Finding a Dead Girl, or the inspiration behind Anna Dressed in Blood

Today, I have a guest post from Kendare Blake, author of Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares.  After you read the article, go check out her website where you can find out more about Kendare's writing and even watch trailers for both of the books above.  I highly recommend you check out her books.  Without Further ado, I will turn things over to the capable hands of Kendare Blake. 


Finding a Dead Girl, or, the inspiration behind ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD

I can't remember what came first. The urge to write something where I'd get to describe entrails, or her name. Anna Dressed in Blood. Maybe it came all at once. Together. Convergence. See, I'd been writing nothing but literary for a long time in my Master's program. Lots of emotion, lots of nuance, but no guts anywhere! And then, toward the end of my studies, I read Angela Carter's THE BLOODY TOWER, and was blown away by the prose. I started writing things with a dark fantasy bent (one short story which later turned into my next series) and it whetted my appetite for gore.
　
The first real novels I read when I was a kid, (excepting horse stories) were by Stephen King. This was followed quickly by Anne Rice, and then Bret Easton Ellis. So writing a dead murderess felt a whole lot like returning to my roots. I couldn't wait to describe torn body parts. I was ecstatic about being able to guide people along to their bloody ends. But first, I had to figure out who exactly Anna was. I knew she was a murdered girl. In a dress made of blood. I knew she killed whoever went into her house. But I also knew that she was still Anna. A person. So I had to find the girl behind the ghost.

My search led me to Thunder Bay, Ontario. I wanted to do some location research, and hoped it would reveal some of Anna's secrets along the way. I also wanted to get some shots of Lake Superior, as I thought it would play an integral part in the book (it didn't). While there, I found lots of things. I drove through Victorian houses, and found the house Cas and his mom rented. I trolled the Antique stores and found Morfran's black lab. I sat in the dark beside haunted waterways. But still, no Anna. Until the last day, when I found her, buried in a small Finnish cemetery. Anna K. Her headstone sad and neglected and cheap, with a broken wooden cross at the base. And BAM! Everything clicked in. Who Anna was.
　
I still didn't know what happened to her. Not exactly. I never do. It's more fun to discover as I go. But I'd finally found her voice. And until I had that, I couldn't even start.

Thank you for having me by the blog, Budd! I'm so glad you enjoyed the book.

Cheers,
Kendare

Anna Dressed in Blood

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, this is her first book. Didn't realize this while reading, which is excellent. This is a great creepy book. My 11 year old picked it up at the Library and recommended it to me when she had finished. We are both fans of the show supernatural and it really feels a lot like that show. I think Ms. Blake is also as the main character has a run in early on with a man named Mr. Dean who has an old muscle car that is his baby.

While I saw some things coming there was some clever misdirection in the story. I would say that I didn't believe Cass's voice 100%. I thought he was a girl in the first chapter and he doesn't really think like a teenage boy. Given he is a strange kid, teenage boys will always be somewhat like teenage boys. He is more realistic after his encounter with Anna. That said, guys generally do a worse job writing girls.

If you and your kids like spooky/ultra violent books like Me and mine do, this is an awesome book to read together or share with each other. Blake spins a pretty original yarn here in the ghost story genre. I look forward to her other works.

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