We chat with debut author Meriam Metoui about A Guide to the Dark, which is The Haunting of Hill House meets Nina LaCour in this paranormal mystery YA about the ghosts we carry with us.
Hi, Meriam! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Thank you for having me! My name is Meriam Metoui and I write queer, speculative YA. My debut is A GUIDE TO THE DARK, a book about two best friends secretly pining for each other and the motel room that wants to kill them.
I’m also a book editor and, when time permits, photographer, so I especially loved being able to include photography in the book. As a serial hobbyist, I love writing, painting, learning ASL, longboarding, too many TV shows to list, and playing the guitar badly, to name a few.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I remember writing my first short story in the 4th grade and I think I’ve been fascinated with storytelling ever since. Sure it was bad but it was thrilling to learn I could create something out of nothing, that as long as I could think of it, it could exist. Plus, it didn’t hurt that I grew up a quick bike ride from the library for most of my life.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
I’m sure there were books that came before but the first book I remember reading was There’s a Monster at the end of this Book. Something about the the interactive way that picture book played with structure blew my 6 year old brain.
The book that made me want to become an author is an impossible question but if I had to choose, May Bird and the Ever After. It was dark and strange and sombre and hopeful all at once. Jodi Lynn Anderson did things in that book that I didn’t know books could do. Looking back, I see its influences on my own writing.
And the book I can’t stop thinking about is an everchanging answer but most recently, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab. If you haven’t read that yet, what have you been doing?
Your debut novel, A Guide to the Dark, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Eerie. Tender. Haunting. Queer. Hopeful.
What can readers expect?
Readers can expect a slow burn romance, 30+ photographs taken by Layla, queer BIPOC characters, and a sentient room out to get them.
Where did the inspiration for A Guide to the Dark come from?
Looking back, there’s a lot that inspired this book. The Haunting of Hill House and the ghosts we carry with us. Heartstopper’s joys of first love and queer awakening. The Raven Cycle’s group quest to uncover the truth about a sentient space. We Are Okay and its deep emotional and romantic friendship.
But none of these were elements I truly planned for, only influences I found when I had a finished draft.
Ultimately, it began with an idea for a feeling. What would it feel like to be entirely overwhelmed by a space the second you stepped inside? To feel its tight grip around your suddenly heavy heart, consumed by something you couldn’t see. There, the Wildwood Motel, more specifically Room 9, was born.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I’m such a fan of all of these characters but I especially loved writing the chapters in Room 9’s perspective. It was the exact kind of eerie and strange I’m fascinated by and those chapters came the easiest. Also, any emotionally fraught moment where Layla is on the verge of admitting how she feels for Mira is a moment I loved writing.
You’re also a book editor! Did you find you faced any pressure knowing what goes into the editing process?
Not necessarily pressure but patience. The editorial and publishing process is a long one and knowing what goes into it allowed me to take the time I knew it would need to get it just right. Editing is also such a collaborative process and coming into this as a book editor, it was easy to remember that there’s never one solution to any problem and that every note is meant to help you not hurt you. At the end of the day, all I needed to remember was that my editor and I had the same goal; to make the strongest book possible.
What’s next for you?
My next book, Portrait of a Shadow, is about a girl who goes on a roadtrip to look for her missing sister and the enigmatic boy who comes along to help. It has a strange painting with a peeling corner, a multiple timelines, a bit of magic, and a lot of romance. It’s about what we’re willing to do to get what we want and who we’re willing to sacrifice to get it. Best summarized, this is Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour meets The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue in the vein of The Picture of Dorian Gray. It’ll be out August 2024 and I can’t wait!
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Always.
For middle grade, See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng and Felix Yz by Lisa Bunker.
For YA, I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton.
For Adult, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and Everything I never Told you by Celeste Ng.
As a Bonus, Fleabag: The Scriptures by Phoebe Waller Bridge.
