‘Somewhere in Crime’ Is Second Novel By Writing Duo and Former Mackinac Island Dockporters

This story first appeared in the August 25, 2023, Mackinac Island Town Crier print edition

Before Jack McGuinn, the (fictional) star of Dave McVeigh’s and Jim Bolone’s breakout novel, “The Dockporter: A Mackinac Island Novel,” worked as a bicycle-riding dockporter toting tourists’ luggage to their hotels the summer of ‘89, he was a paperboy the summer of ‘79. The pair’s new book in their Mackinac Island Novels series, “Somewhere in Crime: A Mackinac Island Novel,” follows 11-year-old (almost 12) Jack, long before he was working the luggage down at the docks, as he traipses around the Island the summer that Hollywood arrived to film “Somewhere in Time.” While the Island is “gripped with movie mania,” Jack is wrapped up in an unsolved murder mystery while his parents harbored mysteries of their own.

Co-authors Mr. McVeigh, originally from Milford, and Mr. Bolone, originally from Detroit, met in the 1980s working as dockporters on the Island. They rekindled a long-held friendship in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic with the idea to turn Mr. McVeigh’s concept for a screenplay into their first book.

Mr. McVeigh’s family had a summer cottage on the Island, and they were on the Island when “Somewhere in Time” was being filmed in 1979. Mr. Bolone grew up crossing the Mackinac Bridge and hearing his mother tell stories of the Island on their way to their own summer place in the Upper Peninsula. They both got their shots to be dockporters when working their way through college. Now the two are a creative powerhouse. While their novels are fictional, they are rooted in their experiences working on the Island.

“It sounds cheesy, because it’s just a dopey job, but it was kinda like a dream come true,” Mr. McVeigh said, comparing the dockporter job to making the varsity team. He always thought that the story of dockporters would make a great movie and started on a movie script in the early 2000s, but it wasn’t the right time – life got in the way as it often does. When Mr. Bolone reached out in 2020 with his own ideas at the height of the pandemic, they began to turn the screenplay into a novel.

“I just wanted it to live,” Mr. McVeigh said. To him, it was the creative project that got away. “The idea of letting the script just sit in a desk somewhere was ridiculous.”

“The Dockporter: A Mackinac Island Novel,” released in 2021 and now the prequel story to “Somewhere in Crime: A Mackinac Island Novel,” was released earlier this August. Mr. Bolone lives in Ohio teaching creative writing, and Mr. McVeigh is a creative director in the Philippines, but their energy and zeal for their work makes it clear the distance wasn’t too much of an obstacle.

“Somewhere in Crime” is different from “The Dockporter” for a few reasons. With “The Dockporter,” the co-authors had an outline, a blueprint for the book in Mr. McVeigh’s previous screenplay. For “Somewhere in Crime,” they had a blank canvas. Anyone can get lucky with one book, Mr. McVeigh said. But now they have two, and it’s a rewarding, surreal experience. The success of their first book behind them spurred their confidence for the second.

“We were the magicians,” Mr. Bolone said, referencing author Tim O’Brien’s mantra of the magical power of storytelling that he often tells his own students.

“I feel more like a construction worker,” Mr. McVeigh countered.

They said that readers can expect clarity, a good story, and good writing in their book. It’s layered – kinda like chili, with three main storylines: “Somewhere in Time,” which serves as a “continuous drapery” throughout the book, plus a murder mystery, and family drama. It’s got a wide, pleasant range of emotions, and a little something for everyone. Everything that happens, especially with the “Somewhere in Time” scenes, is fictional, a mixture of research and imagination at how main character Jack might have wound up influencing the movie. It’s a coming-of-age story, full of nostalgia, and it’s funny, Mr. McVeigh said. In mid-August, he was making himself laugh while recording the audiobook, which he narrates.

“We have so much going on in this story, and somehow we make it work,” Mr. Bolone said.

They also think that between the oldschool friendship, love, and adventure the book represents and the positive atmosphere the Island exudes, “Somewhere in Crime” is what people want to read right now. While we live in “weird and dark times,” Mr. McVeigh said, Mackinac Island and its stories offer reprieve.

Mr. Bolone was trained to write in a literary style and loves short stories, but said that Mr. McVeigh’s cinematic approach to writing has rubbed off on him during their time working together. Mr. Bolone emphasized that what they are doing is fun. They enjoy writing, working on their craft – a craft where everyone believes they are writing their own masterpiece. They know how to work together and compromise, just as if they were to make chili.

“I think if Dave and I were to make chili together, the product would be very, very good,” Mr. Bolone said. “Because we would compromise. If we were to make Mackinac chili, our chili would be a delight.”

They knew they wanted to continue with Jack’s story, and the praise and accolades Mr. McVeigh and Mr. Bolone received from “The Dockporter” really pushed them to create another book. “The Dockporter” was named to the 2022 Michigan Notable Books list, and now that they know people love their books, they don’t plan to stop anytime soon. Readers are already raving about “Somewhere in Crime.”

“We love what we’re putting together, and people are willing to turn the page,” Mr. Bolone said. “That is so cool. To have people who have just decided to turn that page.”

Right now, the authors are enjoying the moment and reveling in the book they just released into the world. Mr. McVeigh and Mr. Bolone will hold a book signing at Island Bookstore, Sunday, August 27, at 1 p.m. where both of their books are carried. They may start their next book as soon as this fall.

They are committed to telling true Island stories, Mr. McVeigh said. They want to get it right, and while they are tapping into the “Somewhere in Time” fan base along with the wider audience that comes with being Amazon bestselling writers, if just the Island people got it, that would be enough for them.

“These Mackinac Island Novels could go on forever,” Mr. McVeigh said.