book you read that you would recommend to everyone? 

Wow, I don't think I would recommend any one book to everyone, a big part of my job is matching up books with readers and talking to kids about books.


9 If you could go back in time to any time period and any place, where and when would you travel to? 

It would probably be a waste to ask for a Nirvana concert since those happened in my lifetime, I just didn't get to go, the middle ages are my favorite time period, but you wouldn't really want to GO there, so how about Victorian London?


10 What has been the most surprising part of the publishing process?

Well, since I'm not actually a debut, the fact that I got a second chance? And an awesome one, at that!

Thank you Bethany for stopping by and answering my questions. Tomorrow I am reviewing Masque of the Red Death. It's one of my favourite (if not my favourite) book of 2012!

5 comments:

  1. thank you for the interview! I will have to check it out since I'm a big big fan of Edgar Allen Poe! And can I just say that Bethany is beautiful!

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  2. Fabulous interview, honey! :) I asked Nicole to order a few books from Amazon for me, and Masque was one of them! Now I can't wait to meet up with Nicole and get it from her - so flipping excited for this one!

    It's very impressive that Bethany did so much research for the book - reading all those biographies - wow! I am a huge fan of Poe (as well as all things creepy, dark and eerie!) so this one is pretty much a "must-read-immediately!" :D

    Thanks for the interview, ladies!

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  3. Fantastic interview, loved both your questions and answers! I love seeing how much (or little) research authors put in as they're writing. And Araby's descriptions of Will and Elliot have me mighty intrigued to meet them both :D

    I can never understand how some writers can actually write while music is playing at the same time, I need total silence when I'm writing anything at all!

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  4. Masque of the Red Death By: Bethany Griffin was both dark and beautiful. Set in a devastating time and place, during a deadly plague, Griffin's story, influenced by non other than Edgar Allan Poe was utter fantastic!

    From beginning to end, I was mesmerized, lost in Griffin's world... just as a great book should accomplish for its reader. It's not often that I've been lucky enough to find a book that so utterly captivated me, but this one hands down did just that. I had no idea what to expect when I picked this one up, but I knew that many others had been raving about the title. I couldn't have been more pleased that I listened to what my fellow readers and bloggers had to say when it comes to this new favorite title.

    Araby is one of the lucky ones. She lives a privileged life in an otherwise crumbling, plague riddled world. What might be perfect on the outside, nice place to live, a best friend, fancy dresses and glittery make up and so much more... isn't so perfect on the inside. She's a girl mourning the death of her twin brother. Taken by the plague at such a young age, Araby feels she's to blame for Finn's death and sets out to live her life by certain rules. She doesn't think its fair that she gets to experience many things in life that Finn never will.

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