The Poacher's Son will be an Alternate Selection and Editor's Pick of the Mystery Guild and an Alternate Selection of the Literary Guild.
Read MoreMaine Guide Tip
I got out of the habit of posting my Registered Maine Guide tips, but here's a fun one you can try in your own kitchen.
Say you're on a camping trip and you forget your toothpaste. As counterintuitive as it seems, you can use strawberries to clean stains from your teeth and keep them white.
You can also use ashes from a wood fire to brush your teeth, but that's a considerably less tasty alternative. Hardwood yields more potassium hydroxide than softwood, so toss a piece of oak on the fire pit.
Monofilament fishing line can also work as dental floss, by the way.
The Dangerous Edge of Things
"Our interest's on the dangerous edge of things.
The honest thief, the tender murderer,
the superstitious atheist...."
— Robert Browning
Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week
How do you know you're having a run of amazingly good luck? When Publishers Weekly chooses your debut novel for a ★ starred review from among tens of thousands of other new titles submitted for their consideration—and then decides to make your book its designated Pick of the Week:
Down East editor-in-chief Doiron takes a provocative look at the ties between fathers and sons, unconditional love, and Maine’s changing landscape in his outstanding debut....Equally a story of relationships and an outdoor adventure, this evocative thriller is sure to put Doiron on several 2010 must-read lists
I have been overwhelmed by the positive early reviews of The Poacher's Son. This experience is what most first-time authors dream about. I've worked hard, but I've also been tremendously fortunate.
Deep Freeze
So orange trees are withering in Orlando, and Atlanta was forced to close its zoo to protect the chimps from chillblains. The Deep South is currently in a deep freeze. Every winter, Maine suffers its fair share of subzero temperatures so it's strange to turn on the radio and hear that it's colder in Jacksonville, Florida, than it is in Jackman, Maine (a frontier town up near the Quebec border). Over at the day job, I have some reflections on how Mainers deal with winter's inconveniences—although I expect my sage advice will come as cold comfort to anyone who just spent the morning sliding around on black ice in Birmingham, Alabama.