South Hamilton, Massachusetts April, 2004

For any person who has never been owned by a dog much of what I am about to disclose will not make a great deal of sense. But for you dog people, and animal lovers in general, I know you’ll understand. Dogtown Drifter got its start as a short story that I wrote for my wife, Carol, as a means of relieving the grief we were both feeling after the loss of our beloved female keeshond, Sydney. A finer beast I’ve never known. All of my past dogs (and present) have been special to me, but Sydney was something else all together. She had character not usual in dogs. A sense of humor even, and she would often tilt her head when greeting you and grin with all of her teeth. She was a quiet dog, and I like to think an introspective one. A dog capable of reflection. Sitting on the front lawn with our other keeshond, Owen, she would keep watch over the driveway, the long green lawn, and the road beyond. She was a friendly animal and the best companion. She was a good dog.

We lost Sydney in the fall of 1999. The prologue to Dogtown Drifter was the original short story that I wrote for my wife in an effort to immortalize the animal. Silly, maybe, but that’s me. My wife liked it, and after looking at the piece critically, decided I liked it too. For a person with no literary background and absolutely no earlier writing experience, I decided my “Sydney” short story was “O.K”.

Then we lost our other keeshond, Owen. He was Sydney’s life-long pal and his loss so soon after Sydney’s crushed the both of us. I still think Owen died of a broken heart for his mate Sydney. A few weeks later when the blackness started to lift, I got out the original short story and decided I’d add another character. Owen stepped into the new light. Sydney’s story became the prologue and Dogtown Drifter began to take form with Owen as a lead character. For me it was therapy. I never had thoughts of seeking a publisher. (After all, I wasn’t a writer, just a sad guy thinking about his dogs.) This story was for my wife and for me.

I purposely chose Cape Ann as a setting because I’ve always thought Gloucester and Rockport were under appreciated in terms of their geological and historical significance. It’s probably a natural thing for local residents to fail to see the unique environment they live in, (it’s all they know) but for me, an outsider who visits Wingaersheek Beach and the Babson Stones in Dogtown on weekends, the place never losses its charm.

As mentioned earlier Dogtown Drifter started as something simple for me and slowly morphed into a contemporary adult mystery novel written in the style of Carl Hiaasen and James W. Hall, two of my favorite authors and leading examples of the South Florida Crime Novel genre. Dogtown Drifter may not be in their league, but as a writer and reader I was heavily influenced by those two gentleman and their fabulous works involving creepy miscreants and earnest protagonists who always seem to find a strong female companion who isn’t afraid to smudge a little lipstick and break a few nails while burying a bad guy in the swamp at midnight. What I tried to do was write a morality tale about the destructive nature of greed. It’s not John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, but I did find myself mixing a stew of hideous characters pitted against the forces of good with a lost pirate treasure being the fire under the kettle.

I’ll leave you now with the synopsis that the editor placed on the book’s back jacket. I couldn’t have put it better myself:

Still haunted by the loss of his parents to the sea in a tragic sailing accident, artist Ian Highfield fills his days painting when the light is good, and living an otherwise humble existence in Annisquam Village, a part of Gloucester, on the Massachusetts North Shore.  When the arrival of a mysterious and beautiful woman on a stolen sailboat coincides with a late night phone call from an old friend in trouble, Highfield’s world gets swept up in a vortex of murder and greed. A world that includes a long lost pirate treasure...an old man with a sixty-year secret...a psychopath on safari...a lunatic FBI agent...and a spirited Keeshond dog that would make Jack London smile. Along the way he learns of his friends’ trust...a woman’s love...an evil that is uniquely human...the shocking truth about his parents...and the unwavering devotion only a dog is capable of giving. Set against the mystical backdrop of Dogtown Commons and the rocky shores of Cape Ann, Dogtown Drifter will take you into the shadowy secret places - not of geography, but of the heart.

John A. Bolduc, author of Dogtown Drifter

The author can be reached by email at: crlthurb43@aol.com

Dogtown Drifter can be purchased at:

River's Edge Card & Gift, Ipswich, MA
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble.com