Spring Break
Professor's novel gets praise
'High Season' named Editors Choice by N.Y. Times
Nicole Strittmater
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: Campus News
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And so begins Jon Loomis' first novel, "High Season."
Five years in the making, assistant English professor Loomis' mystery hit bookshelves in September and continues to receive praise.
Recently, The New York Times book review named "High Season" Editor's Choice for Oct. 28, one week after it gave a positive review, saying "Loomis drenches the narrative with so much local color that the reader comes away feeling like a native."
Among other reviews, The Washington Post gave its praise to the novel, saying "With his honed sense of humor and keen mise en scene, Loomis is a keeper."
In its first print run, 5,000 copies hit shelves, and after those sold out, an additional 1,000 were printed.
"The numbers are all pretty small, but it's still nice not to go straight to the remainder bin," Loomis said with a laugh.
Loomis, who is also the author of two poetry books, "Vanitas Motel" and "The Pleasure Principle," said he got tired of writing only poems and thought about starting a novel for a long time.
"I wasn't really having enough fun (with the poetry)," he said.
So in 1999 he began writing "High Season," but after the first few chapters, he ran into a road block. After putting the story in a drawer for two years, he said he looked at it again in 2001 and worked on it until 2005.
Loomis said writing the book was fun, because he put a lot of research into it to make it a believable mystery story.
"Finding out the best way to burn down a building. What happens to people when you strangle them," he said.
Assistant professor of English Allyson Loomis, his wife, said they spent a lot of time in the evenings working out the plot.
"I feel like I know all these characters very well," she said, adding that she's read the novel many times. "I think it's a really fun mystery. It's unique also because it has so many gay characters."
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