‘Deep in Providence’ brings magic to the Ocean State
Local author Marissa Neilson drew upon her experience as a lifelong Rhode Islander to write “Deep in Providence” which comes out May 31. PHOTO CREDIT: Goodreads.com
When Marissa Neilson first started pursuing her undergraduate degree, she had no idea that a highly anticipated young adult novel would come out of it.
Neilson, a Providence native, enrolled at the University of Rhode Island for a year before transferring to Rhode Island College (RIC). She said she found herself trying many different majors before eventually finding her way into the English creative writing program.
“I was writing fanfiction since I was 12,” Neilson said. “I’ve also been writing poetry since I was a little younger than that and I was always [writing] through all my different majors.”
Neilson graduated from RIC in 2017 and said that during her time there Professor Emily Danforth was one of her greatest mentors. Only five years later Neilson’s debut novel, “Deep In Providence” is scheduled to be released on May 31, 2022.
“Deep In Providence” is a young adult novel that focuses on a group of teenage girls growing up in Rhode Island and facing struggles, both personally and as a group, according to Neilson.
“It’s basically about three teen girls who turn to magic when their best friend dies in a car accident,” she said. “They think that they can bind her spirit [to the physical world] so they’ll be able to talk to her and she’ll still be with them, basically. But it’s an increasingly tangled path for them to get to this point. They all use magic for their own benefit but also to widen realms to help their friends’ spirits slip through.”
Neilson said that the story is inspired lightly by her own life and the experience she went through after losing one of her own friends as an adolescent, but also through the love for magic and the supernatural that she and her friends shared.
The story also takes place in the neighborhoods where Neilson grew up, allowing her to make the settings vivid for her readers through her own experiences.
“My grandpa is Filipino so we grew up with Filipino stories,” she said. “And actually, when I was that age, one of my friends passed away and we used to do seances. But she hated when we would do that, she hated it so much. She thought it would bring bad energy and omens and the story just bloomed from there.”
After graduating from RIC, Neilson contacted Danforth with her desire to write her own novel. From there, Danforth put her in contact with the agents at the publishing company that published her book, Macmillan Publishing.
“I met [Marissa] six or seven years ago when she started in my intro to creative writing,” Danforth said. “[Marissa] is very disciplined about her writing and she had the discipline to write a novel, which not everyone does.”
Macmillan gave Neilson a two-book deal, and according to her, the first draft of her second novel is already completed. She is hoping to publish it sometime next year.
While her next novel is not a sequel to “Deep In Providence,” Neilson said that both books will take place in the same universe and that certain characters and locations can be connected between the two books.
Those interested in pre-ordering the book can use this link and will receive special limited-time offers with their purchase. The book will also be available at Walmart, Barnes & Nobles and Indie bookshops as well.