The contrast in settings
Arizona vs Virginia; Dry vs Humid; Green vs Brown; vegetation; Mountains vs Desert. The settings play a big role in this book. Through Rice’s thoughts and descriptions they become their own characters. James McLaughlin, how did you get so deep into the ecology of each place? Are you a naturalist? You grew up in rural Virginia (where?) and attended UVA. Where did you get your deep desert knowledge?
The novel tracks the story of Rice Moore, who is fleeing ties with a Mexican drug cartel. Rice escapes to a secluded forest reserve in Virginia, which is where the present-day story begins.
James McLaughlin, by the time you were in high school, you already knew you would be an “outdoor writer.” What does it mean to be an outdoor writer?
Other Contrast in Settings: Mexican prison and the Appalachian property where no “human beings lived within miles”; 7,000 acres of private nature preserve.
The author’s research
Aside from the deep naturalist knowledge, there is so much there about bear hunting, preservation, and the ways of the drug cartels. Especially the cartels. James McLaughlin, how did you acquire all this nuance? Have you practiced law in this sector?
James McLaughlin, how do you typically research a book?
The contrast in mindset
Throughout the book Rice brings attention to the difference he feels between his scientific mindset as a biologist, and a primeval or spiritual mindset he has innately, and which is enhanced by proximity to nature.
James McLaughlin, do you see these as truly contrasting? What made him incorporate this as a theme in the book? Do you have any personal experience in these feelings?
The primeval forest
The Old Growth forest is definitely its own character in the book. And Turk Mountain being named Many Others Mountain by the Real People (p172), and being haunted. The dream where Rice merges consciousness with the Chickadee (p191). James McLaughlin, can you talk to why and how you incorporated this? Do you have experience with an old growth forest like this? Are they truly filled with endangered ad out of place species as they seem to be when Sara explores part of it?
Supernatural: To what degree does the supernatural play a role in the book? (mushroom picker who “dissolves into thin air”; Dempsey says the mountain is “haunted” (Many Others Mountain); Moore’s dream-like fugues and predators trances; hallucinations (he and the cat talk to each other); mental episodes and psychotic breaks; bee stings, beer, Benadryl, heat exhaustion, dehydration, sleep deprivation, too much time alone …) He often loses sense of time and place.
QUESTIONS / IDEAS
Debut Novel: Bearskin was reviewed in The Washington Post, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and The New York Times. James McLaughlin, did the media attention and acclaim surprise you?
The Idea for the Book: James McLaughlin, how did you come up with the idea for this book, including its setting deep in the Appalachian wilderness?
Thriller Genre: From page 1, the plot has a violent tone and great tension. In your mind, is the book a thriller? A literary thriller? Something else? Rice Moore is a biological science technician who “looked like he could take care of himself.” From Chapter 1, he’s sure no one knows where he is, but I wasn’t sure. I was like, someone surely knows …
Writing: How long did it take you to write Bearskin? Talk a bit about your writing process.
Structure: How did you decide to create a dual-plot structure?
Where Is Rice Exactly? 30 miles west of Charlottesville, 30 miles north of Wintergreen Resort, south of Harrisonburg?
What Is Rice’s Plan? Is he planning to hide out at the reserve forever?
Theme – Outsiders: The role and place of the outsider [Rice Moore, Sara Birkeland, Starr (STP), The Traver Foundation, Dempsey Boger (African-American/Cherokee) — “people like the Stillers need to believe there’s somebody they’re better than”]
Theme – Predator and Prey: In this world, it seems you’re either one or the other. He thrives on the “invisibility of the unseen hunter.”
No Voice of Reason: The scene where Rice and Sara hike to the inner gorge blew my mind. Logic, judgment, structured thought, and good sense often don’t prevail (Rice alone, Rice and Apryl, Rice and Sara). At one point, she jumps off a cliff, and he thinks she’s crazy, dead, injured … And then he says “fuck it” and jumps off after her. On that hike, “It occurred to him that he and Sara might not be good for each other.” It occurred to Carolyn that he and Sara (and he and Apryl) were not good for each other.
Better (or Worse) Together: Rice “partners” with Apryl to help her out. Sara “partners” with Rice to help him out. These partnerships seem super dangerous.
Obsession – Rice’s decision-making is often impaired or steered by his obsessive nature. He’s an all-in kind of guy. He’s not intimidated by the Stiller family, the bear poachers, all the people who could do him harm. At times Carolyn wondered if he truly understood the feeling of fear. “Fear me,” he thinks as he dons the ghillie suit, as he’s filled with “desperate and frenzied rage.” He’s cold, hungry, exhausted, but he’s determined to catch the poachers. He recognizes himself in the chickadees, “wild, other, merciless.”
Technology: Cameras and other technology, including the warning system, play a key role in the book. So, too, does Rice Moore’s absence of a cell phone. Let’s talk tech …
Book’s Title: Moore in his Ghillie suit, becoming one with nature, erasing his human form to become “invisible.” Moore as “bear.” Bear poaching. Everything seems to come back to drug dealers (Moore in Mexico/Arizona border, Moore in Appalachia). Bears aren’t into tech (they destroy cameras), and Rice doesn’t have a cell phone. A bear came toward him and transmogrified into the mushroom picker.
Land Conservation Law: You have a law degree and an MFA from the University of Virginia. Do you still practice land conservation law? What does this work entail?
Sequel/Prequel: Will we see Rice Moore again in a future book – prequel? Sequel? Without spoiling the ending, he has a debt to pay to an unexpected someone who helps him take care of a tricky situation (Alan Mirra).
Difficult Women
There are two primary female characters in the book: Apryl & Sara Birkeland. Both are scientists, both have undergone horrific experiences, and both are headstrong, disagreeable temperament, determined to do what they want. Sara is also idealistic. James McLaughlin, can you talk to what drew him to write these women? How did he land on them? Are they modeled on anyone, or on the same person?
The unknown terms & words
James McLaughlin casually uses many terms and concepts Sarah was unfamiliar with. It felt like reading a Dorothy Sayers novel.
Real People
Sicario-Noun. sicario (plural sicarios) hitman, hired killer (especially referring to Latin American drug cartels)
CERESO
Crepuscular
Divination by means of inspecting the entrails of sacrificed animals.
Shovelhead
SOA fanboys
Saltbush
Tamarisk
Adelgid
R-selected
Gray-market firearms
Paramilitary zetas
Mozambiques shots
Some slant in Korea
Mexican-carry
Onion-routing program
Bear farming
Cartel cults – Santa Muerte and Jesus Malverde
Gall- gallbladder
Additional Info
Essays and fiction by James McLaughlin have appeared in River Teeth, Camas, Portland Review, Clackamas Literary Review, and elsewhere. His essay “¡No Pasaran! Rage and ORVs” was chosen as a Notable Essay of 2003 in The Best American Essays, 2004. His novella “Bearskin” appeared Summer 2008 in The Missouri Review and won the 2009 William Peden Prize in fiction.
