Author Talk: Jim Guhl

When a coworker mentioned that a classmate of hers wrote a book called Eleven Miles to Oshkosh, I made a mental note to add it to my to read list. Then I saw he was coming to the Appleton Library to talk about his book. I put it on my calendar.

I didn't read the book before seeing Jim speak. It never made it on my to read list and I had a stack of books I wanted to get through first. Since I didn't read the book, I limited knowledge of the plot. To be honest I thought the book was based on a true story. Nope, it is all fiction. Eleven Miles to Oshkosh is set in Neenah in the 1970s and follows the story of a teenager who is determined to find his father's killer... the 41 killer.

Jim talked about his personal life, his book, and the writing process. Jim was an engineer by trade and when he retired he started dabbling in writing by joining a writing group. He ended up winning several contests which gave him confidence and he wrote his first novel. Now he is working on his second novel.

It is always a joy to connect to authors and discover some new books and occasionally a new genre. I love hearing about how their got the idea to write their book, their writing process, and how long it took them to write and publish the book. Each author's story is different and each journey is unique yet follows a similar path and timeline.

Hopefully I will have the chance to listen to other authors in the future.