An Interview with David Beaumier

David Beaumier is the communications and marketing manager at Chanticleer Book Reviews, author of The Mourning Fields, and the youngest recipient of the Village Books Literary Citizenship Award.

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What inspired you to start writing this book?

I’ve been fortunate to be trusted with many difficult stories from friends and loved ones, accounts of trauma and abuse. These stories of people who were let down in the most fundamental ways possible by family and partners who should have loved them spiraled obsessively through my mind. After seeing Naomi Iizuka’s Polaroid Stories and how she transplanted Greek myths into contemporary settings, something shifted for me. I began to take this pain orbiting me and transform it into stories. As a big Greek myth nerd, these stories took the shape of contemporary myths, drawing inspiration from ancient tales I grew up reading and going through a metamorphosis.

Tell us the story of your book’s current title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

It definitely was a process of development! The original working title was The Modern Metamorphoses because I was thinking of it like Ovid’s original stories. I loved the alliteration, but despite my attachment to it, the title created too much confusion with people asking if it was all about people turning into different bugs, à la Kafka. So, I gathered some of my favorite creative friends for a brainstorming session. We went through several options together, and they immediately gravitated toward The Mourning Fields. They loved both the evocative nature of the phrase and its direct connection to that specific part of the Greek afterlife where souls who pursue unrequited love are sent.

As I got closer to finalizing the title, I realized that my story retelling the romance between Aphrodite and Ares (where I put Aphrodite in an open marriage but Ares still struggles to accept that he might not be ‘enough’ for her) could fit in nicely as the titular story. Before that, I had named every story after the myth, but I realized it might make more sense to play with alternate titles. So every story, even if I ended up choosing the myth name, had two titles for a while until I settled on one. Having the title gave me a stronger framework as I continued adding stories to the collection, and it gave me a lens through which to edit.

Describe your dream book cover.

For this, I have to give a huge shout-out to my publisher, Dark Forest Press, which specializes in weird and strange dark fiction. The Mourning Fields has truly found an excellent home, and it’s been a gift to partner with them for this type of niche work. Plus, they came as close as I think someone could get to that dream cover.

Dark Forest Press really allowed me to be as hands-on as I wanted to be in the cover process, so I sent over several examples of covers I loved from Greek books, and one book that felt like a great comp title. That comp title book was definitely the most ‘out there’ in terms of cover inspiration, and it was Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties, which features this gorgeous green thread pulling through a corset. I wanted something like that, where it felt like readers were being pulled in and through the stories. The final cover by @schism.art really delivered. The golden anatomical heart with veins reaching outward, combined with the Greek columns on the sides, captures that sense of broken hearts and twisted love perfectly. It feels both ancient and contemporary, beautiful and unsettling, exactly what I was hoping for.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I’ve spent more than twelve years in the publishing industry, currently working as the communications and marketing manager at Chanticleer Book Reviews, where I help to promote indie authors and publishers. As part of that work, I received the Village Books Literary Citizenship Award, which is still my biggest honor to date. Now that I’m an indie author myself, I have an even deeper appreciation for the challenges writers face. I love experiencing both sides: helping other authors navigate promoting their books and being able to put my skills to use for my own personal benefit. I also teach Argentine tango in Bellingham, which might surprise some readers. Dance really serves my writing by giving me an embodied practice that keeps me present, which helps me tap into the emotional depth required for writing.

What advice would you give your past self at the start of your writing journey?

Get your author website up much earlier! I always heard, “The best time to start building your platform was yesterday,” but I kept waiting for the perfect moment, the right content, the ideal timing. Now I feel like I’m scrambling to catch up. I think my career might be quite different if I hadn’t delayed that creation process, though I truly can’t complain about where I’ve landed. Still, I’d recommend that writers start imperfectly and improve as they go rather than waiting for perfection that never comes.

What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?

I hope the book helps people examine how we romanticize certain toxic behaviors, especially around unrequited love and obsession, and maybe think differently about the lessons we’re teaching when we glorify persistence that crosses into harmful territory. Most of all, I hope readers come away with a sense of catharsis and recognition. These stories came from holding tight to the pain experienced by me and my loved ones and transforming it into meaning. I want readers to see their own difficult experiences reflected in these mythological frameworks and maybe find some healing in that recognition. If someone finishes this book and feels less alone with their own dark stories, then I’ll be quite happy.

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