Margaret Atwood and Edith Wharton both write complex women who question, struggle with, and challenge their roles in life. KM: I don’t think I can pinpoint any one writer, but there are a few that have strongly influenced me. MD: Which writer has most influenced your style? I tried to pursue more traditional career paths, but writing has always been my calling. Four more novels would follow by the time I graduated. Then during my sophomore year of high school, I wrote my first novel, an 800-page coming-of-age monstrosity. In junior high, I was writing stories that were hundreds of pages long (most unfinished). KM: I never really decided to become a writer I’ve just always been one. MD: How did you first get into writing? Was there a particular event in your life, book you read, or other moment when you realized that you wanted to be a writer? The Creaking Tree is not only set in Indian River, but in my parents’ cabin (which once belonged to my cousin), and some of the wildlife in that book were inspired by real woodland animals (R.I.P. My family has been going to the Topinabee/Indian River for generations. I can draw on any of these places when working on a project. After high school, I attended Michigan State University and have made the Lansing area my new home. It was a culture shock, but I adjusted and West Michigan became home. I went from living in a city with plenty of kids to play with and sidewalks for riding bikes to living in the country with a corn field in front of the house and an apple orchard behind it. Then my family moved to Marne, a little town outside of Grand Rapids. I spent my early childhood in Garden City where I formed some of my best memories, so I feel a strong nostalgic connection to the Detroit area. I have been fortunate to have lived all over this great state. I couldn’t imagine writing an autumn without fiery foliage or writing a winter without a couple feet of snow. It finds its way into my writing without me even realizing it-writing pop instead of soda or measuring distance in time instead of miles. MD: As a native Michigander, born and raised, in what ways do you feel Michigan has influenced your writing? The lakes and forests, the farms and the cities, all of it. Morgan Dean: What’s your connection to the Midwest? Midwestern Gothic staffer Morgan Dean talked with author Kristen Marquette about her new novel The Creaking Tree, the intersection of fantasy and historical fiction, her influences, and more.
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