An Evening With Robert Kuehnle

Robert Kuehnle

What a privilege and a joy it was to meet Natchez-born author Robert Kuehnle on our March 26, 2025 video conference regarding the 1st Annual Natchez Writer’s Event. If you missed it – well, you truly did miss it!

If you do not know who Mr. Kuehnle is – well maybe you do! He is the author of 17 novels, including those under different pen names. Have you read the Chery Cola book series by Ashton Lee? That was Kuehnle. What about the Piggly Wiggly book series by Robert Dalby? Again, Kuehnle. He recently released his newest novel, The Majestic Leo Marble, as RJ Lee, which brings us to why he agreed to the Workshop.

Mr. Kuehnle is graciously donating all proceeds from his book signing for The Majestic to Y’all Means All Natchez, a local organization dedicated to the promotion of mental health through events like this, that foster community, unity and acceptance. His book signing is April 12, 2025, from 3-5 pm at The Big Muddy Inn and Blues Room. In conjunction with the signing, Literary Natchez joined YMAN in hosting the 1st Natchez Writer’s Competition, and Kuehnle hosted a Writer’s Workshop in March for all potential competitors or interested writers.

In the workshop, Kuehnle was generous with his invaluable insights and experiences navigating the world of a successful author. His advice was on point for writers in general, and specifically regarding the writer’s competition, for which he will be the final judge. He was charming, interesting, knowledgeable, motivating and instructive. He seemed to answer everyone’s burning questions before they were even asked. Below are notes and highlights from his workshop:

Writing Your story

• Kuehnle introduced us to the concept of a uni-diverse. Our universe, he says, holds such diversity, not just in flora and fauna, but within individuals: different experiences, points of views, creeds, outlooks, etc. This makes for endless character choices for our novels.

• Mr. Kuehnle discussed how The Majestic Leo Marble came about, divulging that with his first novels, he felt that he could not write about his authentic self. He described this experience as “soul searing.” He decided to set things straight with The Majestic, which is a fictionalized autobiography of his experiences growing up and coming out in Natchez, Mississippi. Kuehnle strongly suggests that when you write your story, do not shy away from your experiences Write it in a way that reveals you. Don’t hide your true self.

• Be considerate of the other people that are involved in your story. Be sure that the story you write is your story and that you are not borrowing parts of someone else’s story as your own. Make sure “their rights are not being abridged.”

• Writing in first person may be appropriate in a 1,000-word writing competition, but it gets tedious in long form fiction. You could end up painting yourself into a corner, because first person necessitates that you, the main character, will have been like a fly on the wall for all conversations between the other characters. It becomes ludicrous. Instead, write from a third person point of view. That person can see, hear and know everything - omniscient.

• Avoid putting anything in your autobiography that you will regret later. While you may want to beat up on a character who gave you a hard time in real life, that could make thing awkward between you and that person. Be respectful of the people who inspire your characters.

• Do your research and confirm your timelines. Memory and artistic license do not get you off the hook for these inaccuracies. For example, if a scene takes place in a location that no longer exists today, make sure it still existed within the timeline in your novel.

Getting Started on Your Novel

• Start off with a hook. Get the reader hooked in the first sentence, or paragraph. especially in a 1,000-word essay. Start with a smart, well-crafted opening hook.

• Do an outline. Some folks can get away with flying by the seat of their pants, but often this can lead to going down a rabbit hole that ends up having to be re-written.

• Have a conflict. It can be subtle, but you have to have a conflict to produce interest, and you should introduce it fairly early.

• Know what your climax or resolution is going to be before you start, or at least early on. Some writers work by solving the conflict first, and then write in a sort of in reverse to the beginning of the novel. Kuehnle does not do this, but it demonstrates the need to know the end before you get there.

• Do not be afraid of your choices. You can have a character fall downstairs, but then realize that it creates problem later on. Don’t be afraid to make choices, or to change them if necessary.

Character Development

• You must know ten times as much about your characters than you choose to reveal about them in your novel.

• ·Unspool your characters slowly. Don’t tell us everything about each character as soon as we meet them. Reveal them slowly.

• Your main character has to always behave in a way that is believable for that person. Your main character should never be caught doing anything out of character. Mr. Kuehnle referenced the work of Agatha Christie. Only once did he figure out who dunnit. He would go back through her books to see if there was ever a time that the offending character did something inexplicable considering the ending, and her characters were always solid throughout; they always sense.

• Keep track of your character’s timelines. Continuity is essential.

Practical advice on living the Writer’s Life:

• Self-editing is one of the most important things you will do. Read, re-read, and edit yourself.

• Have your work read. Many would-be writers are afraid to have their works read. Do not be afraid of criticism. Mr. Kuehnle wrote his first novel specifically so his author-father would read it. He found his father’s insights invaluable. Make the acquaintance of published writers or teacher, or take literary courses (or joint Literary Natchez!) and get your work read.

• Don’t go 5-10 pages before you have a line of dialogue. Mr. Kuehnle’s father advised him to “have some white space.” It breaks up the visual monotony of page upon page of blocks of exposition. Writers like Grisham and Michener can get away with it. You, as a new writer, probably not.

• Mr. Kuehnle whole-heartedly recommend not using a vanity publisher and warns that, while such companies are happy to take your $10k to publish your book, they do not have connections with wholesalers and they do not do marketing, connections that are essential for getting your book out there. Often times Vanity publishing leads to the author having boxes and boxes of unsellable books.

• Self-publishing, while ok, is likewise difficult because of a lack of marketing.

• Kuehnle recommends traditional publishing. With traditional publishing, rather than you paying to get your book in print, publishers pay you an advance for the privilege of publishing your work. In other words, they take the risk that your book will sell because they believe it is sellable. If they are wrong, it will have cost you nothing. This is practical advice for new writers who may, like most writers, not have a best-seller on the first try. Building a relationship with a publisher who believes in your work will keep you from going broke on that journey to wild success.

I am sure I’m leaving off a lot, because there was so much information and I kept getting swept up in Kuehnle’s speech that I was forgetting to take notes! So, for that, I do apologize.

We hope to be receiving your submissions soon. The deadline is April 5, 2025, and you can email them to literarynatchez@gmail.com. For more information, see our Writer's Event Page.

J