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Author News & Interviews

Interview: William Kent Krueger, author of This Tender Land

Sep 3, 2019

William Kent Krueger is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller ORDINARY GRACE and the long-running Cork O’Connor mystery series. His latest stand-alone novel, THIS TENDER LAND, is about four orphans on a life-changing odyssey during the early years of the Great Depression. In this interview, conducted by Bookreporter.com reviewer Joe Hartlaub, Krueger discusses his inspiration for the book, which he describes as an updated version of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN; what he learned about the Depression during the course of his extensive research that surprised him the most; why the vast majority of the story’s action takes place in southern Minnesota; and exciting details about his current work-in-progress --- a prequel to the Cork O’Connor series.

Interview: Gina LaManna, author of Pretty Guilty Women

Sep 3, 2019

USA Today bestselling author Gina LaManna’s latest novel, PRETTY GUILTY WOMEN, revolves around four women, each of whom confesses to having committed the same crime --- alone. In this interview conducted by Carol Fitzgerald, the president and co-founder of The Book Report Network, LaManna talks about what inspired this intriguing plotline; her decision to incorporate such complicated subjects as infertility and violence against women into the story; why she especially loved writing the detective interviews that appear throughout the book; and her upcoming projects, which include a second thriller that is scheduled to be released next year.

Author Talk: Philippa Gregory, author of Tidelands

Aug 22, 2019

Philippa Gregory is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels, including THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, and is a recognized authority on women’s history. Her latest book, TIDELANDS, kicks off her Fairmile series, which spans 250 years and three continents. In 1648 England, the king and parliament are at war. Alinor, a poor woman from the marshlands of the southern coast, is among those trying to find peace during this difficult time. But when she meets a stranger named James, her life takes an unexpected turn for the better. In this interview, Gregory talks about what drew her to Cromwellian England as the setting for this new series; the research she conducted, especially as it pertains to the scene between James and King Charles; why she decided to write TIDELANDS from the third-person perspective, as opposed to her novels about royalty, which are told in the first person; and how her wonderful charity, Gardens for The Gambia, was born.

Author Talk: Mary Anna Evans, author of Catacombs: A Faye Longchamp Mystery

Aug 15, 2019

Mary Anna Evans is the author of the Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries, which have received such recognition as the Benjamin Franklin Award, the Mississippi Author Award, and three Florida Book Awards bronze medals. The 12th and latest installment in the series, CATACOMBS, revolves around an explosion at a historic Oklahoma City hotel that leads to the discovery of the bodies of three children buried deep beneath the city. In this interview, Evans talks about the importance of the story’s Oklahoma setting, the Faye book that elicited the most responses from readers, the two mystery/thriller authors she admires the most, and the research she conducted on Oklahoma’s history (which was so thorough that it even caught the attention of law enforcement!).

Author Talk: Richard Russo, author of Chances Are...

Aug 8, 2019

CHANCES ARE… is Richard Russo’s first stand-alone novel in 10 years, since 2009’s THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC. Here, we are introduced to three men who were college friends in the '60s as they gather on Martha’s Vineyard to reminisce about life, including the disappearance of a woman on this island back in 1971. In this interview, Russo explains his decision to set the book on the Vineyard, the profound mystery at the heart of the story and why it was so challenging to write about it, how the Vietnam War informs this novel of friendship and secrets, and why he finds reunions with old friends to be a terrifying experience (at least at first).