William Kent Krueger's elegant Cork O'Connor mystery series has landed him much acclaim, including the Anthony Award for Best Novel two years in a row. This time Heaven's Keep takes Cork outside the Minnesota Northwoods to an adventure in Wyoming after his wife, Jo, is lost in a Rocky Mountain plane crash during a snowstorm. In his search for his beloved, Cork faces off with a law officer on the take, Indians with expensive secrets to hide, and cold-blooded hit men. Whether Cork will lose Jo is one of the most emotional punches Krueger has thrown at his hero. When pressed about the outcome, the author was cagey.
Some authors think a protagonist can't have exciting adventures if they're married with children. How do you keep Cork O'Connor interesting and edgy?
I've never tried to make Cork edgy. Honest to god, I've always seen him as a regular guy who just happens to stumble into very irregular circumstances. Part of the "edgy" that you and other readers may pick up on comes from the emotional dynamics of the stories, I think. Sure, folks are put in jeopardy, but that's only part of the tension. I get a lot of impact from conflicts that exist between Cork and various members of his family, and also between Cork and some of the regular adjunct characters. It's the edginess of Cork's life in general, and the fact that readers care about him and his family, that keeps the stories interesting.
You wouldn't really kill Jo, would you?
You'll have to read the book to find out.
How much are you influenced by happenings in the world around you as you write?
Not much. The stories I write don't generally come from national or world headlines. Sometimes I pull a contemporary regional concern into the story--Indian gaming casinos, conflict over logging practices--but typically the issues I deal with are broad, universal, timeless. Or at least that's how I see them.
You've led an interesting work life, including being a logger, share your path to publication with us.
The best jobs I ever had (before I became a full-time writer) were all physically labor intensive. I was kicked out of Stanford University for some pretty radical activities. I wasn't inclined to return to academia, so I spent some time logging timber--I was what was called "a limber and bucker"--in the mountains of southern Colorado. For many years after that, I worked construction. When we moved to Minnesota so that my wife could attend law school, I began working as a bureaucrat. But all this time, what I really wanted to be was a writer, and I was always writing, but without any particular goal in mind. At forty, I hit my midlife crisis, sat down, and began focused work on the manuscript that eventually became Iron Lake, my first published novel.
You've guided Cork through nine novels. How do you think he's changed as a character since Iron Lake? How do you think he's stayed the same?
Cork's always been a fairly introspective guy, and also action oriented. He thinks a lot, then acts rather impulsively. He gets into trouble because his thinking isn't always on the mark, and his actions don't always have the desired outcome. In Iron Lake, he's in a pretty dark place in his life, and he's a bit morose. Through the series, he's lightened up. He's mended the rift in his marriage. He's put his desire to be an officer of the law behind him, and embraced being a civilian hamburger flipper. Now he's a PI, but not full-time. What's been constant is that he's remained the guy people go to when they're in trouble, and he simply can't turn them down. He's always trying to do the right thing--as a husband, father, friend, and guy who believes there ought to be justice in the world. He often stumbles, but he never gives up. There has always been and continues to be a lot of moral weight to him.
Your series has been praised by some of the finest of thriller writers. Lee Child says you "hit the sweet spot every time." And David Morrell calls you "a powerful crime writer at the top of his game." Yet, you recently made some noise about retiring Cork. What changed your mind?
The question always on my mind regarding the Cork O'Connor series is, can I keep it fresh? I need to be able to invest my heart fully in a manuscript, otherwise the work holds no interest for me. I was concerned that after nine books, maybe there were no more Cork stories to tell. And the truth is, too, that I have other stories that I'd like to write. So I considered retiring Cork for a while. But then I had a great idea--my first serial killer book, and it would involve Cork O'Connor. The structure, as I saw it, would be unique and allow me to explore a lot of Cork's early history, which has only vaguely been alluded to throughout the series. And it would include as an essential element the history and culture of iron mining in northern Minnesota, a fascinating subject. I'm almost finished with that book, which is titled Vermilion Drift. It's a real corker.
You do your writing in a St. Paul coffee shop. Do you really write in longhand first? How do you ever finish a book a year?
I wrote the first nine novels longhand, in cheap wire-bound notebooks, using Bic pens. I've learned to write quickly. The current project, Vermilion Drift, is different. I'm writing it directly on my laptop. We'll see what the result is.
What's the biggest change you've seen in publishing since your debut in 1998?
Everything is up in the air. All the wisdom--or lack thereof--in the publishing business is out the window. God alone knows what lies ahead. The one thing that's constant is the flow of good fine new talent into the genre. That's exciting!
To learn more about William Kent Krueger's work, check www.williamkentkrueger.com.
You'll have to read the book to find out.
How much are you influenced by happenings in the world around you as you write?Not much. The stories I write don't generally come from national or world headlines. Sometimes I pull a contemporary regional concern into the story--Indian gaming casinos, conflict over logging practices--but typically the issues I deal with are broad, universal, timeless. Or at least that's how I see them.
You've led an interesting work life, including being a logger, share your path to publication with us.
The best jobs I ever had (before I became a full-time writer) were all physically labor intensive. I was kicked out of Stanford University for some pretty radical activities. I wasn't inclined to return to academia, so I spent some time logging timber--I was what was called "a limber and bucker"--in the mountains of southern Colorado. For many years after that, I worked construction. When we moved to Minnesota so that my wife could attend law school, I began working as a bureaucrat. But all this time, what I really wanted to be was a writer, and I was always writing, but without any particular goal in mind. At forty, I hit my midlife crisis, sat down, and began focused work on the manuscript that eventually became Iron Lake, my first published novel.
You've guided Cork through nine novels. How do you think he's changed as a character since Iron Lake? How do you think he's stayed the same?
Cork's always been a fairly introspective guy, and also action oriented. He thinks a lot, then acts rather impulsively. He gets into trouble because his thinking isn't always on the mark, and his actions don't always have the desired outcome. In Iron Lake, he's in a pretty dark place in his life, and he's a bit morose. Through the series, he's lightened up. He's mended the rift in his marriage. He's put his desire to be an officer of the law behind him, and embraced being a civilian hamburger flipper. Now he's a PI, but not full-time. What's been constant is that he's remained the guy people go to when they're in trouble, and he simply can't turn them down. He's always trying to do the right thing--as a husband, father, friend, and guy who believes there ought to be justice in the world. He often stumbles, but he never gives up. There has always been and continues to be a lot of moral weight to him.
Your series has been praised by some of the finest of thriller writers. Lee Child says you "hit the sweet spot every time." And David Morrell calls you "a powerful crime writer at the top of his game." Yet, you recently made some noise about retiring Cork. What changed your mind?
The question always on my mind regarding the Cork O'Connor series is, can I keep it fresh? I need to be able to invest my heart fully in a manuscript, otherwise the work holds no interest for me. I was concerned that after nine books, maybe there were no more Cork stories to tell. And the truth is, too, that I have other stories that I'd like to write. So I considered retiring Cork for a while. But then I had a great idea--my first serial killer book, and it would involve Cork O'Connor. The structure, as I saw it, would be unique and allow me to explore a lot of Cork's early history, which has only vaguely been alluded to throughout the series. And it would include as an essential element the history and culture of iron mining in northern Minnesota, a fascinating subject. I'm almost finished with that book, which is titled Vermilion Drift. It's a real corker.
You do your writing in a St. Paul coffee shop. Do you really write in longhand first? How do you ever finish a book a year?
I wrote the first nine novels longhand, in cheap wire-bound notebooks, using Bic pens. I've learned to write quickly. The current project, Vermilion Drift, is different. I'm writing it directly on my laptop. We'll see what the result is.
What's the biggest change you've seen in publishing since your debut in 1998?
Everything is up in the air. All the wisdom--or lack thereof--in the publishing business is out the window. God alone knows what lies ahead. The one thing that's constant is the flow of good fine new talent into the genre. That's exciting!
To learn more about William Kent Krueger's work, check www.williamkentkrueger.com.
Contributing editor Julie Kramer's latest, MISSING MARK, landed a rave review from People Magazine. "Smart dialogue and a fleet pace make this second outing in Kramer's fledgling series a crowd-pleaser." Her debut, STALKING SUSAN is an Anthony nominee for Best First Novel.
