Authors hiding in our neck of the woods

You may already know that The Writer’s offices are located in Waukesha, Wis. So the staff would likely know about the bestselling authors around the state, right? Not necessarily.

Last week, while working on the first round of edits for articles that will appear in our August issue, I was surprised to read in Elfrieda’s interview with Margaret George that the author of popular historical novels including The Autobiography of Henry VIII and Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles lives in Madison, Wis. According to her website, she’s been living there for more than 20 years. I had no clue, and I’ve been in the Milwaukee area, about a two-hour drive from Madison, for more than 20 years.

Then, earlier today, Martha mentioned that Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods and Coraline, lives in western Wisconsin. My favorite quotes from today’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article on Gaiman:

On living in the Midwest:

“I’m thinking maybe I should now go to Finland or somewhere for a few years, just to get that sense of the alien back. You know you’ve been in the Midwest too long when the idea of somebody deep-frying cheese curds is not strange.”

And, on writing with suspense:

“I’m probably more like a cook who uses horror as an herb or as a condiment. I love tossing in something that will send a little frisson of something or other up someone’s spine.”

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