Q&A with Eliza Nellums

From my Q&A with Eliza Nellums, author of The Bone Cay: A Novel:

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

Well, "the bone cay" is said to be the original name for Key West (Cayo Hueso - "West" was probably a misunderstanding of the Spanish word for bones, back when the island was used for fishing) so I think it establishes the location and also the tone, since the book is a thriller. I would have preferred to spell it "key" so that you get another pun - as there is literally a skeleton in the book that becomes part of a larger mystery - but that wouldn't be an original title, and I think this works too.

What's in a name?

I usually put a lot of thought into names, but in this case Magda Trudell presented itself to me. Part of her backstory is that she's...[read on]

Visit Eliza Nellums's website.

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Writers Read: Eliza Nellums (December 2019).

The Page 69 Test: The Bone Cay.

Q&A with Eliza Nellums.

--Marshal Zeringue