Former Fennimore resident and author John C. Stroebel will be have a book signing of his first novel, the supernatural/contemporary sci-fi thriller, “Leaf Runner,” on Saturday, Nov. 18, from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. at The Lemon Door Restaurant, 1130 Lincoln Ave.

        John C. Stroebel was raised here in Fennimore, son to Jack and Jutta Stroebel, who both still live in town. He graduated from Fennimore High School in 1987, going on to the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1990 with a degree in electrical engineering.
        A resident of Blaine, Minn., John and his wife Sue, have been married over 30 years, and together they had four children, and fostered many others.
        John has  always taking things apart to see how they worked and learning how to put them back together, which lead to his chosen profession of designing implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators. He also works on antique and HAM radios as a hobby.
        Although not a writer, John always wanted to be a writer, which came out as he and his wife were playing a “silly question game” they started during the COVID shutdowns. Sue asked John “what was something you always wanted to do, but never did?” To which John replied, be a writer. ANd Sue told him to “go for it.”
        He was an avid reader, particularly enjoying Michael Crichton books, author of the “Jurassic Park” series, so when it came to what type of fiction he wanted to focus on,  he decided he wanted to explore the genre of “contemporary sci-fi thriller,” as well as touching on working on one’s ancestry and exploring one’s DNA, or as John put it, “the idea that we have a part of us we didn’t know existed.”
        John started writing in June 2021, unlocking the “creative side of his brain” as he put it, and had his first draft done in about six months time. After getting feedback from family and friends, his started looking for a publisher in Summer 2022, finding one in Nov. 2022.
        “Leaf Runner” was released this past June and has been well-received, getting reviews such as: “For a debut novel, his writing is outstanding. The concept and plot are so fresh and exciting as well. I really hope he turns Leaf Runner into a series,” from Amazon, and “I felt like I stepped into another world that kept me interested from beginning to end,” from Goodreads.
        Amazon’s synopsis of the book states that “Leaf Runner follows Mercer Evans as he transcends time and experiences the potential dangers of changing his past and the intertwining histories of the many lives that went before him. The result is a relentlessly suspenseful pursuit played out during pivotal historical moments as Mercer and a collection of time travelers called Leaf Runners attempt to prevent a group of zealots from changing the world as we know it.”

        John already has begun working on a sequel.