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 the monsters that come with it, as well as each other.

Tiffany Meuret recently spent some time with The Big Thrill discussing her latest thriller, A FLOOD OF POSIES:

Which took shape first: plot, character, or setting?

Normally all my books begin with character, but this one started with setting. Once during a storm, water poured in over the top of the door to our back office at work. It looked like a waterfall, and I remember thinking, “What if this rain never stopped?” The book was born from that thought.

Tiffany Meuret

What was the biggest challenge this book presented? What about the biggest opportunity?

Aside from actually writing it, the biggest challenge was marketing, as this book lands flatly in between at least three genres. I still don’t know if I would call it fantasy or literary or horror or thriller as it is a little bit of all of them and yet not enough of one to answer with certainty.

The biggest opportunity was meeting my team and my publisher. Having a debut book release in the age of COVID was no small feat, and yet Lindy at Black Spot was amazing. I’m still awestruck by it all.

How does this book make a contribution to the genre?

I feel like it defies what a thriller can be while still maintaining the roots of the genre. In my humble opinion, thrillers are all about discovering what makes people tick, dissecting it, and understanding the psychological puzzle that is the sack of meat called humans.

Without spoilers, are there any genre conventions you wanted to upend or challenge with this book?

I didn’t intend to challenge conventions—I just wrote the book I wanted to write. And yet in true Tiffany fashion, I made of mess of genre anyway. It probably speaks to who I am as a person too, and by that I mean *frustrating*.

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or the PR material?

Nightmares and warped memories play a very large role, and the prose dips in and out of those in a way that mimics the stress of keeping a dark past buried (hint, you can’t).

What authors or books have influenced your career as a writer, and why?

Jeff VanderMeer is pivotal simply because I find his very weird books so fascinating. If I told someone about a book that had one giant, flying bear, multiple smaller, flying bears, a “magician,” and a sentient, alienesque plant that learns to speak and shape shift, you’d think I was bonkers. But Jeff did it with Borne, and it was phenomenal.

What’s the one question you wish someone would ask you about this book, or your work in general? And, please answer the question too!

Anyone being compelled to ask me anything about my book is just lovely, and I can’t think of a question I yearn to be asked that hasn’t yet come across. Honestly, if someone wanted to talk shop about monsters then that would be fun as hell. Please come talk to me about monsters.

*****

Tiffany is a writer of monsters and angry women. Her short fiction and poetry can be found in multiple online formats and magazines, and her debut novel, A FLOOD OF POSIES released in February 2021 with Black Spot Books. She lives in Phoenix with her husband and children.

To learn more about the author and her work, please visit her website.