margaret coel
about margaret

novels

        Winter's Child
        Man Who Fell from Sky
        Night of the White Buffalo
        Killing Custer
        Buffalo Bill's Dead Now
        The Perfect Suspect
        The Spider's Web
        Silent Spirit
        Blood Memory
        Girl w/ Braided Hair
        Drowning Man
        Eye of the Wolf
        Wife of Moon
        Killing Raven
        Shadow Dancer
        Thunder Keeper
        Spirit Woman
        Lost Bird
        Story Teller
        Dream Stalker
        Ghost Walker
        Eagle Catcher
readers guides

short stories

wind river

non-fiction

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Winter's Child

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Winter's Child Winter's Child Q & A

Q. Is it true? Winter's Child is the final novel in the long-running Wind River series?

A. Yes, it is true. Winter's Child is the twentieth novel, and I knew while I was writing that it was a good place to let Vicky and Father John finish their stories.

Q. Just like that?

A. Well, not exactly. I thought about it a lot. It was a tough decision, but everything has a natural lifespan, even a mystery series. Vicky and Father John have been through a lot of adventures together. They've solved dozens of crimes and faced down and outwitted a whole range of murderers. Sometimes I was surprised they were still alive! But there they were, always ready for the next crime to solve, the next criminal to bring to justice. And I was always ready to see what they would do.

Q. So you didn't get bored writing about them?

A. Bored is not a word I understand. I loved every minute of writing about them. Still, I thought it was time to let them go.

Q. So what's next?

A. For me? I may be retiring the Wind River series, but I am not retiring. I am a writer, and as Garrison Keillor has said, writers just keep writing. I am looking forward to meeting new character-people, getting to know them, sharing their lives in different kinds of adventures. Who they might be, I have no idea, but I trust they will come to me in their own good time, just as Vicky and Father John once did.

Q. How about Vicky and Father John? We have seen the deep and ongoing affection they have for each other grow with each novel. We've been waiting to see what will happen. Are we going to find out?

A. As I was writing the ending, I realized that what I wanted to do was leave them in a good place, with the future open and stretching ahead. It is how I wanted to remember them—going about their lives and heading into the future. What will that future be? Well, you'll have to read Winter's Child and fill in the rest of the story.