The Loon Counters

In the fictional Adirondack towns of Silver Lake and Lost River, a colorful cast of residents weave together, sometimes unharmoniously, with seasonal visitors, travelers, and vacationers. Their stories are told in The Loon Counters, which sees the residents and visitors of the community encounter Olympic torchbearers, a mysteriously unseen-but-often-heard violinist, pushy hikers, brooding art museum security guards, and many more. The characters recur across stories, seasons, and locations, finely illustrating the subtle shifts in life of a rural, isolated Adirondack enclave.

Across sixteen interconnected stories, Roger Sheffer explores the lives and world of this community of outsiders who call the unique region home, and the hold the changing Adirondacks has over those who live in their shadow. Sheffer crafts stories that speak to the complex charm of the region, the isolation and the community, the nostalgia, and the conservation, all the while finding the small places people carve for themselves in nature.

Author Biography

Roger Sheffer has published three collections of fiction and has won several national short story contests. His stories have appeared in many magazines, including Blueline, The Missouri Review, Third Coast, Arts and Letters, and Adirondack Life. He taught writing and literature at Minnesota State University, Mankato.