Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm back with another author interview! And this time I spoke with author Sami Ellis. You might know her from her hilarious tweets but she recently released a campy YA horror. So read on to hear her reminisce on some childhood favorites and talk about the process writing Dead Girls Walking.
What inspired Dead Girls Walking?
Being a cliche of myself, I was inspired after I saw the response to Get Out. Not necessarily watching the film, but seeing everyone love it as much as I loved it. It gave me hope that I could write a horror book about what I was actually afraid of as a Black girl - and really lean into my favorite genre. I was raised on horror, so it's always been a part of my work, but this was a full circle moment for me. That's partially why Dead Girls Walking is so Friday the 13th inspired - it's a homage to the genre, yes, but it's also me just celebrating everything I love about returning to the genre for good.
Have you ever been to a summer camp? If so, what was your experience like?
I have been to a summer camp before! I went to two different ones, and there are a few scenes in Dead Girls inspired by it. The scene where they talk about hearing knocking through the night is directly pulled from my memories at Camp Schmidt in PG County. I had heard knocking on the window through the night! And when I woke up and asked if anyone else had heard it, only one person had cosigned me. When a teacher heard me talking about it, he said it was the haunted Goat Man of Camp Schmidt lol.
Is there a favorite scene you had to edit out of the book?
There wasn't, really. Through the many drafts of Dead Girls, there were a bunch of characters I had to cut to simplify the story (if you think the story's complicated now, you should have read it when there were 20 campers) - and I felt those cuts deeper than little lines of dialogue. A good example is Queen Bee Anysaa herself. She was always Temple's antagonist, but she's actually two characters merged into one - there used to be four Barbies, and one of them was a meek girl who participated in bullying Temple for her own self-preservation. And that girl was the one Temple attacked, because she was so angry at the thought that this girl would choose to be a victim. I cut this character and merged her with the bad bitch in charge Anysaa to give Anysaa a little bit more depth outside of bratty one-liners.
How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
I don't think it's changed much - I pretty much still write how and what I want to write (to the chagrin of my agent). The one thing I will say is that it's made me much more aware of what I do and do not want to write. For example, while there are plenty of ambiguous horror stories that I love with small moments and bubbling dread…that's not for me. I want big, splashy moments and sick kills. I'd say through publishing I'm much more confident in trying new things with that desire in mind.
What is the most random thing you’ve Googled for a work in progress?
This is so difficult to answer because I really just google to think and it rarely makes it into my final book. But I do remember…Indonesian meditation techniques. I based an entire magic system on it, in a book I wrote a long time ago that was inspired by my best friend who was, you guessed it, indonesian. I retired that book, it was the first one I ever queried. But I repurposed it recently - minus all the Googled culture signposts and ignorantly slapdash magic system- into a short story, which is in the upcoming Monsters In Masquerade anthology from OwlCrate.
What is the secret to navigating social media as an author?
Shitpost all the time and jeopardize your career writing smut about Barnes & Nobles's CEO.
If you could have a dream author event what would it consist of?
I already had it. Virtual event with Holly Black was actually so metal, and one of the best ways to launch my career. It was fun and even though I was sweating bullets we got some GREAT conversation in there. I still can't believe it happened!
What books did you love as a teen?
I was such a Hunger Games kid. To the point my mom and sister know the plot well, despite never seeing or reading it (My sister said "The Hunger Games doesn't sound as interesting as Twilight" which she hasn't read either lol). My mom actually watched it for the first time last year (and she said "I don't like this Gale boy" haha). I was so into dystopian back then - my other favorite being Unwind by Neal Shusterman. But I would also read whatever was in at the library at the time. I remember checking out every Kimani Tru book I hadn't read yet once a week. My mom would buy me the new Keysha's Drama book every Christmas. It's strange having my childhood be split between voicey Black contemporary novels and desolate, action-packed dystopias…but that kind of sums up what I write now, doesn't it?
Do you have any hobbies outside of reading and writing?
I play a lot of video games, watch gaming streams, sometimes play video games while watching them be streamed. I also love to bake. I'm so bad at cooking, but I'm a decent baker.
What should we expect next from you?
More James Daunt smut, more anthology short stories hopefully. I have no books in the pipeline, but I'm always writing them so one should come out eventually (right? RIGHT??)
Enjoyed the interview!
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