DETROIT LAKES

— While Minnesota author Allen Eskens has successfully written and published nine novels now, his path to becoming a best-selling novelist was a convoluted one.

In fact, he was a practicing lawyer for many years before publishing his first work of fiction, “The Life We Bury,” in 2014.

Eskens shared his journey toward becoming a full-time writer during a Saturday, Nov. 4, visit to Bluebird Books in Detroit Lakes.

“I think most writers become writers because of a love of reading,” he said, adding that he didn’t quite share that sentiment. “I’ve always struggled with reading. I’m not a good reader.”

He recalled finding an old first grade report card from the Catholic school he attended in Jefferson City, Missouri, stuffed in the back of his closet. Written on the back of the card was a comment from his teacher that said, “Allen dreams too much when work has to be done.”

“I loved daydreaming,” he said. “It was my favorite part of school.”

School, in general, was not one of his favorite places to be. “I was that kid who just barely got by from one grade to the next,” Eskens said, noting that he learned quickly how to avoid summer school by doing just enough in his classes to get the minimum passing grade.

Eskens asked if there were any teachers in the room, and after two or three people raised their hands, he said, “On behalf of all students like me, I apologize.”

But just as it appeared his academic path toward mediocrity was set, his fifth grade teacher decided she was going to sign him up for a part in the school play.

“I got the best part in the whole play,” he said, noting that he played the role of a prisoner, about to be hanged for his crimes — the only role that required the use of a cuss word. Eskens gleefully noted the reaction of his fellow Catholic school students: “Their eyes popped.”

During his freshman year in high school, that initial interest in theater was piqued once again, when he was cast in a production of the musical “Oklahoma.”

“I absolutely loved it,” he said. “I found something I was passionate about.”

He went on to ace all of his theater-related classes, while continuing to get C’s and D’s in most of the others. “I hated homework,” he said, adding that almost all of his homework assignments were turned in either right under the deadline, or late. Unsurprisingly, his teachers would grade him accordingly — until he was assigned to write a short story for one of his English classes.

That story, titled “The Last Horizon,” ended up being about twice the assigned length of five to seven pages, and despite turning it in late, he received an “A” from his teacher, who asked him if he had ever considered becoming a writer. At the time, the answer was no — and while he had enjoyed the assignment, he decided to major in theater when he started applying to colleges.

“I got into the University of Iowa,” he said, but even though he accepted the invitation, “I never actually believed I belonged there.”

That impression was reinforced early on when he received an “F” on an English paper he’d written about Shakespeare’s “Othello” — and realized that his grammar skills weren’t up to snuff.

As he started taking his classes more seriously, his grades started to rise, and by the time he finished his degree at the University of Minnesota, he had become a “straight A” student. In fact, he was good enough at it that he decided to keep going and pursue a law degree.

“I wanted to challenge myself,” he said.

In 1992, he passed the bar exam and became a lawyer, but it wasn’t too long before he realized there was something missing.

“I wanted to do something creative,” Eskens said.

So he started to write a short story — and before he knew it, the “short” story had become a novel-length manuscript. That script was one he would continue to work on for about 20 years — but it didn’t become his first published novel, “The Life We Bury.” Eventually, it would become the basis for his sixth novel, “Nothing More Dangerous,” which, unlike his other published works, was set in his native Missouri rather than in Minnesota.

After finishing the script for “The Life We Bury,” Eskens began sending out samples of it to various literary agents, because none of the big publishing houses were accepting scripts that weren’t submitted by an agent.

“I was rejected by 150 agents that year,” he said. Fortunately, the 151st agent said yes — and a novelist was born.

After the presentation, Eskens answered a few questions for the audience before sitting down to sign a few copies of his books.