Calgary author Steena Holmes goes dark with thriller The Forgotten Ones
It may seem strange that Steena Holmes went dark with her writing in hopes of escaping some real darkness in her life.
While the Calgary-based, New York Times bestselling author has dabbled in various genres, a good chunk of her prodigious output these days falls into the general category of women’s fiction. But for The Forgotten Ones, her latest novel, she delved into the dark terrain of the psychological thriller.
It was partly due to the fact that a close family member was dealing with some serious mental health issues.
“I was in a dark place on my own,” says Holmes, in an interview from her Calgary home. “When I write the women’s fiction stories, there is such an emotional attachment that I have with those books. I give everything I am to my characters. I couldn’t imagine dealing with such hard issues at that time that I was writing. I love psychological suspense and psychological thrillers, those are my wheelhouse when I read. I just thought it would be a good place for me to go with the emotions I was feeling and the headspace I was in. This book just poured out of me, when I wrote it. It’s probably one of the easiest ones I’ve written, even though it’s more complex.”
I am so thrilled to be featured in the Calgary Herald again! It is always an honor!
The past couple of years we’ve dealt with mental illness within our family and it was a hard time, not just for myself but for all of us. This book was so cathartic for me to write in so many ways. The Forgotten Ones is very personal to me, not just in the setting (it takes place in my hometown of Kincardine, Ontario), but my childhood home is a central theme as well.
