Psych Prof Writes Love Letter to Her Alma Mater
Psych Prof Writes Love Letter to Her Alma Mater
The walk from Morgan Kalson’s off-campus apartment to her job as a professor of Psychology at YSU is short and sweet, even if it means crossing over the windy Route 422 freeway overpass.
The journey is comfortable and familiar, and her life at YSU is a welcome respite from her turbulent childhood spent in foster care. Then, just when she starts to believe she’s outrun her past, things begin to unravel.
A weekend trip with her boyfriend ends in a car crash that claims his life – and places her under police suspicion. When she starts getting cryptic messages from her dead boyfriend’s phone, she believes the accident was part of a larger plan to harm her, and no one is above suspicion.
That’s the plot of Sarah Kollat’s newest novel, It Was Always You, set in a place and time that’s close and special to the author – the YSU campus.
“I wanted to write my love letter to YSU describing how special the experience continues to be in my professional life,” said Kollat, who graduated from YSU in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology.
A native of Canfield, Kollat went on from YSU to earn a PhD in Developmental Psychology from Penn State University, where she now is an associate teaching professor in the department of Human Development and Family Studies.
But while behavioral psychology is her profession, writing fiction is her passion.
Her first novel, A Flash of Red, by Pandamoon Publishing in 2016, tells the story of a university professor, her disintegrating marriage, and her very dark secrets. It’s rated 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon.
Her second novel, It Was Always You, by Bloodhound Books, comes out Nov. 28. It’s another psychological thriller, and this time set at her alma mater.
Much of the story unfolds on campus in familiar spots like DeBartolo Hall, Kilcawley Center, Maag Library and the iconic rock at the center of YSU, pictured here bearing the book’s cover. During her four years at YSU, Kollat lived in Cafaro House residence hall, so that breezy walk across 422 was familiar. And while she admits to taking some creative leeway, the writing process was a welcome trip down memory lane.
Kollat says her academic background is a source of inspiration for her writing. “We have so many facets within each of us,” she said. “There is potential all around us to explore how people connect and disconnect.”
It Was Always You won’t be the last time you’ll hear from Kollat, who uses the pen name Sarah K. Stephens as a tribute to her late father, Stephen Holowach. She has already committed to writing two more standalone novels for Bloodhound Books.
She and her husband, Josh Kollat, 2003, have three children – Ethan, Katherine and Elisa – who they adopted from Latvia 10 years ago.