Dennis Lehane’s Southern Roots

The Birmingham News presents an interesting interview with Dennis Lehane about his new collection of short stories, Coronado. Leaving his familiar Boston landscape behind, Lehane set most of this collection in the South and West. ” felt a lot of love when I was writing about sitting outside of a trailer and listening to cicadas hum, just the smells and sights of the South,” Lehane says.

He also offers a bit of useful advice about following your own vision when writing. “When I decided to write Mystic River, no one wanted me to. It seemed like at that juncture it was a dumb move, careerwise. And really the only person who had my back on that was my wife. And she said, ‘I can’t live with you when you write what you don’t want to write.’ And that was the turning point. So I write this book that makes no sense in terms of my career trajectory, and it turns out to be successful. And that was a turning point from which I can never go back. It was that sense of from this point on, write the novel you want to write. Trust your gut instinct, and if you deliver quality, the audience will come.”

And for my readers who are located in the South, you should swing by Lemuria Books on Thursday. Lehane will be signing Coronado at 5pm and reading at 5:30pm.