We sat down for a little chat with one of The Talking Cure protagonists recently, and now it’s time for the book’s author to interview herself with some questions thoughtfully provided by the good folks at Other Worlds Ink Blog Tours.

The Talking Cure is a supernatural noir murder mystery set in 1924. Committed to an insane asylum, Violet Humphrey is isolated on the Illinois prairie with only her own thoughts and a persistent new voice in her head for company. When she is accused of murder, Violet suspects her road to both freedom and recovery lies through confronting her painful past and solving the crime. Magically summoned, Sean Joye skids through an ice storm to help Violet, but can they catch the killer and defy an eldritch horror before Violet loses her tenuous grasp on reality?

Q: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Kathy: For blog readers who haven’t encountered these terms before, a plotter is a writer who outlines the whole story before starting the first draft and a pantser sits down with some sort of idea and lets their initial concept unfold into a story.

 I’m primarily a plotter, but I’m well aware that the final story may turn out quite differently from the outline sketch. But after spending fifteen years producing my first published book (which was sort of pantsed, then plotted, then pantsed some more, through a dozen versions), I had to develop a more efficient way to work up a book.

Snowflake plotting was a game changer, as was writing scene plans on cards (now Scrivener notes). But before all that plotting takes place, I do some mind mapping and free writing, which would fall into the pantser realm.

Q: Who did your cover, and what was the design process like?

Kathy: Isn’t it great? It was quite a collaborative process, actually. I work with graphic artist Rick Febre and my publisher, Charlie Franco.

My starting point was “no generative artificial intelligence art,” and Charlie’s was “not too expensive art.” As most of my sales are hand sold paperbacks, I was also aware of how the books would look in a physical space like a bookshop or event.

We quickly realized that an illustration was not going to meet our needs and turned to a more graphic-based art style. I provided a number of covers samples that caught my eye and evoked the 1920s, spookiness, mystery, eldritch horror, winter, isolation, etc. Charlie also pointed out we needed the cover to be unique and consistent with the Montag brand as well as the Sean Joye Investigations brand.

Rick presented a few possible designs, which inspired Charlie to say, “oh, kinda Saul Bass-ish.” And yes, we loved the Saul Bass vibe. Yet we retained some art deco patterns, typefaces, etc.

But wait, there’s more. Because this cover was so at odds with The Big Cinch’s cover, Charlie wanted to redesign it as well, so they’d look like a series. That was a whole project in itself, but it turns out great.

Q: What was the weirdest thing you had to Google for your story?

Kathy: Let me see. [Checks notebook.] I did a lot of research, because I take the “historical” in historical fiction seriously, even though it’s fiction, and speculative fiction at that.

I researched the history of mental illness treatment, the Krio of West Africa, Islam, ash trees, Germanic religions and myths, deaf education, Lanzo del Vasto, and much, much more. For weirdest [Is any research weird? It all seems reasonable and necessary to me.] or at least most random, I’m going with diethyl ether effects. Although neurosyphilis signs and its symptoms would be a close second.

Q: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

Kathy: Again, weird is in the eye of the beholder. I once made a trip to southern Wisconsin to view a particular type of geological formation, the drumlin, found in Ireland but rare in the US. This topographic doesn’t occur in any of my books but is part of the main character’s backstory. So maybe it helped shape him. Or I wanted to go on a road trip to Wisconsin.

Q: What book is currently on your bedside table?

Kathy: Dicken’s Bleak House. I’ve always liked Dicken’s a lot. His writing style breaks most conventions we are taught nowadays, yet it is still engaging—unique, eccentric characters? Check. Evocative setting? Check. Heart, emotions, feelings? Check. Weird plot twists? Check. Slow down and read some Dickens, people.

I started this particular book because I wanted a physical book for bedtime (less screens!), and it had been in my house for decades. Little did I know it was about an interminable probate court case, which is actually my life now. I feel quite seen.

Q: What are you working on now, and when can we expect it?

Kathy: I have two projects underway for 2026 publication. A Sean Joye short story collection, which will gather up my Sean Joye novella, The Resurrectionist, and novelette, Water of Life, with  various short stories I’ve published in anthologies through the years. I’ll include a few new stories, as well. I’m also working on a high fantasy novella in the world of my Wolfhearted novella and aiming to bring that out next year, too. I won’t jinx myself any further than to say I’m aiming for 2026 on those books.

“The Talking Cure is a marvelous story—an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery infused with a strong sense of the Weird… and a hearty dose of magic on the side. It’s ideal for all fans of the sinister, the surprising, and the strange.”—Cherie Priest, award-winning author of Boneshaker

Find The Talking Cure at these fine locations:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kindle

Kathy L. Brown Bookstore

Literary Underworld

Liminal Fiction

Do you now better understand what goes into creating a book? Comment on the blog. 

If you enjoyed reading this interview, you might like to read an excerpt from The Talking Cure.

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Wolfhearted is also available as an Audible audiobook, here.

Earlier this year, St. Louis Writers Guild published Weird STL, an anthology celebrate the strange, spooky, and just plain wonderful stories of our hometown. This volume of short stories, poems, a play, and essays includes a Sean Joye universe short story, “Big Magick.” Joseph Arwald, one of the baddies from The Big Cinch, tells us what really happened to the Ferris Wheel from the St. Louis 1904 World’s Fair.

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The direct link to review Wolfhearted on Amazon is here, The Resurrectionist, here, and Water of Life, here. Thanks in advance.