Stepping up! Kate Hohl gets nominated for her first published short story!

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Okay, I admit it. I am Kate Hohl's #1 fan. She showed up in the summer workshop I gave a few years ago at Yale and her writing shone. She had talent, plain and simple. And she seemed to have the drive you need to start writing a story and pursue it long past the finish line and past the inevitable rejections that aspiring writers must endure.

What happened next wasn't as straightforward as I'm sure it would have been in any other year. She should have had publishers queued up, wanting to publish her...

But I'll let her tell it. It has a wonderfully happy ending and I trust more good news in the future.

Take it away, Kate...

KATE HOHL: Hi Reds and Readers! A big thank you to Hallie and all the Reds for extending the invitation to join you again today on the Jungle Reds blog.

I recently found out that my short story, “The Body in Cell Two” has been nominated for the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best Debut Short Story, presented by the Mystery Writers of America at the annual Edgar Awards. I’m so grateful to Janet Hutchings and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine for publishing my story about a young woman who attempts to escape her past by running to a small Maine town only to have trouble find her once again.

It was such a thrill to see my name in print for the first time and a huge honor to be nominated for my first published work. But it was far from the first thing I’d written.

A few years ago, I won a novel writing contest. Like many first-time authors, I was beyond excited. But then I read the fine print. The terms of the deal and the fact that it would only be available online made me feel uneasy, but what could I do? I couldn’t turn down the opportunity, right?

That summer I was accepted at Yale Writers’ Workshop where I met Hallie who was teaching the Mystery and Crime Fiction section. I confided in her that I had doubts about this path for my debut novel. On the other hand, if I turned down the offer, it would mean starting from scratch and writing another book.

Hallie smiled and gently reminded me that I was a writer. The goal should always be to write the next book. And then she gave me the best advice of all: to trust my gut and believe in my writing.

I decided to pass on the contest and wrote a second novel. I signed up to pitch it to agents at the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York. Picture the most frenetic speed dating session you can imagine – with most of the interest and intensity on the side of the writers.

I had a great conversation with one of the agents, Moses Cardona with John Hawkins and Associates, who agreed to represent me. We worked together to make cuts and additions. Finally, the book was ready to be sent out on submission. I couldn’t believe it. This was really it. Everything I’d worked so hard for was finally happening…

Then COVID hit.

The publishing world, like the rest of us, was left reeling during those awful months that followed March 2020. When we finally received responses, the comments from the editors were flattering and encouraging, but ultimately didn’t result in any offers.

For now, I’ve put that book aside.

Because the world had changed so much, I wanted my next book to reflect the questions I had about the past and where our society was headed.

My usual process before I begin a novel is to write a short story about the idea. During those lockdown months, I wrote two different stories. I decided to expand one of them into a novel that is currently out on submission. My agent submitted the other one to Ellery Queen. It was accepted for the May/June 2023 issue and it’s that story, “The Body in Cell Two”, that’s up for the Fish award.

I could never have predicted that a short story would be my path to publishing, but it’s turned out to be an amazing experience. Since the nomination, I’ve been invited to appear on a panel at Malice Domestic in April: Short Stories: Quickly Connecting Reader to Character. (If you’re going to Malice, please come to the panel and say hello!). 

I’ll be attending the Edgar Awards Ceremony on May 1st. It’s such an honor to be included with all the other incredible nominees.

All of this happened because I took Hallie Ephron’s very good advice. To believe in myself and my writing process and see where it takes me.

HALLIE: It thrills me right down to my tippy-toes to share Kate's success! And it's a tribute to the maxim: be persistent, stick with it, talent will out! Sometimes you have to walk away from the low-hanging fruit to have a shot at the harder-to-reach prize.

I am confident that the next time Kate visits with us on Jungle Red it'll be to celebrate her debut novel.