A Minnesotan's perspective

“For us, a meet the author program is a perfect way to celebrate libraries and the richness of Minnesota’s writers,” Hiltner said. “Hosting an author program in early spring has become a tradition for the McLeod County libraries. This year as we were exploring author ideas, I sent J. Ryan an email just on the off-chance that he would be available. Much to my surprise, I discovered that he had plans to be in Minnesota in late March. The timing just fell into place, and we are absolutely thrilled!”

In a telephone interview, Stradal echoed Hiltner’s enthusiasm to return to his Minnesota roots. He was born in Waconia and grew up in Hastings.

“I’m super excited to come to the area — my mom is buried in Litchfield, grandfather, too,” said the New York Times best-selling author. “I’ve been nearby the area a few times. It’s my first trip to Glencoe, super excited to see the town and meet readers there, happy it worked out.”

Author appearances are something Stradal is comfortable doing. At this point, he estimates he’s done a “few hundred.”

“I do as many as I can,” he said. “I like it. I like the public side of it and it’s a lot of fun to get out with readers and talk. Glad to be able to do it again. My books have led to having a public interaction that feels organic because the first book (‘Kitchens of the Great Midwest’) dealt with food. People make the recipes and bring them to events. It’s an incredible thing to experience. I was maybe naive, but I had no idea people would do it.”

The same thing happened with his in-person events for his second book, “The Lager Queen of Minnesota,” but instead of homemade goodies, attendees brought beer for him to try and beer they made at home.

“It’s amazing how generous readers can be,” Stradal said. “I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect my work would be viewed as generous to them. They got something out of my book and wanted to return the favor. It’s just so kind when they do it. It happens most in the Midwest. There’s a certain amount of gratitude for writing about things people know.”

HANDS-ON RESEARCH

Although the author left Minnesota years ago, the Land of 10,000 Lakes continues to serve as inspiration for his work including his next release coming in 2023, “Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club.”

Research is something the author likes to do in person. Take for instance his second book, “The Lager Queen of Minnesota,” beer was something Stradal wanted to learn about, so he created three characters with journeys through the world of beer. Stradal said he hopes to visit a local brewery during his swing through the area.

While most of his days are spent caring for his 2-year-old son Auden and working in two shifts: 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 7-11 p.m., the past couple of weeks were a break from routine because he’s been working on final edits for his third book.

“It’s about three generations who own and work in the supper club over about 100 years,” he said. “It follows the rollercoaster ride through the generations — another multi-family, multi-generational epic.”

To learn about supper clubs, Stradal talked to supper club owners who he found were excited to share the stories of their heydays.

“I want to tell that story, too, all the way to the present, and talk about some of the glory days, too,” he said. “It was a lot of fun to write and research. I traveled around the state visiting supper clubs. Luckily I got a lot of research in before the pandemic. No two are the same. There’s no corporation behind them or branding or cynical commercial stuff that clings to experiences in our culture. (The supper clubs are) locally, family-owned and have been around a long time, a lot like breweries. I really like that myself — love the experiences of sharing with other people, friends and acquaintances in a community’s restaurant or brewery — how they contribute to a community.”

It’s interesting to note that Stradal is known for writing strong female characters. When he writes about women he thinks of commonalities rather than the differences between the sexes.

“I think about the type of characters my mom would like to read,” he said. “Those types of characters come really naturally to me. I don’t really think about gender as an obstacle. When sitting down to write a book, I don’t necessarily think I’m writing about all females, I had three male characters (in ‘The Lager Queen of Minnesota’), but they didn’t make the cut. The female characters moved the story along. The men were in the background drinking beer. When I got to a male chapter, it slowed down. When I took them out, it was zippy and exciting, propulsive. By accident the story was of three female protagonists.”

CLAIMING THE WRITTEN WORD

While most kids write on the flyleaf of their books “Property of,” J. Ryan Stradal took ownership of the written word early on. He penned “Written by” in his books. His mom took him aside and explained he didn’t actually write the book, so he couldn’t claim credit.

While his mom set him on the straight and narrow path of authorship, he also credits her as the catalyst for teaching him the importance of reading and writing.

“I saw how important reading and writing was to my parents,” he said. “It’s where they put their passion. It was meaningful to me to grow up with a big reader and writer. My mom pointed out when a certain word choice was meaningful to her. She read sentences to me and made me think about word choices.”

He remembers learning the word “imply” and realizing there was a word for everything. He looked at his mom as a walking thesaurus.

“Through her I developed a real appreciation for the written word,” he said. “I owe her so much. After her death, I took it (my writing) much more seriously.”

To hone his craft, Stradal signed up for writing courses through UCLA extension. He also worked with writing coach Lou Matthews. While it is often written that the author secured an agent relatively quickly in his career, that’s not exactly true.

“After my mom died, I wrote a manuscript that will never see the light of day,” he said. “It’s a mess, but I completed it and sent it out to the world and agents. I received no response. I thought this is the way it is. I don’t have an MFA, I’m not from a wealthy connected family.”

In the meantime, he penned “Kitchens of the Great Midwest.” He was writing it for himself and his mom. He had no thoughts of what would happen to it, assuming it would end up in a box like his first manuscript. But things were different because 10 years had passed since he wrote that first book and he had taken a dozen classes in between and proven to himself and others that he was a good writer. After the book was finished, his partner Brooke urged him to send it to agents.

“It was her encouragement that prompted me,” Stradal said. “I had positive feedback, with multiple people who wanted to represent the book. I didn’t know or anticipate any of the things that happened. Everything preceded from that point is beyond anything I expected. The fact of its publication was a shock. It was translated into 12 languages, I didn’t think of that as a possibility. I couldn’t believe it. I was overwhelmed by it.”

Looking at his career so far, Stradal said he’s most proud of when his second-grade teacher and his elementary school librarian came to his author events. Like his mother, he credited them for sparking his creativity as a child.

“For them to hear about me, my book, it was really moving to me,” he said. “I can’t thank them enough. The teachers and librarians in my life put me where I am today.”

In addition to Stradal’s books earning a large fan base, both have been optioned for TV and film. So what’s next?

“Just writing a new novel and raising 2-year-old Auden,” he said. “I’m very pleased he’s engaged by letters and words and if he chooses to follow me into this career, I’ll do my best. I want to help him shine in whatever way is best for him.”