Kathleen S. Allen: Five Things I Learned Writing The Resurrectionist

Death is just the beginning.  

When seventeen-year-old Dilly Rothbart finds her recently deceased father’s hidden journal, her entire world is upended―for what she finds within are the steps to bring a dead soul back to life.   Intent on finishing her father’s work and establishing herself as the greatest scientist in history, Dilly plunges into a medical underworld of corpse-stealing, grave-robbing, and even murder. And when her twin sister steps in the way of her studies, she’ll do whatever is necessary to secure the recognition she deserves.  

This twisty, atmospheric, Frankensteinian tale is about a group of ambitious young scientists who descend into corruption when a breakthrough discovery grants them the power of gods.

IT’S OKAY TO START OVER AS MANY TIMES AS YOU NEED TO

I started this novel in 2014 as a young adult reimagining of Jack the Ripper with the main character being the daughter of JTR. However, because it evolved into being more the father’s story than the daughter’s, I decided to start over and write a reimagining of my favorite book.

I CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY COPIES OF FRANKENSTEIN (20 so far) AND WHY IT SPEAKS TO ME

Frankenstein is my favorite book (I read it when I was eight and fell in love with gothic horror). It’s—dare I say it—the book of my heart. It led me down the path of other gothic novels like Dracula, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Raven and other Edgar Allan Poe works to name a few.

The gist of it is I wrote this novel because I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of “the other” which Mary Shelley explores in Frankenstein. The term “the other” is a philosophy term used by several philosophers and writers to describe someone who is different than the societal norm. This “other” is ostracized from regular society and is perceived as different from society and therefore shunned. As a child I often felt like “the other.” I was a gifted child often bored with schoolwork. I learned to read at the age of three and by five I was reading adult (no not those kinds!) books way beyond my age. I often lugged giant tomes to school like The Complete Works of Shakespeare (in the third grade) to read during silent reading time. Or when I finished my work which was usually quickly done. I memorized The Raven by Poe in the third grade to recite in front of the class. Add to the fact my family moved often so it was difficult to make friends since I never knew how long I’d be staying, I didn’t fit in.

Writing a character who didn’t fit into whatever role society deemed she should fit into appealed to me.

This led me to write a story from the point-of-view from a seventeen-year-old Victorian who despite being told over and over again she can’t pursue her dream of becoming a surgeon she persists. She is relentless in her pursuit of this ambition to the eventual detriment to herself shaking her belief in what she’s capable of doing. She fights to claw her way back to her own true self as she questions her motives surrounding the decisions she makes.

WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION IS FUN!

I love to do research. I even worked as a research assistant for a university professor once and so I went down the rabbit hole of all things Mary Shelley. Did you know she had a half-sister named Fanny Imlay (she was three when Mary was born) who unalived herself at the age of twenty-two soon after Mary wrote Frankenstein? In fact she was helping Mary edit Frankenstein. It was rumored she might have been in love with Mary’s beau, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and her feelings were not reciprocated. Or perhaps she failed to find her footings among the strict societal standards for women of the Victorian era. We’ll never know.

EDITING IS IMPORTANT AND IT’S WHERE YOUR STORY SHINES

So many writers, especially new ones think they’ll edit once maybe twice and be done. Oh, sweet summer child…no. This is my process and it’s not everyone’s. You have to find what works for you.

I usually start with a character. I consider myself a pantser meaning I don’t plot or outline. I rarely know the ending ahead of time either. I let the story show me where it’s going. My first drafts are bare bones but each edit puts more and more flesh on the bones until it’s a fully-formed story. And I did many, many, many (ad infinitum) edits.

EASTER EGGS GALORE

I like doing plot twists and putting Easter eggs about Mary Shelley in the book because how could I not? See if you can find them!

Writing Dilly’s story was and is one of my greatest achievements. I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Kathleen S. Allen is a young adult writer of gothic horror, historical, fantasy, and speculative fiction. She has published poems, short stories, novellas, and novels. She prefers dark to light, salty to sweet, and tea to coffee. She is a fan of K-Pop, classic rock, and British detective shows. She lives in Los Angeles with a sassy Tortoiseshell cat.

The Resurrectionist: Macmillan | Bookshop.org | Amazon | B&N

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