The Monsters are Here is a collection of short stories written by Augusta County author Lori D’Angelo, who will be one of 50 authors participating in Queen City Word Fest on Saturday in Staunton.
D’Angelo’s 30 short stories center on human characters experiencing real-world problems who encounters monsters, including vampires, ghosts, witches and werewolves. Sometimes, the reader will be left wondering if the monster in a story is the human character.
“I feel like some of the stories attempt to deal with theology,” D’Angelo, who earned a master’s in creative writing from West Virginia University in 2009, said. In undergraduate school at Northwestern University, she majored in journalism. “Even though they are stories that have magical, unrealistic elements, a lot of them are dealing with problems that people have.”
She said she uses humor in her stories, some of which she wrote while at WVU, to deal with serious human issues and convey a message without coming across as obnoxious.
D’Angelo also holds a master’s Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Female saints of Catholicism influenced her writing. “Faith is important to me.”
But, as a fan of horror films and science fiction, she also enjoys the supernatural.
“I’m trying to have these characters deal with basically what is the nature of their relationships that they’ve had with people. In what ways were they satisfactory and in what ways are there things they didn’t face that they need to face?” she said.
As a writer, she likes to leave room in her stories for readers to question actions and characters, and to think about the story.
“I feel like when you introduce absurd elements that you can kind of deal with every day human relationships in a way that’s more interesting,” D’Angelo said.
The title of the book derives from the first story which involves characters in a town who rely heavily on immigrant labor and a group of youth who torment a man because he is disabled. D’Angelo’s grandparents immigrated from Italy to the United States.
The story raises the question of: who are the monsters?
“Yes, there are literal monsters but, also, monstrous behaviors [by humans],” she said.
D’Angelo will have a table and sell copies of her first book from 1 to 5 p.m. at 110 W. Beverley Street as part of Queen City Word Fest. She will sign copies for readers and also looks forward to making connections with other authors.
As a first-time author, she said she was unsure how to reach out to potential readers and Saturday’s events provide an opportunity for her to do so.
“It happens that [Queen City Word Fest is] in October and I have a book that has monsters in it,” she said.
Related stories:
Staunton: Queen City Word Fest features more than 30 authors (augustafreepress.com)
Staunton book festival welcomes 50 authors (augustafreepress.com)
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Rebecca Barnabi
