"You know what? The bastard blows me out of the water. This guy writes Maine like Ardai writes New York. If you're not reading him, you don't know what you're missing." --Chris F. Holm, author of "The Collector" series, The Killing Kind, and Red Right Hand.

"A refreshingly new voice in noir." --Ed Kurtz, author of Nothing You Can Do and The Rib From Which I Remake the World.

"A glorious boilermaker of noir and East Coast gothic. The action is taut as a sprung snare and Bagley tightens the screws with every page." -- Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase and Blood Standard.




Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Pivotal Books

What one book had the greatest impact on your writing? I don't mean the book that made you want to be a writer. I'm talking about a novel or short story collection that hit you so hard it changed the direction of your work. For me, it was Carolyn Chute's The Beans of Egypt, Maine, which I first read in 1987. I'll explain why next week.

I'm interested in hearing from the rest of you. If you have the time, e-mail me (patricksbagley at yahoo.com) a paragraph or two about your "pivotal book" and how it has informed your own writing.

I plan on posting the responses here next Wednesday, so try to get them to me by February 10.
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