Former Ann Arbor journalist explores darkness, beauty of northern Michigan in short story anthology

This story is part of a series about arts and culture in Washtenaw County. It is made possible by the Ann Arbor Art Center, the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Destination Ann Arbor, Larry and Lucie Nisson, and the University Musical Society.

Ann Arborites may know John Counts' name best from the pages of The Ann Arbor News, where he was a writer and editor for nearly a decade. But a different side of Counts comes out in his new short story collection, "Bear County, Michigan," which finds him exploring the dark, beautiful complexities of northern Michigan. 

Blending elements of crime, folklore, and personal experience, Counts draws inspiration from his time as a police reporter in Manistee, weaving real-life events into fictional landscapes. Counts will celebrate the launch of "Bear County, Michigan" at Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor on Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

The cover of "Bear County, Michigan."
“As a younger reporter, you have to move around to a lot of different places, and my journalistic travels took me to Manistee,” Counts says. “I spent a lot of time in northern Michigan hunting and fishing, but working as the police reporter in Manistee was the first time I immersed myself in the community there.”

His work in Manistee ultimately led to the first draft of “Bone Cutters,” one of the stories in "Bear County, Michigan," crafting a version of northern Michigan inspired as much by fantasy and folklore as the real-life people and events he was reporting on. He says the book is “not necessarily crime fiction, but there are a lot of criminal elements to it.”

“I think all fiction writing is based on real life. Even the most outlandish sci-fi fantasy stuff is based on a sound or image or feeling that the writer had,” Counts says.

Currently the investigations editor for MLive, Counts says he sees fiction and journalism as deeply connected in their pursuit of "writing on the human experience and condition." Throughout the writing process for "Bear County, Michigan," he says he tried to "build a community," crafting characters with lived experiences different from his own while still finding relatability in their stories. He hopes that readers of "Bear County, Michigan" are also able to see themselves in some facets of these characters, and perhaps find new appreciation for the stories' Michigan setting.

“['Bear County, Michigan''s characters] live in a beautiful area, and sometimes they don’t live beautiful lives, but they want to and they’re trying," he says.

"Bear County, Michigan" can be pre-ordered through Literati’s website, or directly through publisher Northwestern University Press here. 

“You can’t just take a crazy story and turn it into fiction and expect it to work,” Counts says. “Whether you’re writing it or reading it, the most important work we can do as humans is try to understand what it’s like to be other people. That’s where the good stuff begins.”

Rylee Barnsdale is a Michigan native and longtime Washtenaw County resident. She wants to use her journalistic experience from her time at Eastern Michigan University writing for the Eastern Echo to tell the stories of Washtenaw County residents that need to be heard.

Photo by Meredith Counts.