Q&A with Amy Crider

From my Q&A with Amy Crider, author of Kells: A novel of the eighth century:

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

I struggled with the title of my novel Kells: a novel of the eighth century. The novel is about the creation of the Book of Kells, but it was not known as the Book of Kells at that time. The monks weren’t living at Kells then, they moved there later. I wanted to keep Kells in the title to make clear this is the Book of Kells, and I tried some variations such as Kells: the Gospel of Columba, as well as The Pen of God. I rejected those because it made my novel sound more religious than it is. My editor decided the title we used worked well enough.

What's in a name?

I read 50 books to research this novel. The very first book I read, Fury of the Northmen, mentioned...[read on]

Visit Amy Crider's website.

Q&A with Amy Crider.

--Marshal Zeringue