Kevin Sands, Kid’s Guest of Honour at Bouchercon 2026 in Calgary

About this episode

Erik D'Souza interviews Kevin Sands about his transition to writing middle-grade fiction and his creative process.

Erik D'Souza interviews Kevin Sands, author of the Blackthorn Key Adventures and Thieves of Shadow Fantasy Heist series, as part of the Bouchercon series podcast. Kevin discusses his journey from theoretical physics and various careers to becoming a middle-grade fiction writer, explaining his approach to writing for 8-12 year olds while maintaining complexity that appeals to older readers. They explore Kevin's method of crafting puzzles in his books, drawing comparisons to Dan Brown, and disc...

People in this episode

Host: Erik D'Souza

Guest: Kevin Sands

Topics covered

• middle-grade fiction
• writing process
• puzzle crafting
• author journey
• Bouchercon

Keywords

• Kevin Sands
• Bouchercon
• Blackthorn Key
• middle-grade fiction
• writing for children
• puzzles in books
• Dan Brown

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Blackthorn Key Adventures, Thieves of Shadow Fantasy Heist series

Places: Calgary

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