The Night It Ended: Debut Novel from Katie Garner
Author Interview + Book & Author Info + Author Pet Corner!
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The Night It Ended
Intertwining the narrative with the transcript of an anonymous interview, this stunning suspense debut from Katie Garner will take you on a twisting path where nothing—and no one—is what it seems.
Finding the truth seems impossible when her own dark past has her seeing lies everywhere she looks…
From the outside, criminal psychiatrist Dr. Madeline Pine’s life appears picture-perfect—she has a beautiful family, a successful mental health practice and a growing reputation as an expert in female violence. But when she’s called to help investigate a mysterious death at a boarding school for troubled girls, Madeline hesitates. She’s been through tragic cases before, and the one she was entangled in last year nearly destroyed her…
Yet she can’t turn away when she hears about Charley Ridley. After the girl was found shoeless and in pajamas at the bottom of an icy ravine on campus, the police ruled it a tragic accident. But the private investigator hired by her mother has his doubts. If it were Madeline’s daughter who died, she’d want to know why.
Arriving at the secluded campus in upstate New York, Madeline’s met by an unhelpful skeleton staff and the four other students still on campus during winter break. Each seems to hold a piece of the puzzle. And everyone has secrets—Madeline included. But who would kill to protect them?
To purchase The Night It Ended, click on the following link: HarperCollins.
Interview with Katie Garner, author of The Night It Ended
Tell us about Dr. Madeline Pine, protagonist in The Night It Ended:
Dr. Madeline Pine is a woman with a lot going on—her relationships with her husband and daughter are a bit complicated, and right in the beginning we learn she’s taken some time away from her career as a criminal psychiatrist after working on a difficult case the year before. She is relentless when it comes to solving Charley’s case and wants nothing more than to help. I can’t say much more because…Spoilers!
The Night it Ended, takes place in upstate New York. Tell us about the environment in the book:
I knew I wanted the setting for my next book to be in an isolated place, and was fortunate that the location found me. I had an itch to do some urban exploration and stumbled upon an abandoned mansion in the Catskills. My husband and I went to visit and the moment I saw it I knew I had to (fictionally) turn the mansion into a school. I always loved when the setting feels like one of the characters, and that’s what I’d hoped to achieve.
What should readers know about Charley Ridley, victim in The Night It Ended:
Charley was a difficult character to write simply because she’s deceased before the book ever begins, so everything we learn about who Charley was has to be gleaned from the other characters. Opinions on Charley differ from person to person, but I wanted to write her as somewhat of a lost girl trying to find her little corner in the world who places her heart in the hands of the wrong people.
You have a degree in Art History, what drew you to that discipline? Does it impact your writing?
I started at a community college and was undecided until I took my first Art History course. I fell in love with the professor and found that, for some reason, Art History was the only class where I absorbed everything, which I later learned meant I’m a visual learner. After that, I knew I wanted to teach Art History, just like my professor, so I transferred schools and majored in Art Education. Having this background definitely helped me craft the school and its students. In a way The Night It Ended marries the two together—writing is a creative art form and the setting is a high school, which is the age I specialized in.
Tell us about your road to publication:
Long but necessary. The Night It Ended is actually my 6th completed novel. When I began writing about ten years ago, all I knew was I had a story that I needed to get out of me. I then became obsessed with making it shine and fell in love with editing—even though I had no clue what I was doing. With each book I learned more and more about the craft and the publishing world and the steps needed to be published. The Night It Ended had a bumpy road, as well, but the best agent in the world took a chance on it and had the patience to edit (and edit and edit) the book with me until it was ready.
What are you working on now?
Right now Book #2 is with my amazing editor and until I get my second round edits back, I’m compiling a massive amount of notes while brainstorming Book #3, which I hope will be my best yet.
Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers:
I know it’s cliche, but don’t ever give up. This goes for most things in life—if you want something, don’t let your dream go. Even when life gets in the way and you feel like you have no time to work or hit a wall or have no ideas, whatever it is—just write something. It can be a diary you scribble in. It can be a journal you keep for your baby or child. You never know when that idea will come.
Also, I know it’s easy to say, but don’t let rejection get the better of you. I’ve been rejected…probably a thousand times. I internalize rejection, but I knew giving up would be something I’d later regret. For me, rejection hurts less than regret.
Author Pet Corner
Our dog is named Henry Littlesticks and he’s a 5 year old Shih-poo.
We found him in the newspaper and rescued him from living in a crate under the stairs when he was 4 months old.
Henry loves licking people to death and staring very intensely at you when you’re eating dinner.
Katie Garner, author of The Night It Ended
Katie Garner was born in New York and grew up in New Jersey. She has a degree in Art History from Ramapo College and is certified to teach high school Art.
She hoards paperbacks, coffee mugs, and dog toys and can be seen holding at least one of those things most of the time.
Katie lives in a New Jersey river town with her husband, baby boy, and shih-poo where she writes books about women and their dark, secret selves. The Night It Ended is her debut novel.
To learn more about Katie Garner, click on any of the following links: Website, Instagram, Twitter.
Elena Taylor/Elena Hartwell
All We Buried, available now in print, e-book, and audio.
Silver Falchion Award Finalist, Best Investigator
Foreword INDIE Award Finalist, Best Mystery
The Foundation of Plot, a Wait, Wait, Don’t Query (Yet!) guidebook.
Header image by Flo 222 on Pixabay
