SPILLING INK: An Interview With Kathleen Palm

Spilling Ink: Revealing Spells of the Writer’s Craft is back this month, featuring my interview with one of my most beloved writing friends, Kathleen Palm!

Find out about Kathy’s writing process, her affinity for horror stories with hope, and all her latest & upcoming releases!

Please introduce yourself to everyone and share a bit about yourself.

I’m Kathleen Palm, but you can call me Kathy. I’m a horror writer, focusing on middle grade books, but write a few short stories for fun. I’ve been writing for about twenty years and live in a small town in NE Indiana where I read scary books, watch creepy movies, and drink a lot of chocolate milk.

I’m going back.

The car bounces and skids on the long, forgotten road. The dim light from the radio creeps over the worn gray seats of my worn gray car. Static crackles and spits from the speakers, the noise mimicking the constant din in my head, like a station in my mind that keeps searching for what’s missing. But I know what’s missing.

Mom took him from me. My friend. My companion. My power.

An excerpt from “The Chair in the Basement”

If your writing had a magic spell associated with it, what would the incantation be and what effect would it have on readers?

With the dark, comes light! Is that a spell? It is now.

Most of my stories end with hope. (Not all, but what do you want from me? I write weird stuff.)
I want readers to find light in the darkness. To see the world in a different way. To maybe see themselves in a different way. And maybe with words we can all change the world for the better.

Authors are often said to weave their own magic with words. What magical ingredients or techniques do you use to cast your spell on readers?

My magic is woven with short sentences that hit hard, sounds tapping from the shadows, and a great creepy vibe that makes the reader wonder. I love building emotion and tension with repetition and atmosphere.

Describe your writing process like a magic ritual or ceremony. What tools or talismans do you employ, what incantations or preparations do you make before conjuring up each new story?

My writing begins in chaos. I fill cursed notebooks with ramblings and scribbled ideas, some of which I can’t read later or will never find again. For there are many days of brainstorming character arcs and scenes that come to me from the void. On the table beside me lurks my menagerie of friends…unicorns, dragons, a Jason gnome, bracelets from friends, and pins I’ve collected that keep me inspired. I always have my water to stay hydrated, for spell-casting is hard work.

Share your latest release or anything upcoming you think readers might like!

My middle grade horror The Nowhere Series will be published by Undertaker Books. Book 1 will be out in April of 2025, book 2 in December of 2025, and book 3 in August of 2026. An emotional journey of three characters as they navigate big feelings and a weird place called Nowhere.

My middle grade Nightmare Garden is coming from Watertower Hill Publishing in July of 2026. A story of a cosmic being in the dimension of goo, who just wants to be themself, even if that goes against everything they are taught.

Where can people find you on social media?

I’m around on Twitter, Bluesky, my FB author page at Kathleen Palm…or Kathleen Ann Palm on Threads and Instagram. Find info on where I’ll be and where you can find my work on my website… kathleenpalm.wordpress.com.