Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Kate Pearsall (Bittersweet in the Hollow)!
Meet the Author: Kate Pearsall
Kate Pearsall developed a love for storytelling at a young age, often spinning tales of magical worlds and exciting adventures with her sisters. When she’s not writing, she can be found willfully indulging her curiosity by disappearing into museums, exploring new places, and becoming deeply submerged into obscure topics that inevitably make their way into future work.
About the Book: Bittersweet in the Hollow
In this beautifully dark and enthralling YA, four sisters with unusual talents investigate a mysterious disappearance in their secluded Appalachian town. For fans of House of Hollow and Wilder Girls!
In rural Caball Hollow, surrounded by the vast National Forest, the James women serve up more than fried green tomatoes at the Harvest Moon diner, where the family recipes are not the only secrets.
Like her sisters, Linden was born with an unusual ability. She can taste what others are feeling, but this so-called gift soured her relationship with the vexingly attractive Cole Spencer one fateful night a year ago . . . A night when Linden vanished into the depths of the Forest and returned with no memories of what happened, just a litany of questions—and a haze of nightmares that suggest there’s more to her story than simply getting lost.
Now, during the hottest summer on record, another girl in town is gone, and the similarities to last year’s events are striking. Except, this time the missing girl doesn’t make it home, and when her body is discovered, the scene unmistakably spells murder.
As tempers boil over, Linden enlists the help of her sisters to find what’s hiding in the forest . . . before it finds her. But as she starts digging for truth—about the Moth-Winged Man rumored to haunt the Hollow, about her bitter rift with Cole, and even about her family—she must question if some secrets are best left buried.
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~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
The very first seeds were likely planted long before I even realized, when I would beg my mother for bedtime stories about her childhood growing up in West Virginia. Many years later, I discovered that the Scottish Highlands and the Appalachian Mountains were once part of the same ancient range and I knew I wanted to write something that explored the intersection of the folklore and folk magic traditions between those two places. As I researched, I began to wonder if, when the first Scots-Irish immigrants arrived in Appalachia, to mountains that looked like home, the lore they brought with them could have been more than just stories. And that’s when the idea for the book really took root.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
It’s so hard to pick just one because each of the characters felt so vivid to me from the moment they burst onto the page. I especially love the four James sisters and how different they each are, with their own unique perspectives on their family history, home, and special gifts, yet how unbreakable the bond is between them. I’m one of three sisters and the sibling relationship was really important for me to get right. That said, I also really loved writing Hillard Been. He wasn’t even in my outline, but he just kept showing up.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
The idea for the novel came first, but the title came to me very early in the drafting process and it never changed. Both Bittersweet in the Hollow and the second book, Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue, feature the names of native Appalachian plants that have a specific purpose within the story. And in West Virginia, a “hollow” is a small, sheltered valley between mountains. Spelled “hollow” on road signs, you’ll most likely hear it pronounced “holler” in practice and there’s a deep connection to the land and those who came before for the people who live there.
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
To trust my instincts. When I was first attempting to write a novel, I would try to map out the beats without a full grasp of what they meant and I couldn’t understand why everything felt so disconnected, like a series of events rather than a story. It wasn’t until I ignored the way I was “supposed” to do it and instead just trusted the instincts I’d developed from a lifetime of reading that everything clicked. No two writers have the exact same process. Mine changes from book to book. Take the advice that works for you and ignore the rest.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
Jessica Jenkins, the cover designer, and Imogen Oh, the amazing artist who created the cover art, worked so hard to capture the story with the right balance of eerie, magical, and Appalachian. All the natural elements—the luna moth, the American bittersweet, and the rhododendrons—are native to West Virginia and feature in the story. And I really love that some of the leaves are dead or dying, a touch that feels rather foreboding.
YABC: What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2023?
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez. Isabel was my Pitch Wars mentor in 2019 and she’s amazing. She has such a deep understanding of story and her instinct for romantic tension is unmatched.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I’m hard at work on my second novel, Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue, which takes place after the events of Bittersweet in the Hollow and is told by a different sister.
YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?
It’s important to treat periods of rest as being just as integral to the creative process as periods of drafting or revising. Remember to take time to refill your creative well. Sometimes you have to write the completely wrong story before you find the right one. So much of publishing is out of our control, but the time you spend improving your craft is never wasted.
Book’s Title: Bittersweet in the Hollow
Author: Kate Pearsall
Release Date: 10.10.2023
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Genre: Horror, Romance, Dark Fantasy, Supernatural, Siblings
Age Range: 12 and up
