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Mental health administrator Kevin Kluesner adds new title to his resume: published novelist

By Lauren Anderson, staff writer

Kevin Kluesner takes exception to millennials getting all the credit for popularizing side hustles. After all, he’s maintained one for four decades, working full-time in health care and as a writer on the side.

Kluesner, who was recently named the administrator of the new Mental Health Emergency Center being developed in Milwaukee, has put his journalism degree from Marquette University to use since the 1980s, when he began writing regular outdoors-related stories and columns for the La Crosse Tribune as a side gig to his job in public relations.

That newspaper job helped hone his writing skills, setting a foundation for his later pursuits as a novelist.

He continued to climb in his career, transitioning from communications to health care administration, culminating in his most recent role as chief administrative officer at Ascension St. Joseph Hospital.

And he kept writing. Earlier this year, Kluesner published his debut novel, “The Killer Sermon,” the first installment of a thriller series featuring lead character FBI agent Cole Huebsch. Set in Wisconsin, the book includes nods to several local establishments, including Calderone Club, Good City, Raised Grain, BelAir Cantina and Culvers.

“This particular story, I’d say it’s been trying to get out of my head for over 20 years. At some point, I got to the point where I just had to write,” he said.

Now working on the second of the three-part series, Kluesner expects to churn out his next book on a much shorter timeline. The key to having a successful side hustle, he said, is making time for it and being persistent.

“You have to have grit and a thick skin,” he said. “Because when you get outside your lane, you’re going to make mistakes, you’re going to get rejection. … You just have to keep going.” n

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