Tiffany Meuret launches her speculative fiction, A Flood of Posies.
I’m thrilled to introduce another member of the International Thriller Writer Debut Author Program on my blog today!
Author Interview + Author & Book Info + The First Tortoise for Author Pet Corner!
A Flood of Posies by Tiffany Meuret
Sisters, Doris and Thea, exist worlds apart, despite living within a few miles of one another. Doris with her regular home and regular husband and regular job, and Thea slinking along the edges of society, solitary and invisible.
When a storm of biblical proportions strikes, the wayward sisters are begrudgingly forced together as the rain waters rise, each attempting to survive both the flood and each other.
One year later, Thea—now calling herself Sestra—floats throughout a ravaged, flood soaked world. Her former life drowned beneath metric tons of water, she and her only companion, Robert, battle starvation, heatstroke, and the monstrous creatures called Posies that appeared alongside the flood.
When they run across what they assume to be an abandoned tugboat, their journey takes a new turn, and the truth about the flood and the monsters seems more intricately linked to Thea’s past then she may realize.
“Bewitching debut….this is a promising first outing from Meuret.” —Publishers Weekly
“With its unforgettable imagery, Posies is a phenomenal novel set at the edge of an unforeseen apocalypse.” —Foreword Reviews
To purchase A Flood of Posies, click on any of the following links: Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Amazon & IndieBound
The Interview with Tiffany Meuret
Tell us about your road to publication with A Flood of Posies:
I started Posies at the end of 2015. I was ready to query it in 2017, and querying lasted until late 2018.
This book got quite a few agent responses, including a phone call with one and a revise and resubmit. In the end I wasn’t able to snag an agent with it, many mentioning marketing being an issue. I do notoriously blend genres to an irritating degree so it made sense even if it was disappointing.
I didn’t give up on it though, and continued to keep my eyes peeled for other platforms.
Now, I’m also a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and one day I saw a new press get mentioned in our Facebook group. Me being the forever curious little bee that I am looked it up and noticed they had an open call for genre novels coming up.
I waited, hemming and hawing as to whether I should actually submit, and thankfully I did, because that press was Black Spot Books.
Lindy actually emailed me with a contract while I was at Universal Studios with my family (in 2019), and due to COVID the release was pushed from 2020 to 2021.
All in all, the ride from drafting to publication date was 6 years! So don’t give up, dear writers. This is definitely a long haul!
“Speculative is the broad umbrella term I use to mean ‘not quite reality, but close’.” —Tiffany Meuret
Your work is labeled speculative fiction, what does that mean to you and how does it play out in your debut novel?
Speculative is the broad umbrella term I use to mean ‘not quite reality, but close’.
I love to add elements of strange to my stories because I like the surprise.
As a reader myself, I love to find books that are impossible to predict or push the envelope just a hair too much.
As for Posies, we have both a flood that consumes the world Biblical-style, and mysterious kraken-like monsters (called posies) that haunt these new waters.
But despite the fantastical elements, the book’s focus centers on trauma and how that filters everything we do, no matter how far in the past it may seem.
What should readers know about Thea?
Thea is angry, but more importantly, she is very lonely and very sad. Most of her life choices revolve around being lonely and not wanting to admit it.
How does living in a desert impact your writing?
For one, nearly every character I create lives in the desert.
That might be because it’s easy, but I also really love living in the desert myself. It’s the very definition of speculative when you think about it. The summer temps here can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s hot and brutal and lacking in the one element all life needs to thrive—water.
And yet the desert is exploding with all sorts of resilient life, from insects to reptiles to coyotes and hawks and cougars. And our plant life is so diverse and so pretty when it blooms in the spring.
It’s surprising, which I love, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Tell us about your writing process:
I am a slow writer.
So very slow.
I also don’t outline, so my initial drafts are generally a meandering mess. I tend to have a new book ready every two years, which I suppose isn’t as slow as it feels in the grand scheme of things, but it sometimes feels like pulling teeth when I’m in the middle of it.
My writing philosophy is to wing it and see what happens.
“I’ve never felt so exposed with something I have written, and it terrifies me.” —Tiffany Meuret
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a novel about a middle-aged mother whose reflections are trying to ‘talk’ to her.
I’m drafting it now (almost done—woohoo!), but it has been quite an ordeal thus far.
It’s the most difficult book I have ever written in my life, probably because it hits very close to my own heart.
I’ve never felt so exposed with something I have written, and it terrifies me.
Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers:
Don’t write for a market, write for you.
Your love of writing is what will carry you through the slog that is the publishing industry.
Also, look for writers in the same space as you—they will be your writer crew that you can vent to, mourn with, and celebrate. They are vital!
Excellent advice Tiffany!
Author Pet Corner!
Zeus the chiweenie. He’s my little shadow and just as neurotic as I am. He also serves looks on the regular and has far too much attitude for such a tiny body.
Blue the chihuahua/min pin. He is perpetually nervous of anything that moves too fast or is too loud, and yet he will curl up against your chest for pets as if his life depends on it. He’s the sweetest little thing that ever existed.
Bowser the sulcate tortoise. We *think* she is female, but didn’t know that when we got her as a hatchling. She is rude beyond all belief, which endears her to me more than I care to admit, and is also keen to scratch at the back door like a dog when she wants food.
Thank you for sharing your adorable pets! I’m thrilled to have our first tortoise make an appearance!
Tiffany Meuret
Tiffany Meuret is a writer of monsters and twisted fairy tales. Her publications include Shoreline of Infinity, Luna Station Quarterly, Ellipsis Zine, and others. To learn more about Tiffany, click on her name, photo, or any of the following links: Instagram & Twitter
Elena Taylor is the author of All We Buried, available now in print, e-book, and audio book format at all your favorite on-line retailers. And don’t forget many independent bookstores can order books for you and have them shipped to your home or for curbside pickup.
Foreword INDIES Finalist, Best Mystery 2020
For more information on All We Buried, click on the link here to visit the home page.
