A number of years ago when I was new at Down East, my editor asked me to write a series of features about offbeat stuff in Maine. For some reason, everything that interested me seemed to involve game wardens. A bear was killing pigs down the road in Waldoboro; a warden shot it. A bobcat mistook a turkey hunter for a turkey; the Warden Service investigated. It didn’t take me long to realize that game wardens have extremely difficult and misunderstood jobs, for which they are paid shockingly little. Then, without really intending to do so, I began writing a novel whose hero was a rookie Maine game warden.
 
This month, Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, is publishing my novel, The Poacher’s Son, the first of a series of novels starring Maine game warden Mike Bowditch. And Down East will be an online seller of signed copies. It’s already been a long, strange trip and the novel is just now arriving in stores.
 
Why does a magazine editor decide to write a novel? I’ll quote Ezra Pound and answer that “literature is news that stays news.” While journalism might be ideal for relating facts, a novel can communicate deeper truths. Namely, it can help us experience what it’s like to live in another person’s head for a while. Without getting too sappy, I’ve learned a lot more about romantic love from Pride and Prejudice than from Dr. Drew.
 
Okay, that was sappy.
 
Writing a novel allowed me to use my journalist’s license for legalized voyeurism (you get to ask people the most prying questions, and they actually answer them) while I indulged my lifelong love of crime fiction. As a Registered Maine Guide, I could finally talk about the Maine North Woods in ways that went beyond mere description but expressed the emotions I always feel when I explore wild places. Mostly, though, writing The Poacher’s Son gave me the excuse to be an unabashed storyteller.
 
When I was reporting on that marauding Waldoboro black bear, I never realized that it was the first step on a trail that would lead me to this place. But here I am. If you’re up for adventure, I hope you will join me on the journey.