Welcome to the Jungle

I have the big microphone today at Jungle Red Writers and am using it to talk about Massacre Pond and the real-life controversy around the proposed Maine Woods National Park. If I may quote from myself:

Who hates national parks? No one, right? According to the National Park Service, 278,939,216 people visited the United States’s crown jewels in 2011. My own state of Maine is home to one of the most popular in the East—Acadia National Park—which generally receives more than 2 million recreational visits a year. So it might surprise you to learn that one of the most controversial issues in Maine right now is whether to create a new national park in the state’s celebrated North Woods as a potential sanctuary for caribou, wolves, and lynx.

That’s why I decided to focus my new novel, Massacre Pond— the fourth in my Mike Bowditch series — around the creation of a fictional Moosehorn National Park. My protagonist is no Anna Pigeon; he’s a young Maine game warden who starts the book unsold on either the virtues of the park concept (he likes to hunt and fish, after all) or the virtues of the wealthy woman promoting the radical idea. But when a seemingly senseless moose massacre occurs on her property he finds himself dragged into the debate—which escalates very quickly to human murder, as well.

These days we’ve become used to books and television shows being “ripped from the headlines,” but from the days of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, fiction has also been a useful tool to start a public debate. And that’s what I aim to do. “Sensational” and “serious” aren’t always antonyms.

You should go over there to read the rest. Bookmark while you're there. The "Reds" are some of the most informative and entertaining authors on the web, and it's always a privilege and a kick for me to post for them.  

"Mystery Scene" Gets It

It's always good to get a favorable review. It's even better when the reviewer understands what you set out to achieve with your book. Here's the perceptive Hank Wagner writing in the new "Mystery Scene":

Bowditch is an extremely relatable protagonist, whose reactions to the trials and tribulations his creator throws at him are entirely believable. Doiron has also created a fascinating personal life for his hero—readers can see him changing as the series progresses, affected both by his human relationships and his experiences on the job. Doiron...also takes great pains to bring Bowditch's home state of Maine to vivid life.

One of the lucky readers on GoodReads who scored an advance copy of Massacre Pond called it "the one in which Mike grows up." I wouldn't go quite that far. But readers of my previous novels will begin to see where this series has been heading from the start.

Massacre Pond Word Cloud

Whenever I launch a new novel, I like to post a word cloud of the names and words I use most commonly in the book. It's my version of a teaser and alerts me to words I need to stop overusing (e.g. like)!

Here is the word cloud for Massacre Pond. I don't think it gives too much away:

"Massacre Pond" Is "Masterful," says the Bangor Daily News

My next novel won't be published until July 16, but John Holyoke, of the Bangor Daily News (BDN), is out with a glowing review of my most challenging and controversial novel yet:

Grant Doiron this: He’s got guts, taking on such hot-button topics as a North Woods National Park and the still officially unsolved Soldiertown moose massacre, and linking the pair together in a fictional work.

And that work is — as usual — masterful.

Doiron, who toils by day as the editor-in-chief of Down East magazine, has quickly become one of the state’s top literary properties. And in Massacre Pond — his fourth Mike Bowditch thriller — he raises the bar once again.

It's always rewarding to receive a great review, but as I've said before, it means even more when it's from a reviewer that knows Maine and the Maine Warden Service the way someone like John Holyoke does. 

One Month and Counting

Thirty days from now, my fourth novel Massacre Pond will arrive in stores — and on e-readers.

I've always found this time in the publishing process to be the most stressful for me. Writing is easy. Waiting is hard. The advance reader copies are with reviewers, the book itself is at the printer, and there is nothing I can do but gather my forces for the long tour ahead.

Of course, waiting is frustrating for readers, too. If it's been months since you finished Bad Little Falls and you've been wondering what mischief Mike Bowditch could get into next, I do have some good news to tide you over until July 16.

Macmillan has posted an excerpt of Massacre Pond on its site. It's just the first chapter, but it's still a hint of what's to come for Maine's most trouble-prone game warden.