Q&A with Annie Lampman

From my Q&A with Annie Lampman, author of Sins of the Bees:

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

I actually have a bad habit of picking boring book titles that sound like something nobody would ever want to read (this novel’s original title was Yellow-star Thistle!), but after a brainstorming session with my husband who has a gift with phraseology, we both knew immediately that the title Sins of the Bees had hit the nail on the head, and everybody afterward—including my agent, editor, publicist, and readers—has responded with piqued interest to the title. I think there’s something both jarring and fascinating about thinking of any fauna “sinning,” and in the case of this novel with its religious Y2K doomsday cult, beekeeping, and themes of trauma and loss and isolation and love, the title really captures something key about the book’s personality and the larger questions it’s working to explore. After reading the title, everybody always asks: “How do bees sin?” And I think that’s exactly the point: they...[read on]

Visit Annie Lampman's website.

The Page 69 Test: Sins of the Bees.

My Book, The Movie: Sins of the Bees.

Q&A with Annie Lampman.

--Marshal Zeringue