This image is the cover for the book Closer All the Time

Closer All the Time

The inhabitants of Baxter, Maine, are going nowhere fast—but not for lack of trying. In this deftly written jewel of a novel, award-winning author Jim Nichols strings together the bittersweet stories of people bound together by shared geography and the insular nature of small-town life. There’s Johnny Lunden, a well-meaning war veteran with a penchant for the local bar and a deep, but doomed love for his family; eight-year-old Ted Soule, who shares a first kiss with the Ophelia-like Nadia, the daughter of his Russian neighbors; and Tomi Lambert who watches the confused adults around her struggle to accept their fates. With the coastal waters of Maine serving as a backdrop, Nichols artfully explores the nature of connection—hoped for, missed, lost, and found.

Jim Nichols

Jim Nichols grew interested in fiction writing while working as a ticket agent for a commuter airline in Rockland. Born in Brunswick and raised in Freeport, Maine, Nichols has worked variously as bartender, pilot, skycap, taxi driver, fence builder, orange picker, travel agent and dispatcher for an air taxi service. His writing, which draws from his many experiences, has appeared in numerous regional and national magazines including Esquire, Narrative, From The Ashes (BR), The Clackamas Review, American Fiction, River City, and Night Train. He has been nominated several times for Pushcart prizes, and his first novel, Hull Creek, was the runner-up for the 2012 Maine Book Award for Fiction. Nichols now lives in Warren, Maine with his wife Anne, and their two rescue dogs Brady and Jessie. They have two grown sons, Aaron and Andrew. Nichols still works occasionally for Penobscot Island Air.

Islandport Press