in between. Her major literary influences include Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Gaston Leroux, Susan Kay, J.K. Rowling, Robin McKinley, Stephen King, C.S. Lewis, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lewis Carroll, Libba Bray, Holly Black, and too many more to name. Creagh holds a Bachelor of Science in Theatre Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults. In addition to writing, Creagh enjoys teaching and lecturing about subjects she loves, including creative writing and Edgar Allan Poe. She is also a silk artist, creating beautiful and colorful hand-dyed silk scarves for wear and veils for bellydancing.
Creagh applied the Page 69 Test to Strange Unearthly Things and reported the following:
A snapshot of page 69 of Strange Unearthly Things:Visit Kelly Creagh's website.
There’s been a fire. One started by a demon—or something akin to a demon.
Now, eighteen-year-old psychic artist Jane Reye is meeting with fellow psychic, Giovanni, who has also been summoned to Fairfax Hall, a haunted manor sequestered in the secluded countryside of Northern England. Jane and Giovanni, along with Ingrid (a now-missing third psychic), have been hired to clear the property of its oppressive forces. A meeting had been scheduled to discuss this task. But the previous night’s potentially lethal fire has now brought the dangers of the endeavor into stark relief.
At least it has for eighteen-year-old Elias Thornfield, the illusive, stoic, and enigmatic eye-patch-wearing owner of Fairfax Hall.
Instead of discussing next steps, he wants to call the whole ordeal off—a move that confirms Jane’s pervading hunch that Elias isn’t telling them everything.
Elias is adamant, though. They need to follow Ingrid’s lead and leave while they still can.
But then, Ingrid, the missing pink-haired tarot reader from London, shows up.
Her sudden reappearance shocks no one more than Elias, who until that moment was certain Ingrid was the one who had awakened him last night, alerting him to the fire.
Apparently, though…she wasn’t.
Does the Page 69 Test work for Strange Unearthly Things?
It does! Not only have the life-and-death stakes been established, but the greater mysteries of the novel officially make their appearance here as well.
Jane, our heroine, is being singled out by the dark force that, according to Elias, is supposed to be attached to the property. But if that was true, why was the entity stalking Jane before she even left the States?
It’s true Elias had warned them all repeatedly about the dangers that came with this assignment. In this scene, though, Jane begins to realize that, while Elias does seem to genuinely fear for their safety, he also seems to fear the whole truth of his dilemma coming to light.
He’s hiding something. When Ingrid’s sudden reappearance alerts everyone to the fact that there is at least one other uninvited guest—or entity—skulking about in Fairfax Hall, all players begin to grasp that there’s more at work here than ordinary ghosts.
The dark elements are too dark. Conversely, the light elements are too light.
There’s something indeed strange and unearthly afoot. There’s also far, far more on the line than mere death.
In this scene, we also get a taste of the novel’s humor, much of which is provided by the dashing and wisecracking eighteen-year-old Giovanni. His psychic gift? Reading energies through touch.
The cover lets you know there’s going to be kissing. And since the core cast is all on stage here, it’s fun, too, to wonder who in this scene will be locking lips later with whom.
The Page 69 Test: Phantom Heart.
Q&A with Kelly Creagh.
--Marshal Zeringue
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