Today's Q & A is with Laura Crisp Davis, Writer - comic, bestselling author, screenwriter, and producer - who wrote "My Family From Hell" for THE STORIES OF SHE anthology. What inspired you to write this story?
I was pitching a producer a script and he asked the million-dollar question, “What else ya got?” so I blurted out an early version of this, and he laughed. Then I had to go home and write the thing! LOL I wanted to write something like Christmas with the Kranks, but for Halloween. Basically, a lighthearted, fun rom-com set in my favorite weird spot: Hell, Michigan. I wrote the script, then I brainstormed the backstory…and it became this short story.
What inspired the names of the characters in the story?
I named nearly all of them after horror actors, directors, or writers.
How did you come up with the title?
It’s the backstory/prequel to my screenplay “Saving Hell” and since this is kind of the origin of the family, voila.
What do you hope readers will connect with in your story?
That it’s totally great to be weird. Normal is boring.
Have you written any other books or scripts, published or unpublished?
I wrote The Recollection of Trees book series under a pseudonym, Sadie Francis Skyheart, which I'm adapting into a TV series. In addition, I've got a couple of comedy features I'm pitching right now. If your story had a candle, what scent would it be?
Pumpkin spice and candy corn, with a hint of motor oil.
Who are your favorite writers?
-Fiction authors: Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, Alice Hoffman, John Grisham, Stephen King, Deborah Harkness, Willa Cather, L.M. Montgomery, John LeCarre.
-Poets: Shel Silverstein, Seamus Heaney, Maya Angelou, Nichole McElhaney, Fleassy Malay.
-Non-fiction authors: Brene Brown, Kyle Cease, Russell Brand, Oprah Winfrey, Shirley MacLaine, Deepak Chopra, T. Harv Eker.
-Screenwriters: Aaron Sorkin, Nora Ephron, James L. Brooks, John Hughes, John Hindman, Rob Reiner, Liz Hannah, Josh Singer, Jordan Peele, Kenneth Biller, Michael Sussman, Chuck Lorre, Christopher Lloyd, Steven Levitan, Aline Brosh McKenna.
Is there a writer whose brain you’d love to pick for advice?
I wish I’d had the chance to speak with Zilpha Keatley Snyder. She was my elementary school gateway to all things dark and twisted.
LAURA CRISP DAVIS - is a Chicago-based comic, screenwriter, and bestselling author of The Recollection of Trees (2019 YA paranormal fantasy) under the pseudonym Sadie Francis Skyheart. The sequel, Blue Willow Witch, will be published in 2022. Originally from Michigan, she earned a B.A. in International Relations from James Madison College at Michigan State University and has completed numerous screenwriting and comedy courses. She is a juror for two international screenwriting contests and a script consultant. She is President/Editor-in-Chief, and a founding board member of Salter Network Press. She recently launched Hyenas in Petticoats Productions, which will produce films, TV, and live comedy. She is known for The Sky is Falling (2020), and she was an associate producer of In the Deathroom (2020), an award-winning crime drama based on a story by Stephen King. Her story My Family From Hell is a prequel to her romantic comedy feature screenplay, Saving Hell, a romantic comedy set in Hell, Michigan. She likes to write in lucky Halloween socks (all year) while listening to Thirty Seconds to Mars.
facebook, instagram, twitter: @lauracrispdavis
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