Looking for fall reading? Olympia native’s debut novel contending for 2023 fiction prize
Lovers of cults, wellness and thrillers can expect a new read to hit shelves on Sept. 1.
Olympia native Jamie Sogn’s “Salthouse Place” is a mystery about three childhood friends. Zee, Cara and main character Delia go out to the lake one day, but only two of the girls return. The main story takes place a decade later, as Delia sets out to find the truth about what happened that day — and must face a cult that makes her question her pursuit.
The novel focuses on intense teenage friendships, and the emotions women experience as they grow older.
“I wanted it to feel like those really magnified feelings never really went away or carried through into adulthood,” Sogn said.
Before it’s even been released, the Center for Fiction has honored her novel with a place among 25 books on its 2023 First Novel Prize longlist. The award, which has been given out since 2006, aims to honor the best debut fiction of the year.
As she developed her characters, Sogn said she focused on deeply personal experiences to craft different dynamics. Her main character, Delia, is a biracial Asian American girl who reflects everything Sogn, who is Filipina-American, said she wished she could have found in a character when she was growing up.
Creating diverse characters in a novel that isn’t primarily historical or focused on race was important to Sogn, who is a longtime mystery and thriller fan. She said she wanted Delia’s experiences as an Asian American to influence her identity and how she saw the world, but she wanted to place her in contexts where other parts of her personality could come through too.
“Writing is just such a wonderful way of not only expressing yourself and your feelings and how you see the world, but also making your own world and creating these characters,” she said.
Sogn studied anthropology and psychology at the University of Washington and received her law degree from the University of Oregon. She now lives in Seattle with her husband, son, and Boston terrier, and makes her living as an attorney.
During the writing process, Sogn said she would try to find any opportunity to squeeze in time for the novel. On many occasions, she typed away on her phone during her bus commutes to the office, pasting her work into drafts late at night.
She said she also conducted a lot of research to create the Artemis group, the central wellness cult in her story. She ended up researching cult recruitment and psychology, pouring through podcasts, articles and reports on different wellness industries.
“When I see documentaries (about cults), I’m always thinking, ‘I would never fall for that,’” Sogn said. “But I also was thinking, ‘What if someone went in with eyes wide open? What would it take for them to inadvertently get influenced?’”
Sogn worked for about a year to get a first draft, sharing that she had to go back in to edit for plot holes and did multiple rereads to make sure everything lined up. But after starting many projects without finishing, completing this novel was her major goal.
When she received the email saying she had advanced in the Center for Fiction’s process, she said she was humbled after reading the names of authors she appeared next to.
“I’ve always, always, written and wanted to create stories,” Sogn said. “This is the culmination of a lifetime of wanting to be a writer.”
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