Monsters, Myths, and Memories: How A Mess of Monsters Ties to the Art of Storytelling
My book A Mess of Monsters is a middle grade short story collection centered around cryptids. It felt appropriate, then, to celebrate its upcoming publication by traveling to the mecca of cryptid-based destinations: the famous Mothman statue and museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Amid photo ops and scoring creepy yet cute souvenirs, I couldn’t help but admire the way the Mothman was woven into so many facets of Point Pleasant. Outside of the statue itself, the Mothman’s red eyes glared back at me from a Mothman themed pie at a Point Pleasant pizzeria. I had dessert at a Mothman themed sweet shop. I even spotted a barbershop named Legends and Lore as we made our way home. It was a great reminder of the power of stories–how they can tie communities and generations together. This idea is one that inspired the entire collection, and one that I hope to impart to my young readers: listen to the stories of others and tell stories of your own. This storytelling tendency is somewhat...