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- [00:01]
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- [00:33]
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- [01:17]
Dana Mele
Welcome to the New Books Network.
- [01:21]
Rebecca Buchanan
Hi, this is Rebecca Buchanan, host on New Books Network, and today I'm here with Dana Mele, who is the author of the Beast yout Let In. Dana, thanks for being here with me today.
- [01:30]
Dana Mele (continued)
Oh, thank you so much for having me. Happy to be here.
- [01:33]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Could you start by just giving a little bit of a synopsis about what
- [01:37]
Rebecca Buchanan
your new book is about?
- [01:39]
Dana Mele
I can try. I'm terrible about summarizing things.
- [01:43]
Dana Mele (continued)
So the beast you let in is
- [01:44]
Dana Mele
the story of two twin siblings who live in a rural area in upstate New York. It's very isolated mountain community and they're queer siblings who are not out even to each other. It's sort of isolated, very conservative community where it's not always safe to be able to tell who is a safe person even among your own family. And they've kind of just begun to realize this at this age. They're around 16, 17 years old. Be good if I knew that, but I haven't looked at it in a while, so. But that's the age that they are. And this town has a lot of lore so there was a murder in this community about 20ish years ago, the time that their parents were teenagers. And over the years, this murder has kind of developed into the kind of town legend. And so it's taken on a mythic quality almost, and it's become a source of fascination for one of the two siblings. And one night, the more popular one of the. The siblings, there's a little bit of tension between them that comes out later as Backstory convinces the other one to go to a Halloween party. And in the middle of the party, there's like a little bit of a fight. One of them disappears, and the next day turns up after having been missing for 24 hours. And when they reappear, they're claiming to be this girl that was murdered 20 years ago. And so because there's mistrust between the two, then the remaining sibling, her name is Hazel, has to determine, you know, is my sibling just lying to me? Is this another one of their kind of, you know, pranks, you know, or is this a case of an actual possession? And then, you know, the spooky stuff really starts. And in order to get to the bottom of it, she actually has to go back and solve this murder of this kind of horror story that defines the community and to solve the tensions
- [03:50]
Dana Mele (continued)
within the family as well.
- [03:51]
Rebecca Buchanan
So I always love a good legend. So it made me very happy that
- [03:55]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
there was this, like, legend they might.
- [03:56]
Rebecca Buchanan
It's very Nancy Drew in the best way.
- [03:59]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Right? Like, that they have to solve this. So I have, like, could you talk a little bit about. You have these sort of two twins. Was this always, like, can you talk
- [04:10]
Rebecca Buchanan
a little bit about, like, coming. How this sort of came to be, how this sort of. This book came to be in story, Was it something that, you know, were kind of plotting out? Was like, somebody saying, you've got to write this story, you know, in your head? Yeah.
- [04:24]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Like, how did. How did you come to this story?
- [04:27]
Dana Mele
In a few different ways, but I actually, the plot, I think, for this one kind of came second. A lot of times the plot comes to me second, and the atmosphere or the setting comes first or, like a general idea that I want to write about. And so I did want to tell the story about sort of the claustrophobic feeling of living in this sort of conservative town and not knowing who you can trust. And the. The themes of transphobia, homophobia, finding your voice, finding a found family when you're not so good with your own family. And this part of the mystery is the mystery of who you are. And the mystery of who. Who is in this town that I can relate to, even if it's, you know, for Beth and for Hazel, it's. It's also the mystery of how they get back to each other because they've become so far apart. And I just happened to write thrillers and horror books, so I was like, and where's the horror and thriller framework that can allow me to tell that story? And so I was like, well, you know, I flipped through a couple of, like, random sketches of ideas in my notes, you know, like, app, because I have a million of them. And one of them was, you know, like a teenager goes missing and turns up a bunch of years later. And I was like, what can I do to make that a little more speculative? Because I wanted to write horror. This is a very boring answer, by the way, but it happens to be the true one. And I was like, well, what if they don't actually turn up a bunch of years later? What if someone goes missing and comes back claiming to be this person who actually was murdered and it's a possession story? And I was like, I think those actually go together kind of well, because it's questions of identity. It's questioning, is this person who they say they are? And unfortunately, with transphobia in the United States right now, a lot of people are doubting that people are who they say they are. So this might kind of be a little mini spoiler, but the answer, of course, is always believe people when they say who they are, who they say they are. Right. So. So yes, I think it's clear, looking at the COVID of course, that there is a possession. It is going to take place. And so, you know, questions of who you can trust that the siblings will. I'm giving so much away here, but
- [06:52]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
they will fight, like, right back to each other. Did you.
- [06:57]
Rebecca Buchanan
When you did this, were you, like, were. Was it always I should use twins?
- [07:02]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Like, I think the twin angle.
- [07:03]
Rebecca Buchanan
And I really. I really kind of love. Because it. I think it. It like, I don't know. I don't know if it makes sense.
- [07:11]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
I'm just gonna say it makes sense, but that's not really what I want to say, that these two twins are
- [07:16]
Rebecca Buchanan
so close, and yet they don't know this fundamental truth about each other. Right? They're. That they're hiding their queerness from each other, even. And, and, and I. And you get to. As you read, right, I don't think this is giving it away. You get to hear how they justify that, like hiding those things right from One another, the more you read and. And so you get that feel, too.
- [07:42]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So did you always think, I want
- [07:44]
Rebecca Buchanan
to bring in twins in this, or was there a point where you were like, twins are going to really make this. Help me make this narrative kind of thing?
- [07:52]
Dana Mele
I think so, yeah. Because in a way, they represent two sides of the same person. And so I wrote them as twins. They are both living the same exact, you know, family, the same town, the same experiences. They. They're not the same person. So they have a little bit, you know, one of them is neurodivergent, the other one is not. So they have slightly different experiences. But on the other hand, they both have the same experience within the community in general as being queer people who are not completely accepted in a town where people sort of smile to your face, but then behind your back, you know, they're going to go ahead and, you know, vote against your existence. Right. That's kind of what's going on in the country right now. So, you know, I have had this experience, and, you know, my. My family lives this reality. So, you know, it's a very surreal experience and it's a heartbreaking experience. And so for Hazel, I wrote one of the twins as the one that is like, you know, this is my home. I don't want to believe anything bad about my family or about my friends, and I'm, you know, just not going to believe this. And so I think that's what a lot of people go through, especially growing up. You get to a certain point, I grew up, I'm old. So I was. I was a teen in the 90s where homophobia was actually kind of a little bit more the rule than the exception. It was very accepted to be kind of openly, you know, gay jokes were kind of like, watch a sitcom from the 90s and you'll kind of know what I mean. And there's a little bit of full circle going on right now in a very sad way. But that's why I wrote this a little bit. And it's not dual timeline written, but the murder that they're investigating took place in that previous timeline, the time when I was a teen. And so Hazel's in that kind of denial place at the start of the story where she is aware of and she mentions things, incidents that happen that signal to her that things are not the way that they should be, but
- [10:06]
Dana Mele (continued)
she wants to kind of push through
- [10:08]
Dana Mele
it and push against it. Beth is in a completely different place where she's confronted with an incident towards the beginning of the story that they don't discuss yet. But when they do discuss it, it's very clear that they. They can't turn and, you know, look the other way about it anymore. And that is what drives a wedge between them. Because, you know, there's no way that they can talk openly with each other when they've had such sort of different experiences. And Beth is at the point where they can't be like, I'm not. I'm not cool with a town that. That doesn't welcome me. And Hazel's like, I'm not ready to confront that yet. You know, so, you know, they have a lot of love for each other, but they're also angry with each other because they aren't able to show up for each other yet. And they're not able to support each other yet because they're. They're at different points. I guess you could think about it kind of like the stages of grief. And they're at different points in the stages of grief. So Beth is further along in the stages of grief, and Hazel is way back towards the beginning at this point. So it's. I don't know. It's like I said, I was kind of writing them as almost like the same person, but at different. In different places.
- [11:23]
Rebecca Buchanan
I love that idea of them.
- [11:25]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Like, when you say that the stages
- [11:26]
Rebecca Buchanan
of grief, it kind of like, completely makes sense. Like, right.
- [11:30]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Huh?
- [11:31]
Rebecca Buchanan
When I think about. Without giving anything away, it completely makes sense. I was, like, thinking about, like, the ruralness of it, too, and thinking about the town, because I. I grew up in a small town. I'm a little older than you, but, like, it's this, like, this same kind of thing where. And I live right now in a town where I was like, yeah. I mean, there's some of these things, like, if you haven't lived in this town that I live in now for, like, since, like, if your parents or your grandparents or your great grandparents, you're not from the town.
- [12:02]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Right.
- [12:02]
Rebecca Buchanan
Like, you could have been born here, but if these other people, like, know, like, 15 generations back had not been born there. And it really defines a lot of the town.
- [12:12]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So can you talk a little bit
- [12:13]
Rebecca Buchanan
about that and this importance and how sort of ruralness and the town really play a role in this.
- [12:20]
Dana Mele
Yeah. So it's interesting. So I have lived in big cities and I've lived in super rural areas. And when I wrote about this town, it's a type of a kind of hyper rural town that I think if you have not lived for a long time, too or for, like, a significant amount of time in a hyper rural area. It's very hard to wrap your head around what it's like to live in a hyper rural area. Like, super cut off. Like it's an hour to the nearest grocery store. And so I also think a lot of times when we talk about what it's like to be queer today, what it's like to be queer in a city, it's very different than what it's like to be queer in a hyper rural area. And so I purposely set it in a place that I'm familiar with, which is a red dot in a very isolated area of a blue state. Because I think a lot of times we say, oh, it's a red state, or it's a blue state. And it's not. It's not. It doesn't capture it. So you can be in a blue city, a very progressive blue city in a red state, and have a very different experience than living in a red area in a blue state or a red area in a red state. Or, you know, it's just there are so many different experiences. And I think a lot of times we maybe do not consider enough what it's like for sort of the less talked about, you know, especially I'm thinking of kids because first of all, I have one, and second of all, I care about all of the ones that are like my kid and all the other kids, right. Who don't necessarily connect to too many other kids that are having the same experiences. Right. So it's an incredibly isolating experience. It's a scary experience. There can be physical threats, and there can also just be the threat of being completely alone with people telling you that who you are is wrong, just not acknowledging it at all. And I think it gets a little bit overlooked, like the actual terror and harm of being told over and over you are not who you say you are. And it's incredibly heartbreaking. Um, it's scary as a parent, and it's scary just, I think, as all adults who love kids who are going through that. So I'm getting a little. I'm diverging a little bit from what you originally asked because you were talking large, more largely about rural areas. But in the context of the book and what it's about being that cut off and that isolated, it feels as a young person, like there's no way out and there's nowhere to go. You're very far. You're a child, so you can't just hop on a bus. There's no mass Transportation to big cities from these, these towns. And you can't drive, you can't ride your bike an hour away on a big highway. It's like a planet. It's like living on Pluto, right? So in a mountain town like this or in a town that's just so, so, so far from another town, you're. You're in your own planet, you're in your own world. And if you don't have a community within those worlds, it's. It is absolutely its own world. And it is true that family means everything, going back generations and generations and generations. I did write a line about this that, you know, if you're not like third generation, you're a newcomer. And that's absolutely the way it is. I live in just like a. It's like a mildly rural area now. There's like, there's actually a university like sort of nearby. But this is a completely different experience. This is hyper rural. So it's, it is a scary, is a scary experience if you are not sort of in that connected, like 10th generation. Like the street is named after your family towns, you know, like the town hall is named after your family. The school is named after your family. That's the kind of town that I'm talking about.
- [16:36]
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- [17:02]
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- [17:31]
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- [17:40]
Dana Mele
It's not a battle. So glad the Saja boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.
- [17:45]
Rebecca Buchanan
It is an honor to share.
- [17:47]
Dana Mele
No, it's our honor it is our larger honor.
- [17:51]
Rebecca Buchanan
No, really, stop.
- [17:53]
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- [17:59]
Rebecca Buchanan
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- [18:01]
Dana Mele
Yeah.
- [18:01]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
And you know, as you were talking,
- [18:03]
Rebecca Buchanan
I often like, there's this, there's this narrative, like. I appreciate what you're saying because there's often this narrative, especially around queer and trans kids, that it will get, it will get better narrative. If you go away, it will get better. One, that it's not always the case. But two, it also takes away from the large issues that are going on. Right. Like, so in my town, if you're a trans kid at the high school, like, where do you go to the bathroom?
- [18:33]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Right? You know, like, like things like this
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Rebecca Buchanan
everyday kind of thing, like having to, like even if you have parents who are invested, having to fight for your kid to have basic human dignity. Right. And basic human rights. And then again, in a small, like I'm in a small college town, but we have queer kids who come here who they've left. But it's still a struggle because of, you know, the politics that are happening within the town. Right. So, yeah, I, I appreciate that, what you're saying there.
- [19:07]
Dana Mele
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [19:09]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So when you are. Can you talk a little bit about
- [19:12]
Rebecca Buchanan
like the structure of this book? Because we got. We get couple different pov. We also. You also kind of use this diary that was or, or element parts of the diary that were found.
- [19:27]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So can you talk a little bit
- [19:29]
Rebecca Buchanan
about that and the structure of how you. And was this something like you had planned for or again, was this. Yeah, yeah.
- [19:36]
Dana Mele
So I'm laughing a little bit because once again I'm like, I always go into these things being like I'm not going to have any trouble with. And then I like to drop like eight spoilers in the first minute. So be it. So, yeah, there's no way to talk about that without mentioning any kinds of spoilers, but I'll just do it anyway. It's fun and then you can decide if, like there's anything that really needs to come out or anything. So you start off, I think probably thinking it's just a one POV book maybe, except you'll see, you know, Hazel's name and maybe that'll clue you in. But because there's a question whether Beth is. Sorry, just a little message pops up whether Beth is possessed or not. You know, you are thinking, if there's going to be another pov, is that going to be. Who would that be? Right. Hazel supposedly is, you know, the only Person who is of the two siblings who is actually Hazel. Right. Beth is supposedly Veronica at this point. So if Beth shows up as a pov, is it actually Beth or is it actually Veronica? I don't know much to say after that. But, you know, as far as the. The diary snippets, Veronica is such an important character, even though Veronica is now 20 years dead by the time we get to see anything from Veronica. And so the diary entries were a way to bring her onto the page early on because, I don't know, I. I didn't want to write her off, if that makes sense, you know, like, want her to just be. You know, we were just. I can't remember if it was before you started recording or after, but we're talking about how the, you know, the murder victim does matter. And. And I didn't want it to be because it's. It's hard when the murder actually takes place 20 years before the book starts. Right. Like, how do you make that person feel real? And, like, they do matter. All of the characters put a whole lot into finding out what happened to this girl who died so many years ago. And, you know, without mentioning any spoilers, we do find out that a lot of the characters, many of them actually do have a personal connection to Veronica Green, but many of them don't know it at the start of the book. And they still are incredibly invested on finding out what happened to her. And so I did want to bring her a little bit to life and bring her story. And so finding the diary, they do get a little bit of a window into what actually happened to her in her own words. So this was the best way I could think of doing that. And almost all of her entries, everyone except I think one, is actually written in these poems. And I kind of just took that from, you know, when I was a teen, I had a diary that I wrote completely in poetry. It was just all poems. It's bad poetry. It's bad teenage poetry. I'm never going to win any awards. This is the second book I think that I've written, like, little bad poems in, and they're just fun to write. So that's pretty much the story of how that happened.
- [22:57]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
I kind of love, like, this idea
- [22:59]
Rebecca Buchanan
of, like, it doesn't matter because I'm just going to write bad teenage poetry. So it can be like, that is, like, the best.
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Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
I love that so much.
- [23:08]
Dana Mele
It's authentic. I feel like that's what teens do. It's not like teenagers are sitting there writing this, like, nobel Award winning poetry. You know, it's. It's very. It's confessional and it's also very mixed metaphors everywhere and just very emotional. And that's exactly how I wrote as a teen. And so I tried to really bring it.
- [23:31]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
I love it. Like, I. So I wanted to talk about Veronica a little because I.
- [23:36]
Rebecca Buchanan
There's this. And I don't know where it is in the book, but there's this point in the book where I was like. Because at first you're like, okay, there's this. There's this sort of urban legend. There's this thing going around. There's this girl. She sounds like she's sort of, you know, she sounds like she's sort of out. I don't know if out there's. All right, like, because she.
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Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
I mean, this is no spoiler.
- [23:57]
Rebecca Buchanan
Like, she was forming some kind of. She wanted to form, like, what was it? Like a revenge club, right?
- [24:02]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Like, so these kinds of things are
- [24:03]
Rebecca Buchanan
like, okay, but there's this clicking point where you're like, I really feel for this girl. Right? And so we get this.
- [24:10]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So, like, this character become, like, she
- [24:13]
Rebecca Buchanan
does become a character. And you want, like, I, as a reader, you become invested in, like, this. Like, she was like, you know, brought to this town and not necessarily wanting to be here, but also not being given a chance at all.
- [24:29]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
And so was this something from this.
- [24:31]
Rebecca Buchanan
When you were thinking about Veronica and Veronica as a character, was this something that you were like, I want people to like, you said, like, yeah, it does matter who gets killed. But, like, was this.
- [24:41]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Because I think she.
- [24:43]
Rebecca Buchanan
I'm going on. Because she also reminds me of a lot of the other characters where the more you learn about them, the more you realize what we.
- [24:51]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Especially for everyone.
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Rebecca Buchanan
But I think for teenagers especially, what we present or project sometimes is a way to, like, save us from what could happen if we don't. If we share our whole selves.
- [25:04]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
I don't. Does that make sense?
- [25:08]
Dana Mele
Give me like one more line.
- [25:10]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Like, I'm thinking, you know, like, so
- [25:13]
Rebecca Buchanan
for like this idea of like, we.
- [25:16]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
If we share too much, if we're too vulnerable or we share too much
- [25:19]
Rebecca Buchanan
about ourselves, then we're going to. People are not going to like us or people are not going to accept us. And Veronica seems to be like, I don't care about that. I'm going to tell you who I am.
- [25:30]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
And.
- [25:31]
Rebecca Buchanan
And it's okay that. And she doesn't get accepted. But I don't know if this all.
- [25:34]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
I'm like, I feel like I'm rambling now.
- [25:36]
Athletic Brewing Company Advertiser
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- [25:36]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
But there's this investment for me in
- [25:38]
Rebecca Buchanan
Veronica in these, you know, because of what she's gone through. I don't.
- [25:44]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Yeah, yeah.
- [25:45]
Dana Mele
I think I tried to write Veronica in a way that both as different as they are, Hazel and Beth would each see something of themselves in Veronica. And that's part of what does kind of hook them and draw them in
- [26:01]
Dana Mele (continued)
and make them feel personally invested.
- [26:04]
Dana Mele
Not only because, you know, bad things happen to Veronica and it's. It's hard not to feel a sense of like, you know, justice for Veronica, but also, you know, she does share pretty personally. And I think, you know, Hazel sees a little bit of the kind of, you know, over developed sense of justice maybe a little bit in Veronica and Beth sees a little bit of the, you know, that kind of like very headstrong, like, yes, like this, this is me. And if you don't like it, then too bad. So there is like just a little bit of personal quality that each of themselves sees reflected in it. So yeah, I did, I did kind of try to be like, well, if there was like a half Veronica or half Beth and half Hazel person, would it look like Veronica? And I did try to do that a little bit. So yeah, that's a little bit what
- [27:01]
Dana Mele (continued)
I was going for. But she's hopefully her own person too, a little bit.
- [27:06]
Dana Mele
It's.
- [27:07]
Dana Mele (continued)
It stinks be.
- [27:08]
Dana Mele
I moved around a lot as a kid, so there's like maybe a little bit too of me like just thrown in there. Like, does it, you know, how does it really feel to be completely taken out of your safe space and then put in this place where everyone just hates you? And that sucks. But, but you know, it's. It doesn't work out well for Veronica. Works out well for tons of kids. So.
- [27:33]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So, you know, when you write sort
- [27:36]
Rebecca Buchanan
of horror, when you write kind of like speculative fiction, I always wonder like, because in here there's you. You know, there is like the possession stuff, there is stuff around kind of ritual kind of, you know, sort of the occult. Is this something that you like, did you research anything? Like I'm wondering about like, sort of research and, and sort of thinking through that. Was this something that you spent some time researching, spend some time looking into, or is it more you kind of piecing together based on sort of prior knowledge and that kind of thing?
- [28:14]
Dana Mele
Yeah, this is a really fun one to research actually. So if you see all the stuff about like the Fox sisters and spiritualism and stuff, one of the reasons I love to set Books in upstate New York, first of all, because, you know, I've lived here a very long time now. But it's. It actually doesn't take place hyperlocally to where I live. They were. Oh, gosh, where was it now? I think, well, somewhere else in upstate New York. But. But I did like that. It was like, kind of an interesting lore that is, you know, like, local to the upstate New York area. And of course, you ask someone, where's upstate New York? And they'll give you 20 different answers. Right. But. But spiritualism and the. The phenomenon of the Fox sisters. I go into it in the book, and that did kind of originate in this area, that specific part of spiritualism, anyway, that kind of attracted celebrities and got people, like, hooked. It became like a sort of a fanatic phenomenon. And then it blew up.
- [29:16]
Dana Mele (continued)
There was a bubble and it burst.
- [29:18]
Dana Mele
But what was interesting about that and what was parallel to this story is that people got really drawn into it. And there was a question then at one point, it involved sisters, and the sisters turned against each other. And they said one of them accused the other one of lying. And there were actually three sisters. But I still like that it involved sisters. And they said, you know, two of them said the other one was making it up. And then they, you know, had a great big falling out. And then by the end, I think I have to go back now and refresh my mind on it. But I think they might have reconciled before they died or whatever. But it was huge.
- [29:55]
Dana Mele (continued)
There were.
- [29:56]
Dana Mele
They were doing performances, like, on the New York stage, and people from all over were coming to them and saying, you know, please, you know, contact, you know, my. My loved one from beyond. Because I'm, you know. You know, I'm struggling, and I. I need to have this in order to
- [30:15]
Dana Mele (continued)
have closure and stuff.
- [30:17]
Dana Mele
So I thought that was really applicable to, like, it, you know, paralleled the book in a lot of ways. And so that was really fun. You know, I think that's the thing that I. I researched the most heavily from this, like, the. Just the Ouija board use or whatever. I didn't really take that. That, you know, I didn't go into, like, the. The serious part of that, I think, because when I was growing up, this is the part that kind of plays into this more. My parents actually did not let me use one, but we had one. So it was like kind of this little.
- [30:53]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
That's even worse. That's so cool.
- [30:56]
Dana Mele
It's like a funny. I don't know what you call, I guess, a Contradiction or whatever. Like, my mom had one from when she was a kid, but she grew up with parents that were heavily superstitious. So I guess it was like a piece of contraband that just survived. But then my parents then became superstitious and they were like, don't use it though. And so, you know, anything forbidden is something you're going to go out and use immediately. So that's kind of the spirit in which I incorporated that.
- [31:24]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Oh, I love that feel. So I love that.
- [31:27]
Rebecca Buchanan
I mean, I don't, because, like, yeah,
- [31:29]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
it's so much like you make me. So when I think about.
- [31:31]
Rebecca Buchanan
I often think with ya, especially if you're like thinking about the classroom and that kind of thing. Like, there's some tie in with the Crucible. Like, I think about like the Crucible stuff, right? Like how, like, because some people are like, well, you're writing these books about possession and teens and what I'm like, well, that's been written by many people, right.
- [31:52]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So there.
- [31:53]
Rebecca Buchanan
So that sort of exists in that space as well, in that area as well.
- [31:58]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Can you talk a little bit about
- [32:01]
Rebecca Buchanan
the neurodivergence, like, use of you. Right. And that bringing in a neurodivergent teen and kind of what that means and trying to get into. Because we hear a lot from her, right? Like, how did. Like getting in the head of Hazel and kind of her voice and making sure that voice was this authentic voice and letting people kind of know where that voice is coming from.
- [32:24]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Yeah.
- [32:25]
Dana Mele
It's funny because I. I had sent this off to my editor and she. One of the things she had said originally when she sent it back to me was like, I really love that you wrote Hazel so authentically as a neurodivergent character. And I read that and I was just like, well, that's just my voice, you know, like, that's just me. That's just my. That's how I think and that's how I talk. And that's. That's my voice. So writing Hazel as an authentic neurodivergent character is just writing the way that I kind of like, a little bit struggle to relate to people and a little bit struggle to interpret how people talk. Like at some point she talks about how she really has difficulty when people say. I forget what the word is. Something like, sure. And it's like, but are you really sure? It's little things like that. And it's. With this character. I don't think I've really done it with a character before, but I just felt very I gave myself permission to, like. Really? You talked about kind of guarding yourself and being vulnerable and people won't like me if I'm honest. And I just gave myself permission to be very honest and free and write Hazel the way that I experience kind of difficulties navigating social situations and everyday conversations with people. And so that's like just the example that hops into my mind first and stuff. But that's how I approached Hazel. And so, yeah, that. That was. That was how I did that.
- [33:57]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Well, and I also appreciate, and I
- [33:59]
Rebecca Buchanan
don't think this is spoilers, but like, we also get to see towards the end how Hazel then realizes she can find herself a community. Right. Like, what she's realized is what she needs to do for herself to make a community and to create that community and not sacrifice who she is in that community.
- [34:23]
Dana Mele
Yeah.
- [34:25]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So do you want to read a little bit from. So that people get an idea?
- [34:31]
Dana Mele
Yes. And I'm not sure that this might be a little bit long. So you can signal to me or read away. All right, let me pull this up.
- [34:44]
Rebecca Buchanan
All right.
- [34:45]
Dana Mele
This is an excerpt that has been pre selected and it begins.
- [34:51]
Dana Mele (continued)
The Twisted Mind of Veronica Green.
- [34:53]
Dana Mele
January 1st 1. I arrive in hell 2. Hazel zero hours.
- [34:59]
Dana Mele (continued)
Oh, I should ask first, just in
- [35:01]
Dana Mele
case because this book has a little bit of a potty mouth.
- [35:05]
Rebecca Buchanan
Go right ahead. All right, all right.
- [35:07]
Dana Mele
Zero hours.
- [35:08]
Dana Mele (continued)
I don't remember handing over my keys, but I do. I don't remember asking for a jello shot, but I do. And another, and another. I don't remember joining the circle and spinning the sticky beer bottle, but I do. I do remember kissing Ezra again on purpose. This time for a boy, he isn't too objectionable. But I'm not interested in boys. I kissed Mel twice, which was exciting. Julie once, which was new. And Phoebe Crane, a quiet girl in a stunning Victorian dress, which was intriguing because Phoebe was another one of Beth's summer friends. When Beth began to shed the old ones like downy feathers, it wasn't only Jack who flew into her life. There was Phoebe, too. A Weeknd girl with two deep brown skin, a quirky Victorian era wardrobe, and hair always drawn into two trademark waist length braids interwoven with silky ribbons. A girl with money, impeccable style and a constant glare. No one knew much about her family except that her parents were divorced and her father didn't spend his weekends in Aisling anymore. There were rumors her dad made Marvel movies. I bet Beth got her dress from Phoebe. I remember Phoebe pulling the game out of the velvety bag slung by her side.
- [36:22]
Dana Mele
Mother forbade Beth and me to play
- [36:24]
Dana Mele (continued)
as children because it was the Devil's game. I stared at the stiff beige board stamped with letters in an old fashioned font and crowned with a YES and a no. A sun smiled sweetly from one corner and the moon eyed it resentfully from the other. A carved wooden heart, the game piece, the magic, was placed in the center of the board. One by by one. People's fingertips drifted to its edges and their gaze fell on me. This is the thing about me and people. I go blank. Words don't come easily to me like they do for my sister. I don't know what people want to hear. Ask her something, phoebe prompted.
- [36:57]
Dana Mele
Ask who?
- [36:58]
Dana Mele (continued)
My words ran together a little, and so did the letters on the board. I knew it was time to go home and I wouldn't be driving tonight. Ezra grinned. Veronica. No, not Veronica. No, not Ezra. Sorry. Ezra had left the circle. It was one of his friends, Mac or Randy or Jason. I shook my head, drawing a blank. Amanda rolled her eyes. Everyone in their knockoff sister knows some version of the Veronica story. Mel cradled her beer between her chin and her shoulder, her sky blue hair falling into her eyes.
- [37:30]
Dana Mele
No.
- [37:30]
Dana Mele (continued)
This story makes me sad. She started to scoot away from the circle, her eyes on me, and I
- [37:35]
Dana Mele
wondered whether this was a goodbye or
- [37:37]
Dana Mele (continued)
an invitation to join her. But she didn't say it, so how would I know? Julie's eyes lit up and she clapped her hands, drawing my attention back. Let me tell it.
- [37:46]
Dana Mele
A girl died in these woods ages
- [37:48]
Dana Mele (continued)
ago, before we were even born. The memory shook loose. A campfire story, a cautionary tale. It was as forbidden in our house as tarot cards and summoning games. Speak of the devil and he will appear. Then again, we weren't in our house and I was tired of being good, so I said the words. Are you here, Veronica? The heart jerked beneath our fingertips like it does in the movies. Yes. Do you want to tell us something?
- [38:15]
Dana Mele
Yes.
- [38:17]
Dana Mele (continued)
Go ahead. Whispers, laughter. There was fog in my skull. I needed sleep, but I'd had a taste of being Beth, and I was drunk on that, too. The heart moved slowly now, uncertain of its corner course. A message, a puzzle, a clue spelled in fragments.
- [38:33]
Dana Mele
H W I D I D ho what I did.
- [38:39]
Dana Mele (continued)
Mac exclaimed, erupting into giggles. Amanda punched his arm with a smirk. What didn't you do? How I died, phoebe corrected him sternly. Again the heart moved erratically, this time with no ambiguity.
- [38:53]
Dana Mele
E A N G B A N
- [38:58]
Dana Mele (continued)
G I blacked out when I Woke
- [39:01]
Dana Mele
the next morning unsure how I got home.
- [39:03]
Dana Mele (continued)
The bed next to mine was empty and untouched. Artax gazed up at me from beneath
- [39:08]
Dana Mele
it with worried eyes.
- [39:09]
Dana Mele (continued)
Beth had never come home. Maybe something should happen to her. I feel like I should stop there because it's long.
- [39:16]
Rebecca Buchanan
It's great though. I loved it.
- [39:18]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So we've been talking for a while. So do you want to talk a little bit? Final things?
- [39:24]
Rebecca Buchanan
What's going on with this book? It comes, comes out April 7th. Yeah. Anything.
- [39:29]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Anything else you're working on or with
- [39:30]
Rebecca Buchanan
the book or you want to self promote?
- [39:32]
Dana Mele
Yeah, it's coming out on April 7th. You can pre order it. There are personalized copies available from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck. If you order it before, I believe April 9th is the cutoff date. Might be 8th and then I am working on my next thing. But it's not like announce. Announced. Yeah, I think I can maybe talk about it a little bit because it's, you know, it's part of like the two book. So it's funny that you bring up the Crucible which is mentioned in this, but so the next book is. It does kind of have to do with that. So it's, it has to do with witches and the witch trials and it does take place in modern times, but it has tie ins with the past and the past repeating itself. So I'm very excited about that one and I'm, you know, I'm in revisions for it right now. So I'm very, very excited for that to formally be announced and to continue kind of writing supernatural thriller horrors. So I like the, the cross genre blend. That's really fun to write.
- [40:40]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
Awesome. We'll have to talk about that too.
- [40:42]
Rebecca Buchanan
I love a good witch book as witches are the best.
- [40:46]
Interviewer (possibly co-host or another host)
So like, thank you so much for talking with me on New Books Network
- [40:50]
Rebecca Buchanan
again, Dana Melee, we talked about the beast you let in.
- [40:54]
Dana Mele (continued)
Oh, thank you so much for having me.
- [41:08]
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