1. Could you tell us a little about yourself? How you came to writing, to Great Falls?

After high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I went out to Missoula, Montana, for college. I was a wildlife biology major there, but spent most of my time in the swimming pool fulfilling a swimming scholarship. Dropping out after two years to take a job guarding salmon eggs for the Idaho Fish & Game, I spent that winter alone in a wall tent in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness (the subject of the book "Indian Creek Chronicles"). Eventually, I returned to school, got that Wildlife degree (never once applied for a job as a wildlife biologist), and the whole time never knew Missoula had a creative writing program. Never heard of one. But, simply to get the minimum credits required to graduate, I stumbled into an Intro to Creative Writing class taught by Bill Kittredge. He told me I could write for a living. Next year I snuck into a grad level class taught be Rick DeMarinas. He said the same thing. Sheer luck that I found what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Worked as a seasonal park ranger in Grand Teton, N.P., and started to write in the winters, staying at my girlfriend's (now my wife: Rose Powers) who works as a mechanical engineer in Great Falls. Quit the rangering business on my first publication, eleven years ago, and haven't had to work a day since.

2. Would you explain what the title of your novel means in the context of the story?

Besides the father's story of "How All This Started," meaning his family, what he considers the best thing of his life, it also refers to Austin's coming of age, and to Abilene's disintegration and eventual first shaky steps toward recovery. The sense of that story, the story of our lives, and how that story is perceived by each member of the family, very differently in some cases, also intrigued me. The book is really about Austin discovering his story, and that of his parents, and wondering what Abilene will make of hers; learning where those stories connect and where they diverge.

3. In Abilene, Austin and their parents, you have created truly unforgettable characters. Abilene suffers from manic depression and the family dynamic centers on her and her illness. Was this difficult to write?

Difficult? I suppose at times, though I rarely see it as difficult. Just more challenging at some time than others. Following Abilene's life was definitely a roller coaster ride. It was often tough to hold her reined in enough to keep her from being overwhelmingly abusive or cruel. I didn't see her that way at all, but there were times when, manic that she was, she was so controlling of Austin that it verged on that. I really like Abilene, and didn't want her to cross over so far that line that a reader would begin to hate her.

4. Could you explain the relationship between Abilene and Austin (and baseball)? They are so close it's almost frightening.

Yes. "Too close," was a common description in many reviews. Another common question was, Why didn't Austin, a healthy, strong teenager have a girlfriend? The answer is Abilene. She overwhelmed his life. At times, when full blown manic, it was something she did purposely, but during the rest of Austin's life she was just such a huge force that no one else could possibly shine beside her. And then, as she becomes sick, Austin finally realizes that their relationship isn't completely one-sided, that he now has to come to her rescue. At first he goes about that all wrong, by denying any problem, but eventually he is able to see through some of this, and he uses the only tool they have, baseball, to try to bring her back down to earth-the same tool she'd been trying to control him with. This switch both strengthens their bond, and leads to the realization, in both of them, that the time is coming when they will have to go their separate ways.

5. The landscape plays a big part in the book, as does the weather. What do you think it adds to the story?

Part of the reason Abilene and Austin can become so close is that there is absolutely nothing around them to offer any distraction. Writing about Montana, the landscape often becomes another character, or a background that refuses to be simply background. I set this book in Texas because I wanted to isolate this family completely. The setting, however--the sheer, hard barrenness of it, the years of drought, the failing town--bacame just as much of a character as ever.

6. What and who have been your writing influences?

The usual of course. One of the first books I happened across as I began to read in my early twenties was Hemingway's "The Nick Adams Stories". I was laid low by the stunningly literate line, "Nick liked to open cans." That fast, Ernie had me. I like to open cans. No longer was I sitting in a chair reading a book, I was Nick, huddled over a smoky little fire, digging a knife blade into the top of a can of beans. I saw what a sentence can do, and for crying out loud, "Nick liked to open cans."??? Hell, even I could write that. shows how much I had to learn. Have to yet. Besides that all the usual suspects; Steinbeck, Twain, the Russians, Graham Greene. I think Richard Bausch is a terrific short story writer. Ron Carlson. The list is too long, really, to make choosing fair.

7. What does winning the PNBA award mean to you? Isn't this your third award? I think next year you'll be elected Homecoming King.

You work on something so long, five years in this case, and then it's launched into the world and within a few months, no matter the reviews, it is yesterday's catalog. Backlist. To get recognition from the booksellers, the world's most serious, talented readers, is incredibly gratifying. And to be honored for a memoir, then a short story collection, and now a novel is especially rewarding. There is no way I can ever say thank you enough to the bookselles of the Northwest, many of whom I now count as friends. Only finally becoming Homecoming King will eclipse this.

8. As independent booksellers we all want to know what you've been reading.

Just finished Jim Welch's "Heartsong of Charging Elk", another PNBA award winner. That's another thing for the last questions-the company I've had the honor to be grouped with over the years is astounding. Am now reading Jim Harrison's "The Beast God Forgot to Invent". I'm also reading "Huck Finn" to my son. So, pretty good company all around.