Under the Influence with Jo Piazza My Most Anticipated Book of the Year
Jan 13, 2026
Casey Cheska, author and co-owner of the Sprucedon Inn, shares insights into her debut novel, The Fountain, which features a 214-year-old woman discovering her past in the Catskills. They delve into their friendship forged through manuscript exchanges and discuss writing's personal toll. The duo explores themes of aging, the societal obsession with longevity, and how fiction illuminates real-world stakes. Casey also highlights the creative community at her inn, inviting book clubs for Zoom visits while fostering connections through literature.
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Book Swap That Built A Friendship
- Jo Piazza and Casey Cheska exchanged unpublished manuscript drafts during the pandemic as a high-stakes test of friendship and craft.
- That early swap launched a long creative relationship and mutual early-reader support.
Immortality As A Lens On Womanhood
- The Fountain centers on a woman who looks twenty-something but is 214 years old returning to her Catskills hometown to find release.
- The setup uses immortality to probe aging, power, and womanhood in contemporary context.
The Human Value Of Visible Aging
- Eternal youth may seem desirable, but losing visible aging also erases shared cohort milestones and interpersonal growth.
- The book shows how aging adds humanity through shared experiences and visible life changes.
