Author: William Kent Krueger

A few weeks ago, I was privileged to meet and visit with mystery author, William Kent Krueger. He came to my small Iowa town on a library tour, and even though I had never read any of his books, I couldn’t miss the chance to hear an author speak. He was a wonderful speaker and I was able to have a conversation with him as well as have him autograph a couple books. You can find out more about him on his website http://www.williamkentkrueger.com/. His newest book, Red Knife was recently released.

Mr Krueger prefers to be called Kent. He started writing at the age of 40 and has 9 novels to his credit. His books create magic in the Northwoods and as Kent says, “if magic doesn’t happen, why write?” (The Northwoods are in Northern Minnesota near the Boundary Waters.) He chose to write mysteries because of their structure. In a mystery 1-something happens, 2-there is an investigation, and 3-answers are found. He felt this structure worked best for him. It took him 4 years to write his first novel, Iron Lake.

Kent also stated that in learning how to write a novel, developing the character is more important than the plot. I would have to agree…most of the books that I didn’t enjoy was because I didn’t think the author took the time to develop the characters. Kent also feels that working with words is like working with jewels. Also as a mystery writer, you have to understand what would motivate ordinary people to do strange things out of their realm.

Kent feels to be a writer, you have to write every day. You should MISS it when you aren’t writing. Kent has several stops on his current book tour. Check his website to see a listing. If you get the chance to go see him, I highly recommend it!

I had such an enjoyable time listening to Kent talk and even though I am not a huge mystery novel reader, I am very anxious to read his novels. I have nightmares easily so I usually shy away from mysteries, I know I am a wimp 🙁 Please check out Kruger’s books, he has a huge fan base and readers are anxiously awaiting his next novel. Some of them use the same characters, so you may want to read them in order.

Check out all of William Kent Krueger’s books, HERE.