The Maine Warden Service has a great new Website that showcases the rich history of game wardens in the state of Maine. The site includes historic photos, videos, and a comprehensive look at how the service is currently organized, along with detailed descriptions of the many activities and responsibilities game wardens are charged with performing as law enforcement professionals. I highly recommend it to anyone who reads The Poacher's Son and is curious for more information about these remarkable men and women.
Maine's Secrets
I have a new Editor's Note up over at the day job. You should read Monica Wood's wrenching piece on the "housing first" movement in Portland. In fact, you should read the entire issue (if I do say so myself).
How Not to Promote a Book
Even though The New Yorker labels this as humor, I'm fairly certain it bears a strong resemblance to actual instructions some publishers are giving their authors today. Luckily for me, I'm working with the smart and savvy people at St. Martin's to promote The Poacher's Son. So far I've escaped having to pre-scorch my photos.
Dame Phyllis Instructs
Having just quoted P.D. James on the subject of sex, I should also recommend this little tutorial in mystery writing. "A first class mystery should also be a first class novel," says Baroness James, which is why she is one of my all-time favorite authors. Anyone interested in writing fiction could do a lot worse than studying her brilliant Adam Dalgliesh novels. These are exquisitely written, unflinchingly honest, and relentlessly entertaining books.
Sign of the Times
“In 1930s mysteries, all sorts of motives were credible which aren't credible today, especially motives of preventing guilty sexual secrets from coming out. Nowadays, people sell their guilty sexual secrets.”
—P.D. James