Q&A: Mendota Heights Writer Talks About First Novel, 'The Battle of Otter Tail County'

Writer Jack Lambert of Mendota Heights recently published his first novel, "The Battle of Otter Tail County." Lambert describes the piece as “the story of two old guys from St. Paul who retire to the lake to get some peace and tranquility. They find adventure they didn’t plan on including a mystery and a murder. It’s all about how these guys—old veterans who have been through a lot—handle it."

Mendota Heights Patch had the opportunity to meet with Lambert at his home, his beloved retriever Chloe by his side, to discuss his new work and the creative process.  

Mendota Heights Patch: This book is a work of fiction, but I am guessing there is some basis in your life.

Jack Lambert: You have got to write about your life experiences, you can’t write about brain surgery! It’s entirely fiction, but the settings are authentic, some of the situations have occurred in my life or someone I have known. 

Patch: When your friends read it, do they think you're writing about them?

Jack Lambert: Some say that, others say, “I can hear your voice in it. That’s you.” There is a little Irish in it—part of my background—some humor.   

Patch: Tell us a little about your experiences as a writer.

Lambert: I have written about 16 to 18 military histories in the past. I have a strong background in that subject. I have also published books for many other people, but this is my first novel. If you ask me why I wrote it, I can’t tell you. I guess everybody needs a yarn. I just had this idea, so I wrote it. But the work doesn’t just fly off the computer. You work it and rework it…and rework it again.

Patch:  That is where they say the real writing begins—in the revising process.

Lambert: That’s right.  

Patch: What was your creative process like for this book? Do you write linear, or all over the place?

Lambert: When I started, I wasn’t sure where I was going. Later I thought, “Oh I forgot about this or that. I can’t leave him stranded there!” I didn’t have an outline and didn't know where it was going to end.

Patch: Isn’t that part of the fun?

Lambert: It is. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night and think of  ideas, jot them down on Post-it Notes by my bed. I don’t walk in my sleep, but I write notes in my sleep, Post-it Notes I can’t read! I look at them the next day and think, “What the heck did I do?” It’s a cryptic language nobody knows, not even me.  

Patch: Do you think that after doing fiction, it will hard to go back to non-fiction, where you have to stick with real events?

Lambert: Those issues do come up in fiction, too. The one thing I had to consider in writing fiction was either you acknowledge 9/11 or you work around it so your story doesn't encompass it. The defining events in my lifetime were Pearl Harbor and 9/11. It’s hard to write in those eras and not note those events.    

Mendota Heights Patch: What do you think about the publishing business at this point in time?

Lambert: That business has changed so much. These smaller independent publishers are having a tough time. One of the larger book stores just fired all their buyers, so how in the world are they going to find out about new writers? There used to be bookshops on every corner, now there are only about a dozen in the Twin Cities.  

Mendota Heights Patch: And how great is it to spend the afternoon in one of the remaining ones?

Lambert: Yes, but they will be like dinosaurs soon when you can get 50 books on an electronic device.  

Patch: But it’s so nice to hold a real book.

Lambert: I agree. 

Patch: It seems a lot of the younger writers are self-publishing. It’s often easier now to get the word around on the internet.

Lambert: And then you end up with a garage full of them because of the marketing part. 

Patch: Yeah, and just because you are good at the creative work does not mean you will be good at business.

Lambert: People will always want to read—that’s a given. But every writer cannot be in the Oprah Book Club. It’s hard to get noticed unless you have a long background, have published several novels. Somebody has got to notice your book and say, "I like this." You have to be reviewed. It’s hard because there are so many regional publishers putting out 15-20 books a year, and the average reviewer can only read so many books.   

Patch: What are you working on now?

Lambert: I am doing my memoir for my kids and grandkids, and it’s like peeling something open to get to the seeds inside. I just keep thinking of new things, like from back when I was five-years-old. 

Patch: Writing about your life is so important, as a way to preserve the past.

Lambert: Yes, that is why it’s important, so many people and their stories are gone. 

Patch: Writing is important work.

Lambert: Yeah, it is part of our culture. But not many writers can put food on the table and a roof over their heads. 

Patch: Starving artists. The idea that if you can’t make a good living at it, it is not valid. But someone has to make art.

Lambert: Most writers have to do something else, too. Maybe there was a time when it wasn't that way, but you don't see that much anymore.  

Patch: Do you think you will write another novel?

Lambert: I don’t know if there will be another one. I don’t have another story lurking in me right now.  

Patch: That could change tomorrow.

Jack Lambert: Yeah, I may wake up in the middle of the night and there it will be.

You can find "The Battle of Otter Tail County" online at Barnes and Noble,  Amazon.com, or through North Star Press of St. Cloud.