THE WD INTERVIEW
The first thing that strikes you about Karin Slaughter is how down to earth she is. She doesn’t really need to be—she’s a bestselling author whose crime thrillers have been published in 37 languages, 120 countries, and sold 35 million copies around the globe. Three of her novels are in production for film and television.
Slaughter is an incredibly successful writer by any measure. She’s been turning out a novel (or more) per year since her first in 2001. Her primary goal in writing is to give readers the best story she can give them, every time. The popularity of her Will Trent and Grant County series and her four standalone novels attest to this.
Slaughter’s stories grab you by the collar, pull you in, and keep you there until the last page. Her latest, The Last Widow, will be published in August, and tackles domestic terrorism with the breathlessly paced plot and stunning twists that she is well-known for. It continues the story of her beloved characters Will and Sara. The plot is so current it feels ripped right from cable news.
The author has used her success to give back, too. Her Save the Libraries nonprofit, formed in 2010, has raised over $300,000.
Slaughter talked with WD about her process, what being a writer means to her, crafting realistic characters, what makes good crime fiction, and how libraries are a critical piece of the social fabric.
I’m still losing sleep over . Everything in the plot seems entirely plausible, which is scary. How do
