MINNESOTANS ARE KNOWN for their generosity. And once again they showed up big time to support those affected by federal immigration enforcement in our state.
I photographed this sandwich board outside Content Bookstore in mid-February. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo February 2026)
At Content Bookstore in nearby Northfield, around $3,000 was donated to the two organizations. I was among the donors and among the many Content shoppers who visited with Allen Eskens, a writer of thrillers and mysteries from St. Peter, and Mary Bleckwehl, a Northfield children’s book author.
I got a free copy of this book for donating to one of the selected nonprofits. (Book cover sourced online)
Nearly 60 writers participated statewide in Authors for Minnesota Day, giving of their time and also giving away selected books to those who gave to the two recipient nonprofits. I snagged a soft-cover copy of Bleckwehl’s Arrrgh! Me Hate to Wait! Eskens had already given away his supply of free books by the time I arrived in mid-afternoon.
This event was about more than helping two deserving nonprofits focused on helping immigrants in Minnesota. This was also about supporting independent bookstores and Minnesota writers. Content Bookstore buzzed with shoppers browsing shelves, buying books and even standing in line to chat with Eskens and Bleckwehl.
To see this level of interest and support was encouraging, but not surprising. Minnesota has repeatedly proven, in the past few months especially, that it cares about and looks out for its neighbors.
Lourey, co-organizer with author Kristi Belcamino, posted on Facebook: “I was in tears several times throughout the day seeing how many people in our community want to support small businesses and immigrant rights. Thank you to all the bookstores and authors who participated, and to everyone who showed up—we got to see the best of Minnesota today.”
THE MINNESOTA WRITING COMMUNITY has always impressed me as talented, prolific and generously giving.
Now add united activism to that list as 50-plus Minnesota authors join from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, February 28, in an Authors for Minnesota Day event at 24 independent bookstores across the state. Their efforts focus on “A Day of Books, Community, and Support for Immigrant Rights.”
I could not be more proud of these writers and booksellers who are publicly raising awareness of the challenges our immigrant neighbors, our communities and small businesses (including indie bookstores) have faced, and continue to face, in the wake of massive federal immigration enforcement throughout Minnesota.
These authors and bookstore owners are taking their support to the next step—action. Anyone who makes an on-site donation to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota and/or the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota Immigration Rapid Response Fund on Saturday will get a free, signed copy of a participating author’s book, while supplies last. (See online donation options at the end of this post.)
Bestselling mystery writer William Kent Krueger will be at Once Upon a Crime bookstore in Minneapolis along with Allan Evans and Patrick Barb. (Graphic sourced online)
Saturday it will be all about community and supporting community as book lovers meet with authors in bookshops across Minnesota. While most host sites are located in the metro, three are in greater Minnesota—Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais, in the far northeastern corner of Minnesota; Hey Darling in Austin near the Iowa border; and then Content Bookstore in Northfield, south of the metro and a 20-minute drive from my home.
(Book cover sourced online)
Bestselling mystery and thriller author Allen Eskens of nearby St. Peter, and one of my favorite Minnesota writers, will be at Content Bookstore signing his latest novel, The Quiet Librarian, now out in paperback. Northfield writer Mary Bleckwehl will also be at Content with her children’s picture book, ARRRGH! Me Have to Wait.
Signage on Content Bookstore along Division Street in downtown Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo February 2026)
Here’s a complete list of independent bookstores hosting Authors for Minnesota Day from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday: Avant Garden (Anoka), Big Hill Books (Minneapolis), Birchbark Books (Minneapolis), Black Garnet Books (St. Paul), Comma, a Bookshop (Minneapolis), Content Bookstore (Northfield), Cream & Amber (Hopkins), Drury Lane Books (Grand Marais), The Enchanted Quill (North Branch), Excelsior Bay Books (Excelsior), Hey Darling (Austin), Inkwell Booksellers (Minneapolis), Irreverent Bookworm (Minneapolis), Lake Country Booksellers (White Bear Lake), Moon Palace (Minneapolis), Next Chapter Booksellers (St. Paul), Niche Books (Lakeville), Once Upon a Crime (Minneapolis), Red Balloon (St. Paul), Scout and Morgan (Cambridge), Subtext (St. Paul), Tropes and Trifles (Minneapolis), Valley Bookseller (Stillwater), and Well Read Books (Elk River).
I like that statement. It’s empowering. Tell. Your. Truth.
In her newest book, The Laughing Dead, the third in her fictional “A Steinbeck and Reed Thriller” series, Lourey writes about three cold case murders of young women and two current-day murders. Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Agent Evangeline “Van” Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck once again team up to work the cases, one that becomes deeply personal for Reed.
In typical Lourey writing, the plot twists and turns and screams and scares as the story unfolds. At times I truly did not understand what was real and what wasn’t. That comes as no surprise given secrets theme many of Lourey’s books. The Laughing Dead is no exception.
But what stuck with me throughout the book was the strength of Van Reed, born into a cult led by abusive, controlling and narcissistic Frank Roth. When he was arrested, the “Mothers” and “Sisters” scattered, some remaining devotedly loyal while others like Reed escaped and severed ties. She then went into law enforcement. In The Laughing Dead, Reed confronts her past, the secrets she keeps and the trauma she’s endured.
Yet, this book goes beyond a fictional character in a thriller. This story is, more broadly, about domestic abuse and violence, a reality for too many women (and, yes, some men also). It was absolutely fitting that I should read The Laughing Dead during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. Lourey, in her book, writes about the power, manipulation and control used by abusers to entrap and silence their victims. Abusers, just like the fictional Frank Roth, will act loving and doting then turn into oppressive, abusive, overpowering, violent and controlling individuals. Sort of like a nightmarish chameleon.
Lourey, through her writing, is doing more than entertaining readers who appreciate a good thriller. She is raising awareness about domestic abuse and violence. And she is showing, via main character Van Reed, that it is possible to escape domestic abuse and violence, to rise above trauma. To tell your truth. And survive.
Buckham Memorial Library, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo December 2022)
I DIDN’T INTEND to write a follow-up about an author event Thursday evening at my local library. So I didn’t take notes initially. I planned to just sit back, listen and maybe ask a few questions. Turns out I asked a lot of questions of Jess Lourey and Nicole Kronzer. About then I decided I best start taking notes.
I found kindred spirits in Jess Lourey and Nicole Kronzer, in the commonality of needing to write. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2012)
What energy, knowledge and passion these writers brought to the Buckham Memorial Library Great Hall. It’s clear they love the craft of writing. I could feel, as much as hear, their passion.
To be in their presence, to recognize that I was among wordsmiths who deeply love the written word, writing and reading, energized me.
The promo for Thursday’s event. Author John Lee Clark was unable to attend.
I actually pulled myself away from Lourey’s riveting crime thriller/mystery The Taken Ones to attend the author event, Moving Words: Writers Across Minnesota. It’s part of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library’s program to bring Minnesota Book Award-winning authors to communities like Faribault. I, for one, appreciate this programming, which included a Friends moderator. She asked questions of Lourey and Kronzer and invited the seven audience members to do the same.
Lourey has 28 books to her credit, mostly fiction, but also nonfiction and children’s books. Kronzer has published two young adult novels. I’ve read many of Lourey’s books and will soon read Kronzer’s. She’s a relatively-new author.
Yet, they share similar experiences and didn’t sugarcoat the difficult process to publication, which starts first with an idea, then outlining, then writing and research and rewriting and rewriting some more and editing and… They struggled to find agents, had their queries and manuscripts rejected by publishers, Lourey some 400 times. But she persisted. And today she’s an accomplished award-winning author. Kronzer holds the same determination to get her work in print. Her best work. They both acknowledged some of their writing hasn’t been all that good. Lourey even went so far as to steal her master’s thesis from her university’s library…until her Minnesota guilt kicked in and she returned it.
Book cover sourced online. This is Kronzer’s second young adult novel, published in January.
Both have taught/teach writing. Kronzer draws on her interactions with teens as a high school English teacher and her theatrical experience in shaping her books. She enthuses about today’s teens, noting she feels hopeful in this generation. In response to a question, Kronzer said the take-away from her books is a sense of belonging, the theme in Unscripted and The Roof Over Our Heads. She was, she said, bullied. I can relate. We write what we know.
Book cover sourced online. The cover is similar to the real-life scene of abandoned bikes found in a rural road ditch at the site of Jacob Wetterling’s abduction.
Lourey, who is inspired by dark true crime, centers her fictional books on secrets. She grew up in Paynesville in central Minnesota, where eight boys were attacked and assaulted in the late 1980s. (Secrets.) Authorities investigated a suspect who later pled guilty to the 1989 kidnapping, assault and murder of Jacob Wetterling in nearby St. Jospeh. Lourey’s fictional book, Unspeakable Things, is based on what happened in Paynesville. Her experiences as a pre-teen and teen at the time weave into Unspeakable. Write what you know.
Even though her books theme around secrets, Lourey wants readers to take away the importance of community. “Find your people and tell your truth,” she said.
This was posted in a recent display on banned books at my library. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2023)
And for Kronzer, her stand-out statement of the evening, at least for me, was this: “Reading makes you nicer.” In saying that, she referenced the diversity of characters found in books. (Both authors emphasized character development in their writing.) Kronzer’s statement really resonated with me as I thought of a recent banned books display in my library. Not books banned from Buckham Memorial Library, but rather books that have been banned elsewhere. I chose one from the shelf, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, and read it. It’s not a book I would otherwise have chosen. But I needed to read it, to learn, to widen my world, to put myself in the shoes of others.
We can learn so much by reading, by writing, by asking, by listening. And sometimes we are validated. When I asked Lourey and Kronzer whether they eavesdrop (specifically in grocery stores), they admit they do. Some of what they’ve overheard has made it into their books. Just as some of what I’ve overheard has woven into my writing. Write what you know. And sometimes, write what you hear.
Book cover sourced online.
FYI: Lourey and Kronzer suggested two must-read books on the craft of writing: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel—The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica Brody and Stephen King’s On Writing—A Memoir of the Craft. I’ve read King’s writing guide and highly-recommend it. I also highly-recommend attending author events, whether you’re a writer, a reader or both.
A FEW DAYS AGO, I nabbed Jess Lourey’s The Taken Ones from the LUCKY DAY shelves at my local library. This is a section where new books are placed and, if you’re lucky to get a new release, then lucky you. Already I want to stay up late reading this Minnesota author’s latest thriller. Just as I did when I read The Quarry Girls, a fictional crime story set in 1997 in St. Cloud and winner of the 2023 Minnesota Book Awards in genre fiction.
My familiarity with Lourey’s writing stretches back many years to my time as a freelance writer with Minnesota Moments, a magazine no longer in publication. Back then I reviewed Minnesota-authored books for the magazine, including books in Lourey’s Murder by Month romcom series set in Battle Lake, a real Minnesota community where she lived at the time. I still remember the name of the main character, Mira James, in books like May Day and June Bug.
Book cover sourced online
But since I’m an appreciator of intense mysteries, I’m more drawn to Lourey’s suspenseful crime titles. That’s my go-to genre, reaching as far back as the Nancy Drew detective series.
The library’s promo for Thursday’s event.
All of that aside, Lourey will be at Buckham Memorial Library in Faribault at 6 pm Thursday, November 2, as part of Moving Words: Writers Across Minnesota series. Authors John Lee Clark and Nicole Kronzer will join her. How lucky we are to have three talented, award-winning, multi-genre authors here to talk about their craft.
Book cover sourced online
While Clark and Kronzer are unknown to me, their online bios reveal two gifted writers. Clark, a DeafBlind poet, essayist and actor, won the 2023 Minnesota Book Award in poetry for his How to Communicate: Poems. It seems particularly fitting that he is coming to Faribault, home to the Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and the Blind.
Book cover sourced online
And Kronzer, a high school English teacher and former professional actress, writes young adult novels. In 2021, Unscripted was a Minnesota Book Awards finalist in young adult literature. Her second book, The Roof Over Our Heads, published in January.
I’ve already requested Clark’s poetry book and Kronzer’s Unscripted from the library. If those books were on the Lucky Day shelves, I missed them.
Now, time to take a break from writing to resume reading The Taken Ones. For it is also by reading that writers learn and grow their craft. And Lourey has that covered, too, in Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction, a book to first read then use as a writing guide.
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Recent Comments