Kayla Hardy

Kayla Hardy is a mythology expert and multi-hyphenate author and screenwriter of Louisiana Creole descent. She earned her PhD in creative writing and African American literature from SUNY Binghamton University. Hardy is an adjunct professor at SUNY Binghamton University and is an accomplished scholar of Black folklore, mythology, and Voodoo.

The Quarter Queen is Hardy's first novel.

My Q&A with the author:

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

It is my hope that my novel’s title The Quarter Queen centers readers in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter which, in a historical fantasy novel, is a character in itself. More than simply a lush backdrop, the French Quarter is alive with dark magic, Voodoo, alchemy, gods, and demons. The title The Quarter Queen is my own twist, made up of the real-life moniker for Marie who was known historically as the ‘Voodoo Queen’ and the neighborhood of New Orleans known as the French Quarter—the Vieux Carré—where she lived and worked her magic. While it is has some great alliteration to it, I hope that readers will see the title as something to be critically unpacked, to study the very nature of unprecedented power that a woman like Marie Laveau wielded in the 19th century.

What's in a name?

Because The Quarter Queen centers both the real-life Marie Laveau I and her daughter, Marie Laveau II, the names were already baked into the conceit! But, the challenge arose with how to differentiate the two on the page so readers wouldn’t be confused between them. So I had the not so crazy idea to name Marie II, Ree, which ended up working out because so much of the novel is about Ree inherently rejecting the title of The Quarter Queen, and in doing so, the legacy of the name Marie Laveau itself. Much in the same way I hope readers will do, Ree begins to critically understand the political power she holds as her mother’s successor and how to, ultimately, use this power to change the course of destiny not just in her own life and family, but for her people and the city of New Orleans as a whole in the ways in which her mother failed to do.

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

Usually, the endings will come to me first. But for this novel, the beginning came to me right away, down to the very first line in the prologue. The ending was changed a couple of times, but not so much on a craft level, but in a way that helped conclude both Maries arcs satisfactorily. Because their chapters alternate between two different timelines, their arcs naturally became more emotionally entangled as the past and present collided. By the end of the book, I wanted readers to see how the events of Marie’s life, for better or for worse, complicated the course of Ree’s rise, forcing her to make one final emotionally and politically devastating choice that would have explosive ramifications for all the power players in New Orleans. I wanted the ending to have a sense of destiny that shapes both mother and daughter and that will make readers question a sense of legacy in their own families and lives.

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

On other projects, I have not. I try to honor the characters in all of their messy glory which is a process that has nothing to do with me, author-Kayla, personally. But with The Quarter Queen, I wanted to explore my own Louisiana Creole heritage and really try to unpack questions of duality. How can someone be both Catholic and a Voodienne? How can someone live in the shadow of a larger-than-life mother without her own light being totally eclipsed? I had a rocky relationship with my own mother growing up that has now since mended and I saw so much of that in the dynamic between Ree and Marie. I also just think Ree and Marie are such great foils for readers to study because they represent the inherent duality, we as humans embody mother and daughter, princess and queen, saints and sinners.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I absolutely love the band Sleep Token; they are cinematic and lush and dark. Honestly, their music stayed on repeat the entire time I was writing the book (including songs like “Rain” and “Dark Signs”). Perfect fuel for a book like The Quarter Queen. I am also a massive fan of Ryan Coogler and Jordan Peele; there are intersections in their films, different but overlapping takes on the lives of black folks. I also feel so deeply anchored by the American south, by my childhood summers spent beneath a sweltering Louisiana sun. That sense of southern gothic is deeply implanted in my brain, and I hope it never goes away.

Visit Kayla Hardy's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Quarter Queen.

--Marshal Zeringue