"A Year of Surprises"

The Bangor Daily News is out today with a follow-up to the piece it did last January on "12 Mainers to Watch in 2012." It was an eventful year:

Doiron describes his 2012 as “a year of surprises.” His third novel in the Mike Bowditch series, “Bad Little Falls,” was released in August. In the fall, the Kindle edition of his debut, “The Poacher’s Son,” was released in the United Kingdom and reached No. 4 on the best-seller list of all Kindle books in November. “I even beat the ‘50 Shades of Grey’ juggernaut,” he proudly wrote in an email. Doiron also signed a new two-book deal. On Dec. 19, he finished work on his fourth novel, “Massacre Pond,” which he thinks might be his best. That book will be published in July 2013. And perhaps the biggest surprise: “I learned that the Pete Kilpatrick Band had been inspired by my novel to write a song titled ‘Trespasser,’ for its album ‘Heavy Fire,” Doiron wrote. (John Holyoke, BDN)

With the print publication of The Poacher's Son in the UK looming just a few weeks away, 2013 is shaping up to be another year to remember.

Bangor Daily News Interview

Today the Bangor Daily News is introducing a new Outdoors publication, and I am honored that it includes an interview with me by John Holyoke. Here's a taste:

“After I graduated, I went to Hollywood. My goal was to become a screenwriter,” Doiron said. “I spent a really miserable year in Hollywood and came back with my tail between my legs, and sort of fell back in love with the state of Maine at that point.”

Still, Doiron, who grew up in Scarborough and graduated from Cheverus High in Portland, wasn’t sure he was going to stay in his home state.

“I think I thought I was going to leave, but a couple of things happened. One was, I was struck by lightning while I was camping with some friends Memorial Day weekend, 1988,” Doiron said.

That episode was terrifying, Doiron said. He and two friends were camping (illegally, he admits) in western Maine’s Grafton Notch State Park. A tree was struck. Doiron was burned. And one of his pals was seriously injured.

“But when I survived it, and my friend survived it, thank God, people told me, ‘Well, you want to be a writer. Finally you have something to write about.’” Doiron said.

As I told John Holyoke, I don't know if Mike Bowditch is going to share my experience of being struck by lightning, but I feel an electrical storm looming.