Interview with Author Katie Marshall

Katie Marshall received her BFA in creative writing and English from The University of Maine at Farmington. During her time there she also interned and later freelanced for a local newspaper as a journalist. Katie has had poems and short stories published in several collections. Katie is a member of the International Thriller Writers and several social media author groups as well. When she isn’t writing, she is a veracious reader and prides herself on her private library she has gathered over the years. She still lives and works in her beloved home state of Maine.

Question: What is the title and genre of your novel?  Why did you select them?

Answer: My novel is The Blackbird’s Song and it’s a psychological thriller. I didn’t really set out to write a thriller novel but I’ve always been interested in the genre so I guess it found me. The title came out of a creative writing course I took in college. I submitted part of this novel for critique by my peers and every person in the class highlighted the same line as something they liked. It later developed into a metaphor for both of my main characters.

Question:   What inspired this novel? How did it come about?

Answer: My inspiration came from a dream I had about a girl and her sister in a dining room where plates, food, and other items in the room had been scattered all over the floor but the candles on the table were still lit. It felt like something was ending, something important, so I started to work backwards to figure out why it had happened. That’s how I came to know one of my main characters, Lizzie. I wrote about her for most of my senior year in high and the beginning of college but something was always missing. Even after I had completed her journey in my mind, it felt like half a story. Then I realized that it was  half of the story. So then I met Brian, my other main character, and it all fell into place.

Question:  Could you tell us a little bit about the heroine and/or hero of your novel?

Answer:  My heroine, Lizzie is a teenage girl that survived a horrific run in with a serial killer called The Bogeyman who terrorized coastal California. When Lizzie is found dying under her sister’s bed, she discovers that the police have targeted her adopted brother, James as the mass murderer behind these atrocities but Lizzie knows it can’t be true. Despite multiple therapists and her sister’s insistent they move to Maine for a fresh start, Lizzie is determined to hold on to this idea until she is able to uncover the truth.  

My second main character, Brian is more of an anti-hero. After the death of his mother and physical abuse from an alcoholic father, Brian is taken down a path of dissociative experiences that he is barely aware of. The “others” that emerge from these dissociations take over the mind, leading Brian into a series of events that transform him into The Bogeyman, a serial killer with bloodthirsty habits and the broken remnants of a mind that continuously justifies its self.

Question:   Can you tell us about some of your other published novels or work?

Answer:  The Blackbird’s Song is my first full length novel. I also have to collections of poetry and a collection of short stories, all of which I wrote in college. My collections of poetry, Tears Against the Windowpane and The Writer delve into my own personal journal of love, family, and finding my self worth. My collection of short stories, A System of the Chaotic Mind shows shorts glimpses of the lives of people who encounter extraordinary circumstances and battle disorders that can distort the mind’s perspective.  My most recent piece is a novella, The Other Half of the Moon, which is a romantic comedy about Aphrodite Miller’s misadventures in romance.

Question:   What are you working on now?

Answer:  I’m a multi-genre, multi-work kind of writer. I work on whatever piece I feel like at the time. I’m currently in the process of editing a young adult coming of age story as well as writing a fantasy piece about a coven on sisters. My largest piece currently is another thriller about a woman named Letitia who becomes a modern Elizabeth Bathory, bathing in women’s blood for their youth and beauty. In this piece, the reader will get a glimpse into Letitia’s past and journey with her into the future as she discovers there is more to life than her own vanity.

Question:   What made you start writing?

Answer: I always liked story telling when I was a little girl. My aunt helped me make my first book when I was six years old. I did the illustrations and I must say I’m a better writer than an artist. Writing became this thing that followed me throughout my life. When the time came for me to pick a major for college, I couldn’t think of anything else I would rather be doing.

Question:   What advice would you offer to those who are currently writing novels?

Answer: Let the writing breathe. It’s easy to get hung up on deadlines, word counts, and the feeling that everything has to be perfect right at that moment. Sometimes my best work comes from not meeting a deadline or not having the story go in the direction I had planned for it. I believe a good story will speak to the writer in a way that will let them know what it is meant to be.

Question:  Where and when will readers be able to obtain your novel?

Answer: The Blackbird’s Song is now available on the Black Opal Books website, Amazon, and any other location that Black Opal Books are sold. Readers can also check out my author’s website https://sites.google.com/view/katiemmarshall-author/my-works for direct links to all of my works.

Questions and comments for Katie are appreciated.