Kathleen Antrim ’83 lives extraordinary life as a novelist

By Kurt Anthony Krug

Novelist Kathleen Antrim ’83 has taken a more non-traditional route for breaking into print than many of her fellow authors.

“I have conducted my writing career differently than other people. I did a lot to build myself in the business of publishing, to get to know the industry – running ThrillerFest (a writer’s conference for mystery-thriller authors), getting to know editors and agents, being president of the International Thriller Writers, networking with authors, really building my platform. I didn’t push hard to put books out there that I wasn’t completely thrilled with because I didn’t want to learn in public. I’ve been working and honing my craft behind the scenes,” said Antrim, of San Diego. 

Antrim’s first novel Capital Offense is about the first lady trying to overthrow her husband, the president of the United States. While her character is inspired by former first lady and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, Antrim stated the character is not Clinton. 

“Hillary Clinton was so overt when Bill was elected. She was the only first lady in history to have an office in the West Wing. All of the first ladies had their office in the East Wing. She had her office only steps from the Oval Office. She was not quiet about her power,” said Antrim. “First Ladies have been incredibly powerful throughout history, but what’s really interesting is there’s zero oversight. They have access to the kingmakers, the money, the media – that’s immense power, without oversight. That’s where the book was born.” 

A former political commentator, Antrim has appeared on HotTalk 560 KFSO Radio and the syndicated debate show BattleLine, has written for the San Francisco Examiner – where she was the “token conservative” in a liberal city – and NewsMax Magazine. She also spent three years shadowing one-time 2004 presidential hopeful/former Virginia Governor George Allen, writing his biography. However, the biography was scrapped when campaign fell apart due to a controversy sparked by his use of racial slurs. 

“There’s no market for the biography, but I don’t regret it for an instant. I worked in the Senate on Capitol Hill every day. It was an incredible education and I would never trade it for anything. I really loved working on the Hill,” Antrim said. 

Antrim attributed her interest in politics to the late BGSU political science professor William Spragens. 

“I always had an innate curiosity and interest in politics, but he really instilled an interest in politics in me,” said Antrim. “I was in the Delta Gamma sorority. BGSU had one of the first communications program in the country, and it was an outstanding program. My emphasis was in marketing and pre-law. I loved my time at BGSU. I’d go back and do it all over again.”

Antrim wanted to write novels and do political commentary at the same time, but couldn’t due to the demands of the 24/7 news-cycle. 

“When Allen’s campaign blew up, I decided to leave because I didn’t want to live my life debating and arguing. My first love’s always been writing novels,” she said.

Since then, Antrim has taught creative writing at the University of California – Santa Cruz and has won the Rupert Hughes Award for Fiction. Her short-story, “Through a Veil Darkly,” appeared in the anthology Thriller 2, edited by New York Time best-selling author Clive Cussler. She penned a sequel to Capital Offense, but it’s remaining in the drawer. 

“It needs a complete rewrite. My family’s been left strict instructions if something happens to me, it doesn’t go anywhere. It’s really bad,” Antrim said, laughing. “I’m more emotionally attached to a book I’m currently working on. I’m writing a big historical thriller set in the late 1200s.”

She described the unpublished novel as “Marco Polo meets Pirates of the Caribbean.” Antrim wouldn’t reveal the plot, but it involves Polo. It’s taken her three years to research the book, having travelled to Venice, Israel, Istanbul, even the Iraq border. 

“This book will debunk a lot of myths about Polo,” said Antrim. “People think he discovered China when his father and uncle had already been there. There’s a lot that will come to light about that.”

This fall, Antrim – along with fellow authors Diana Gabaldon and Tess Gerritsen – will be going on a USO tour to the Middle East where they will entertain American soldiers. This is the first USO tour where all the authors are female – something she’s honored to participate in. For her, the two best parts of being a novelist is the journey and the craft of writing itself.

“Getting published is the be-all/end-all. When I got my book published, I realized life was no different than day before. What really what I loved is the actual writing. You’re forever on learning curve. You never have to retire. It’s my passion,” Antrim said.