Advice from IR Approved Author Meredith Allard: “Give yourself the time to grow into the writer you want to be. Writing is a skill. It can be learned, but it’s still a skill.”

The Professor of Eventide: Received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.

Following find an interview with author Meredith Allard:

1. What is the name of the book and when was it published?

   The Professor of Eventide was published on April 7, 2026.

2. What’s the book’s first line?

   “Without music or an intriguing idea, color becomes pallor, man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb, and the dead are but for a moment motionless,” which is a quote from Edgar Allan Poe.

3. What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch.”

   The Professor of Eventide is a Gothic literary mystery set at an isolated college in Coastal Maine where the murders of three students exposes buried secrets, old grief, and the dangerous power of academic obsession. At the center of the novel is Jonathan Ferrars, a professor whose investigation into the crimes slowly becomes a confrontation with his own unraveling sense of self. Part mystery, part psychological drama, and part meditation on immortality, The Professor of Eventide is about whether some mysteries are less about discovering the truth than surviving it.

4. What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?

   I’m an academic, and I like dark, so about three years ago I started looking at pins on Pinterest and watching Dark Academia-inspired videos on YouTube. I wasn’t inspired to go out and change my wardrobe or start writing with a quill and ink, but I was inspired to read some Dark Academia novels. I began my Dark Academia reading experience with The Secret History, and I adored that book. I was captivated by Richard and his fellow Classics students. I couldn’t stop thinking about the story—about how Tartt constructed the plot, about how Richard became so compliant, and complicit, in the actions of his fellow students. The writer in me was trying to figure out what made that book tick. I can’t recall exactly when it occurred to me that I wanted to try to write something similar, something more psychological, but occur to me it did. The Professor of Eventide is the result.

5. What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?

   The main reason to read The Professor of Eventide is because it treats the mystery not simply as a puzzle to solve but as a window into the inner lives of its characters. What happens when memory becomes its own kind of haunting? Is it always necessary to know the truth? I had some fun writing the book as I tried to answer those questions. I wanted readers to feel as though they had stepped into an academic world that lingered long after the final page.

6. What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character?  Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?

   The most distinctive thing about Jonathan Ferrars is that he is profoundly exhausted by his existence. He’s introspective, guilt-ridden, and burdened by memories he cannot escape. His investigation into the mystery lurking at Eventide College gradually forces him to confront not only the crime itself but the parts of himself he has fought so hard to hide.

   I’ve read some of the books that inspired the Dark Academia genre, and Jonathan shares qualities with characters like Rodya Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment or even Lestat de Lioncourt from Interview With a Vampire, only Jonathan is stripped of any glamour or certainty. He carries the melancholy and emotional isolation of many Gothic protagonists, including many of Edgar Allan Poe’s main characters.

7. When did you first decide to become an author?

   I’ve been prone to daydreaming for as long as I can remember. When I was in high school, it occurred to me that I could take these crazy stories floating around in my head and write them down for others to hopefully enjoy as much as I do. I began writing seriously, as in writing for publication, after I finished university, and I’ve been at it ever since.

8. Is this the first book you’ve written?

   Heavens, no. The Professor of Eventide is my 13th book. I’ve written 11 novels and two nonfiction books for writers.

9. What do you do for work when you’re not writing?

   I’m a high school English teacher, so my day job aligns with my creative writing self. I also teach creative writing workshops to adults.

10. How much time do you generally spend on your writing?

    It depends on what part of the writing process I’m in. If it’s a first draft, I write a minimum of 500 words a day, which usually takes me about 30 minutes–or more depending on how inspired I am that day. If it’s later in the writing process, then I usually work for 3 or 4 hours in the late afternoon or early evening.

11. What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?

    The best part of being an indie author is being able to share these crazy stories I have in my head with others and finding readers all over the world. The other day a reader in Japan bought The Professor of Eventide and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I’ve heard from readers in England, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and other countries around the world. Being independent, and being able to see where my books are bought, and knowing that these wonderful readers are enjoying my stories–there’s nothing like it.

    The hardest part, and I know I’m echoing other authors here, is the marketing. It’s harder to get your books in front of readers who will love them now than it was when I started in 2011. But it’s not impossible. I’m thankful any day that I see readers, wherever they are in the world, finding, reading, and enjoying my books.

12. What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?

    Give yourself the time to grow into the writer you want to be. Writing is a skill. It can be learned, but it’s still a skill. Study your favorite authors and see what makes them tick. Practice your writing, and work to improve. I’ve been writing for more than 20 years now, and I’m still learning.

13. Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?

    Charles Dickens. I’m not sure how much I admire him as a person, but as an author he was the best of the best. His talent for creating flesh-and-blood characters, and his ability to describe people and places, is among the greatest I have ever seen.

14. Which book do you wish you could have written?

    The Secret History. Although if I had written The Secret History, I never would have been prompted to write The Professor of Eventide, which is a book I’m very glad to have written.