Goodreads asked Robert Beatty:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Robert Beatty I was fishing around for ideas for my next book and my wife Jennifer said, "Why don't you write a spooky ghost story kind of thing?" I answered: "Hmm. I don't know. Not sure that's my area . . ." But later that night I went to bed, tossed and turned, dreamed and fantasized. All through the night my mind kept working on a story that I envisioned in my mind. The whole story came to life. I could see a strange little girl creeping around in the basement of a great mansion, and I could see a long, black cloak shimmering in the moonlight. I've been into historical stuff for a long time, so I happened to have a long black cloak in my basement that I used as a costume when I was young. I live near to the amazing Biltmore Estate, an old and beautiful mansion from the Turn of the Century. I also love animals and the mountains and forests. The story just clicked. I woke up the next morning with the main character (Serafina), the setting, the conflict, the twist, and the entire story in my head. I could see the whole thing. I rushed to my computer and started typing as fast as I could. My fingers were just flying. I wrote the entire rough draft over the next 48 hours. It was super rough and just a sketch of the fuller novel that it would become, but the whole story was there. Over the next year, my wife and three daughters, as well as several professional editors, helped me refine it, improve it, and turn it into the final book.

flag