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Craig Lancaster

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/Craig_Lancaster

born

February 09, 1970 in Lakewood, Washington, The United States

gender

male

website

http://www.craiglancaster.net/

genre

Literature & Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs

influences

Steinbeck, Hemingway, Stegner, Doig -- a good, solid grounding in lite...more

member since

September 2009

About this author

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When Craig Lancaster moved to Montana in 2006, at the age of 36, it was the realization of a dream he’d harbored since childhood, one that he figured had been overtaken by events, as so many dreams are.

“I have these incredibly vivid memories of visiting Montana with my folks on family vacations, and following my dad, an itinerant laborer who worked in the oil and gas fields of the West when I was a kid,” Lancaster says. “It was such a vast, beautiful, overwhelming place. From the first time I saw Montana, I wanted to be a part of it.”

Craig was born on February 9th, 1970, in Lakewood, Washington. Adopted at birth, he grew up in suburban Fort Worth, Texas, with his mother and stepfather and siblings. His stepfather, Charles Clines, was a long...more When Craig Lancaster moved to Montana in 2006, at the age of 36, it was the realization of a dream he’d harbored since childhood, one that he figured had been overtaken by events, as so many dreams are.

“I have these incredibly vivid memories of visiting Montana with my folks on family vacations, and following my dad, an itinerant laborer who worked in the oil and gas fields of the West when I was a kid,” Lancaster says. “It was such a vast, beautiful, overwhelming place. From the first time I saw Montana, I wanted to be a part of it.”

Craig was born on February 9th, 1970, in Lakewood, Washington. Adopted at birth, he grew up in suburban Fort Worth, Texas, with his mother and stepfather and siblings. His stepfather, Charles Clines, was a longtime sportswriter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a connection that led to Craig’s career as a journalist, a profession he followed to a series of newspaper jobs across the country — Texas, Alaska, Kentucky, Ohio, Washington, California and, finally, Montana.

A couple of years after Craig’s arrival in the Big Sky State, he began chasing another long-held dream: that of writing novels. His first completed novel, 600 Hours of Edward, was born in the crucible of National Novel Writing Month, that every-November free-for-all of furious writing. He completed an entire first draft, nearly 80,000 words, in November 2008. In October 2009, it was published by Riverbend Publishing of Helena, Montana, and has since gone on to be selected as a Montana Honor Book and a High Plains Book Award winner.

His follow-up, The Summer Son, was released in January 2011 by AmazonEncore, to similar acclaim. Booklist called the new novel “a classic western tale of rough lives and gruff, dangerous men, of innocence betrayed and long, stumbling journeys to love.”

Lancaster’s work delves deeply below the surface of its characters, teasing out the desires and motivations that lead us through our lives.

“It’s all too easy to turn people into caricatures, but the truth is, we humans are pretty damned fascinating,” he says. “For me, fiction is a way at getting at truth. I use it to examine the world around me, the things that disturb me, the questions I have about life — whether my own or someone else’s. My hope is that someone reading my work will have their own emotional experience and bring their own thoughts to what they read on the page. When I’m asked what my stories mean, my inclination is turn the question around: What do they mean to you?”

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354 posts
Craig Lancaster's Blog

Today’s Kindle Daily Deal: THE SUMMER SON

My second novel, THE SUMMER SON, is the subject of a cool promotion today: It’s the Kindle Daily Deal, priced to move at just 99 cents.

It’s a one-day-only thing, so if you’ve wanted to read the book but haven’t, you’ll probably never see a better price. And please, let your friends (Facebook or otherwise) and Twitter followers know. I’d really appreciate it.

Here’s what Booklist had to say abo...

View more on Craig Lancaster's website »

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Published on May 28, 2012 07:00

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combine editions
Books by Craig Lancaster

Average rating: 4.31 · 301 ratings · 126 reviews · 7 distinct works

	600 Hours of Edward 4.40 avg rating — 162 ratings — published 2009 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Summer Son 4.07 avg rating — 94 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Quantum Physics and the Art of Departure 4.70 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Comfort & Joy 4.56 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Six-Hundred Hours of a Life: Or: They say you get 630,270, But I Don't Like to Assume 4.38 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2009	My rating:
	This is Butte. You Have Ten Minutes. 4.00 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Past Due Pastorals: Memories And Observations Of A Mind Adrift In The West 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	My rating:

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Craig is Currently Reading

Craig Lancaster is currently reading:

Write Hard, Die Free: Dispatches from the Battlefields & Barrooms of the Great Alaska Newspaper War

by Howard Weaver

bookshelves: currently-reading

My rating:

May 01, 2012 09:25pm

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Craig's Recent Updates

Craig Lancaster wrote a new blog post: Today’s Kindle Daily Deal: THE SUMMER SON Today’s Kindle Daily Deal: THE SUMMER SON My second novel, THE SUMMER SON, is the subject of a cool promotion today: It’s the Kindle Daily Deal, priced to move at just 99 cents. It’s a one-d... read more »
May 28, 2012 01:43pm · like
Craig Lancaster is currently reading: Write Hard, Die Free: Dispatches from the Battlefields & Barrooms of the Great Alaska Newspaper War by Howard Weaver	My rating:
May 01, 2012 09:25pm
Craig Lancaster made a comment on Texas: "Sally wrote: "Have a great time! I lived there during all of the 70s and never wanted to leave! But love intervened and I ended up in Detroit! Now I l...more "
Jan 14, 2012 09:44am
Craig Lancaster made a comment on NaNoWriMo: I'm in! Kinda. Sorta.: "Hi, Jeff ... I'm not officially in, since I'm not starting from scratch with my manuscript and really have no intention of breaching 50K words (althoug...more "
Nov 01, 2011 09:57am
Craig Lancaster liked Darcia Helle's review of Quantum Physics and the Art of Departure: " This collection of short stories encompasses a wide range of content and emotion. Some made me stop and think, others made me laugh and a few made me sad. Each one kept me entertained from start to finish. I loved both of Lancaster's full-length n... " Read more of this review »
Oct 16, 2011 10:25pm · see review
Craig Lancaster liked Todd's review of Quantum Physics and the Art of Departure: " From my review over at Self-Publishing Review: "I’m happy to say Craig’s collection is not one of the latter. It’s definitely one of the better collections I’ve read in the last several years. And, really, even saying it’s great as a whole book isn... " Read more of this review »
Oct 16, 2011 10:25pm · see review
Craig Lancaster liked Chris's review of Quantum Physics and the Art of Departure: " If there are places in your soul that are best avoided, I would caution you that this book may take you there. Lancaster is masterful at coaxing you into a corner with his excellent characters, only to hold up a mirror and force you to see the com... " Read more of this review »
Oct 16, 2011 10:25pm · see review
Craig Lancaster made a comment on The Word: Aforementioned: "Thanks so much, Ruth! I'll have to pay 'em a visit. "
May 29, 2011 10:46pm
Craig Lancaster voted on a poll When choosing a book, how important is the company that published it? he voted for I notice the publisher if the book is badly edited. Otherwise it's not very important, though I actu...more
Apr 21, 2011 09:19am · take the poll
Craig Lancaster added a photo
Apr 11, 2011 01:55pm · like · view gallery

More of Craig's books…

Quotes by Craig Lancaster

“That's the problem with belief: If you rely on it too heavily, you have a lot of picking up to do after you find out you were wrong.”
― Craig Lancaster, 600 Hours of Edward

3 people liked it

“The complaint lies with me, not with you. I never could find a way to make you proud of me, and at some point, I think I stopped trying. When you were here, I blamed you for that. I think now, the failure is mine... It occurs to me that death is a funny thing - not funny in a laughter sort of way, but in a twisty sort of way. It's the people who are left behind who have to grapple with the regret. The one who is gone is just gone. Wherever you are... I hope you have regret about what happened yesterday.”
― Craig Lancaster, 600 Hours of Edward

3 people liked it

“I hope you do exist. Even though hope is as intangible as belief, I am not hostile to it.”
― Craig Lancaster, 600 Hours of Edward

2 people liked it

See all Craig Lancaster's quotes »