Q&A with Bryan Gruley

 

 

 

Bryan Gruley is the author of the new novel Bitterfrost. His other books include Starvation Lake. He lives in Michigan.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Bitterfrost, and how did you create your cast of characters? 

 

A: Bitterfrost was inspired initially by something that happened in the National Hockey League more than 20 years ago. Two players engaged in an especially violent fight. One was hurt so badly that he never played hockey again. The other went through litigation hell but eventually resumed his career.

 

It left me to wonder how one handles the idea that he or she might have ruined someone else’s life. That was the inspiration for the protagonist, Jimmy Baker.

 

Devyn was born in a previous, unpublished novel in which she defended a mixed-race hockey player against rape charges. I liked Devyn’s toughness and sense of humor in that book—which no one will ever read—and brought her into Bitterfrost with a family and a strong hockey connection.

 

Klimmek, the detective, was initially just a necessity, but he grew as I wrote him, and about halfway through, I decided he would be faced with perhaps the most difficult decision of any character in the book. I liked him a great deal and thought his wife, Kris, was an able foil, challenging Klimmek to have faith in his instincts and act accordingly.

 

Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the novel says, “Gruley buttresses the book's sleek procedural elements with a textured, lived-in setting, granting even minor characters a surprising amount of dimension.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: It’s always good when a reviewer appreciates what you’re trying to do, so I was happy to read it, especially the bit about minor characters such as Kris Klimmek.

 

I try to give every character in my books more than one defining characteristic because even a little complexity helps bring them to life on the page, while at the same time helping to bring more major characters alive as well.

 

In Bitterfrost, I hope readers will see this in the interplay between Devyn and her wayward client Jordan Fawcett. Jordan was great fun to write, as was her mother, Shirlee. Shirlee has her own peccadilloes but she also turns out to be pretty important to the story’s denouement.

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way? 

 

A: I usually have little to no idea how one of my books will end, and Bitterfrost was no exception. I had a vague idea that one or two things would transpire, but I didn’t know how, and only by pushing forward with the narrative was I able to learn how things would play out in the final chapters.

 

I make many changes as I go, often printing out chapters and marking them up with a pencil (and then changing the penciled changes as I tap them into my laptop). When I complete the first full draft, I have it bound and printed so I can go through every word of it.

 

With Bitterfrost, a friend who read an early draft mentioned something about Devyn’s relationship to Jimmy that prompted me to go back and rewrite the last few pages. I love the very last sentence or two.

 

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the book, and if so, did you learn anything that especially surprised you? 

 

A: I read a little about that NHL episode, but not much, because I wanted to create my own situation with my own emotional truth. I also read an excellent nonfiction book, Darker Than Night, by Detroit journalist Tom Henderson, that inspired some of the elements of the crime described in Bitterfrost.

 

I drove around the northwest Lower Peninsula of Michigan looking for details that would help me bring the fictional town of Bitterfrost alive. And I consulted with northern Michigan defense attorney Ron Varga on legal and courtroom matters. He was a huge help—and I named a character after him.

 

Q: This is the first in a series--can you tell us what's next? 

 

A: The sequel, which includes Devyn, Klimmek, a member of the Dulaney family, and a character who first appeared in my novel Starvation Lake, is about the drowning of twin infants in the river that bisects Bitterfrost. Accident or homicide? Working title: River Deep.

 

Q: Anything else we should know? 

 

A: Sharp readers of the Starvation Lake trilogy might notice that an important character from those books plays a crucial role as a judge in Bitterfrost.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb