1. Your latest book is based on historical fact. What made you decide to write the story of Charging Elk? Did you do research in France?

What made me decide to write the story of Charging Elk: A man I met in Marseille on a booksigning tour told me that he was the grandson of a Lakota woman who came to France with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. She fell in love with a Frenchman while the show was performing in Marseille in 1905 and decided to marry him and stay in France. I didn't know whether I believed him or not. My French editor thought he was probably a "wannabe." The man's attire was a French version of western clothes-jeans, denim shirt, boots, etc. But the shirt was embroidered with little flowers and the boots had far too many buckles on them. So I decided my editor was right, and we both had a good laugh. But later that summer I was home in Missoula, mowing my lawn, I think, and I got to thinking about the man's story. Whether it was true or not, it was a good story. so I changed a few things around, did some research, and voila! Yes, I did quite a lot of research in France. My wife, who speaks French quite well, and I went back to Marseille three or four times after that. Amazingly enough, the man I was talking about earlier, Pierre Falaise, became our contact in Marseille. He helped me enormously finding stuff in the archives about the Wild West Show and showing me where many events actually took place. I owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

2. Most of your books, in one way or another, concern maintaining cultural identity in modern society. Do you see yourself in the role of the Storyteller, working to make others aware of what we are losing/have lost?

Do I see myself in the role of a Storyteller, working to make others aware of what we are losing/have lost? I am definitely a storyteller, but probably not a traditional Storyteller. I do hope to point out, during the course of my story, the differences in cultures, the clashes that can result from those differences and how a person or a group of tribal people have to struggle to maintain their individual and tribal identities in a mainstram culture. Given my subject matter, these isues naturally come up. Although I consider myself a storyteller first and foremost, I hope my books will help educate people who don't understand how or why Indian people often feel lost in America.

3. I read this book over one Saturday, barely stopping to eat. it's beautifully written and, like all your historical fiction, written in the ideom of the time. How the heck do you do this? (I know, I know, this is a stupid question, but I've always wanted to know.)

How the heck do I write my historical fiction so that it seems true to the idiom of the time? Probably the first thing I do is wander around, get the lay of the land and try to imagine what kind of people would have lived there in that historical period. What would they eat? What kind of clothing would they wear? How did they shelter themselves? How did they get around? In "Fool's Crow" I knew quite a lot before I even started the book. I had spent much of my youth in that country, had listened to a lot of stories. "The Heartsong of Charging Elk" was quite different. I had to learn about the Lakota culture, the Wild West show , and above all, the latter quarter of nineteenth century French culture. But really, it was wandering through the various neighborhoods of Marseille that made me realize that things probably hadn't changed that much in the past hundred years. I could put my fishmonger's stall in that open air market; I could put Charging Elk's first flat in Le Panier, which has always been a rough, immigrant area of Marseille. And then, of course, I did a ton of reasearch.

4. What and who do you count as major influences on your writing?

Major influences? Certainly, Richard Hugo. He taught me that anyone with a desire to write, an ear for language and a bit of imagination could become a writer. He also, in a way, gave me permission to write about northern Montana. When I said I didn't think anyone would be interested in reading about those windswept, sparsely populated plains, he said go ahead and try it. It worked out pretty well.

5. This is the 4th PNBA award you have won. I think we like you. What does winning this particular award mean to you?

What does winning the PNBA award mean to me? This is a tough one to answer. I don't think I can be fulsome enough. I have always been a big fan and champion of independent booksellers. Without them, writers like me don't exist. But especially, the booksellers of the Pacific Northwest have been incredibly kind to me. When I walk into an independent bookstore in Spokane, Seattle, Portland, Bellingham, Eugene, Missoula or anywhere in the Northwest, I am greeted with kindness and generosity--and this is just when I come to buy a book! You canimagine how special I feel when I come in to do a signing. and now, to receive this award from an organization I admire so much makes me totally happy and grateful.

6. Whare are you reading now? What do you think are some good new voices of the American West?

What am I reading now? A book of poems by Gary Thompson called "On John Muir's Trail", published by Bear Star Press. I'm actually rereading it because I liked it so much the first time through. It's still wonderful. Who are some good new voices of the American West? Claire Davis ("Winter Range"), Brady Udall ("Letting Lose the Hounds"), Diane Smith ("Letters from Yellowstone), to name just a few. Our literature is in great shape.

7. What are you working on now?

What am I working on now? A sequel to "The Heartsong of Charging Elk." He lived in interesting times.