Award-winning author Lynne Sturtevant writes how-to nonfiction books as well as engaging contemporary fantasy set in the hollers of Appalachia. Her 2025 release, The Witch Jar (The Off-Kilter Chronicles Book 3, April 2025), “draws readers into the weird and wonderful world of backwoods West Virginia” where home health aide Ginger confronts a “legendary curse” that “jeopardizes [her] elderly clients and threatens to expose secrets as old as the mountains themselves.” Look for Lynne on her website LynneSturtevant.com, on Facebook, and her Amazon author store. Learn more about Lynne’s work in her 2020, 2021, and 2023 interviews for SouthWest Writers.
What is at the heart of the story you tell in The Witch Jar?
The traditional folkways of Appalachia are fading fast, but there is still magic afoot in the isolated hollers. Do cultural heritage, old wisdom, and long-guarded secrets have a place in today’s ultra-connected world, or are they just meaningless artifacts of the past?
Snarky, mature Ginger and octogenarian Birdy return in this next installment of The Off-Kilter Chronicles. What do your characters have to overcome in the story? What makes the pair such an enjoyable set of characters to follow?
The story opens with a wealthy woman buying the holler where Ginger is working as a home health aide. When the buyer announces her plans to evict the elderly residents and transform the holler into an upscale resort, long-dormant supernatural activity begins bubbling up. Ginger turns to her friend Birdy, a woman with Appalachian magic coursing through her veins. Can they help Ginger’s clients save their homes? Could the key to the holler’s survival lie in the ancient secrets of the mountains?
Ginger and Birdie are fun to follow because of their interplay. Ginger is middle-aged and jaded. She’s struggling with a dead-end job, financial issues, and an alcohol problem. Plus, she’s sick of supernatural entities intruding into her life. Birdy is a feisty, independent, no-nonsense woman with a spotless ranch-style house and an outbuilding where she whips up charms and potions and communicates with her dead ancestors.
Why is Black Hand Holler, West Virginia the perfect place for your story to play out?
Black Hand Holler is the perfect place because I designed it that way. That sounds smart-alecky, but it’s true. I took bits and pieces of actual places and built an imaginary holler around them. As the story developed, I modified, added or subtracted elements until the holler was exactly the way the plot needed it to be.
What challenges have you faced in writing the series?
My key challenge has been making sure each book fits into the series but also stands on its own. Because each title has recurring characters, similar settings, supernatural aspects, and elements of folk magic, there’s also a risk of the stories becoming formulaic.
Tell us how the book came together.
Several years ago, I read an article about a woman buying a small town in upstate New York. I knew I’d write about that someday. It just took me longer than I expected to get there. Thanks to several false starts, the entire project took almost 3 years.
The Witch Jar is such an evocative title. What was the process like in choosing it?
People in Medieval Europe used to fill bottles with magical ingredients to protect their homes from witchcraft. These charms were called witch bottles. An updated Appalachian version plays a key role in the story. To make it feel more authentic, I swapped the traditional bottle for a mason jar, like those used in home canning. I knew it would make a fantastic cover.
What did you enjoy most about working on this project?
Every time I sat down to write, I escaped to a different world. I can see the Sandia Mountains from my writing desk. I loved gazing at their arid brownness while I was spinning a story set in the green, mossy dampness of a West Virginia holler.
KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has volunteered as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.
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