September 15, 2017 at 3:57 p.m.
Door County mystery author Patricia Skalka visits the Northwoods
Rhinelander District Library continues its 'Author Talk' series
Door County mystery author Patricia Skalka visits the Northwoods
Though Skalka is still relatively new to the world of novel writing, she has been quite prolific in a very short amount of time. She released her first book in the series, "Death Stalks Door County" in 2014. She released two more novels in the Dave Cubiak series, "Death at Gills Rock" and "Death in Cold Water" in 2015, and 2016 respectively. The form of mystery writing has manifested itself in Skalka in the recent past, but writing has always been a part of her career. Skalka spent many years as a staff reporter for "Reader's Digest," and many of her articles have since been featured in nonfiction collections. Skalka said she looks back fondly at her times writing for Digest, even recounting the time she interviewed sitting first lady Barbara Bush in the White House - but novel writing is her main focus now and has quickly become the driving force in her life.
Over the last few years, Skalka's writing has earned her a great deal of praise .
"Death Stalks Door County" was included on the short list for Book of the Year by the Chicago Writers Association and "Death at Gills Rock" followed suit by being named "One of the Best" by the Chicago Book Review. Her latest release, "Death in Cold Water," was awarded the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award, presented by the Council of Wisconsin Writers.
In the newest book, the main character, sheriff Dave Cubiak, is tasked with solving the murder of a prominent philanthropist.
Skalka said she has enjoyed working with the same main character throughout her mystery series. Cubiak has come to represent the "everyman" to many of her male readers, she said. Initially introduced as an emotionally-broken alcoholic, Cubiak has evolved throughout the series into a sort of relatable hero.
"Cubiak ends up being a wonderful man. He starts out a man in an enormous amount of pain. He's a curmudgeon. He's a loner. He's a drunk. And he now has a fan club," Skalka said. "I get emails from men saying that they really like Dave Cubiak because he's real. I had a woman tell me, saying she could relate to the ways in which he suffered, because she was going through something similar. She said she appreciated how the human emotion is portrayed within the novels. Another man believed that Cubiak's story was one of hope in the way he deals with loss and trauma. People like Dave - he's got the good heart."
In the way Skalka has designed her series, many of the story points and plot lines have already been developed in her own mind. She looks at her job as figuring out a way to fill in the information, and weave in details about the eastern Wisconsin Lake Michigan shoreline and the specifics in solving a crime. Skalka pulls no punches when getting to the nitty gritty details. She recounted interviewing two Chicago FBI agents during the research process for "Death in Cold Water." During the interview, she took the agents through each section of the novel, clarifying that the actions of the FBI representatives in the story were acting in congruence with the standard procedures of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"I thought to myself, 'Do I really want to interview the FBI? I interviewed a sheriff for the first book. I interviewed Coast Guard for the second. I figured I had to. But I was very intimidated by this notion," Skalka said. "Before I knew it I had an appointment with two FBI agents in Chicago. I could have no cellphone, no recording device, no camera. I was allowed to bring in a pen and a notebook. That was all."
Used to interviewing subjects with the assistance of a recorder, this proved to be an extra challenge for Skalka, but she said she ultimately came away with the information and clarifications she needed to ensure her FBI agent character's behavior was accurate and believable.
Each of the books in the series were published by the University of Wisconsin Press, and Skalka said that first publishing contract proved to be as much of a challenge, if not more, than the actual writing of the book. Under the impression that if you were not represented by a large, New York-based publishing company, you hadn't really succeeded, Skalka quickly learned that she had to swallow her pride.
"I came up with the idea that I was to change the way mystery novels were written. I gave that first book to five people and not a single one liked it," she said. "I knew the story, but how I told the story had to change."
Revisions ensued and then came pitches to countless publishing companies, but as Skalka said, "there was not that much interest in a mystery series based in Wisconsin."
"It became very, very discouraging. At a point I went to a pitch conference, where editors are there to look and give feedback on your book. I had three people take interest in mine, and then within six weeks none of them were working in the business anymore," Skalka said. "It was like, 'Well, there's a wall. Why don't I go beat my head against it?"
Eventually, at another conference she attended, Skalka began to open up to the idea of smaller, independent publishing companies. Nearly on the brink of throwing the book out and starting from scratch, she found a list of publishing companies in the Midwest and put the UW Press at the top. Within one hour of sending an inquiry, she received a message back asking for the full manuscript.
Now, with three books under her belt and a fourth on the way, Skalka feels well within her element. She attributes her success to the local, independent bookstores who have carried her novels from the beginning. Skalka seems to be a testament to the idea that hard work and perseverance can make all the difference, and her loyal readers prove that point. The enthusiastic crowd at the Rhinelander Public Library showed its appreciation for the author and hung on to each anecdote with reverence as Skalka discussed what the medium of the novel represents to her.
More information on the events happening at the Rhinelander District Library can be found at www.rhinelanderlibrary.org
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