The Author: Del Sandeen
The Book: This Cursed House (Berkley Books, 2024)
The Elevator Pitch: A woman who’s run from her ability to see ghosts her entire life must use her gift to save a cursed family or else suffer their same fate.
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The Rumpus: Where did the idea of your book come from?
Del Sandeen: It was a combination of inspiration from one of my favorite films, Eve’s Bayou, plus a family story of colorism. Once I decided I wanted to write about a cursed family, those elements naturally fit.
Rumpus: How long did it take to write the book?
Sandeen: It took about ten months for the initial draft, but I did a few rounds of revisions, so from the very beginning to the final draft, it was about eighteen months.
Rumpus: Is this the first book you’ve written? If not, what made it the first to be published?
Sandeen: This Cursed House is the sixth (actually, sixth-and-a-half, counting a novella that I wrote) manuscript that I finished. I had two agents before my current agent, Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich and Bourret. I went on sub twice with my first agent and twice with my second agent (different books), but we weren’t able to sell.
I wrote a new manuscript, which was eventually retitled This Cursed House. I submitted it to Berkley’s Open Submission Program for un-agented writers in January 2022. After Anne Sowards expressed interest, I secured my agent and was fortunate enough to get a deal.
Rumpus: In submitting the book, how many no’s did you get before your yes?
Sandeen: Because this wasn’t submitted in the usual fashion (submitting to various publishing houses through a literary agent), I didn’t rack up a lot of no’s. I did have to do substantial revisions before we made a deal with Berkley, though.
Rumpus: Which authors/writers buoyed you along the way? How?
Sandeen: I’ve been fortunate to meet some incredible writers, including J. Elle and Yasmin Angoe. They gave me the support and encouragement I needed to not only write a good story but also believe in that story. We had brainstorming sessions as well as plenty of conversations about non-writing things. J. Elle helped me with the business side of writing, while Yasmin helped me have fun. I think every writer needs supportive but also very honest people who are willing to tell them when something works versus when it doesn’t.
Rumpus: How did your book change over the course of working on it?
Sandeen: With my agent’s and editor’s feedback and input, the story became stronger—and a bit scarier! The characters were more fleshed out into fully realized versions of themselves, and the timeline was shortened quite a bit, to help with pacing.
Rumpus: Before your first book, where has your work been published?
Sandeen: I’ve had short fiction published in FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Uncanny Magazine, and Nightlight podcast. I also authored three nonfiction, young adult books for the educational market.
Rumpus: What is the best advice someone gave you about publishing?
Sandeen: The best advice I received about publishing is that it’s all subjective. If one person doesn’t love your book, someone else will.
Rumpus: Who’s the reader you’re writing to—or tell us about your target audience and how you cultivated or found it?
Sandeen: I’m writing to the reader who loves characters as much as plot, and who understands that horror encompasses much more than just things that go bump in the night.
Rumpus: What is one completely unexpected thing that surprised you about the process of getting your book published?
Sandeen: That you can read your manuscript over and over again—for copy edits, line edits, etcetera—and still love the story.
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Author photograph by Christy Whitehead
