Q&A With Meg Hafdahl & Kelly Florence

Today I have the privilege of doing a Q&A with two ladies Meg Hafdahl & Kelly Florence! These two ladies are the authors of the non-fiction anthology The Science Of. The books in the series are The Science Of Witchcraft, The Science Of Monsters, The Science Of Stephen King, The Science Of Women In Horror,  & their recent release The Science Of Agatha Christie.

 Q: Meg and Kelly would you like to tell the readers of the blog and I a little bit about The Science Of Agatha Christie? What made the two of you write about her methods of writing a great mystery?

A: We are known for writing about horror, but as mystery fans we’d thought it would be fun to expand our horizons. We both grew up reading Agatha Christie, and so being able to research and write about not only her biography, but the different aspects of her books has been a treat. Mystery is about suspense, but it’s also about great characters, and creating an intriguing puzzle. From a scientific perspective we look into the poisons and motives, and of course we always delve into the psychology of crime. 

Q: How did the two of you meet one another? What made you two want to write together?

A: We met over 20 years ago and have been best friends ever since! We bonded over our shared love of The X-Files and soon discovered we had more than that in common. Both being horror fans, we discovered we loved reading and writing the genre and began writing stage plays together early in our friendship. That progressed to writing our The Science of…series starting in 2019 and currently we’re working on our eighth book together.

Q: What is your advice to anyone wanting to co-write a book with a family member or a friend?

A: Be open to feedback! We live by the motto that we both need to be excited about the topic or plot point we’re delving into. Sometimes it’s easy to go down a path that seems obvious but we’ve found it’s always more interesting to explore things from a different angle. We feel very fortunate because even though we love the same genre, we come with skills that complement each other. Meg is a horror novelist and has a background in literature while Kelly is a communications professor and has experience in theater. These viewpoints help us to merge our ideas and visions.

Q: What are the two of you working on now, both together as well as solo projects?

A: We have “Travels of Terror” a US haunted and spooky locale travel book coming in the fall of 2024, as well as “The Science of Alfred Hitchcock, also coming out then. And Meg has a story in the upcoming anthology “Mother Knows Best” in May of 2024. Stay tuned for more exciting announcements! 

Q: What drew the two of you into writing? Who were your biggest supporters of your writing goals and talents?

A: Ever since we were little, we loved scary things. We both read everything we could get our hands on and wrote stories as soon as we learned to write. We strongly believe you need to be a reader to be a better writer so we’ve been influenced by everything from classic novels to romance. Our parents encouraged our writing when we were young and we had excellent mentors in high school, college, and now in our professional lives. We’re also thankful for our spouses and children who support our goals and dreams in writing!