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Author News & Interviews

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Aug 21, 2013

In LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY, his first novel in 15 years, Wilton Barnhardt introduces readers to Jerene Jarvis Johnston and her husband, Duke, exemplars of Charlotte, North Carolina’s high society. Jerene works tirelessly to preserve her family's legacy, even if her loved ones aren't cooperating. Bookreporter.com's Bronwyn Miller gets Barnhardt to open up about his inspiration for this proud-to-a-fault Southern matriarch, and the delicacy with which he had to write her in order to avoid any camp or irony. Barnhardt also discusses his own liberal brand of Southern pride, the interesting --- sometimes jarring --- way the South's past and present seem to intersect, and why he and his book-loving family started the Barnhardt Family Fund at Warren Wilson College.

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Aug 21, 2013

William Kent Krueger is the award-winning author of 13 Cork O’Connor mysteries, as well as the stand-alone title ORDINARY GRACE. In his latest book, TAMARACK COUNTY, private investigator Cork O’Connor begins to detect a pattern of ominous incidents throughout Tamarack County and must break it before his loved ones are forced to pay the ultimate price for the sins of others. In this interview with Bookreporter.com’s Joe Hartlaub, Krueger talks about how this story presented the long-awaited opportunity for him to spotlight Cork's kids, Stephen and Anne. He also reveals how staying true in his fiction to the ever-changing nature of family life --- and life in general --- has kept things interesting for him, and explains why he loves to write about Minnesota, even though he isn’t technically a native.

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Aug 12, 2013

Elizabeth Camden is the author of four books, including the Christy Award winner AGAINST THE TIDE. Her latest novel, INTO THE WHIRLWIND, is about a woman named Mollie Knox, who is desperate to save her business after the Chicago fire of 1871 destroys her city. While she struggles to rebuild, two men battle for her heart. Can Mollie rise from the ashes with both her business and her heart intact? In this interview, Camden talks about the surprising lack of adult fiction set during the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire and, of course, her immediate instinct to fill that niche. She has always been moved by the story of the Fire, and felt that it was the perfect dramatic backdrop for a character-driven story because "tragedies burnish the true character of a person."

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Aug 12, 2013

Julianna Deering is a longtime fan of classic mysteries written in the 1920s and '30s. From the tip of his black Homburg to the crease in his stylish cheviot trousers, Drew Farthering, the hero of Deering's own mystery series that launches with RULES OF MURDER, is the epitome of a stylish 1930s English gentleman. In this interview, Deering discusses how her passion for murder mysteries inspired her own writing, along with her discovery of Father Ronald Arbuthnott Knox's rules for crafting a proper mystery story...and her subsequent decision to "bend" them. She also talks about the spiritual journey of her foppish main character and how --- once stripped of his social and monetary advantages --- he is forced to confront his own very desperate need for God.

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Aug 2, 2013

Jojo Moyes's ME BEFORE YOU, which was a huge hit when it released last New Year's Eve in hardcover, is now available in paperback. The novel follows Louisa Clark, who takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor --- wheelchair-bound and having a hard time adjusting to his new life. In this interview, Moyes talks about the very real and tragic news story that inspired the book, as well as the personal experiences that led her to it. She also discusses her fascination with the love-hate bond between siblings, which allowed her to write so compellingly about the relationship between Louisa and her sister, Treena. Lastly, Moyes tentatively weighs in on the re-heated debate about whether or not having children is essential to understanding the human condition, and how achieving broader commercial success has changed her writing process --- for better or for worse.