William Kent Krueger – Kent to his friends – was thrown out of college during his radical student years, and he says it was the making of him as a writer.  Having recently published his eighteenth mystery in the Cork O’Connor series – the last nine of them all New York Times best sellers – we could hardly disagree.br /

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Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in Binge Reading today Kent talks about the secret behind his remarkable success as a writer – and I bet it’s not what you think it is, why he is fascinated by father-son stories, and how he sees himself more as a storyteller than a writer.br /

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Before we get to Kent, just a reminder. You can support the show on Patreon for as little as a cup of coffee a month, and get exclusive bonus content, including five quickfire getting-to-know-you questions with your favorite authors, including William Kent. Check it out at www.patreon.com/thejoysofbingereading/ and join us today. br /

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JOIN BINGE READING ON PATREONbr /

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Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

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Why getting thrown out of Stanford was a good thingThe sacred task of story tellingThe surprising thing about childrenHis breakthrough book takes him back to his 13th yearThe debt he owes his wifeWriting as constant discipline while 'real life' proceedsbr /

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Where to find William Kent Krueger: br /

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Website: https://williamkentkrueger.com/br /

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Facebook: @WmKentKruegerbr /

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Pinterest: @wkkruegerbr /

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamkentkrueger/br /

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/71170.William_Kent_Kruegerbr /

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfmB99UdSWJzB8LyzPu6RVQbr /

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What follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

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Introducing William Kent Krueger - master storytellerbr /

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But now, here’s Kent.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: Hi there Kent and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.br /

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William Kent Krueger: What a pleasure to be with you, Jenny. Thank you for the invitation to be a part of this.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: You are about to publish Lightning Strike, book 18 in the Cork O'Connor series. In fact, by the time this goes to air, Lightning Strike will be out.br /

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William Kent Krueger - the Cork O'Connor series keeps getting better br /

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You're an award-winning New York Times and bestselling writer, and the critics agree that even at book 18, you're still fresh and unmissable. Lightning Strike has a twist of its own because it's what we call a prequelbr /

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. You take us right back to the beginning of the story and introduce us to your protagonist as Cork O'Connor a boy, not even a man at this stage. Now, that's an interesting twist. Tell us what inspired you to do that.br /

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William Kent Krueger: Cork has a significant history that I have alluded to many times in the stories, but I've never gone back to explore that history, and particularly the relationship Cork had with his father.br /

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For those who are not familiar with my series, Cork O'Connor was at one point the sheriff of the fictional Tamarack County in Minnesota. When Cork was a boy, his father was also sheriff of Tamarack County, and a man who clearly greatly influenced his son. I wanted to be able to go back and explore more deeply that significant relationship, and also the relationship Cork had with his mother and several of the other characters who are recurring in the stories...