For fans of historical fiction, here's a recommendation: Maria Tureaud's gothic novel "This House Will Feed." It's set during Ireland's Great Hunger, also known by its Irish name, An Gorta Mór.

The author was born and raised in a part of Ireland that was devastated by the Great Hunger during the mid-1800s, yet she barely learned anything about the area's tragic history when she was growing up. She says it wasn't taught in school. Then she left Ireland to spend her junior year in college as an exchange student in the United States. She signed up for an Irish history class, expecting it to be an easy A. Instead, her eyes were opened to the atrocities that were committed during that terrible time.

In this episode, Tureaud talks about why she didn't really want to tackle the subject of the Great Hunger yet felt compelled to write about it. She also discusses why she chose to make it a gothic story; how she developed her main character, Maggie O'Shaughnessy, and how the process affected Tureaud's personal life. Other topics include the urge to someday move back to her home country, as well as her own path to becoming published with some advice for others wanting the same.

"This House Will Feed" came out at the end of January 2026. Tureaud's next Irish gothic historical novel, "Beneath It Sleeps," will be published in January of 2027. Also, before she entered the realm of adult books, she wrote a middle-grade paranormal novel titled "The Last Hope in Hopetown," which was published in 2022.

You'll hear about all this and much more (for example, the difference between masculine rage and feminine rage, revenge vs. vengeance). Please join us for an illuminating — and fun — conversation.

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This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in major podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.