New Release ‘Desperate Creatures:’ Author Q&A
Spoilers ahead!
This article contains references to the newly-released book, Desperate Creatures. Spoilers are unavoidable when diving this deep! So please consider holding off on this article until you’ve read the book yourself.
How were you inspired to write Desperate Creatures?
This. Damn. Painting.
A few years ago, my family and I accidentally stayed in a TOTALLY HAUNTED rental cabin in Lake George, NY. When we first walked in, we all got the creeps, my skeptic husband included. I knew in my bones we had rented a haunted building for our family vacation, and in my mind, said something to the effect of, Oooook then.
One hallway in particular, what was obviously once the servants’ wing, was particularly unsettling. In that hallway hung a copy of a painting of a young girl with sloping shoulders. It was so creepy I even wrote about it in my first book about haunted locations. And even my big brave husband avoided that hallway for the duration of our stay.
On our penultimate night, I ran an overnight session in the rooms at the end to see if I could capture any EVPs or ghostly phenomena. (Of course I had packed paranormal equipment! Ghost nerd, remember?) Sure as hell, I caught some whispers and footsteps around 3 a.m., while we all slept in the rooms of the separate wing.
“The Restless Painting” from Dana and Greg Newkirk’s Traveling Museum of the Paranormal and Occult
When I returned home, one day, I happened to be researching Dana and Greg Newkirk’s Traveling Museum of the Paranormal and Occult, only to see the girl in the painting staring back at me from the screen. I was floored.
It turns out, the original of the painting that had scared me so much is actually haunted.
WHAT.
It is called “The Restless Painting,” and is known to throw nearby paintings off the wall, among other activity. I couldn’t believe the synchronicity of the moment, and I don’t like to throw that buzzword around very often.
I realized I had to incorporate my own experiences in a haunted cabin into a unique fiction storyline. I am a sucker for romance in every story, so that had to go in too. And my lead character had to be strong, but also on a healing journey, because that is a story worth telling. I set it in beautiful Bolton Landing, a village on Lake George, and it all came together, bit by bit.
And that’s where Desperate Creatures began.
What is your favorite part of the book?
In all honesty, my favorite parts are actually the parts that rip your heart out.
When I write, I really try to let myself tap into raw emotion; it’s a huge part of my writing process. So when something awful happens in my narrative, I try to truly feel it and relay that to the best of my ability, as hard as that is sometimes. In this story, Jon’s death scene truly hurt. Especially after the twin flame connection he had with Mara. That’s special. But I had to do it.
I don’t meeeean to crush my readers, but a story that matters HAS to have that big, deep emotion. It’s the crux of why the story exists at all. I cried after I wrote it. I felt like I’d committed a terrible crime, that my FMC would be mad at me, somehow. haha.. that’s probably a sign I needed a breather after writing that section. (I did end up driving to get myself a big white chocolate mocha that day.)
I also enjoy the parts of the book that focus on the importance of found family. This theme/trope is a hugely important part of my real life, not just the worlds I build on the page, so they always give me the warm and fuzzies. There is a lot of salvation in allowing yourself to be open to letting people in that deep. I’ve said it before, over and over again:
Finding the people who know and love the real you? That will be what saves you.
There are a lot of different levels of found families in this story. It’s kind of an I Spy game here and there.
Speaking of found family, let’s talk about Amy. Where does Amy’s resiliency come from?
It’s entirely possible that “Amy” is based on a real friend. Just based on, not 100% the same person in full.
As I incorporated paranormal investigation into my storyline, as a real life ghost hunter, I couldn’t help but pull from real experiences with my favorite paranormal crew. I needed a funny, brilliant, strong friend character, who has her own identity, to back Mara up. I dislike when a side character has no identity beyond “Friend of the FMC,” so it was important for me to imbue her with real spirit, sass, love, and her own style and backstory. I just happened to know a real-life ghost geek who fit the bill.
Amy is a stalwart friend, both before and after Mara’s trauma years. When Mara calls on her from Lake George and truly needs support, Amy doesn’t hesitate to be there for her. She doesn’t hold a grudge based on hurt feelings. That can be hard thing to do. But admirably, she’s mature enough to understand the complexities of where Mara is in her life and what she’s been through. She doesn’t take Mara’s reclusiveness personally, though it hurt her deeply. She wasn’t offended, she just missed her friend and wished she could have been there for her. It’s a rare adult female friendship that offers such judgement-free honesty and reliability. Really, Amy is the unsung hero in Desperate Creatures.
I wouldn’t dream of putting words in the real-life inspiration individual’s mouth, but as far as in Desperate Creatures, Amy’s resiliency comes from her own strong, healthy relationships, being unabashedly herself. She has a fiancé who knows her true self, who finds ghosts with her and loves her. She has her own origin family, though it wasn’t necessary to discuss them in this storyline. Much the same as you need to put your own oxygen mask on first before assisting others, Amy has a solid grasp on her own needs and who she truly is. She’s not sorry if it makes you uncomfortable.
More Found Family: The Ghosts
The found family theme is also vital to the ghosts. Ahh the ghosts. As I was writing, I really wanted to avoid a Disney Haunted Mansion or Scooby Doo vibe, and give these characters real backstories and values and love. In so many stories, the ghosts are simply the story of how they died. It was important to me to convey the depth of love between them, how they formed a family together.
On that note, I would like to say that Fabian’s special needs do not equate her with being a monster, whatsoever. I consulted several sensitivity readers from various backgrounds before the book was released. Fabian’s sensitivities to being overstimulated are never diagnosed. She was (and remains, in spirit) a frightened child who may not fully grasp adult situations in an abusive household, but acts in defense of those she loves. She is loved by her found family. And an abusive, rapist father is most certainly the truest villain in this book, if there was ever any confusion on that score.
Why does Mara become so close so fast with Caroline, and later with her friendly neighbor, Joan?
This is probably painfully obvious, but worth discussing anyway. Mara lacks any maternal support in her life, and thus finds it endlessly comforting when she encounters a kind woman who makes her feel safe. Mara loves men, (a whole hell of a lot, *wink wink*) but after Jon, in Mara’s mind before she’s fully healed, men are often simplified down to be easily categorized and filed away. Mara’s female friendships are incredibly important to her.
I won’t dance around the fact that I often draw inspiration for this theme from my own life, especially after delving into my own relationship with my mother in my first book, Making Friends with Ghosts. I myself value maternal-type people when I encounter them.
Caroline is a natural nurturer, and treats Mara with mature kindness, moreso than a girlfriend who will drink margaritas and laugh at dirty jokes with her. I think Joan innately knows that Mara needs a motherly kind of support, and has the heart and demeanor to freely offer it. (P.S. Joan is my favorite character in the book.)
Switching gears now: let’s get kinky. Why does Mara respond so favorably to dominance when it comes to sex, even after Jon’s death?
Oversimplified answer? Daddy issues. Mara doesn’t have the support from her father either, as well as her mother. That’s kind of a cop out answer though, and I take kink very seriously, so let’s go a little deeper.
The Daddy/Good Girl kink really has very little to do with her actual Dad. It’s more that Mara had to be her own father, in a sense. She’s had to carry the burden of tackling adult issues on her own, without guidance, more or less, for so long in her life, that handing over trust and control to a strong, trustworthy man feels like a blessed relief.
Generally speaking, the “Daddy” kink is often desirable bedroom behavior to those women who make decisions from dawn ‘til dusk. The dominance in the bedroom feels like a weight lifted, a chance to take a break from decision-making. However, it’s important to note in this kind of relationship, the dominant role is earned, and then given by the “sub,” not taken. In kink canon, a true Dom has taken the time to prove they care for their partner and are worthy of that trust. That they feel 100% safe. A true Dom doesn’t hurt for pleasure—instead they aim to test limits and take the weight of decision-making and responsibility from their partner’s shoulders, thereby allowing them to freely enjoy the moment. They still respect their partner’s ability to make decisions, and depending on agreed-upon boundaries, they may only take this role in the bedroom.
Mara and Jon had a version of this type of relationship. Thus, some readers may balk at Mara’s sex life after the loss of her partner, but as I note in the book, Mara finds pleasure and satisfaction in continuing to embrace this part of her life. She’s always made choices following her internal thread—her intuition. Men with physical dominance and confidence let Mara give herself to the moment, and often give her a physical reminder of Jon, too. She prefers men who could take this role and free her from her mental load, even if their connection isn’t as deeply meaningful, nor meant to be long-lasting.
Why does Nina respect Mara’s sexual independence?
In life, Nina’s experiences with men were never her choice. She experienced terrible trauma at the hands of a powerful man, but retained her kind heart. That is real strength. And in observing Mara on her healing journey at the cabin, Nina can admire that Mara works hard and is a kind woman at her core, while still making bold choices about her own body… and what she does with it.
There are parallels between Mara, Fabian, and even Janet, particularly in their grief and emotion-based responses.
A theme that I absolutely loved in this book was how such different women, coming from different stages (and literal eras) of life, responded so similarly when it came to the powerful notions of vengeance and grief.
Each of these women, some of them seeing the other(s) as the “villain,” were at one point fueled solely by seeking revenge for the wrongs done to loved ones. They didn’t care what it cost them, in either finances nor their own mental health. They had tunnel vision, their agony in grief or rage controlling everything they did.
In the end, in each of these women’s personal stories, it was inevitably their quest for vengeance that was their downfall.
Some scraped their ways back. Some… didn’t.
I’ve said before this book could have been written in multiple POV format. I will leave thoughts beyond this for the reader to interpret, and find unexpected similarities in behaviors of these women. This is too important to the essence of the story to offer spoilers, just in case.
I hope you enjoyed this deeper look behind the scenes of Desperate Creatures.
This book, and Mara, Jon, Joan, Amy, Fabian, that poor bastard Trevor… they have all meant so much to me. I’m so happy Desperate Creatures is finally available to the world. It feels like an early Christmas present to me.
If you read and enjoyed it, please consider leaving reviews on Amazon and Goodreads! They help more than you think.
XOXO, Mallory
