Paul Guernsey

Paul Guernsey has a new book out in the world—his fourth novel. The title is Rolling Back the River, published by Stackpole Books, an imprint of Globe Pequot, and in addition to being a literary adventure story, it contains strong elements of magical realism and is mostly set in Argentina, home country of Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar, two pioneers of the magical realism movement. The protagonist of RBtR is a man from Maine named Vincent Mapp, an expert and passionate fly fisherman who, as he proceeds through his angling adventures on two continents, in addition to viewing himself as having embarked on a quest for a sacred grail in the form of an elusive, and perhaps mythical, salmon, is also powerfully motivated by vivid dreams that serve to warn him and instruct him about where he has gone wrong in his life. Rolling Back the River is Paul Guernsey's fourth novel—all of which, in addition to being adventures are also works of magic realism—and if you'd like to put your name in the magic Goodreads hat for a chance at winning a free book, signed by the author, you can do that here. 

Thanks to HATCH Magazine for publishing an excerpt from my novel, "Rolling Back the River." I shaped half of the first chapter into a complete short story called "Succession," just as I did with part of a later chapter that came out in the October issue of "Gray's Sporting Journal" under the title "Somewhere Else." I hear that a HATCH book review is in the works as well. READ "Sucession." 

Here's a LINK to the Portland Press Herald story about Rolling Back the River that was published earlier this week. Enjoy! 

I recently learned that RBtR has review coming out in the next couple of weeks in the sping issue of TROUT Magazine,  the publication that goes out to every Trout Unlimited member. TROUT  editor Kirk Deeter posted a snippet of the review, which you can read above. As you can see from this sample, the review is a pretty good one. I you want to see Kirk's full preview of the magazine issue . . . here it is. Cheers — Paul 

Ernie Schwiebert's lifesize Illustration of a landlocked salmon he caught from Argentina's Traful River—on display over the fireplace at Arroyo Verde Lodge. There has been some controversy over how large that fish actually was . . . with the upper limit at over 19 pounds. Landlocked were introduced to Patagonian waters from Maine's Sebago Lake in 1904 . . . a fact that plays a large role in my novel, "Rolling Back the River," which will be officially published on Tuesday, 2/17.

Boxes and boxes full of copies of my fly-fishing novel Rolling Back the River arrived on my doorstep yesterday—my personal order. That means that, while the official publication date is still a couple of weeks away, on February 17, my novel will be showing up in bookstores, both brick-and-mortar and online, within a matter of days. And if you're looking for a signed copy, my friend and cover illustrator, Bob White of BobWhite Studio, will have them available. 

A few hours ago, I was informed by both Simon & Schuster, my book distributor, and UPS that a couple of hundred copies of Rolling Back the River are scheduled to show up on my doorstep tomorrow. It's exciting to think I'll finally see my fly-fishing brain child following the multi-year effort of writing it and getting it published. Can't wait to see it and hold it in my hands—and of course, this means I'll be hitting the road—at least in Maine—over the next few weeks to get some attention for it. I'll be back with an update when I actually have the first copies of my book. 

As Rolling Back the River rolls closer to it's official February 17 publication date, we've got a couple of things coming up that I'm pretty excited about. On Monday, February 9, I'll be reading from my book at the monthly meeting of the Kennebec Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, at their usual spot in Winthrop, Maine. With luck, I'll also be signing books that we'll have available for purchase—I'm expecting (hoping?) that those books will show up in the next few days. Earlier in the day on the 9th, I've got an interview about the novel scheduled with a writer from the Books section of the Portland Press Herald newspaper, Maine's biggest newspaper—no date yet set for publication. The following day, on February 10, I'll be doing another reading for the George's River Chapter of Trout Unlimited, at their usual spot at Maine Sport in Rockport, Maine.

As yet unscheduled: publication of a Podcast episide I've already recorded with host Michael Jones of the Fly Line Podcast, and a review of the book that will appear in Hatch Magazine. 

Please check back for further developments. 

In my forthcoming fly-fishing novel, Rolling Back the River, set to be released in just a few weeks, the hero,  Vincent Mapp—a writer and angler from Maine—is propelled into conflict and adventure after being assigned to fish for landlocked salmon in Argentina. My fictional protagonist's Maine connection is important not only because he had spent decades fly fishing for landlockeds in his home state, but also because—in real life—all the landlocked salmon in Argentina today are descended from fish that were taken from Maine's Sebago Lake at the dawn of the 20th Century.
 
Again, in real life, an American fish culturist from New Hampshire was one of the two people most responsible not only for the establishment of Maine landlocked salmon in Patagonia—but also for the entire effort through which Argentina became, and remains, one of the world's most revered and awe-inspiring destinations for trout and salmon fishing. Prior to his actions, there were no salmonids at all in Argentina's waters.
 
This true story of how Maine's landlocked salmon came to swim in South American waters is every bit as dramatic and fascinating a story as my fictional one. It's an epic, really, with roots that stretch back to colonial Australia and New Zealand in the 1840s.  Read More 

An except from Rolling Back the River appeared in the October 2025 issue of Gray's Sporting Journal under the title, "Somewhere Else." The piece is actually Chapter 5 from the novel, rounded into the shape of a short story. The title of the actual chapter is "Merlin," a choice that explains itself shortly before the chapter ends. The reason behind "Somewhere Else" as an excerpt title becomes apparent in the very last sentence. The difference between "Merlin" and "Somewhere Else," aside from the fact that the excerpt is shorter? Well, the novel chapter is not a complete story in its own right; instead, it incorporates several interwoven themes, none of which is fully resolved by the chapter's end, and all of which continue into the subsequent chapters. By contrast, "Somewhere Else" elaborates a single theme—with material related to all other themes having been either removed or cut back—and by the end of the excerpt, that theme has been developed to the point of a satisfactory—and I hope satisfying—conclusion. It might even make you laugh. And this is what comprises the difference between a novel chapter and a short story. Illustration for "Somewhere Else" is by Rod Crossman.