[This episode of MN Reads originally aired on 9/15/2022, and was rebroadcast February 23, 2023.]
In early 2020, when the lockdowns began and the pandemic became imminent, just about everyone found a new hobby. "All my writer friends were having trouble writing,” says Margi Preus. “A lot of my friends did other creative things like baking sourdough bread, and painting, and learning to play the ukulele." For Preus, there was also something new on the horizon, but it wasn’t a new hobby – it was a new genre.
Windswept is Preus's first true foray into the world of fantasy. The book was born from a deeper dive into fairytales which was, for Preus, instigated by the pandemic. "In the fairytales, I think I found some comfort," says Preus who grew up being told Norwegian fairytales by her father. One particular story about three girls who aren't allowed outside resonated with Preus - and likely sounds familiar to youth who were kept home from school at any point over the past few years. Windswept is, as Preus says, "an extension of that" story.
Preus will be at Zenith Bookstore starting at 7pm on Thursday, September 15th for a launch event for the book. Preus is bringing the cardamom buns. "Cardamom buns play a pretty significant part in the story, so it seemed the thing I should do."
Windswept is available at Zenith Bookstore and other retailers.
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
