UPCOMING BOOKS

FIX ME A PLATE: FOOD FROM STONE MOTEL and OTHER RECIPES (Manuscript in Progress)

MOTEL CONFESSIONALS (Working Title) (Manuscript in Progress)

NEW BOOK

STONE MOTEL – MEMOIRS OF A CAJUN BOY (April 2020, University Press of Mississippi)

To purchase a signed copy of Stone Motel – Memoirs of a Cajun Boy, contact the author at: ardoinwriter [at] yahoo.com

Available at These Booksellers:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Indiebound
University Press of Mississippi

Press Coverage for Stone Motel

Here’s a review from the Clarion-Ledger in Hattiesburg, Miss.

“Tigers in Print” feature in LSU Alumni Magazine, Summer 2020

A roundup of Literary Louisiana, Spring 2020

From Forward Reviews

And in other media:

Blog: What does Page 99 reveal about “Stone Motel”?
Blog: An interview with the author about his book and his dog.
Website: MyNewOrleans.com recommendations for new books.
Podcast: Overflowing Bookshelves, Dallas Woodburn
Podcast: Oh F*uck Yeah!, with Ruan Willow

Book Jacket Blurb for Stone Motel

Summers, early 1970s: My siblings and I helped run our family’s little roadside motel in a hot, buggy, bayou town in Cajun Louisiana. The stifling, sticky heat inspired us to find creative ways to stay cool and out of trouble. When we were not doing our chores – mowing acres of thick grass, scrubbing motel-room toilets, plucking chicken bones and used condoms from under the beds, handling a colorful cast of customers – we played canasta, an old ladies’ game that provided us with a refuge from the sun and helped us avoid our violent, troubled father.  

I was successful at occupying my time with my siblings and the children of families staying in our kitchenette apartments but was not always successful at keeping clear of my dad, a man unable to shake the horrors he had experienced as a child and later, as a soldier. I learned as I matured that Daddy had reserved his most ferocious attacks for me because of an inability to accept a gay or, to his mind, “broken,” son. It became his mission to “fix” me, and my mission to resist – and survive intact. I was aided in my struggle immeasurably by the love and encouragement of a selfless and generous grandmother, who provides my story with much of its warmth, wisdom, and humor. There’s also suspense, awkward romance, naughty French lessons, and an insider’s take on a truly remarkable, not-yet homogenized pocket of American culture.