Kayla Spradlin, a Johnson County native and now Magoffin resident, recently published her debut novel, “Whispers in Hollow Creek,” available now.
The book, filled with mystery and a hint of paranormal suspense, is the first installment of the Hollow Creek Trilogy, penned under Spradlin’s pseudonym, Juliet Thorne.
“After many long nights spent writing, revising, and bringing this story to life, I am incredibly proud to have completed and published my first novel,” Spradlin told the SI. “As someone born and raised in Johnson County, this accomplishment feels especially meaningful to share with my local community.”
“Whispers in Hollow Creek,” available in paperback Amazon and on Kindle, tells the story of Eliza Hart, as she returns to her Appalachian hometown after spending years away following the mysterious disappearance of her sister. Expecting to relive the grief and old memories, she is instead met with a deeper mystery, weaving itself throughout the community and finding herself at the center of it. Hart, along with the guy she had known since childhood who stayed behind when everyone else had moved on, work to uncover the truth about what lies beneath Hollow Creek, hoping to stop the mysterious force before another tragedy strikes.
The psychological thriller follows Eliza’s internal struggle as she begins to fall further down the proverbial rabbit hole that is Hollow Creek.
Spradlin said she has always loved the horror and mystery genres, citing “The Conjuring” as her favorite movie, inspiring her to read all of the Ed and Lorraine Warren books.
When she found herself with a little downtime due to a medical issue, she funneled her energy into a creative outlet. Spradlin took her criminal justice degree, love for ghost hunting and the supernatural, along with her interest in several local murders that hit too close to home and the many missing Eastern Kentucky women, and fleshed out a multi-part missing persons story that immerses the reader in the atmospheric, emotional mystery.
Spradlin said that the second book of the trilogy, “Shadows of Hollow Creek,” is in the editing process and slated to be released in July. Book three, “Silence in Hollow Creek,” is expected to come out in late fall this year.
The trilogy is being self-published through Kindle KDP and will be available through Amazon.
As for what inspired her to write a novel, she said she has always loved to write, but she had a complicated relationship with her parents.
“I can’t remember my parents ever telling me they were proud of me,” Spradlin remembers. “That turned into wanting to do something I could be proud of myself – that I had something I accomplished and it is something I accomplished by myself. I don’t need validation from anyone else. And that is what these books are for me.”
While this is her first book under the pen name Juliet Thorne, Spradlin also published “When Love Costs Everything,” earlier in her writing journey, detailing single parenting with a medically complex child, offering hope and Christian-based themes to help other parents survive the burnout and exhaustion that often comes with being the sole support for children with many medical issues and constant needs.
