Growing up, I was a summer person on Lake Winnisquam in Belmont, New Hampshire, where my parents—and my grandparents before them—had camps. As a teen, I met a family of boys named the Doyons through mutual friends. David Doyon was one of the older brothers, and I spent a fair amount of time with him, his family, and other friends at a house on the lake that David owned with one of his brothers. Dave’s house was a quick boat ride, or a long swim, away from mine. A year ago, I had an email through my Beetle Books website from a David Doyon who had written a children’s book and needed help bringing it to market. I was thrilled to reconnect with David, and I edited his book, produced it, and got it up on Amazon. “Robbie Raccoon and Blackbear the Pirate’s Golden Treasure” is 52 pages long and illustrated with beautiful watercolor paintings created by David’s niece, Valerie Doyon, who was only two when I last saw her. The book has been so popular in Valerie’s community of Rockport, Massachusetts, that children are on a wait list to check the book out of Rockport’s library.
My nephew, Brendon Beetle, interviewed David for this blog on “Robbie Raccoon and Blackbear the Pirate’s Golden Treasure” and David’s inspiration writing it.
What was your writing background and experience before you wrote “Robbie Raccoon and Blackbear the Pirate’s Golden Treasure?”
I had no background in writing at all. I had a camp on Lake Winnisquam, which I owned with my brother Alan. I started reading stories to his kids. I would open up a book and look at the pictures and make up my own stories based on the pictures. And they loved it! About a year or so ago, I did that with my niece’s son; my niece laughed and said, “Another one of Uncle Dave’s great stories.”
What inspired you to write the story?
The kids always liked the stories I came up with. Also, I have great memories of playing with my 12 brothers and sisters in the backyard swamp near a large silver birch tree, in an area we thought of as Treasure Island. Before I retired, I bought a house in Reading, Massachusetts, almost across from where I grew up, and I was remembering playing in the woods and the swamp, and the story came to me.
How long did it take to finalize the story, and what was your process?
I did it pretty quickly. It probably took about a month and a half or so for the first draft, then I went through it, made some minor changes, and checked punctuation. Once I had it written and the pictures done by my niece, Valerie, I started Googling around, looking for a publisher. I remembered reading in a local paper in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire that Janice Beetle, a friend from long ago, was in book publishing. So, I decided to attempt to reach out. I did it online, and her response was hilarious: “Is this the Dave I knew from Winnisquam?” We got together. She liked my story, went through it, put the spit and polish on it. She made a great partner in it.
How did you collaborate with Valerie Doyon, the illustrator?
I started writing the story, and my niece Valerie, who is an artist, was posting her drawings of animals on Facebook, and it gave me the idea to broaden the story. After I finished, I went to her to create the illustrations to go with the book. I emailed her the file for my story, and the next morning, she read it and loved it, then agreed to create the illustrations. It was winter—her slow time in her art shop in Bearskin Neck in Rockport, Massachusetts. She asked if I had any ideas. I kind of gave her a brief description of certain scenes and the pirate. I wanted him to be the stereotypical pirate with an eyepatch, ultimately like Black Beard the pirate. She nailed the artwork on the pirate and the three boys—a raccoon, a fox, and a squirrel. She was able to read the story and envision exactly what I was thinking, I didn’t have to give her much input.
What was your biggest challenge in completing the story?
The most challenging thing was trying to keep it short enough for a children’s book and not make it a novel. I had so many ideas when I was writing. I started rambling and adding details that wouldn’t be needed.
What did you value about the editing and production process with Janice?
She helped me with my punctuation, correcting my grammar, rewording some things to help the story read better and not repeat. She helped me learn so much about how to say things differently and brought my story to life.
How are you distributing your books?
My niece is selling them in her store in Rockport. I have been giving a few copies away to get them out. I’ve also donated copies to the library in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, where I live, and the elementary school. I also donated a bunch to a camp for underprivileged children and some fundraisers.
What kind of feedback are you getting?
The first library I gave it to, when I dropped it off, the librarian for the children’s section said, “I love this. I am going to do some readings with the children with it.” A lot of the kids like that Valerie put a game into the story. At the end of the book, in a thank you note she wrote, she asks children to read the book a second time, looking for pictures of hearts and honeybees; it became a game as well as a book. Even kids who can’t read can interact with it. Reception-wise, the libraries and camps loved that I gave them these books.
Do you have any events coming up?
I don’t feel I need to promote the book too much and do book events or readings. It would feel like a job. I’m not doing this to try to make money. It was a labor of love and is fulfilling to me. It makes me feel good that I made something people enjoy. I have sold 19 books so far.
Do you have another book in you?
I am in the process of writing another book that I started when the illustrations for the first book were being drawn. I wrote the second story quickly and edited it, but I still want Janice to look at that book as soon as I talk to my niece, who is pondering doing the second set of illustrations. The characters are the same, so I would love for Valerie to it again.
What advice do you have for other authors who feel stuck in the book development process?
One thing that helped me out was getting it down on paper even though it wasn’t fully ready, but I could show people and get feedback. Early readers told me what they liked and didn’t like. People tell me that it inspires them that I wrote a book; now, they want to do it. That just feels so special to me. My father wrote a book about his life. It wasn’t professionally edited, and now I am able to go back to his and see the difference it makes having an editor take a look at it and be on your side.
Would you recommend Beetle Books to other authors, and if yes, why?
I would recommend Janice. She was easy to work with. She did what she said she would do and got the book to where it was worthy of being printed. It isn’t something a lot of people can do. I’m not really a writer, so her skills took the book a notch above.
The Laconia Daily Sun wrote about David’s book, “Robbie Raccoon and Blackbear the Pirate’s Golden Treasure?” on November 7, 2025. Read the story here.
Leave a Reply