Award-winning authors stop in Fergus Falls

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

County residents, on Oct. 22, enjoyed a lively discussion with three authors who came to Otter Tail County to share what it takes to write words of literature and have books published, some of which are novels that captivate readers. The event was promoted as, “Moving words: Writers across Minnesota.”

The program at A Center for the Arts, Fergus Falls, was made possible by the State of Minnesota through an appropriation to the Minnesota Department of Education. Also hosting the event was the Fergus Falls Public Library.

Following are biographical sketches of the three award-winning authors who live in the Twin Cities.

Emma Torzs, a Macalester College graduate, has written fiction and also is a creative writing professor at Macalester. She is a native of Massachusetts. Her debut novel, “Ink Blood Sister Scribe,” featured two half-sisters tasked with guarding their family’s library of magical books.

Andrew DeYoung enjoys writing character-driven novels of suspense. He was the winner of the 2018 Minnesota Book Award for young adult literature. DeYoung is proud of the book he wrote which he describes as “my twisty summer thriller.” The title of the book is, “The Day He Never Came Home.”

Marcie Rendon is a Native American author and member of the Minnesota White Earth Ojibwe tribe. She has written three crime fiction novels and also has experience with screenplays, poems, short stories and nonfiction books for children.

“My genre as a writer,” says Torzs, “is a series of expectations. Each author has his or her internal compass, and for me my objective with a book is to push it as far as I can before reaching a conclusion to my writing.”

DeYoung says his work is done, on a particular book, “when I have reached a level of self-assurance.” He has a day job in addition to his writing and says “writing from 300 to 500 words two or three times a week will get you a long way.”

Rendon said that family, especially as a single mom, always came ahead of her writing. “I always worked on multiple writing projects,” she said, “and I will never forget how very hard it was to get my first book published.” She adds that over the years she learned to hook the reader into the story line.

All three authors say they cherish the impact of literature in their lives and their connection to fellow Minnesotans.