Today we are very excited to share a special interview with Author Kyrie McCauley (All the Dead Lie Down) conducted by YABC staff member, Olivia Farr!
Meet the Author: Kyrie McCauley
Kyrie McCauley is the author of If These Wings Could Fly, winner of the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, and We Can Be Heroes. She has also been a waitress, nanny, singer in a band, ACLU intern, rally organizer, Truman Scholar, and most recently, a mother and a writer. She holds a master of science in social policy from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives near Philadelphia with her husband, children, and several ill-mannered but beloved cats.
About the Book: All the Dead Lie Down
The Haunting of Bly Manor meets House of Salt and Sorrows in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s contemporary YA gothic romance about a dark family lineage, the ghosts of grief, and the lines we’ll cross for love.
The Sleeping House was very much awake . . .
Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace—an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family’s coastal Maine estate.
Marin accepts and soon finds herself minding Alice’s peculiar girls. Thea buries her dolls one by one, hosting a series of funerals, while Wren does everything in her power to drive Marin away. Then Alice’s eldest daughter returns home unexpectedly. Evie Hallowell is every bit as strange as her younger sisters, and yet Marin is quickly drawn in by Evie’s compelling behavior and ethereal grace.
But as Marin settles in, she can’t escape the anxiety that follows her like a shadow. Dead birds appear in Marin’s room. The children’s pranks escalate. Something dangerous lurks in the woods, leaving mutilated animals in its wake. All is not well at Lovelace House, and Marin must unravel its secrets before they consume her.
~Author Chat ~
Interview Questions by Olivia Farr, Assistant Blog Manager at yabookscentral.com
Olivia: Do you have a favorite horror movie or book?
Book: Frankenstein
Movie/Show: The Haunting of Hill House
Olivia: Did you have a favorite scene to write?
There is a scene in All the Dead Lie Down that features a zombie dog. It’s sort of the opposite of worrying about whether a beloved pet in a story dies—what if a beloved pet comes back? This was a really gross and fun chapter to write, and I hope readers enjoy it as much as I did.
Olivia: What makes something feel creepy to you? How do you set the mood in writing?
I think setting the right creepy tone is all about anticipation. I would argue that anxiety is completely different from fear. It’s one thing to imagine the terrible thing, and quite another to face it head on. So for All the Dead Lie Down, I really wanted to focus on that aspect of it. So much of what scares us is already built up in our imaginations, and that’s where I wanted to plant those seeds with my main character Marin. Like me, Marin has anxiety, and really this book is about how heavy that feeling of dread can be when it follows you around constantly.
Olivia: Maine is a great setting. What made you choose it for your book?
We go to Maine every year—we have family there, and we stay in a little cottage right on the coast and dig up clams and play in the tidepools all day. It’s such a beautiful place. But I remember holding a clam and wondering what if there was something terrible inside. Something unexpected. Once I started down that path of imagining what it could be and why it would be there, I was led to All the Dead Lie Down.
Olivia: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude and The Restless Dark by Erica Waters
Olivia: What’s up next for you?
I’m currently revising my 2024 book, about a group of teens stranded on an island in the Pacific Northwest with a monster.
Olivia: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
There’s a scene where Evie is trying to convince Marin to leave Lovelace House, because she’s afraid Marin will get hurt. I reference this thing that trees do, called crown shyness, where their branches in the canopy don’t ever quite touch, leaving river-like lines of sky in between them. They do this to keep disease from spreading, and it was the inspiration for Evie trying to push Marin away here—to keep her safe. I think it shows how far both characters have come, trying so hard to protect each other despite their horrific circumstances.
Olivia: Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?
Before writing, I worked in advocacy, focused on domestic violence awareness, and my first two books focused on domestic and dating violence. I really like the organization Survivors and Advocates for Empowerment (SAFE) in Washington DC. I volunteered for them in college and then worked with them briefly after I graduated. Their work is crucial in providing immediate services to survivors of violence. You can learn more about it at dcsafe.org.
Book’s Title: All the Dead Lie Down
Author: Kyrie McCauley
Release Date: 5/16
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Genre: YA horror
Age Range: 14-17
