About My Short Stories....

For the past half dozen years or so I have written a Mike Bowditch short story for Minotaur Books timed to come out in advance of each new novel.

I really enjoy the chance to play with different styles (“The Caretaker” is my twist on a Sherlock Homes story, for instance) and fill in the backstory of some of the characters. It was a great moment in my life when one of these stories, "Rabid," was a finalist for the 2019 Edgar Award.

Unfortunately, my stories have also caused surprising trouble for me. Some readers, misguided by inaccurate websites (including a few sites that know better, cough, Macmillan), jump to the conclusion that the stories are actual full-length novels. And these readers are upset that they can't locate “The Imposter” or “Backtrack” in bookstores and libraries.

More frequently, I get complaints about the format. The only way to publish a single short story is digitally (although mine are also recorded for audio), and I hear from many fans who won't (or admittedly can't) read on a screen. To be clear: you don't need a dedicated device, such as a Kindle or iPad, to do so. Amazon offers that option to purchase and read a book or story on your computer (as does Apple). So if you are reading this post now on Facebook or elsewhere, you can read "Rabid." You have the technology! Until such time as I have enough stories for Macmillan Publishing to bring out a printed collection (no guarantees it will happen but fingers crossed), this is the only way for me to offer short stories to my fans.

This blog post is all prefatory to my announcing that I have a long short story (or a short novella) titled “Skin and Bones” coming out digitally on May 5. It will be available as an audio in June. I sincerely hope you enjoy it!

Listen to a Discussion of The Poacher's Son

The Maine Public Radio book club discussion of The Poacher's Son that I'd previously announced is now available to download as a podcast or listen to online. So if you missed the show, here's your second chance. I'll confess that I found the experience of listening to people talking about my novel a bit like attending my own funeral and listening to the eulogies. But happily the comments here are mostly positive (as I hope they will be at my graveside). I'd be curious to hear what you think of the "Maine Calling" show. 

"A Suspenseful Mystery Ride in the Maine Woods"

There has been a lot of talk and cross-talk about how the web is changing the publishing business, but one place where it has already had a profound impact is in the area of book reviews. It used to be that authors were dependent on a handful of print outlets to review their novels (and as newspapers began gutting their book sections, these outlets became fewer and fewer). But the emergence of book blogs like Kevin Tipple's excellent Kevin's Corner has filled a much-needed hole.

Here's his take on Massacre Pond:

Award winning author Paul Doiron once again takes readers on a suspenseful mystery ride in the Maine woods. As he did from the very beginning with The Poacher's Son (reviewed here) he combines a powerful mystery with the actions and duties of the men and women whose job it is to protect nature in all its forms from the misuse and abuse of mankind. Much like what C. J. Box has done for Wyoming; Paul Doiron has done for Maine through four very good books to date.

At its core Massacre Pond is an intense mystery that has human as well as animal victims. The massacre of the moose is just the first point of a complex case that will result in a number of deaths and complications as other events come to light. Human frailty is a major point in the book through primary and secondary storylines, as is economics, politics, and access to power thanks to money and social standing. These Maine woods may be lovely, dark, and deep, but they also are full of danger in many different ways.

Honestly, I haven't receieved many print reviews that are as well-written or as insightful.

What Makes Crime Fiction "Literature?" An Interview

I recently had the pleasure of doing an interview, via Skype, with British blogger Matthew Ogborn in conjunction with the publication of The Poacher's Son and now Trespasser in the UK. (Bad Little Falls is coming later this year.) It was a free-ranging conversation that covered a lot of ground, but we focused on the elements in a crime novel that can elevate it from a simple drawing-room whodunit to something more thoughtful and emotionally resonant.

We also discussed my goals for the series, especially in the context of other crime writers, including one of my favorites: James Lee Burke:

One of my motivations is to render the state of Maine as vividly as possible to people who have never been here before. I live in a special and unique place. Like anywhere in the world it has its flaws and dark corners, but the incredible beauty of the nature here is something that I want to get across. It’s something that I respond to in really good fiction and crime fiction.

I am open in my admiration for James Lee Burke, who I think is masterful at portraying southern Louisiana especially. He is most associated with the Cajun country. You read those books and you can smell the night blooming flowers. You can hear the thunderstorms rolling in across the Gulf of Mexico. It gives me something to aspire to in my own books.

I have a ways to go to reach Burke territory, but it gives me something to shoot for. Here's the link to the interview if you're curious to read the whole thing.

PS: Isn't that British cover of The Poacher's Son fantastic? Whenever I look at it, I say, yes, that is the place where Mike Bowditch grew up.

Der Sohn Des Wilderers

Whenever I am at risk of forgetting how lucky I am, the mail arrives and brings me something like this. My agent has sent me six copies of the German Reader's Digest anthology featuring the condensed version of The Poacher's Son. I don't speak a word of German (other than what I picked up from watching "Hogan's Heroes" as a kid), but seeing the sentences I wrote transformed into these strings of cryptic symbols gets my heart racing.

Here's the opening of the book:

Ich war neun Jahre alt, als mein Vater mich mitnahm, um mir tief in den Waldern von Maine ein ehemaliges Kriegsgefangenenlager zu zeigen.

Sounding those words out, sensing what they mean but not sure how closely they correspond to the ones I wrote, send chills down my back. I hope I never take these moments for granted.