Bestselling and award-winning author John Connolly will visit two Maine bookstores in the next couple of weeks, signing copies of his just-released eighth novel The Unquiet. The Unquiet is the latest in his series featuring Charlie Parker. Parker's relationship with Maine turns out to be a key element of the series.

Connolly is based in Dublin, but his website includes a "Guide to Maine." as well as a lot of links with news, interviews and commentary from the writer. You can visit his site at www.johnconnollybooks.com

aroundmaine.com: Do the literary traditions of New England make an impact in your writing?

John Connolly: Curiously, not really. I've been influenced by classic American crime fiction, and a gothic tradition that probably has certain similarities with the southern gothic of Faulkner and his kind, but not so much New England. In fact, I've probably learned a lot more about those traditions since I started publishing, but I still don't believe they've been a huge influence on my work.

am: His Maine experience seem to be important to the character of Charlie Parker. Does it shape him?

JC: It shaped me, to a degree, so inevitably it shapes Parker. I think, at the start of the novel sequence, Maine represents a more innocent time in his life, a place he can recall from his childhood. But Parker is also a prisoner of his past, a man mired in history both old and recent, and Maine is an old place, one of the first settled in the US. The history of the state plays a large part in the books. So, too, does nature and the cycle of the seasons, and all of these elements are used to reflect aspects of Parker's character. He really is a creature of the state, in a very real sense.

am: This new books starts with an actual character from Old Orchard Beach. what inspired that?

JC: I went to an exhibition at the Center for Maine History, and among the items on display were the possessions of Dave 'the Guesser' Glovsky, who used to work a concession stand at Old Orchard for the best part of half a century. Basically, Dave guessed things about people: their weight, the car they drove, the brand of cigarettes they smoked. His character stuck with me, because he was, in his way, an unusual man, and he must have had an extraordinary filing system in his head. Rather than invent a character based on him, which would have been unfair to his memory, I thought I'd make the prologue of the book a small tribute to him.

am: You have a brief "Guide to Maine" on your web site. Did that grow out of interaction with readers?

JC: It principally grew out of my own interaction with Maine. I've been coming back to the Portland area for nearly 16 years now, and I simply decided to list some of the places that I like, in case readers of my books found the time to visit and needed pointers on where to eat or stay, or what to see. I've been flattered by the number of people who've used it. Similarly, I tend to use real places and businesses in my work, in part because it's important to me that the world of the books is anchored firmly in reality, but also because I like the idea of giving a little publicity to restaurants and bars that I like. There's a long paean to The Porthole in The Unquiet, for example.

am: Is Maine a place that someone from Dublin can feel comfortable in?

JC: I think Maine and Ireland are very similar, in a lot of ways. The coastal geography of Maine reminds me of parts of the west and southwest of Ireland, and there is that disparity between the comparative wealth on stretches of the coast and relative poverty elsewhere. I think there is also a streak of individuality to the people of Maine that finds an echo in Ireland, possibly because of the Celtic roots of so many of the people in Maine.

am: Speaking of interaction with readers, how has that changed over your career writing novels? I note the presence of a blog on your web site - has this kind of interaction been on balance positive or negative for authors such as yourself?

JC: It's been hugely positive, I think. It would never have struck me when I was a reader that it might be possible to interact with a writer whose work I liked or admired. True, perhaps a little of the mystique surrounding writers has disappeared as a result, but it was largely self-perpetuated anyway. I still choose how much of myself to give away through the website, or during author appearances, but I get far more than I give from interacting and communicating with readers. I've had very few negative experiences. Instead, it's been overwhelming positive, and very often flattering and deeply touching.

am: What author blogs to you read?

JC: I don't read any at all. I don't even like thinking of my own blog as a blog. I come from a journalistic background, so it's an extension of writing a column for me.

am: Which is harder: writing the book or the tour?

JC: I love meeting readers, but touring is getting increasingly stressful and time-consuming. Doing a different airport every day, with all of the hassle that entails, is pretty wearing, and there's only so long that anyone should be living out of the same suitcase. My energy levels will be pretty low by the time the tour finishes at the end of July, but the funny thing is that as soon as I enter a bookstore, and see people waiting to talk or to get their books signed, those levels take a leap. The problem is that they fall a little further every day. Still, it's a lovely way to make a living. I'm just complaining in case someone realizes how much I like it, and tries to make me do something else . . .

by Chad Gilley
aroundmaine.com
May 30, 2007