We chat with author Kelly McWilliams about No One Leaves the Manor, which is a deliciously twisted, fast-paced YA horror, where debutante dreams become bloody nightmares—perfect for fans of House of Hollow and Their Vicious Games.
Hi, Kelly! Welcome back! What have you been up to since we last spoke for the release of Agnes at the End of the World in 2020?
Oh, my goodness! 2020 seems both like yesterday and like forever ago. In the interim, I’ve published four YA novels with LBYR and I’m about to release my adult debut from Crown this year. I also moved to Seattle! I love it here.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Maybe it’s Maybelline, but I can’t picture a time when I wasn’t critically interested in stories. First in telling them out loud, then getting them down in print. My mother is a storyteller and writer, too, so I think it just felt natural. Then again, I notice that I’m heavily influencing my own child to love stories! It seems to be a family trait.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton. It was read TO me, being a picture book, but I remember it vividly.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Model Home by Rivers Solomon
Your latest novel, No One Leaves the Manor, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Haunted manor underestimates dangerous debutantes.
What can readers expect?
The Roaring Twenties, a manor whose walls shift and change, evil secrets written in the doors… think Shirley Jackson meets Lovecraft Country! The book is very much historical horror, focusing on a cursed vacation town in New Hampshire, which is of course home to a creepy manor.
Where did the inspiration for No One Leaves the Manor come from?
It’s always been a dream of mine to write a true-blue haunted house novel. But it’s just about the hardest genre there is! I always knew it would take me a couple books at least to work up to trying it for myself. And then I sold my adult fiction debut and I finally decided—now’s the time to do something really fun in the YA space. Something adventurous and freeing. I wrote Manor at the same time as I was revising American Nightmare, and I think of them as my day-job book (Nightmare) and my night-shift book (Manor). They balanced each other out quite magically. I don’t think I could’ve written either book without the other.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
My editor, Alvina Ling, pushed me to include Birdie’s point of view. She was always the fourth girl in the manor, but she kept her thoughts to herself—she seemed more grown than the others to me, having survived polio and spiritual abuse down South. Actually, she reminds me a little of Agnes, transported into another story. But she didn’t have her own voice until my editor insisted on it. And when I channeled her inner monologue, it all came out in verse (at least, when she’s in extreme physical pain). I’m so glad I didn’t miss out on diving into her story.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Like Birdie, I suffer some chronic pain issues. Jaw tension and posture issues. The modern disease! Sometimes I can’t write for as long as I’d like to, anymore. Other times I’m doggone determined to keep writing so I have a couple tricks up my sleeve. I take ice baths to quickly calm inflammation and get back to my desk (I hate them, but it works). And I let myself sleep. Never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep.
What’s next for you?
I hope everyone picks up American Nightmare when it comes out in September! It’s available to preorder now. As a writer, what unites much of my work is outsider stories, white-presenting and white-passing stories. I hope my next project is another horror involving those themes.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
I absolutely adored KIN by Tayari Jones. Honestly, this next season is looking so stacked, especially for those of us who love Black horror. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Mazywood, Tananarieve Due’s latest!
