Dicaire, David 1963-

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DICAIRE, David 1963-

PERSONAL: Born April 9, 1963, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada; son of Leon (a factory worker) and Juliette (a homemaker) Dicaire. Ethnicity: "French."

ADDRESSES: Home—Leamington, Ontario, Canada.

Agent—c/o Author Mail, McFarland and Co., Inc., P.O. Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640.

CAREER: Nonfiction author. Point Pelee National Park, Ontario, Canada, train driver.

WRITINGS:

Blues Singers: Biographies of Fifty Legendary Artists from the Early Twentieth Century, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 1999.

More Blues Singers: Biographies of Fifty Artists from the Later Twentieth Century, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: David Dicaire told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is that I am a lover of stories. I believe there is no greater magic in the entire world than the exact combination of words that can take readers away to some fantastic world that allows them the luxury of forgetting their troubles, if only for a few hours. The challenge in fitting the right words together is an endless motivation for me.

"There is a myriad of influences on my work. The list includes respected literary names such as William Faulkner, William Shakespeare, Eugene O'Neill, Mark Twain, and Charles Dickens as well as the romantic poets William Blake, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and John Keats. I also have a keen admiration for authors of popular fiction such as Stephen King, John Le Carre, and Kurt Vonnegut, among others. I also like rock biographies, in particular No One Here Gets out Alive, the biography of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors. Other important influences are more obscure sources such as William Ashworth, who wrote The Late, Great Lakes, a book I have read several times. These are just some of the writers who have had a profound influence on my work.

"My writing process varies for each different project. For a nonfiction book I always work from an outline after I have done my research. For instance, both blues books I've had published had a clear blueprint. However, in writing fiction there are no guidelines. I let my intuition guide me.

"It is a common theory that people write what they know about. The first incarnation of my blues book was a biographical book on all of my favorite guitarists, since that was my prime passion. When I realized that most of the names I had written down were blues musicians, only then did it occur to me to write a blues book. I have always loved music and decided to venture down this avenue. I believe I will enjoy a very long journey down this particular musical highway that I have chosen."