Max Miller Author Discussion

1. By: Max Miller

2. Personal Life
 Born: Tallahassee, Florida
 Currently: Atlanta Georgia
 Grew up with civil rights activists parents
 Writes in the supernatural genre
 Got her M.A. from Northwestern
 Married with one son

3. About Due
 Mostly know for the supernatural genre
 Also writes mystery, short stories, and a film
 First novel was “ The between”
 Currently teaching screenwriting and journalism at at
Spelman College

4. My Soul to Keep
 Story of a world with both immortals and mortals
 Dawit (David) is an immortal who does not age, been
alive since 1500’s
 Dawit is a part of a habitat of scholars in a city in
Ethiopia (Lalibela) that was developed by Khaldun
 All immortals live together, but Dawit wants to live
amongst the mortals

5. My Soul to Keep
 Dawit goes from marriage to marriage watching his
families grow old
 Gets sick of it
 Over and over the “searchers” have taken away his
families from him
 Currently married to Jessica and has a daughter Kira

6. My Soul to Keep
 David has killed Jessica’s great uncle and co-worker
 Dawit tries to introduce Jessica to his secret so she will
go through the ritual and become immortal
 Jessica learns of these acts Dawit has committed in
order to keep his secret
 Jessica discovers David’s blood has powerful healing
powers

7. My Soul to Keep
 David goes ahead and quickly performs the ritual on
Jessica and Kira to become immortal
 Does the ritual fast because the immortals from
Lalibela are trying to Jessica and Kira
 Jessica ultimately becomes immortal
 Even though immortal she does uses her powers to
help others

8. Themes
 Loss is the biggest theme
 Dawit outlives everyone he knows
 Hard to watch everyone grow old and lose them
 Loses everyone from first wife to death of childbirth to
Jessica
 With his marriage to Jessica his ultimate goal is to not
lose her, but still does

9. Questions from Due
 Ultimately, in your view, what is this novel really
about?
 Would immortality be a blessing or a curse?
 Is David capable of true love as we know it?
 How would you be living your life differently if you
were an immortal?

10. Works Cited
Due, Tananarive. My Soul to Keep. New York: HarperPrism,
1997. Print.
"My Soul To Keep." My Soul To Keep. N.p., n.d. Web. 23
Apr. 2014. <http://www.tananarivedue.com/mysoul.htm>.