Friday I drove to Dover, Oho, an hour and forty-five miles from home. It’s half an hour from Canton. I went to see author Linda Castillo speak at the Dover Public Library in the evening. But, I had my whole afternoon planned out.
I went to the Ernest Warther Museum and Gardens first. Warther was known as a master carver, and there is an entire shop for his knives. I probably should have gone in and bought a couple. But, the highlight for me in the museum was his carvings of trains. Unbelievable. And, the Lincoln funeral train had all the little details inside and out. He also had a Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive. And, he upholstered all the seats on his passenger cars. The stories told by the tour guide were fascinating. I love trains, so this is the part that interested me.
The picture of the gardens don’t do them justice. My angle was a little off because of equipment on the other side of the garden. Ernest Warther’s wife, Frieda, was Swiss, and planted Swiss gardens. Beautiful.
Frieda Warther was an artisan herself. Her framed button art is gorgeous, some all in one color, like this black one, some in multiple colors. How she designed and did those patterns! The button art is so meticulous, and beautiful.
After leaving the museum grounds, I went about half a mile to Miller’s Creamery. (Dover’s population is about 13,000, so the parts of town where I wanted to be were not far apart.) I had checked out the menu ahead of time for a late lunch. It’s known for sherbet and ice cream. I had a cherry shake, but they had sloppy joes on the menu. If there is a sloppy joe on the menu, no matter where I am, that’s what I’m having. Mmm.
After checking into my hotel, and a short nap, I headed to the Dover Public Library. It was a packed house to see Linda Castillo. I gather she appears there every year she comes to Ohio. The two women next to me don’t live in Dover, but when Linda appears in Ohio, they make a point to go see her.
Let’s talk about the photo for a minute. There was a great sound system, but the large mikes precluded a picture with just Castillo in it. Even so, I think it’s a good picture. If you’re not familiar with her, Linda Castillo is the author of the Kate Burkholder mysteries set in an imaginary town, Painters Mill, Ohio, in Holmes County. Kate is the Chief of Police and she and her significant other, Tomasetti, live in Tuscarawas County (where Dover is). It’s Amish Country, and Burhkolder was once Amish. Castillo’s latest book is a story collectiion, A Dark Path and Other Kate Burkholder Short Stories,
Bob Scanlon, once GM of WJER Radio in Dover, led the chat with Linda Castillo. You could tell they’ve been doing this for a while. They were comfortable with each other. He’s read her books. She said it has become tradition to come to the Dover Public Library. She came in 2012 on her first book tour with Sworn to Silence, the first Kate Burkholder mystery. She was terrified.
Castillo has had a full length novel every year since 1999, although the early ones were rromantic suspense. This is the first year she hasn’t had a novel. When her editor, Charlies, asked her to write some, she wasn’t sure she could. She didn’t read short stories. But, he said he knew she could. She discovered it’s not as intimidating to write a short story. She can’t linger over them. In fact, one of the stories from her new collection, “Hallowed Ground”, won the Edgar Award for Best Short Story in 2024.
She said she loves to write, but sometimes there isn’t enough meat in one of her ideas for a novel, so she might use it for a short story. Those are smaller in scale They’re not as intense as her novels. They’re a little softer. She keeps a file of book ideas.
Scanlon mentioned last year’s Kate Burkholder novel, Rage. It was one of her biggest hits as a novel. When she appeared at the library last year, all fifty copies available sold out. She had mentioned that she wasn’t crazy about all of her books, so Scanlon asked which one was that. Castillo said it was her second book, Pray for Silence. Since it was the second in the series, she thinks she was still intimidated writing a series. She feels she was competing against herself, and tried too hard. By the third or fourth book in the series, she had found her feet and felt more comfortable.
Asked about next year’s book, Castillo said she loves it. It’s called The Betrayed. It ties in with other books. Of course, Tomasetti is in it, and there’s lots of growth in the characters. She has ideas already for the 2028 book, and she’ll start it when she gets home to Texas after the book tour. Someone asked about the relationship between Skid, one of the deputies, and Mona, a dispatcher turned officer. She said Kate may have to deal with it. Scanlon said she may have to call HR.
According to Castillo, her editor, Charlie, came up with the title of the collection, A Dark Path. She pushed for the title for the 2027 mystery, The Betrayed. Asked about the importance of the title and cover, she said it’s very important to catch a reader’s attention. She or Charlie write the back copy for her books.
There was a lot of laughter when Scanlon asked about making the transition from romance to mystery. “How to you make the transition from kiss kiss to bang bang?” She said she was writing romantic suspense for two publishers, Harlequin and Berkley. She had two editors who told her the same thing. You need to concentrate on relationships, not killing people. She ended up writing mysteries.
Asked if she would be successful starting today, with the changes in the publishing industry, she talked about Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona. Barbara said horror is big right now, including cannibalism. She likes horror, but hasn’t read current horror books. And, a combination of romance and fantasy, romantasy, is popular. She hasn’t read other genres lately. Scanlon said, though, that the #1 circulating author for the last two years at the Dover Public Library is Linda Castillo.
When asked what authors were her favorites, she said Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Nora Roberts. She likes Tami Hoag, Tess Gerritsen, and Sandra Brown, who all started at Harlequin. She reads C.J. Box and William Kent Krueger. In response to a question, she said she doesn’t read “classical” authors because she wasn’t a reader when she was in school. She reads contemporary fiction.
As to her process for writing? She complains a lot. She’ll start the next book when she gets back. That’s an exciting time. She’s a plotter who knows where she’s going with her writing. Panters write by the seat of their patns, and figure it out as they go along. As a plotter, she knows her characters and conflict, and she’s trying to get it right. She works in her office, in silence. If she thinks she needs people, she’ll head to a little coffee shop. Sometimes, she’ll finish writing, and never wants to see the book again. But, after Charlie has had it for a month, and sends it back with edits, she’s ready to look at it.
One question mentioned that she had a derecho in one of her books, a “a widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms”. She does follow Holmes County news, so she read about it when it happened there. But, she’s also a weather buff who loves weather extremes.
Would she like to write something else? She does have some standalone ideas, but she loves her characters, especially Kate and Tomasetti. She and her husband talk as if they’re real people. As long as people like the series, she’s write it.
How have querying publishers changed? Everything was through the mail when Castillo started. She stalked the mailman. She wrote four books, and queried every agent and publisher in New York City. Now, everything is online. The best thing she did for herself was when she joined Romance Writers of American. When she went to their annual conference in New York, she met with agents. The most important thing is to put good writing in front of them. When she started the Kate Burkholder series, she felt it would go somewhere.
A question came up about Amazon, and she said 50-60% of her sales are for er-eaders. But, young people don’t like er-eaders. However, Castillo thinks mature readers like e-readers because we can make the print bigger. And, Amazon is accessible in the middle of the night when you want something to read.
There was a question about interest in Kate Burkholder movies. Neve Campbell did star in “An Amish Murder”, based on Sworn to Silence. There has been some recent film interest, especially from Australian actress Poppy Montgomery.
Why is Linda Castillo writing about that area and the Amish culture for Kate Burkholder and Tomasetti? She was writing in the wrong genre, and was looking for her breakout book, something special. She had a great idea, and was visiting Fredericktown, Ohio with family. They were saying a long goodbye outside in ten inches of snow with 10 degrees. And, she heard a clip clop, and there was a buggy on the road. She wanted to write a high concept thriller, and connect it to the Amish because a lot of people don’t know anything about them. She did a lot of research, and she’s spent time with some in Ohio.
I had met Linda Castillo, but never heard her speak. it was worth an overnight trip, and time spent in Dover to hear her talk about her latest book, A Dark Path and Other Kate Burkholder Short Stories, and her writing.
Linda Castillo’s website is https://www.lindacastillo.com/
A Dark Path and Other Kate Burkholder Short Stores by Linda Castillo. Minotaur Books, 2026. 336p.
