Q&A with Keshe Chow

From my Q&A with Keshe Chow, author of For No Mortal Creature:

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

The title is taken from an excerpt from Wuthering Heights, which was one of the inspirations for For No Mortal Creature. Specifically, this passage of dialogue uttered by Cathy Earnshaw:

“He quite deserted! we separated!” she exclaimed, with an accent of indignation. “Who is to separate us, pray? They’ll meet the fate of Milo! Not as long as I live, Ellen: for no mortal creature. Every Linton on the face of the earth might melt into nothing before I could consent to forsake Heathcliff.”

I feel as though the title conveys quite a lot about the book. Firstly, that it draws inspiration from Wuthering Heights. Second, using words such as ‘mortal’ and ‘creature’ conveys that it has fantasy and gothic undertones. Third, ‘no mortal creature’ fits the book well, as the book is about ghosts who can die and become ghosts of ghosts. Since there are many ghosts in the book, having ‘no mortal creature’ in the title is very evocative.

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Visit Keshe Chow's website.

Q&A with Keshe Chow.

--Marshal Zeringue