Author and Algonquin native Theresa Schwegel projects an aura of success, ambition and aspiration.
Sitting in the back room of Read Between the Lynes, Woodstock’s family-owned book shop, she speaks loquaciously of her education, jobs here and there and a common quest for a young woman such as herself: discovering on what path her life would take her. She — a Loyola University graduate, once personal trainer, director’s assistant, founder of a small theater company, freelance writer and bartender — progressed toward the career of successful crime novel writing.
Her first novel, “Officer Down,” was written as a thesis project, began as a screenplay and then was adapted to novel form; and the story of troubled police officer Samantha Mack was born. The basis for the story, in which the main character loses her partner and faith in the force, stemmed from personal matters in Schwegel’s life, more specifically friends’ experiences throughout tumultuous relationships. Interpersonal relationships exist as key to the personality, intricacy and intimacy of her novels while still maintaining the intensity required within the crime genre.
“I became interested in how men and women screw with each other even in the healthiest of relationships,” she confessed.
The flaws in relationships, whether personal or business, weave their way as underlying tones within her novels. With great exuberance, she describes everything within her crime novels, her background of screenwriting and character development evident in her commitment to exposing human interaction within plots wrapped around murders, good cops gone bad, mysterious informants and unexposed clues.
Schwegel’s success didn’t stop with “Officer Down.” The 2005 Edgar Award-winner (a mystery writing award named after Edgar Allan Poe), went on to write “Probable Cause,” a New York Times Editor’s Choice novel, as well as “Last Known Address.” Her next novel, “The Interrupter,” is, according to her, “a lot different” than novels of the past and about “a good kid who ended up in a bad situation.”
Nods to ‘Home’
Schwegel subtly reiterates how imperative it is to bring the message of inner-city turmoil to her predominantly suburban audience. This commitment to exposing her dissatisfaction with the poor conditions of underprivileged lives comes through while offering gut-wrenching stories shared by police officers.
The basis of the novels constantly lie within her, exposing understanding and empathy for situations of less-privileged characters — fictional and real — living in Chicago, the location of her stories.
Chicago plays an elaborate role within her novels, undoubtedly incredibly close to her heart.
“I grew up next to the bike path that runs from Crystal Lake to St. Charles,” she fondly remembers of her youth in McHenry County. It appears the time spent living in Los Angeles and Vermont vanishes upon returning, replaced with genuine love of the area and knowledge of where she grew up.
“I just have fond memories of these places,” she said, continuing to describe remembrances of the Woodstock Opera House and Fair Diddley, as well as childhood memories of making forts next to the bike trail. McHenry County never left her, even when she left the county.
Neither did her childish wildness. “One fan wrote me and asked what my favorite toy as a child was,” she recalled. “I finally wrote ‘dirt.’ That’s where all my creativity comes from.”
There exists no problem she shies away from tackling within a novel, no innovation within her career she refuses to exuberantly share. “What am I going to do next?” she asked grinning. “I’ve already broken all the rules anyway. Who knows?”
