Gwendolyn Kiste

Gwendolyn Kiste is the three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens, Reluctant Immortals, And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, Pretty Marys All in a Row, The Invention of Ghosts, and Boneset & Feathers. She's a Lambda Literary Award winner, and her fiction has also received the This Is Horror award for Novel of the Year as well as nominations for the Premios Kelvin and Ignotus awards.

Originally from Ohio, Kiste now resides on an abandoned horse farm outside of Pittsburgh with her husband, their calico cat, and not nearly enough ghosts.

Kiste's new novel is The Haunting of Velkwood.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I feel like the title of The Haunting of Velkwood definitely sets the stage for what sort of book this is. You immediately have the imagery of The Haunting of Hill House, to which this novel definitely pays homage. Plus, the word Velkwood isn’t immediately recognizable, so it establishes a little bit of mystery right away.

This book was very different for me because usually, I know exactly what I want to call a work fairly early in the process. With this novel, however, I never quite clicked with a title during the writing process. I believe the working title that I sent to my publisher was The Velkwood Girls. It was decided that was a little vague, so we went back and forth on some options before The Haunting of Velkwood was suggested. Since I’m such a huge Shirley Jackson fan and this novel owes such a great debt to her work, it really seemed like the ideal title for the book. So big thanks to Jela Lewter at Saga Press for suggesting it!

What's in a name?

For me, names are always such an exciting part of the writing process. For the eponymous Velkwood, I remember coming up with that one very early on. It was a word I’d never heard before but somehow felt familiar at the same time. In particular, I wanted something that sounded unusual and earthy and maybe even a little spooky. Plus, with the title of the novel being an homage to The Haunting of Hill House, Velkwood is bit of a nod to the Blackwood family from Jackson’s other classic novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

As for my main character Talitha, I briefly knew someone years ago with that name, and I always thought it was so unique. I don’t know that I’ve come across it again since then. Talitha seemed like such a singular character in the novel, someone who’s become isolated from the rest of the world, so it seemed appropriate to give her a name that also didn’t fit the mold and separated her from other people. As for Brett, I’ve always thought it was such a lovely name for a girl. More specifically, Ava Gardner played the character of Lady Brett Ashley in the Hemingway adaptation, The Sun Also Rises, and I couldn’t help but imagine that my character of Brett has some of that fiery Ava Gardner energy, so that felt like the perfect choice for her.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Probably not too surprised. I’ve always been a huge fan of horror, so the fact that I’ve written a novel about a ghostly neighborhood would probably be right up my alley during adolescence.

Mostly, though, I think my teenage self would just be so incredibly thrilled that I’m a writer for a living. It felt like a difficult, nebulous goal when I was young. I wasn’t sure how you could even navigate the publishing industry and make that career a reality. It’s been so exciting to be able to become a writer. Even with its ups and downs, it’s such an incredible honor to spend my days like this.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I probably change my beginnings a bit more than my endings. Especially with The Haunting of Velkwood, I tinkered with that first chapter a bit to make sure that the reader gets to know Talitha right away and also to ensure that you’re pulled into the central mystery of what happened to her and the neighborhood where she grew up.

On the other hand, I knew very early on how I wanted the book to end. To me, it felt like the last chapter, even the last two chapters, were the only place these characters could end up. So writing the ending was much easier for me, even if it’s a fairly emotional finale. I was really dedicated to seeing these characters through the last of this ghostly mystery.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I definitely see a lot of myself in my characters. I sometimes think that most of my characters are segments of my own psyche in one way or another. In The Haunting of Velkwood, Talitha definitely represents how much I’m always trying to move forward from the past, even if I don’t always succeed as much as I’d like. Brett represents my determination to keep going, no matter the odds. And the supporting character of Enid is the part of me that always felt like an outcast growing up.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I’m a big fan of photography, so I definitely look to people like Cindy Sherman, Bill Owens, William Eggleston, and Jo Ann Callis for inspiration. I’m also a tremendous fan of film, so I’m always watching movies for inspiration as well. I adore David Lynch, Sofia Coppola, David Cronenberg, and some of Terence Malick’s early films as well as lots of horror cinema, including Hammer horror, the Universal horror movies, and Val Lewton’s films. Truly, though, I can find inspiration anywhere—from a walk in my backyard or a trip to the art museum or just a drive to a new place. There’s so much inspiration lurking everywhere; sometimes, I feel like I just have to open my eyes and find it.

Visit Gwendolyn Kiste's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Haunting of Velkwood.

--Marshal Zeringue