It’s nice to see everyone gathered again. We took a break last week, as our scheduled author was unavailable. We are delighted to have Kevin Kluesner here today with his featured debut thriller, THE KILLER SERMON.
Welcome, Kevin. How do you take your coffee?
Kevin: I like it black and hot. Since I don’t take cream, sugar, or other additives, a Kenyan light roast is particularly yummy. If it cools at all, I will nuke it.
Ally: An easy request for my magic pot! While I pour, please introduce yourself to readers.
I earned both a BA in journalism and later an MBA from Marquette University. I’ve worked as the outdoor writer for a daily newspaper, taught marketing and management classes at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and served as an administrator of an urban safety net hospital.
The Killer Sermon is my debut novel. It introduces FBI agent Cole Huebsch and a thriller series set in Wisconsin and the Midwest. I might be the only person to claim membership in both the American College of Healthcare Executives and the International Thriller Writers. I live in New Berlin, Wisconsin, with my soulmate and wife Janet.
Something unique not in my bio: “I wrote a hymn that was performed at a reception when I left my role as administrator of Ascension St. Joseph Hospital (Mr. Kluesner’s Opus)!”
Check me out on LinkedIn (not on FB or Twitter)
My website is: kevinkluesner.net
Ally: Are you self-published or traditionally published? How did you make the decision?
Kevin: I found a traditional publisher in Level Best Books. No big advance, but they take all the financial risks (paying for editing, cover designs, and printing – and paying me royalties after books are sold). I decided I didn’t want to self publish unless I had to. I know it is easier to self publish these days and a lot of people do it successfully. But, I’m old school, and we used to consider self publishing “vanity” publishing, and I only wanted to do that if I had been turned down by all the traditional publishers.
Ally: Why did you choose writing as a career? Is it your only career, or do you have a “day” job
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Kevin: My undergraduate degree was in journalism, and I absolutely thought I would be a writer (Woodward or Bernstein, in fact). But jobs were scarce to come by when I graduated in 1980, and I was lucky to talk my way into a public relations job at a small private College. Way led to way from there, and a few months ago I left my dream job as the administrator of an urban safety net hospital. I’ve been in health care for 40 years, the past 38 in leadership, but I never stopped thinking of myself as a writer.
Ally: What’s the best writing/marketing advice you’ve been given?
Kevin: If anyone wants to seriously be a writer (or if you just want to read a good story), read Stephen King’s memoir, called On Writing. It took me 20 years to write the first half of The Killer Sermon, and only four months to write the second half (after reading King’s memoir). It was eye opening. Little nuggets like, “Amateurs wait for inspiration, while professional writers sit down and write.” Simple, but beautiful.
Ally: How many books do you read in a month? Which genre(s)?
Kevin: I read probably five novels a month (certainly more than one per week). I mostly read thrillers or suspense, but sometimes try other types of novels and non-fiction when recommended to me by people I trust. Every book I read leaves its mark on me, some more than others
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Ally: Are you a speed reader or do you settle in and savor a book?
Kevin: I savor each book I read. I can usually hear the words in my head as I read and I get an amazing picture of the action, so much so that movies based on books I’ve read are usually a letdown.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
- Memorable book I’ve read… Either The Call of the Wild or The Old Man and the Sea. More modern, I would pick John Grisham’s A Painted House.
- An author (living or dead) you’d love to chat with. I might say Hemingway, but I’m afraid he would kick my butt for being impertinent. I will say Stephen King, so I could thank him from the bottom of my heart for entertaining me when I was younger, and helping me get my novel to the finish line when I was older.
- Ebook or print? Ebook (my wife converted me).
- A movie I’ll always remember. It’s A Wonderful Life AND Saving Private Ryan. Both are partially about man’s search for meaning…
- Favorite comfort food… Jambalaya.
Ally: It was a pleasure meeting you, Kevin. Good luck with your book. I hope you’ll come back with the next one. In the meantime, please tell us a little about The Killer Sermon.
The Killer Sermon (A Cole Huebsch Novel)
Genre: Societal Thriller
An aging priest in rural Wisconsin gives an impassioned Christmas homily condemning abortion as murder and exhorting his parishioners to stop it. A former mayor responds by starting a hunger strike in city hall, and the editor of the local weekly newspaper begins running a counter at the top of each edition that estimates the number of abortions performed since Roe v Wade. A third member of the congregation takes a more lethal approach and begins to target reproductive rights physicians for murder.
Cole Huebsch is a pro-life leaning Milwaukee FBI agent. Michele Fields is a pro-choice leaning reporter. They need to set aside their differences to catch the killer before the country is torn apart.
The Killer Sermon is a fast-moving thriller that reminds us that our words matter, and that regardless of how big our differences on divisive issues, we can still find respect, and maybe more…
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Killer-Sermon-Cole-Huebsch-Novel/dp/1685120415
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-killer-sermon-kevin-kluesner/1140805331?ean=9781685120412
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781685120412