Steve Hamilton

[Peg Herring]

I went to see Steve Hamilton speak in Charlevoix, Michigan last night, and it was a good decision. I've enjoyed the Alex McKnight series for several reasons, primarily the Michigan settings that are familiar to me, the characters who are so well-drawn and lifelike, and the fact that my husband also likes them so we can talk about them together. (His usual Vietnam-era memoirs aren't so much fun for me.)

Steve is an entertaining and personable speaker who just talks about what he does and what he's thinking, and he's worth listening to. Of course I bought the new book, a non-Alex venture called Night Work. Some in the audience were concerned that Alex might disappear, but as a writer I can identify with needing a break from a character and needing to do something that calls for more creativity than continuity.

Listening to authors, especially successful ones, is inspiring to me although a bit daunting as well. I may never reach their level of success, but they are just people, and something they say always makes me think, "There! I do the same thing, so I must be doing it right!"

And that's what we all have to believe.