Lea Wait's Blog, page 159

The Rewards of Procrastination

[image error]Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson here. A few weeks ago, when the work-in-progress hit one of those “I have no idea what happens next” spots, I found myself procrastinating big time. I read other people’s books. I binge-watched Amazon Prime movies and old television shows. And I decided to tackle another project I’d been putting off for way too long—sorting through the photos I’ve been saving on my computer, some taken digitally in the first place and other, older ones that I scanned.

[image error]The biggest challenge was weeding out the duplicates. I have a bad habit of making an extra copy if I want to use a photo in a blog or a Facebook post, and then it stays there, taking up electronic space, because I forget to delete it. When it comes to copying old family photos, this tendency is even worse. I sent some to family members, posted some on my genealogy page at my website, and shared some on Ancestry.com. Naturally I had to keep copies of what I sent so I’d know not to send the same ones again. The result: way too many duplicate jpegs in lots of different places.

[image error]To make a long story short, I managed to avoid working on the WIP for nearly two weeks just sorting and making a list of what was where on the computer and on the many backups I make on flash drives because I’m paranoid about losing data. I printed thumbnails of all the pictures I kept, which of course revealed that there are still duplicates, just not as many.

[image error]The good news is that things are much better organized now. I have categories within categories in folders with labels like “conferences” and “holidays” and “recent cover art.” Of course, there are still others that are pretty general. “Cat Pictures” contains 268 jpegs. “Photos” is a catchall for anything I might use for publicity purposes plus random shots taken at conferences and signings that aren’t included in the “conferences” folder. There are 280 photos in that one.

Trust me, this is an improvement.

What pleases me the most, aside from being able to check “organize photos” off my to-do list, is that I’ve unearthed all kinds of pictures that can be used in this and future blogs. The ones I’ve chosen to use as illustrations today are of the late Nefret, inspiration for Lumpkin in my Liss MacCrimmon series on the day he ripped one of the ear covers off a pair of earmuffs and turned it into a cat toy.

Enjoy!

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With the June 2019 publication of Clause & Effect, Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett will have had sixty books traditionally published. She won the Agatha Award and was an Anthony and Macavity finalist for best mystery nonfiction of 2008 for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries and was an Agatha Award finalist in 2015 in the best mystery short story category. She was the Malice Domestic Guest of Honor in 2014. Currently she writes the contemporary Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries and the “Deadly Edits” series as Kaitlyn. As Kathy, her most recent book is a collection of short stories, Different Times, Different Crimes. Her websites are www.KaitlynDunnett.com and www.KathyLynnEmerson.com and she maintains a website about women who lived in England between 1485 and 1603 at A Who’s Who of Tudor Women.

 

She Wrote a Book Once

Kate Flora: As many of you have read, if you’ve followed this blog for a while, my late [image error]mother, A. Carman Clark, published her first mystery, The Maine Mulch Murder, featuring 60-something freelance editor and gardener Amy Creighton, when she was 83. https://amzn.to/2KcJsSI She and I used to joke that unlike Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter, we published in the reverse order, with mom following in my footsteps.

Writing Maine Mulch resulted, in part, from her complaints to the librarian at the Vose Library in Union that the mysteries she found on the shelf were either too violent for her taste or the characters had lives too opulent or different for a rural Maine farm woman to relate to. The librarian is said to have replied, “If you don’t like what the Vose Library has to offer, why don’t you go home and write one.” And so my mother did.

Although the majority of her writing was articles and essays about country living, as a columnist and home and garden editor for the Camden Herald, she loved reading mysteries and enjoy writing one. Inspired by her publication, she started writing a second Amy Creighton mystery, The Corpse in the Compost. https://amzn.to/2K3lEBQ She used to say that she didn’t want her obituary to read: She wrote a book once. At the time of her death, she left a draft manuscript along with my notes, notes from good friend Marilyn Hornidge, and notes from a editor she’d hired to give her advice. The notebook with all that material sat on my shelf for years.

[image error]Two summer ago, in the space between my own books, and nudged by Ann and Paula at the Mainely Murders bookstore http://mainelymurders.com, who had created a following for Maine Mulch, I sat down with the manuscript and started editing. As I’ve blogged about before, there were a lot of questions I wanted to ask my mother. As she was unavailable, I had to wing it. I’ll never know whether I made the right choices. But we were close, and I could usually find her “voice” in making changes or amendments to the book.

Last summer, when I went to type the changes into her old file, I discovered I could no longer open it. The result was the slow process of retyping the entire book, and I am far from the world’s best typist. At last, the changes were done. I gave the book to some beta readers, made more changes, and decide that readers who like Amy Creighton’s gardens, cooking, and deep curiosity about people might enjoy some of mom’s old newspaper columns. I found a few that nicely matched the events–and food–in the story, and added them at the end of the book. I then hired a cover designer, the wonderful Dave Fymbo http://www.limelightbookcovers.com, and a formatter, the patient Jason Anderson https://www.polgarusstudio.com, for the ebook and physical book versions.

My target for publication was June, but that kept getting nudged aside by my own books, and by a lovely vacation barge trip on the Canal du Midi. Now, at the end of July, I am happy to say that this memorial act for a wonderful mother and writer is complete, and The Corpse in the Compost is available in print and as an ebook.

 

For The Love Of Libraries

This summer I’ve talked about “my transformation from professor to cli-fi mystery writer” in several Maine libraries with more to come. Being not-from-here, this has given me the opportunity to visit little towns I never knew existed. There are about 240 libraries in the state, so trips to speak and just look around will keep me going for a while.

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Travel the U.S. and you’ll find public libraries in the smallest, most out of the way towns. In 1889 Andrew Carnegie built the first one in Braddock Pennsylvania, home to one of the family’s steel mills. Carnegie believed in helping the “industrious and ambitious help themselves”. By 1900 his foundation had made library building a key goal. With extraordinarily generous grants of $10,000, even small towns built impressively large libraries that were formal yet architecturally simple. Many still have a prominent doorway facing the street that welcomes all visitors.

Ask pretty much anyone, especially folks who were pre-computer kids, and you’ll hear wonderful library stories. My husband John remembers that his family home had hardly any books. Not one for nostalgia, he credits his rural Arkansas library for his love of learning and reading. John was the first in his family to finish college, and he went on to get his doctorate in ecology. Poke around a bit and you’ll uncover lots of accounts like that.

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In addition to libraries, we venerate the people who run them. A librarian friend recently described the pressure she feels; “At all times, in the library and in town, I must be politically and culturally neutral, nice, and in control. People ask me all sorts of questions in the library and even in the supermarket. They’re disappointed if I don’t immediately know the answer.” (Note to self: Thank a librarian today).

Many authors, of course, love to talk about libraries. Some, like Barbara Kingsolver, even credit them for their writerly success.

“Once it was a very old Kikongo-English dictionary I found in the University of Arizona library’s special collections. It wasn’t supposed to leave the room, but I am persuasive. I said, ‘Something good could happen if you let me borrow this book.’ I took it home; a novel called ‘The Poisonwood Bible’ happened.

This is my thank-you note to every librarian who’s ever helped a kid like me, nobody from nowhere, find her doorway through a library shelf into citizenship of the world. If one of them ever begs you to bend the rules, I’m going to say: Let her do it.”

Others are more succinct but as emphatic.

“When I got my library card, that’s when my life began” –Rita Mae Brown

“Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future” –Ray Bradbury

“It is the most democratic of institutions because no one – but no one at all – can tell you what to read and when and how.” –Doris Lessing

Even pseudonyms have their say about libraries.

“A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.”–Lemony Snicket

And, of course, there are the comics.

“If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library.”–Frank Zappa

“Being a writer in a library is rather like being a eunuch in a harem” –John Braine

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For me, walking into a new library is akin to walking into a church. After stepping through the door, I wander in and then look up and around to get a sense of the place. Yes, there’s the children’s area over there, and that set of stairs must lead up to the stacks, the second floor desk, and the reading room. I head for the hushed reading room where literary delights await.

So next time you go into a library, stop, look around, and take it all in.

Weekend Update: July 27-28, 2019

[image error]Next week at Maine Crime Writers, there will be posts by Vaughn Hardacker (Monday), Charlene D’Avanzo (Tuesday), Kate Flora (Thursday) and Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson (Friday).

In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:

[image error]from Kaitlyn Dunnett: starting Thursday, August 1, and throughout the month of August, e-book editions of all twelve books in the Liss MacCrimmon Mystery Series will be on sale. Prices will vary from 99 cents (for X Marks the Scot, a Book Bub promotion) to $2.99. The real bargain will be the most recent Liss MacCrimmon title, Overkilt, currently priced at more than most readers want to pay.  The first book in the Deadly Edits series, Crime & Punctuation, will also see a drastic drop in price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An invitation to readers of this blog: Do you have news relating to Maine, Crime, or Writing? We’d love to hear from you. Just comment below to share.

And a reminder: If your library, school, or organization is looking for a speaker, we are often available to talk about the writing process, research, where we get our ideas, and other mysteries of the business. Contact Kate Flora

A Short Message from Lea Wait

For all of you who have been following Lea Wait’s updates about her cancer struggle…today she has asked us to share the news that she is giving up on her third set of cancer treatments and will be meeting with hospice today to make plans for her care.

She is weary and the treatment has left her with difficulties typing and even dialing the phone, so please hold off on those calls for now. She knows that she is loved and cared about and appreciates it.

We will update you as she shares her news. And because Lea is so amazingly resilient, don’t be surprised if you still find her at future Maine events.

Short and Sweet

Dorothy Cannell:

My husband, Julian, and I are in the midst of a family reunion in celebration of his [image error]eightieth birthday.  It is wonderful to be surrounded by children, grandchildren, siblings and cousins, and I’m grateful that unlike similar events featured in traditional mysteries, particularly of the golden age, murder is not inevitable.  I do, however, regret the absence of a butler, housekeeper, and numerous maids; and (best of all) a cook capable of providing sixteen-course dinners.  A gong would also be convenient, far more civilized than having to yell up and down stairs that the paper plates have been tossed on the kitchen island and, “come and grab it.”

We solved the birthday banquet by taking sixteen famished souls out to Anglers, a family style restaurant in Searsport where we hoped to please every pallet from chicken fingers to lobster.  Julian learned shortly after we moved to the area that Anglers is where the locals go and, therefore, was bound to be good.  We could have ordered dessert there, but I felt I should exert myself to provide this at home.  I don’t do much baking in summer, but felt it was letting the side down to buy a cake; so I decided on a frozen recipe I have been making for years.

[image error]Actually it is stretching things to claim a recipe.  It’s just something I made up and discovered the results were worth a repeat performance.

Combine equal amounts of sherbet and Cool Whip, having first set out to soften. Should take about five minutes. I used two containers of sherbet and estimated with the Cool Whip. Spread in a rectangular baking pan. I use disposable foil.  Top with Oreos ground in food processor, blender, or place in a freezer bag and stomp on them.

My preference for the sherbet was lime or lemon, but these don’t seem readily available [image error]anymore so I used orange.

Cover with tin foil and freeze.  I made mine several days ahead.

Even my picky grandchildren liked it.

Happy reading and eating.

Dorothy

Writing Books We Actually Use

Today, we’re using our group post Wednesday to share some of the writing books and reference books we return to again and again. Not every book works for every writer. You have to try them out and see if the advice resonates. But as we share our favorites, you may find some books to add to your own shelf.

Kate Flora: Many years ago, my mother gave me a bright red Rodale’s Synonym Finder [image error]for my birthday. It lives right beside my desk, and I often consult it when I am looking for a descriptive work for weather, a color, a mood, a sensation–you name it. Right now, I’m reading a book suggested by a former student: Wallace Stegner’s On Teaching and Writing Fiction. I find his answers to so many questions I am asked as a teacher, and a lot of wise advice. For example:

“You must submerge in a novel . . . It must be real to you as you work at it, and the only way I know to make it real is to dive into it at eight in the morning and not emerge until lunchtime. Then, for the space of each working day, it can be as real as the other life you live–the one from lunch to bedtime.

Susan Vaughan: My go-to book is Debra Dixon’s GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict, The Building Blocks of Good Fiction. The character’s goal is what they desire, want, need, or purpose. Motivation is the impetus and drive, the why they want that goal. And the conflict is the trouble or roadblock, sometimes a villain, the reason they can’t have it. GMC is part of my process not only in character development, but in  sharpening scenes, creating secondary characters, and plotting. It’s the foundation of everything that happens in the story world.

[image error]Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson: I’ve never been one for reading how-to books on writing, perhaps because the only ones I found when I first got serious about a writing career back in 1976 stressed techniques that just don’t work for me. A forty page outline before attempting to start writing the book? Please! There is one volume that proved very useful, however, and that’s Linda Edelstein’s Writers’ Guide to Character Traits. At the time I found it, I was working on a mystery featuring two historical figures who, on the surface, seemed to be very much alike. With the help of Edelstein’s book, I found ways to differentiate between them and was able to give realistic motivations to each.

[image error]Having admitted that I don’t make use of how-to books, I now have to make a terrible confession: I actually wrote one. How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries: The Art and Adventure of Sleuthing through the Past came out in 2008 in trade paperback and ebook. It is outdated when it comes to the material on selling and marketing, since self-published ebooks had not yet become the major industry they are today, but the rest holds up well, mostly because it is a compilation of good advice from a large number of writer friends who contributed anecdotal material to go along with my suggestions on the basics of research and writing historical mysteries.

Dick Cass: Not strictly speaking a writing book, but one I’ve found very useful, both for myself and my students. Art and Fear debunks scores of the messages society tells us about creating any kind of art. The authors’ view of art is wide and generous and the book [image error]explores how creative works get made, why so many people give up, and why we find it so hard to accept that for most of us, the work we do isn’t genius-quality, in fact, not even up to our own standards. It’s a calming voice for writers and other creative types and contains many sensible observations on how and why we make it hard for ourselves and how to do our work with more joy and less angst.

 

Maureen Milliken: I find a lot of writing books basically say the same things, only in different ways, and the tipping poing for me is how entertaining they are and if they say it [image error]in a way it makes the point enough so I recognize it in my own writing. That said, I read a lot more writing books three years ago than I do these days. The one, of course, that kicked my butt into getting started was Stephen King’s “On Writing,” and that’s the one that I refer to mentally when I’m worried I’m not “doing it right” or any of that other stuff that we use to sabotage ourselves.

The best nuts and bolts writing book, my go-to before I get serioiusly started on a book, is  “Don’t Murder Your Mystery,” by Chris Roerdon. It nails bad writing and is great for reminders on those bad habits that can drag writing down.

My biggest go-tos, though, aren’t actual writing books, but true crime books — bad ones, good ones — I can’t get enough of them. My current favorites that have helped with the book I’m writing now is “Erased: Missing women, murdered wives,” by Marilee Strong and “The Sociopath Next Door,” by Martha Stout.

John Clark: Back in the 1990s, I taught creative writing for local adult education programs. I lucked out big time when I chose What If?: Writing exercises for fiction writers. Students loved it and I never did get my first copy back from my friend’s teen daughter when she aspired to write. Every time I see a copy in a used book store, I snag it.

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Sandra Neily

My favorite chapter in my favorite book is “Shitty First Drafts.” Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, who says, “good writing is about telling the truth.”

I keep lending this one out and it never comes back and that’s OK with me. Happy to help out. Hooked (Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at the First Page … ) by Les Edgerton. (Developing an inciting incident; tips on how to avoid common opening gaffes like overusing backstory; analysis of great opening lines, and much more.)[image error]

When I’m stuck I go here: Writing Mysteries by Sue Grafton. (Amazing!!!)  Sue says,“Make sure everybody on every page wants something.”

 On Writing, by Stephen King is every-line-pithy. Here’s some:

“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.”

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

“If you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects. If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.”

“The most important things to remember about back story are that (a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn’t very interesting.”[image error]

And some titles from my library covering ground from beginning to end to marketing.

Anything!!!! by Donald Maass: Writing the Breakout Novel, also Writing 21st Century Fiction

David W. Page, MD, Body Trauma, a Writer’s Guide to Wounds and Injuries

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, The Frugal Book Promoter

Christina Katz, Get Known Before the Book Deal

Hallie Ephron, Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel

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I write better with flowers and an angry looking screen saver that says, “Put Your Butt In the Chair.”

Elizabeth Lyon, Manuscript Makeover

Final gem bit of advice, now tacked on my wall: “If the sex scene doesn’t make you want to do it – whatever it is they’re doing – it hasn’t been written right.” Sloan Wilson

Maine summer: It’s hot, so I’ll keep it short. Or not.

Actually, it’s Maine, so while I was writing the title, it suddenly wasn’t hot any more.

Once when I was a kid we were at Mass and it was a sweltering humid summer day (St. Patrick’s in Elmira, N.Y., for some family function, if you must know) and the priest’s homily went something like, “I was at a Mass once on a day like this, and I know the last thing you want to do is sit through a long sermon, so I’ll repeat the sermon the priest gave that day: ‘It may be hot in here, but if you sin, you’ll go somewhere a whole lot hotter.”

It brought down the house.

This blog post is already longer than that sermon, so I’ll get to the point. It’s too hot to write or read long things, so today’s post is just random thoughts on writing, living and eating in the great state of Maine when it’s too hot to string together a bunch of sentences.

While working at my day job the other day, I was interviewing a guy who went to the same high school a character in the book I’m writing attended. I had to catch myself from asking the guy I was interviewing if he knew my character. Seriously. Anyway, they wouldn’ve have been in the same class, so probably not.

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Belgrade Lakes Union Church Fourth of July hot dog and pink lemonade. Yes, it was delicious.

Every meal I eat outside in the summer is, at that moment, the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

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Fourth of July in Belgrade!

Fourth of July parades, and all that goes with them, may be a little cheesy, but aren’t you glad we’ve got them? A bunch of firetrucks, the Kora cars, people throwing candy, lots of red white and blue. Brass bands. What more do you need?

I’ve said this in at least one book and will likely say it in more: It’s a weird scene in Maine in the summer, people who have to get up to work every morning sharing a town with people on vacation. It’s like that “Lost in Space” with the parallel universes. As the person who has to get up in the morning — and there aren’t enough pillows in the world to put over my head to drown out the constant thrum thrum thrum of that live music coming from somewhere — it’s the vacationers who are the parallels with the pointy beards. Not you, you summer people who are reading this blog post, but those other ones. You know who I’m talking about.

On the other hand, there are few things as delightful for a Maine writer than the summer library book talk on a hot night with iced tea, brownies and people you’ve never seen before (because they’re visiting) who want to hear about your book.

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Actor Michael Ontkean, circa 1970s, may have some similarities to my police chief, but he’s not him. Because he’s an actor and Pete’s a real pers- … um, I mean fictional character.

I was speaking to a book group in Massachusetts last week that wasn’t sated with my answer to the “Who would play your characters in a movie?” (No one, because they’re their own people and don’t look like anyone but themselves, and who do you think should play them? Said with playful grin.). To hold off the fury, I mentioned the actor Michael Ontkean circa mid-70s. Someone looked him up on an iPad and they passed it around. It calmed them down a little. But no, he wouldn’t play Pete the police chief. He’s a little too handsome and, well, just not Pete. Sorry, folks.

I stopped for lunch at Thompson’s Restaurant in Bingham a few weeks ago (five stars!) and had an awesome grilled cheese sandwich and pea soup (this is before the weather got hot). Everything is homemade.

While sitting at the counter, I had a brief but pleasant conversation with a grandfatherly guy in a booth about his coconut pie, what the right amount of coconut in a pie should be, whether I should get it too, or get the chocolate cream pie (it’s all homemade!), and whether someone should invent a pie that’s half of one, half of the other.

He left before I did, and when I went to cash out, I found he’d paid for my lunch. After getting over our delight, the cashier, a middle-aged woman, and I shared some slightly salty jokes about his intentions. An all-around perfect lunch experience.

I’ve become increasingly obsessed with Benedict Arnold’s march to Quebec — it’s hard to avoid if you live in the Kennebec River valley and like to read historical markers. Watch out, because I’m going to be writing about it very, very soon. When it’s not so hot out.

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The porch days are already dwindling… Cinnamon bun courtesy of Hello Good PIe.

We get so little nice weather and winters are so long that, dammit, I’m going to sit on my porch every single day I can, whether I like it or not.

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Whether you live here or are just visiting, on some nice day just drive around the two-lanes, find a small town and get yourself some local food. Pro tip: Spiro & Co. in Belgrade Lakes Village has the best gyro’s you will ever eat.

If you read my blog posts, you already know this, but I highly recommend on some sunny day mapping out an inland two-lane to nowhere, roll down the windows, put on some tunes and bomb through the hot summer sun to someplace in Maine you’ve never been before.

When you get there, drop a few bucks in a local eatery or store (it’s a long winter in more ways than one in a lot of Maine), poke in at the museum or historical society if it’s open, and enjoy the short time we have every year to do that kind of thing. If you live here, thank your lucky stars. If you’re visiting, enjoy your stay. And keep it down at night, will ya? Some of us gotta work in the morning.

Chemo Tips: No Horror Stories, Please

 

I am inspired by the amazing Lea Wait and her amazing post to share a letter on chemo advice. (If you have a friend or family member taking treatment and want quick advice, scroll down to Great Hats, Cards, Eating, and especially—Say Only Two Things.)

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Casting while bald (Penobscot River).

Three days after remarrying in January of 2016, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I am now three years cancer free.

I published my first novel, Deadly Trespass, when I was done with chemo but still deep in radiation therapy. I dedicated much of the next year to publicizing it.

This fall I will publish the second Mystery in Maine, Deadly Turn. Almost a third of it was written before I was diagnosed. I came back to it almost fearfully. My first novel won the hearts of readers as well as awards and recognition. Could I engage readers all over again?

Meanwhile people around me and close to me continue to be challenged by cancer. Recently one of them asked me for tips on managing chemo, and, taking a deep breath, I’ve decided to share my letter.

Dear Kathy,

Happy to help!

Different: Everyone’s experience is different. The buzz is that those of us who go into chemo feeling healthy and fit (I did) may have a harder time when and if the chemo makes us very sick. We can get angry and depressed about being made so ill in order to have a chance at getting well. People already feeling ill with cancer often feel differently about how chemo can be a hopeful pathway out of sickness. Talk to your doctor or trusted provider or therapist about this.

Horror Stories: Ignore EVERYONE who tells you a horror story about a relative or friend who had something terrible and “bounced back just fine.” Ignore ALL that. If you can find a nice way to cut someone off before they start this rap, go for it. (They don’t know it’s insensitive. It’s hard to know what to say.)

My oncologist told me I would not know what my life or capacity would be like until the treatment and recovery time was over. She was right.

I was sometimes able to put my hand on someone’s arm and say, “I don’t mean to be rude, but hearing about others’ stories isn’t working for me right now. I’d rather hear about you. Tell me what you’re up to….”

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Wigs also kept my head warm!

Real Hair & Wigs Too: I had great advice to get a very short cut before my hair started to fall out. It made the transition easier when it did start to fall out, and I got to experiment with short hair early on. I was ready to accept new hair styles when hair did reappear. Wigs: The American Cancer Society provides free wig fitting and free wigs. Contact your local chapter. I had such a positive experience choosing one. I wore it when I wanted to be out as ‘me,’ not someone undergoing treatment.

Hats: Ask for lots of lovely big hats. I enjoyed wearing them over my bald head or over scarfs. Now I garden in them. Good news: they are very ‘in” now.[image error]

Chemo Brain: Make a chart that schedules all your medications and dosages. I had alternating medications on different days and it was essential to be well organized. Depending on dosage, chemo brain in a real thing. You may need to depend on the chart to think for you.

Hydrate Despite It: If you have nausea, get Reeds Ginger Brew/Beer. Very helpful but strong.

Misbehaving Body Parts: Depending on chemo dosage, different parts of your body may misbehave. (Chemo kills all fast-growing cells, so mouth, nose, reproductive and elimination systems, and stomach are all fair game.) Use coconut oil in and around special private places. I used various kinds of tummy teas for nausea (mint is good).

Nurse and PA Advice: Ask the nurses and PA’s who treat you for advice. They have great tips. My nose felt terrible and kept bleeding and they suggested a common over-the-counter spray that cleared that right up. Tell them what body part is acting up and ask for help.

Eating & Food: Send a message to friends/family with suggestions. It may be best to hold off until you know what you can tolerate or even desire. My husband ate all the food given to me; I hadn’t figured out I could ask for what I wanted. (That was not a total loss. I didn’t want to cook or smell cooking. So yes, do ask for your partner’s fav stuff.

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Emily McDowell & Friends (site) has cards that help us “find the right words for people experiencing major illness, grief, and loss.”

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[image error]Great Cards: Send this link to people you know who want to reach out. Go to Emily McDowell & Friends for amazing “cancer” cards. Again, ask for what you’d like.

The Ghost. Depending on the type of chemo, folks often go through a ghost phase in each cycle when they are just a shell drifting between bed and bathroom. A disappeared person. That’s OK. Find some great programs to binge watch. Stock up on movies or make a Fav List on your streaming service. It’s good to zone out. (Thank heaven for “Friends” reruns.)

Out: Try to get out and walk a bit each day; breathe fresh air and feel nature all around you. I had a folding chair and went to lovely places by the ocean and set it up. I’d walk a bit and then sit a bit. Was restorative. [image error]

Food as Treatment: This may sound controversial, but it’s the advice my oncologist’s nurse gave me. Whispered to me in the hall. “You can work on fabulous nutrition in recovery. The goal is to get food, any food, into you. Eat whatever you want to sustain yourself.” I found I could drink smoothies with vanilla ice cream. Or ones with frozen bananas. Straws and coldness soothed a raw throat.

Food and Recovery: That’s when great nutrition should kick into high gear. I got a tip from my PA who said our micro-chemistry is way off and that imbalance does not show up on most labs. She suggested Green Superfood by Amazing Grass, but there are other similar ones out there. (Yup. Tastes like grass; chug with juice.)

Also find and take a fabulous probiotic to help you with an injured immune system. (Chemo does that.) Another PA said I should take these forever after chemo.

Functional Medicine … for after: Finding a provider is on my “to do” list because I have nagging feelings that chemo and treatment have disturbed my body and potential health in ways I can feel but not figure out—in ways specialists can’t quite figure out either. This branch of treatment is still a bit controversial but if the highly professional Cleveland Clinic has brought it in-house, it is clearly moving into mainstream medicine. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/departments/functional-medicine

Say Only Two Things: All professionals and therapists advise friends and family to SAY ONLY TWO THINGS. “I am so sorry. What can I do to help?” (Please see item #1 above, re: stories.)[image error]

Wishing you a great care team, resilient family and friends, lots of bird feeders so you are surrounded with animal gladness, some green space where you can breathe deeply, and at the end of it all, hair. It is such a guilty pleasure.[image error]

Sandy

Sandy’s novel “Deadly Trespass, A Mystery in Maine” won a Mystery Writers of America award and was a finalist in the Women’s Fiction Writers Association “Rising Star” contest. It’s at all Shermans Books and on Amazon. Find more info on the video trailer and Sandy’s website. “Deadly Turn” will be published in 2019.

 

 

 

Weekend Update: July 20-21, 2019

[image error]Next week at Maine Crime Writers, there will be posts by Sandra Neily (Monday), Maureen Milliken (Tuesday), a group post on our favorite books on writing (Wednesday) Dorothy Cannell (Thursday) and Lea Wait (Friday).

In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:

Kate Flora: As some readers know, from earlier posts, I’ve been working on the book my mother, A. Carman Clark, left unfinished when she died. It took two summers to edit it and type in the changes, but I’m so pleased to announce that it is finally here!

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https://www.amazon.com/Corpse-Compost-Amy-Creighton/dp/1732468311/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=The+Corpse+in+the+Compost+A.+Carman+Clark&qid=1563468018&s=gateway&sr=8-2

And here’s the ebook link, which is a bit confusing: https://www.amazon.com/Corpse-Compost-Amy-Creighton-Book-ebook/dp/B07VB4X378/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Corpse+in+the+Compost+A.+Carman+Clark&qid=1563484710&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 Wednesday, July 24th, Kate Flora and Bruce Coffin will join Katherine Hall Page and Chris Knopf at the Blue Hill Library

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On July 26th, Kate Flora will join other authors for a reading at the Gulf of Maine bookstore in Brunswick.

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An invitation to readers of this blog: Do you have news relating to Maine, Crime, or Writing? We’d love to hear from you. Just comment below to share.

And a reminder: If your library, school, or organization is looking for a speaker, we are often available to talk about the writing process, research, where we get our ideas, and other mysteries of the business. Contact Kate Flora