See the Interview by Lonnie Cruse, a member of Sisters in Crime

Interview for Northwest Woman Magazine
October/November 2005 Issue
Written by Teri Brown

Koenig's Wonder is the Book Club Pick!

NWW: Where did you get the idea for Koenig's Wonder?

I was doing a genealogical search on my dad's family and found that my great-grandfather and his brother, Hermann and George Kuhlmann, came to America from Germany in the late 1800's, then separated. No one in our family seemed to know why they separated or what happened to George. My imagination took off, and the story evolved from there. I chose to begin Koenig's Wonder in 1937, just before WWII, in an attempt to show how families were sometimes torn apart by war. I'm hoping to someday find the other half of our family!

NWW: It sounds like you have been around horses, or you have done some wonderful research. Tell us a little about your experiences.

When I was child, I spent my summers on my mother's parents' farm in Indiana, which is the farm in Koenig's Wonder. My grandparents owned horses, but not the beautiful Thoroughbreds or Lipizzans I wrote about in my story. I did extensive research and had my experts check my information after I wrote my pages. I knew I wanted to fictionally steal a Kentucky Derby winner, but I also knew this horse would be difficult to hide. Once I learned that retired Thoroughbreds are used in Dressage, I knew I had a connection.

NWW: Have you lived in the places you described or did you go there for research?

Both. Some of the locations and events in Koenig's Wonder are based on places in my life. I've traveled to various areas of Germany, where my father's family began. Also, I grew up in Illinois and went to the Arlington Race Track near Chicago with my parents when I was young. The scene in Koenig's Wonder is very much like that event. I spent time in the backstretch of Churchill Downs, making mental notes that I used later in my descriptions. For over thirty years now, Oregon has been my home. So, I had to bring the characters in Koenig's Wonder to Oregon.

NWW: What is your writing life like? Do you have a regular schedule?

Unlike most writers, I don't really have a set time for writing. I'm researching or writing all the time; when I'm in the car, at social events, or even sleeping. I'll wake up in the middle of the night and make a note of some turn I plan to take in my current story.

NWW: What are you working on now?

I'm working on my next novel, The Red Boots. It's a story of Shannon O'Toole, a sculptor in Dublin, Ireland. She receives a letter from her father, whom she hasn't heard from in over twenty years. Shannon decides to leave her world art tour to see her father. When she arrives at his Appaloosa horse ranch in Dufur, Oregon, she learns that he has cancer. What Shannon doesn't know is that a serial killer has followed her from Ireland!

My readers have asked for more on the characters in Koenig's Wonder, so when I finish The Red Boots, I plan to write two sequels to Koenig's Wonder.

NWW: Where can readers get your book?

Koenig's Wonder is available in most bookstores or on web sites, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powell's Books, and at Llumina Press, my publisher's web site. At most of these sites, reviews have been written by various readers.

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