The first time I interviewed James Lee Burke he came out to WYSO during his book tour for "Cimarron Rose." That was back in 1998. Burke stopped touring a number of years ago. Fortunately for his fans he still does the occasional interview and he is as prolific as ever.
James Lee Burke has been my guest in the Book Nook more often than any other author. I caught up with him recently to talk about his new Dave Robicheaux novel "Creole Belle." I called him on the telephone at his place in Montana.
In this interview he talked about all the rejection letters he got during a period when he could not find a publisher for his work. Burke endured and at age 75 he is showing no signs of slowing down. He writes all the time-seven days a week.
He said: “In terms of what constitutes a person’s life; for me its family and friends. That’s it. When you get down the track, you get to the seventh-inning stretch, the conclusion you come to; that’s all that counts. The rest of it doesn’t mean diddly squat on a rock. Its all just passing through, and you don’t take it with you.”
