DOWAGIAC — Under the yellow spotlight of a stage at Southwestern Michigan College Friday, visiting author Karen Dionne prepared her words for the evening.

“Oh, I always get nervous before I speak,” Dionne said, fiddling with her necklace around her neck. “But I’m truly excited. … I’m going to talk about my book and then be asked some questions. I have no idea what those questions are.”

The Dogwood Fine Arts Festival invited Dionne, an award-winning author from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, to speak at SMC Friday evening. Dionne spoke about her book and was the subject of a question and answer session for the event.

Dionne, winner of Suspense Magazine’s Crimson Scribe Award, is the international bestselling author of “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” a dark suspense novel set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula wilderness. Her book has been named one of the best books of 2017 by a number of reviewers, including iBooks, Hudson Booksellers, Powell Books and the Library Journal. Currently, the book is in production of being made into a film starring Alicia Vikander, who recently starred in “Tomb Raider.”

With the success of her latest book, “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” becoming her breakout novel, Dionne said she has had a whirlwind year of travel, publication auctions and movie talk.

“I’m just astonished at the reception of this book,” she said. “I remember when my book received a rave review in the New York Times, which for an author, is amazing. I thought, ‘shoot me now. It’s not going to get any better than this.’ I went on tour; my UK publisher sent me to events. I even went to Norway. It’s been amazing all around.”

Despite all her international travel for the book, Dionne said she is happy to be back in Michigan — and in Dowagiac for the first time — to discuss her book.

“I always love to be in Michigan. I’m a Michigan author, and the book is set in Michigan,” she said. “I really love being able to have Michigan readers really get the book. For example, I can say ‘The UP,’ and people here will automatically know what I mean. I don’t have to qualify that.”

Further, Dionne said she was excited to participate in the Dogwood Fine Arts festival because she wanted to show how fiction writing could be seen as an art form.

“For me, there are three forms of art: visual, auditory and written,” Dionne said. “I find is so interesting, because I admire people who can paint or compose, but writing comes from the same place of inspiration. The writer uses words to paint pictures, to make sounds and create sensory experiences.”

The art of her latest book began when Dionne jolted up in bed one night with the concept and first lines of “The Marsh King’s Daughter” written in her head. If there were any aspiring writers in the audience Friday evening, Dionne said she hopes they experience something similar.

“My advice writers is to not settle, to hold out for that really excellent idea,” she said. “It takes a year or more to write a novel, so make sure it has the ability to go where it needs to go. You may not be the best writer yet. You may need to revise your manuscript many times — all of that almost goes without saying. But your starting point should be a really excellent novel that has potential.”

When she left the SMC stage Friday, Dionne thanked all those from Dowagiac that had welcomed her, before heading off to her next adventure.

“What’s next for me is that I’m already working on my next book, which will again be a psychological thriller,” Dionne said. “I’m very excited about that.”