Influences: James Lee Burke

Today at Maine Crime Writers I have a post about the great novelist James Lee Burke and his influence on my own development as a writer. Burke's Louisiana couldn't be any different from my Maine woods, and yet I have always strived to do a little of what he does so well and bring my part of the world to life for readers who have never seen it before.

On an entirely unrelated note, Burke and I are both of Acadian descent. The Doiron family lived in what is now Nova Scotia before Le Grand Derangement. At that time, many Acadian clans were divided; some ended up in the Louisiana bayous and became the people we know as Cajuns, while others took to the woods of New Brunswick, one step ahead of their British oppressors. My branch of the family took to the woods. But the Baton Rouge phonebook is full of Doirons whose ancestors got shipped out of Port Royal for points south.

On another entirely unrelated note, James Lee Burke is a cousin of the writers Andre Dubus and Andre Dubus III, both of whom have also been important influences on my work.

PW Gives "Bad Little Falls" a Starred Boxed Review!

The new issue of "Publisher's Weekly" is out with an absolutely glowing review of Bad Little Falls. It calls the new Mike Bowditch novel "excellent" and praises its "strong characters, effective prose, and subtle characterizations." This period, when you're waiting for the pre-pub reviews to appear is one of those nervous times in an author's life, since many bookstores and libraries take their ordering cues from these journals. A starred, boxed review in "PW" —which indicates a book is of outstanding quality in the eyes of the reviewer — is an auspicious start to what I hope will be a string of favorable notices. If you can't read the clip below, click this link to go the magazine's Web site.

Moose Calling Contest

My friend, Greg Drummond, was a finalist at yesterday's first World Championship Moose Calling Invitational in Oquossoc, Maine. Greg is a Master Maine Guide and probably the finest outdoorsman I know. He runs Claybrook Mountain Lodge in Highland Plantation with his lovely wife Pat, and he is responsible for many of the nature details you'll find in my books. I wish I'd had the good sense to head over to the Rangeley Lakes for this amusing event—especially since it might have helped hone my own sorry moose-calling skills—but congratulations to Greg on making it to the finals.

Why I Don't Self Publish

Over at MaineCrimeWriters.com I have a post about Jessica Park, the young adult writer who wrote an essay celebrating Amazon's self-publishing program and, in return, received a surprisingly lucrative gift from CEO Jeff Bezos. In my own essay I talk about why I haven't followed the same path, although I suspect we will increasingly see "name" authors eschewing traditional publishers and going the self-publishing route. I don't discuss the complicated future of booksellers in this Brave New World (that's for another day), but it bears remembering that, for the moment, bypassing traditional publishers also means bypassing brick and mortar stores. This decision comes with consequences, as Barry Eisler recently discovered.

My Next Book Tour Takes Shape

My wonderful publicist, Sarah Melnyk, at Minotaur Books is lining up readings and signings for later this summer to promote my new Mike Bowditch novel, Bad Little Falls. Today the first promotional materials arrived in my inbox. I'll be at the Tatnuck Bookseller in Westborough, Massachusetts on Saturday, August 11. Check my calendar of events in the coming weeks for additional events, and I'll be posting the entire tour here when it's all official.