Paul Guernsey

Two book signings this weekend: Tomorrow, Saturday, I'll be at the Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shop in Falmouth from 12:30 to 2:30, and on Sunday at the Barnes & Noble in Augusta starting at noon. Stop by and say hi!

From Vermont . . . a land of trout streams and forests . . . comes a new review of RBtR rcently published on Substack by a poet and outdoorsman Dave Celone. Have a look. 

I just learned that my publisher, Stackpole/Globe Pequot, is planning to nominate Rolling Back the River for a 2026 National Outdoor Book Award in the Outdoor Literature category. The deadline for submissions is in mid August, and winners are announced in November. Now, I'm well aware that a nomination is not a win, but it's really good to know that Globe Pequot has this level of confidence in my novel; they publish a LOT of outdoor books every year, and they certainly do NOT nominate all of them for the outdoor world's most prestigious publishing award. I did some checking and, in the 30 years they've been giving out NOBAs . . . only two of the Outdoor Literature winners have been fiction; most of them have been real-life adventure stories of one kind or another. So, as with any award worth competing for, the odds here are long. Nonetheless, I'm excited. In fact more than excited, I'm hopeful. Wish me luck! 

Had a terrific time yesterday at my Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shops signing in Rockland. Sold a bunch of copies of Rolling Back the River; talked to a lot of great people. I learned a long time ago that book signings often don't go great if you're just sitting there looking hopeful. Much better to be on your feet, engaging with people. And, although I'm not a natural extrovert, I've learned to enjoy the interactions. Thanks to everybody who came by. For everyone else . . . I've got three more signings scheduled up and down the Maine coast later in June, and a bit closer to Fathers Day. Check my Home page for when and where! 

Here's yet another Goodreads review of Rolling Back the River. If I do say so myself, this reader not only provides a very good description of the novel, but she herself is proof that the book contains a thoughtful adventure story that can be enjoyed by a reader who doesn't know a lot about the sport of fly fishing. 

Yep, Fathers Day is on the way, and Rolling Back the River, with its blend of adventure, mystery, angling, and meditations on a man's place in a changing world—along with an array of fascinating, strong, and occasionally seductive women characters—make this an ideal read for men of any age. And yes; on four Saturdays just prior to Fathers Day, I'll be signing copies of my book at bookstores up and down the coast of Maine, including at the big Barnes & Noble stores in South Portland and Augusta. I'll also be at two Sherman's Maine Coast Bookshops, starting with the Rockland store on Saturday, May 30—which is coming right up. Check my Home Page for the schedule. I hope to see you at one of my signings! 

Billionaire, fly fisherman, and wildlife conservationist Ted Turner died recently at the age of 87 after a long illness. Though I never met him or spoke to him, on two occasions our lives intersected at a distance, and he ended up serving—very loosely—as the model for the charater J.T. Allman in my novel, Rolling Back the River. In 2002, shortly after I become editor of Fly Rod & Reel Magazine, we decided that Turner would be the most worthy recipient for our annual Angler of the Year Award. Turner had recently enabled the creation of a significant new piece of habitat for the beleaguered Westslope cutthroat trout subspecies in a stream called Cherry Creek, which ran through one of his ranches in Montana. The project involved using rotenone to kill all the brown trout and rainbow trout in the creek, after which a reproducing population of cutthroats was established in the stream. Removing the non-native fish was necessary because of the fact that they tend to out-compete natiive cutthroat whenever they share a habitat. Rainbow trout, in particular, tend to hybridize with cuttthroats, creating hybrids called "cuttbows" and thereby diluting the gene pool of the native species. The Cherry Creek project ended up being somewhat controversial, as many anglers had enjoyed fishing for brown and rainbow trout in this stream, and many were, at best, indifferent to the idea of restoring native species. My other distant connection with Turner occurred in 2022, when I was fishing for landlocked salmon on the Traful River in Argentina. One entire side of the Traful, starting at Traful Lake, was owned by Turner, and I fished both sides of the river, frequently finding myself on Turner's property. This experience gave me the idea for Rolling Back the River, a story of two ranches divided by a river, one owned by Argentines and the other by an American biillionaire and conservationist, which both compete and cooperate with one another in various ways. My protagonist, Vincent Mapp, ends up facing off against the mysterious and somewhat dangerous billlionaire, J.T. Allman—while at the same time befriending his very friendly adult twin neices. In this way, Ted Turner served as something of a model for Allman. Rest in peace, Mr. Turner.