Episode #245: The Minimalist with Kailee Pedersen

Welcome back to the show.

I'm your host, Trevor.

I am joined today by Kaylee Peterson, who writes haunted, unsettling, speculative fiction.

She graduated with a BA in Classics from Columbia University, specializing in ancient Greek.

Kaylee was adopted from Nanning, China, and grew up in Nebraska, where her family owns a farm.

She's the author of the queer poetry chapbook Pastoral and the novel Sacrificial Animals, which was named one of the New York Public Library's Best Books of 2024 and a finalist for Best Horror at the 2025 Libby Book Awards.

When not scribbling down her next book, you can catch her studying opera performance at the Mozartium University, playing video games, or working as a software engineer in New York City.

The Minimalist is her second novel coming out from St. Martin's Press on August 18th of this year.

Welcome back, Kaylee.

Hey, it's so lovely to be back, Trevor.

I'm glad to have you back.

I feel like we've talked over the last year or so, just like back and forth about art.

And it's just really great to be back in your company.

Yeah, I'm excited for our conversation.

And I'm excited to hear what you thought about The Minimalist.

I have a lot of thoughts.

Yeah, you

emailed them to me before the conversation.

I was like, okay.

Yeah, yeah.