Q&A with Gwendolyn Kiste

From my Q&A with Gwendolyn Kiste, author of The Haunting of Velkwood:

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...[read on]

Visit Gwendolyn Kiste's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Haunting of Velkwood.

Q&A with Gwendolyn Kiste.

--Marshal Zeringue