Kathleen Peacock’s You Were Never Here is an engrossing mystery with a hint of the supernatural is perfect for fans of The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas and Bone Gap by Laura Ruby.
We had the pleasure of chatting to Kathleen about her new novel, writing advice, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Kathleen! Tell us a bit about yourself!
Hello! I wish I could tell you that my past is littered with grand ambition and daring deeds, but I’m honestly a pretty quiet nerd—unless you ask me about certain seasons of Doctor Who or disparage genre fiction. Then I seem to get loud and feisty.
I live on Canada’s Atlantic Coast where I spend my days writing fiction (mostly YA, although sometimes I wander) and working towards an undergraduate degree (undertaken in response to a soft job market and an early midlife crisis). Academically, I’m interested in English literature, psychology, popular culture, and frustrating professors by pointing out that the Renaissance was a giant fanfiction and fanart extravaganza.
With the current state of the world, what are you doing to cope with the changes we’ve had to make with our day-to-day life?
I’d love to say that I’ve figured out some brilliant coping strategies and have used this time to become a brighter, better me, but a lot of the time I feel like I’m trying to hold myself together with duct tape made out of comfort reads and comfort shows and comfort movies. I’m pretty sure there have been at least a few days where I’ve just rewatched old favorites while wondering if it really mattered if I put on real pants or if I should have picked up more hand sanitizer on my last grocery store run.
Honestly, I feel like books, movies, and TV shows have kind of saved me. I just finished the first season of the Fruits Basket reboot which was really easy to get lost in because I could analyze each episode in terms of the narrative and artistic choices it made and how those choices aligned with — or diverged from — the manga and the first anime adaptation (The Nerd Daily has a great recap of the first season, if anyone wants to learn more about the series).
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I remember saying that I wanted to write books when I was about five, but I don’t think I actually started trying to write until I was ten or eleven, and I’m not sure I was serious about it until high school.
Your new novel, You Were Never Here, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Here there be (human) monsters.
Now tell us a little more! What can readers expect?
My short pitch: Banished to her aunt’s ramshackle boarding house in Canada for the summer, Cat Montgomery has three goals: keep her head down, stay out of trouble, and hold everyone at a distance. Caring about anyone is dangerous — especially after all the trouble she left back in New York. When Cat arrives, though, she learns that her childhood best friend, Riley, has been missing for three months. Cat knows she doesn’t owe Riley anything — not after all these years, and certainly not after the fight that destroyed their friendship — but she also knows that she’s the only one who can find him.
You can expect: A tightly knit group of horror fans, rambling Victorian houses, more than a few Stephen King references (partly because the book is set near the Maine border), red herrings, and complicated feelings about friendship.
What was the inspiration behind this novel?
I feel like there were actually a few inspirations. A news story about creepy graffiti. Wanting to write a story about a group of friends who were obsessed with horror movies. A chance encounter with a security guard who told me about a network of creepy, dangerous tunnels. A childhood obsession with Rogue from the X-Men. If I’m being honest, though, a huge inspiration was probably all of the Stephen King books I devoured as a teen. Growing up in New Brunswick, I always appreciated how central Maine was to so many of his books. Almost like it’s a character. Every time I cross the border into Maine, I half expect things to feel different.
Is there a character or scene that you really enjoyed writing?
I know some people really dislike prologues, but they are one of my favorite things to write, and the prologue for You Were Never Here is one of the few parts of the book that didn’t undergo significant changes at one point or another.
What challenges did you face while writing and how did you overcome them?
My self-confidence can be a bit wobbly when it comes to writing. As much as I loved the idea for the book and the characters, I had gone a few months without writing and time away seems to leave me with self-doubt. The only way to overcome it, for me, was to begin with very small, manageable goals (500 words a day to start and then gradually increase the goal week over week). Tracking my progress each day also helped me feel like I was accomplishing something.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
I don’t know if it’s the worst writing advice I’ve ever gotten, but I dislike it when people say that you have to write every day to be a real writer or that you have to read x number of books a year if you’re taking things seriously. I think the intentions behind the sentiment may be good (because, yes: reading widely and writing a lot helps you hone your craft), but not everyone has the same ability or opportunity to carve out time. There are so many factors that impact having the time and energy to write, and those factors are different for different people.
I feel like the best advice has been not to compare yourself to others — but it’s advice I haven’t figured out how to follow, yet.
What’s next for you?
Hopefully, more books! I’m working on a few pet projects while also working toward completing my degree.
Lastly, are you currently reading anything and do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I’m between books but I’m thinking of starting Superman: The Unauthorized Biography by Glen Weldon. I read his book The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture over the summer and liked it. I also really need to read Eden Robinson’s Trickster Drift. I loved Son of a Trickster, and now that the television adaptation has started airing in Canada, I want to catch up and read book two.
I feel like the book that I’ve recommended the most over the past year is Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. It’s a post-apocalyptic novel set in a northern Anishinaabe community.
