3 questions with Minnesota Author Project winner: Alida Winternheimer

Last month, Alida Winternheimer was recognized as the winner of the Minnesota Author Project award in the adult fiction category with her title Murder in Skoghall. This story follows an aspiring writer and recent divorcee as she seeks a fresh start in Skoghall, but soon finds herself navigating a terribly haunted farmhouse and a community that holds many secrets. You can read Murder in Skoghall and many more titles by independent authors via BiblioBoard any time, without holds or wait times. 

Editor, writing coach, podcaster, and award-winning author Winternheimer is a lifelong writer and learner, having written many essays exploring midwestern gothic tales. Check out more of her work by visiting her website, and check out her podcast “Story Works Round Table,” where she recently hosted guest Catherine Lyon, winner of the Minnesota Author Project award in the young adult fiction category.

Question 1

What was the most rewarding part of writing this book, and what kept you motivated along the way?

What keeps me motivated with any novel is the fun of writing. I truly enjoy the process and can lose myself in the world of a story for hours every day (if only life gave me all the hours that I’d like for that!). Besides the fun of writing, generally - I really enjoy plotting a mystery. I describe it as constructing a giant 3-D puzzle. There is a great deal of intricacy in crafting any novel, but with a mystery, there is an added layer of suspense, laying clues, creating misdirection (or red herrings), and revealing answers at just the right moment. It’s really about inviting the reader into the story as an active participant in solving the mystery.

With Murder in Skoghall, it’s not really a whodunnit, because I show you the killer in the prologue, but a "how-and-why-dunnit." There is still plenty for the mystery lover to figure out along the way, but I don’t conceal the perpetrator. The discovery is really about how and why such a thing could ever happen in the first place. Of course, Jess, the protagonist, has no idea who did it until she solves the crime.

I also really enjoyed creating the story-within-the-story. Besides the present-day story of Jess, her haunted farmhouse, and her life in Skoghall, we get to know the victim/ghost, Bonnie. We see her living her life shortly before the murder, and meet her husband and little boy, her best friend, and learn about her plans for the future. It’s important to me that the ghosts aren’t just angry spirits or victims of a crime, but are people with lives and loves who are missed. Jess might only get to know them as ghosts in ways that are creepy, frightening, and even grisly at times, but before they were ghosts, they were people. Because of this, I’ve always been very fond of Bonnie—no matter what her ghost is doing.

Question 2

What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered while writing, and how did you overcome them?

One of the challenges with any kind of speculative fiction, but especially paranormal, is how to stretch the borders of reality while staying within the realm of the plausible, so that readers will continue to suspend disbelief and engage with your story.

Since Murder in Skoghall is the first book in the series, it was really “anything goes.” I did research on hauntings, paranormal investigations, and psychics, but what I found is, for the most part, anything goes. It seems every haunting and every psychic is different, so I created a logical framework for my story, for the ghosts and how they communicate with Jess, and set the limits of their interactions with her and the world. Then I just had to create consistency.

I asked questions like, "are all ghosts place-bound, or can some travel?" If so, do they follow a person or are they free-ranging? And is Jess only haunted by Bonnie, because of the house, or is this opening up a psychic ability that extends beyond the haunting? It was less a process of finding answers than of making a decision that suits my story, characters, and goals for the series.

Thankfully, we writers have a creative license, and I allowed myself some flexibility as needed, always keeping in mind that the reader’s suspension of disbelief is to be honored and not abused.

Question 3

What do you hope readers take away from your book, and what impact do you envision it having in your community?

I am always concerned with setting in my stories and tend to be descriptive. I like places to set a mood and put a lot of time and energy into building the world my characters inhabit. I found floor plans for a 1920 foursquare home sold by Sears Roebuck. I went to DNR websites and researched the species of trees in the Mississippi River floodplain. I (happily) made numerous road trips along the River Road. I hope readers, especially readers in Minnesota and Wisconsin, recognize Bluff Country. Skoghall is set in a fictional version of Stockholm, Wisconsin, and I use quite a few real place names alongside fictional ones. I hope that the writing evokes the beauty of the region and recalls or inspires readers’ own fondness for our River Road communities.

As far as impact, I’d love for conversations to be had around the book. The story is about more than a haunted house, and there are deeper themes at work in the story. Jess is starting over and reinventing herself after a divorce. There are two veterans with PTSD. An innocent man is imprisoned, and his son grows up living a lie. And any time I can connect with readers to be part of those conversations, I am just thrilled to do so!

Bonus Question

How did you manage stress during this process, and/or what is your literary hot take?

The only thing stressful about writing is when I don’t have the time I’d like for writing. Managing that? It’s tough—I don’t know if it’s just me or a creative temperament thing—managing all the priorities in life and working to carve out “enough” time for writing. (There is never enough time for writing.)

Really, I do my best to write in the morning five days a week and take an annual writing retreat. There’s nothing glamorous about my retreats. I choose somewhere drivable in February, so it’s cold, gray, and there’s nothing to do. I take my writing, my groceries, and nothing else. I hole up for a week and write, write, write. Last year, I managed to take a few walks when it wasn’t too damp out, but that’s it. And I’m happy as a clam!