Q&A with Katie Sise

 

 

 

Katie Sise is the author of the new novel The Vacation Rental. Her other books include the novel The Break. A former TV host and jewelry designer, she lives outside New York City.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Vacation Rental, and how did you create your characters Georgia and Anna?

 

A: I was inspired to write The Vacation Rental after listening to a friend's story about how she planned to rent out her beautiful country home during the pandemic. I kept thinking ... hmm, turning your keys over to a stranger, letting them inside your home, inside your life ... It just felt like the perfect backdrop for a thriller. 

 

Georgia and Anna felt like nice counterpoints for each other. I remember being Anna's age (26) and living an artistic life in the city. And then Georgia, a mom to a 12-year-old, living in the countryside; I know that life, too. So I felt like I could do them justice and that they'd complement each other. Hopefully, I did! 

 

Q: The novel is set in New York City as well as two towns in New York State and Connecticut. Why did you choose these locations, and how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: Setting is so important! When I read other writers who do setting well, it's almost like the setting is a character herself. I love the feeling of a living, breathing place. I tried to do that with New York City, Southport, and then the fictional town of Waring Ridge, which is inspired by the town in which I live. 

 

Q: What do you see as the role of the supernatural in the novel?

 

A: This was a tricky element of writing this story; and it underwent many revisions.

 

I wanted my characters to be open to the idea of something supernatural occurring and driving events. But I didn't want to be prescriptive--I didn't want there to be an exact answer. I wanted the characters to wonder alongside the reader what was really going on inside the house.

 

I wanted the main driver of events to be the real live humans in the story, not the supernatural, but I loved the idea that an old house would hold the energy of the people who once lived there. 

 

Q: Did you know all the twists the plot would take before you started writing the book?

 

A: No, and I never do. I always find that to be the fun part of writing: that I have to keep going to see what will happen! 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I'm working on the next book in my contract, titled What Must You Think of Me, another thriller. I'm really excited about it! It's being published with Amazon Publishing/Little A in 2025.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Katie Sise.