Night Writer - Deborah Schaumberg

I'm so excited to introduce to you to Night Writer, Deborah Schaumberg and the awesomely dark world of her book, The Tombs. I fell in love with this book at first sight, but it is sooo much more than a pretty cover.  So, strike a candle and follow me to the dark side.

About Deborah Schaumberg

Originally from Brooklyn, Deborah Schaumberg grew up renovating old houses with her family where she and her father would walk the rooms making up ghost stories. She studied architecture in New Orleans, loving the crumbling plantations, creepy cemeteries, and tales of voodoo magic. It was on a trek in Nepal that she imagined a girl with the ability to see energy, and the seed of THE TOMBS was planted. HarperTeen published THE TOMBS, her debut young adult novel, in February 2018. She lives with her family and dog in Maryland, just outside DC. She collects old bottles and her favorite holiday is Halloween. Visit her online at www.deborahschaumbnerg.com.

About Deborah's Book

THE TOMBS.

New York, 1882. A dark, forbidding city, and no place for a girl with unexplainable powers.

Sixteen-year-old Avery Kohl pines for the life she had before her mother was taken. She fears the mysterious men in crow masks who locked her mother in the Tombs asylum for being able to see what others couldn’t. Avery denies the signs in herself, focusing instead on her shifts at the ironworks factory and keeping her inventor father out of trouble. Other than secondhand tales of adventure from her best friend, Khan, an ex-slave, and caring for her falcon, Seraphine, Avery spends her days struggling to survive.

Like her mother’s, Avery’s powers refuse to be contained. When she causes a bizarre explosion at the factory, she has no choice but to run from her lies, straight into the darkest corners of the city. Avery must embrace her abilities and learn to wield their power—or join her mother in the cavernous horrors of the Tombs. And the Tombs has secrets of its own: strange experiments are being performed on ‘patients’…and no one knows why.

Deborah Schaumberg’s gripping debut melds history and fantasy, taking readers on a breathless trip across a teeming turn-of-the-century New York, and asks the question: Where can you hide in a city that wants you buried?

My Q&A with Deborah Schaumberg

Was there anything that drew you to this genre?

So many things! Dark gas-lit streets, creepy mad doctors, a gruesome asylum…
I love throwing my characters into dark and disturbing settings and seeing how they find their way out. 1882 New York has tons of atmospheric imagery to draw upon.


What do you enjoy about writing for Young Adults?

I love writing for young adults. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen we go through the most confusing and tumultuous time of our lives. We are trying to figure out who we are and what is important to us. I love dealing with characters that are going through all that. Also, teen readers get so into their books, I love their passion.

What is your favorite Paranormal/Dark/Gothic novel?

There are so many, but I just read Kerri Maniscalco’s STALKING JACK THE RIPPER, and really loved it. My favorite classic gothic novel is WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Brontë.


What is your favorite Gothic Motif/Theme/Element?

Once again it’s hard to pick just one, but I would say madness and places of madness, (asylums), are the darkest and creepiest elements. Especially during the Victorian times when mental illness was feared and misunderstood. I also use the crow as a gothic motif in THE TOMBS. They represent mystery and death.

Which resource/s helped you the most in researching and/or writing your novel?

I read many books and studied websites about life in turn of the century New York, but my favorite bit of research was learning about falcons from a real falconer in Pennsylvania, Mike Dupuy. He introduced me to his birds and taught me what it’s like to raise them. A peregrine falcon plays an important role in THE TOMBS.

What's next for you? Is there anything you can tell us about it?

I am writing a book about the strange and unique experiences of a young girl growing up during World War Two. And she is a real person. That’s all I can say for now.

Do you have any advice or insights for other Dark and Gothic Writers?

There is so much information on-line but I think museums are an awesome way to gather information in a more sensory way. Two that I recommend are The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, and The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe, in Richmond, Virginia.

Let us know where we can stalk you?

Website: DeborahSchaumberg.com

Instagram: debschaumberg

Twitter: @debschaumberg

Facebook: WriterDSchaumberg

Goodreads: TheTombs

Thank you, Shadow Leitner, for hosting me on your blog!

You are so welcome, Deborah! Thank you for sharing so much with us.


As always, stay beautifully haunted, Night Writers,
♥ Shadow.