Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I seem to be building a following with readers interested in the out-of-doors, history, travel, human interest, fly fishing, and the construction of essays.
I have been a photographer, a farmer, a fishing & mountaineering guide, and a semi-pro wide receiver.
Back in the early days of the adventure travel industry, I was a guide in places like El Salvador, Peru, the Arctic, Honduras, Europe, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Ecuador, Jordan, the UK, Panama, and many places in between. Now I write about those places.
I’ve had four other books published; “Stoneflies & Turtleheads,” a collection of fly fishing essays from Maine and around the world, “The River Home,” a novel, and “Highlanders Without Kilts,” a “poignant telling of a storied Canadian battalion’s odyssey during the Great War.” –Alan Cameron, Founding CEO & Producer, Veterans Voices of Canada. “When You Find My Body: The Disappearance of Geraldine Largay on the Appalachian trail,” was released by Rowman & Littlefield on June 1st, 2019.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My newest book, “All the Creatures that Breathe: A Novel Based on Real Events” was a story that had been sticking with me for thirty-five years. At a dinner for writers at Maine’s capital a year ago, another writer whom ALL of you know suggested I write it and “get the think off my chest.” So, I did.
As I mentioned, it is based on real events. They were things that I either I or my expedition buddies witnessed or experienced. The love, trauma, and memories from those heady days inspired the book.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. I type with only three fingers.
Also, I only take handwritten notes on (at home) “Ampad Gold Fibre” tablets, or (in the field) “Rite-in-the-Rain Universal No. OR73-LG” notebooks.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky, Quammen, and E. B. White.
Interestingly, I got to meet and have a chat with EB White the year before he died, which is quite rare because he was notoriously shy. But I knew someone who knew him well. We sat in his kitchen and talked about writing. He asked me to call him “Andy.”
A cherished memory.
What are you working on now?
I am half finished with a Middle-grade novel (inspired by White, incidentally) about a boy–an only child–growing up on a farm whose father had died in a tractor accident when he was only six. Some people come into his life who guide him through the rights of manhood, teaching him about compassion, acceptance, self reliance, and give him confidence. Oh…and he is taught to fly fish.
The theme of the story is the value of mentorship and legacy.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use three promo sites– the first being Awesome gang.
I also to Facebook ads (though I haven’t seen that help very much), my email newsletter, and website blog page… https://www.ddauphinee.com/blog
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes. If you’re serious about a writing career, don’t play games. Allow for a certain amount of time to read, and then read, read, read. Read Dickens. Read Steinbeck and White. In my twenties, I taught myself to write by studying EB White’s and James Thurber’s essays in the New Yorker. I bought second-hand copies of “The Essays of EB White,” and his collection “One Man’s Meat.”
Then, write SOMETHING every day…every single day.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’ll quote Mr. White’s advice while sitting next to a woodstove in Brooklyn, Maine in 1984: “Learn the tools of grammar and rhetoric first, then write stories ‘by ear’ as if you are sitting at a campfire telling them to your mates.”
What are you reading now?
Guess! I’m re-reading One Man’s Meat.
I’m also half-way through Isaacson’s “Benjamin Franklin.”
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve finished the preliminary work on a history of orthopaedics, from the time of the Egyptian pharaohs to present day. I also hope to retrace to trip Steinbeck took in “Travels With Charley: In Search of America.”
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, the Quran, and the Torah. Might as well cover my bases in case I don’t get rescued.
I’ll change that to The Grapes of Wrath, Dicken’s Collected Works, and (also in case no one rescues me) Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
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