In this installment of Jen’s Jewels, we dive into the dark and mysterious world crafted by author Lindy Ryan. From the depths of Southeast Texas in 1999 to the chilling twists of strigoi lore, Lindy’s narrative invites readers to explore family secrets, buried pasts, and the intriguing tension between the Evans family and law enforcement. Join me as we peel back the layers of Lindy’s storytelling and anticipate the thrilling secrets yet to be revealed in her upcoming installments.
Jennifer Vido: The setting of Southeast Texas in 1999 adds such depth to the story. How did you research and capture the atmosphere of that time and place?
Lindy Ryan: Easy: from memory. I grew up in Southeast Texas, in the fictionalized version of the town in which BLESS YOUR HEART takes place and was about the same age as Luna in 1999, so writing that atmosphere was mostly an exercise of recalling the people, places, and the events of the time. Good, bad, and otherwise, Bless Your Heart is truly a snapshot of my hometown at that time (though perhaps a little more rural). I wrote a lot about “writing what you know” in a recent essay at Crimereads, too, where I talked at length about the inspirations, big and small, behind the book, including both the Evans women, and their town.
Jen: The Strigoi and the undead element add a thrilling twist to the narrative. What drew you to incorporate vampires into the story, and how did you put your own spin on this classic trope?
Lindy: Well, I want to make the same important distinction that Ducey Evans makes in the book: strigoi are not vampires, at least not in the modern sense. Though strigoi legends do indeed form the foundation for current vampire lore, they are mostly forgotten in the tropes we associate most with vampires today. I’m a monster girl by heart, and when I began working on the Evanses’ world, going back into real history and real lore, I wanted to introduce a different type of monster—something almost familiar, but odd enough to shape a new world around and give our heroes, and my readers, a new type of beast to tangle with, and strigoi were the perfect fit.
Jen: Family secrets and buried pasts play a significant role in BLESS YOUR HEART. Can you discuss the importance of these themes in the novel and how they drive the plot forward?
Lindy: Every person, every family, every town, has secrets—and secrets, all of them, no matter how benign or dark, have consequences. Those secrets drive behavior, which spur action, and they have an uncanny way of coming to light. In BLESS YOUR HEART, I wanted to explore all those layers of secrets, and see what happened when they started digging their way back from the dead—literally!
Jen: Deputy Roger Taylor’s investigations add an intriguing dynamic to the story. How did you approach crafting the tension between the Evans family and law enforcement in the small-town setting?
Lindy: Many horrors and thrillers take place in worlds without police involvement, but I wanted to give as much realism to this world as possible, and it only made sense that someone else would notice dead bodies going missing—especially in a small town. And like the Evans women, no person is one-dimensional, not even a sheriff, or a sheriff’s deputy. I wanted to give that wholeness to this world, where the Evans women must work sometimes in harmony, and sometimes in complete friction, with the reality of their day-to-day lives. Nothing happens in a vacuum, right? And even for our heroes, there are consequences.
Jen: BLESS YOUR HEART is the first book in a new series. Can you offer any hints or teasers about what readers can expect in future installments?
Lindy: In the Evanses’s world, “The End” is never necessarily the end—but nothing ever ends easily for these gals.
Jen: For readers who have fallen in love with your writing, how can they stay up to date on your latest happenings and releases?
Lindy: I love to meet and stay in touch with readers on Instagram, and my website always includes the most up-to-date information on all new and upcoming work—including updates on the in-development television series!
Jen: Lastly, could you share a bit about your current work in progress? What themes or ideas are you exploring, and how does it compare to Bless Your Heart?
Lindy: All my work is female-forward, and that’s the main theme I seek to explore, whether it’s in continuing the Evanses’ world (and I’ve just completed the sequel!) or in new projects. Upcoming, I have a novella (COLD SNAP) out from Titan in October, which is an exploration on grief and motherhood, and have recently completed an unannounced slasher novel that’s coming in 2026. I’ve also had the privilege of editing two upcoming anthologies, MOTHER KNOWS BEST (a women-in-horror anthology) coming in May and THE DARKEST NIGHT (an anthology of chilling seasonal tales) coming in September.
Jen: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us, Lindy. BLESS YOUR HEART is truly a gloriously gruesome delight, and we can’t wait to see what you have in store next!
Lindy: Thank you for having me, Jen!
BLESS YOUR HEART by Lindy Ryan
A crackling mystery-horror novel with big-hearted characters and Southern charm with a bite, Bless Your Heart is a gasp-worthy delight from start to finish from debut author Lindy Ryan.
Rise and shine. The Evans women have some undead to kill.
It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story. That’s how Ducey Evans has done it for the last eighty years, and her progeny—Lenore the experimenter and Grace, Lenore’s soft-hearted daughter, have run Evans Funeral Parlor for the last fifteen years without drama. Ever since That Godawful Mess that left two bodies in the ground and Grace raising her infant daughter Luna, alone.
But when town gossip Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi—the original vampire—are back. And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town.
As more folks in town turn up dead and Deputy Roger Taylor begins asking way too many questions, Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and now Luna, must take up their blades and figure out who is behind the Strigoi’s return. As the saying goes, what rises up, must go back down. But as unspoken secrets and revelations spill from the past into the present, the Evans family must face that sometimes, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.
Horror [St. Martins Press, On Sale: April 9, 2024, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250888884 / eISBN: 9781250888891]
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About Lindy Ryan
LINDY MILLER RYAN is a Bram Stoker Awards®-nominated and Silver Falchion Award-winning editor, author, short-film director, and professor. Ryan the current author-in-residence at Rue Morgue, the world’s leading horror culture and entertainment brand, and a regular contributor at Booktrib and LitReactor. Her guest articles and features include NPR, BBC Culture, Irish Times, Daily Mail, and more. She is an active member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), the International Thriller Writers (ITW), and the Brothers Grimm Society of North America. In 2022, she was named one of horror’s most masterful anthology curators, alongside Ellen Datlow and Christopher Golden, and has been declared a “champion for women’s voices in horror” by Shelf Awareness (2023). Her animated short film, TRICK OR TREAT, ALISTAIR GRAY, based on her children’s book of the same name, won the Grand Prix Award at the 2022 ANMTN Awards.
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About Jennifer Vido
Jennifer Vido writes sweet romances set in the Lowcountry filled with southern charm and hospitality. In between chapters, she interviews authors for her bi-weekly Jen’s Jewels column on FreshFiction.com. Most mornings, she teaches an arthritis-friendly water exercise class for seniors before heading to the office to serve as the executive director of a legal non-profit. A New Jersey native, she currently lives in Maryland with her husband and two rescue dogs and is the proud parent of two sons who miss her home-cooked meals. To learn more, please visit her website.
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