Lea Wait's Blog, page 164
May 29, 2019
Memorial Day
Fifty three years ago June 30, 1966. I entered the gates of the U. S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island South Carolina. I don’t have to tell you that Parris Island has a reputation for being tough–Full Metal Jacket was the closest Hollywood go to the rea thing–it was possibly the most eye-opening experience of my young life (I was eighteen). Truthfully Marine boot camp is mentally tougher than physically–however, I don’t recommend you try it in 1966 during the early stages of the Vietnam War with the first two initials of V. C.
[image error]
Pvt V. C. Hardacker
Parris Island, SC
July to September 1966
All kidding aside, it was the beginning of what I still believe were the best six years of my life . . . at least six years when I thought I was making a difference. These past ten years I’ve become active in Veteran’s issues and do what I can to show all of our veterans that they are appreciated (probably a reaction to the way we Vietnam vets were treated in the sixties and early seventies). This past week I hosted (as the Commandant of my Marine Corps League Detachment) and appreciation ceremony for the World War II vets at the Veteran Home in Caribou.
This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. It’s a day when we all should pause to think (and be thankful to) those who made the ultimate sacrifice–we living vets have our day in November. In honor of those vets I always read a poem on Memorial Day . . . here’s that poem:
JUST A COMMON SOLDIER (A VETERAN DIED TODAY)
By A. Lawrence Vaincourt
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
and he sat around the Legion telling stories of the past.
Of the war he had fought in and the deeds that he had done.
In his exploits with his buddies they were heroes, everyone.
And ‘tho sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
all his buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we’ll hear his tales no longer, for ol’ Bob has passed away,
and the world’s a little poorer for a veteran died today.
No, he won’t be mourned by many, just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary, very quiet sort of life. He held a job and
raised a family, quietly going on his way; and the world
won’t note his passing, ‘tho a veteran died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
while thousands note their passing and proclaim they were
great. Papers tell their life stories, from the time they
were young, but the passing of a veteran goes unnoticed and
unsung. Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
some jerk who breaks his promise and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow, who in times of war and strife, goes
off to serve his country and offers up his life?
The politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary veteran, who has offered up his all,
is paid off with a medal and perhaps a pension, small.
It’s so easy to forget them, for it is so long ago, that our Bobs
and Jims and Johnnys went to battle, but we know.
It was not the politicians and their compromises and ploys,
who won for us the freedom that our country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
would you really want some cop-out, with his ever-waffling stand?
Or, would you want a veteran, who has sworn to defend his home,
his kin and country, and would fight until the end?
He was just a common veteran and his ranks are growing thin,
but his presence should remind us we may need his likes again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the military’s part
is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,
then at least let’s give him homage, at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in the paper that might say
Our country is in mourning, for a veteran died today.
Enough said.
The Duty of Writers: Pay No Attention to Duty
Charlene D’Avanzo: [image error]I haven’t been at this mystery writing business long, so now and then I seek the wisdom of veteran authors hoping their acumen will rub off. For some reason I’m often thirsty for literary inspiration at bedtime, so there’s a short stack of books in the ready on my nightstand. E.B. White’s One Man’s Meat is one of my favorites.
In print since 1942, White’s primer is a compilation of his Harper’s Magazine columns plus a few New Yorker essays. White penned most at his saltwater farm in North Brooklin across a reach from Deer Isle during and after World War II. He tells us about his transformation from sophisticated urbanite to Maine farmer in essays titled “Compost”, “Lime”, “Maine Speech” and “Getting Ready for the Cow”, among others. In “Salt Water Farm,” White talks about writing.
“I was sorry to hear the other day that a certain writer, appalled by the cruel events of the world, had pledged himself never to write anything that wasn’t instructive and significant . . . He worries me.
I hope he isn’t serious, but I’m afraid he is … A writer must believe in something, of course, but he shouldn’t join a club … Even in evil times, a writer should cultivate only what naturally absorbs his fancy, whether it be freedom or cinch bugs, and they should write in a way that comes easy …
In a free country, it is the duty of writers to pay no attention to duty.”
Cause-motivated myself, I really ought to post this last bit on my wall. The cruel event worrying me is starting carbon dioxide concentration, and each book in my series has a climate-change understory.
See that I just used “cause” and “worry” in reference to my books, wouldn’t White liken me to his “certain writer?” I think not and thank my characters for the help. If I ask them to pontificate on some environmental crime, they simply won’t do it. “Tedious.” “Who’d want to read that?” Or “come on!” they say.
[image error]Fiction writers of all sorts understand what I’m talking about. To us, the folks who populate our stories are very real. We know their histories, weaknesses, fatal flaws, and secrets. They literally speak to us, witness mine who keep me from moralizing.
The Irish have their wee people, the religious have their angels. And writers, we have characters we think about and consult every day. I imagine some would find this pretty strange. We, I think we’re awfully lucky.
[image error]
May 27, 2019
Searching the Past for Stories
I’ve done all of the above, at various points in my life. But now I do historical research primarily because I write historical novels, six of them set in eighteenth or nineteenth century Wiscasset, Maine.
I’ve always loved the idea of “place” influencing the people who lived in it, so my goal is to show, in a series of stand-alone books, how people in a small Maine village lived during different time periods.
Why Wiscasset? Because Wiscasset “had it all,” in terms of history. Abenaki lands, early European settlers, citizens taking part in every war Maine has been involved in, a deep-water harbor surrounded by farmlands and lumbering. Mills. Fires. Inns. Wiscasset was on the Boston Post line. The railroad came to Wiscasset.
Contrary Winds (set in 1777) shows Revolutionary Wiscasset and nearby Boothbay. [image error]Stopping to Home (set in 1806) and Seaward Born (1805-1807) show Wiscasset when it was the largest port east of Boston. Wintering Well (1819-1820) is set against a background of new statehood. Finest Kind (1838) shows the result of the Panic of 1837. And Uncertain Glory (1861) takes place during the first two weeks of the Civil War.
[image error]My major characters are fictional, but the minor characters are the real people who lived in Wiscasset.
How do I find out about them?
I search the Wiscasset Library archives files on “doctors” and “lawyers” and “houses,” and read through newspapers, files on Wiscasset families, and letters. I don’t just collect names; I collect lives. The Lincoln County Courthouse has records of who was in jail when and for what offense. They also have customs records of ships arriving, homes built and changing hands, and legal cases in Lincoln County. Wiscasset’s graveyards help with dates, and raise new questions. (Why would a man be buried next to only his first wife, when he was married three times?)
In Uncertain Glory my protagonist is an actual teenager who published Wiscasset’s newspaper in the mid-nineteenth century. His diary is at the Maine Historical Society archives in Portland. The newspapers he published are in the Wiscasset Library. Files on his family helped me place him in town, and write historical notes about what happened after the book was finished.
Other research? I read extensively in political, military, religious, and philosophical analyses of what was happening in the United States during the year(s) I’m writing about. I choose year-and-place appropriate names for fictional characters. I search dictionaries published in New England during the year(s) I’m writing about, to ensure I use words authentically. I study maps. I collect old medical books, books of old recipes, lists of kitchen utensils, weapons, tools, and laws. I read studies of the ways in which women, children, minorities, and the handicapped were treated, through both laws and practices.
All these pieces of research become fodder for the background of my books; sometimes even the basis for specific scenes. But the most important research I do is on my protagonists and their family; how they fit into the community, how they would react to events around them, and what decisions they would make.[image error]
Because I write stories. Historically accurate stories, I hope. Stories set in a real town. But, most important, stories of what happens when my major character’s life is changed, and he or she must decide what he or she will do next to survive. That’s the heart of all my books.
[image error]Recently I had two other historical novels published. Inspired by a Wiscasset ship which brought immigrants to the New World, For Freedom Alone (1848) is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, the story of one family ejected by the British during the Highland Clearances in Scotland. And Justice & Mercy (1865) is an adult mystery inspired by feminists in the Burned Over district of New York State and the laws they fought against.
My historical novels are my “serious books,” very different from my contemporary mysteries. In every one of my books I’ve tried to recreate the world as it was. Not the world we wish it had been. I was thrilled when this spring the Midwest Book Review called them “phenomenal.” I hope my readers enjoy their visits back in time as much as I enjoyed opening doors to the past.
Share this:
Press This
Related
Special Libraries in My LifeIn “Lea Wait”
Where I Come From …In “Lea Wait”
Lea Wait’s Favorite JailIn “Lea Wait”
May 26, 2019
Another livin’ in Maine roadtrip and cool stuff
(Maureen Milliken photo)
I’ve recently started, when I have time, taking long road trips on a weekend day to parts of the state I haven’t been to in a while, or ever.
My trip a couple weekends ago was to semi-familiar territory: the peninsula that’s home to Cushing. I hadn’t intended to go there. I went to Unity for a specific reason, then, because it was a nice Saturday, just kept driving.
My initial target was Friendship. Very cute, no parking if you want to get out of the car and take a photo of the harbor, even in mid-May. Chalk one up to the working waterfront.
I’ve been wanting for a long time to see the Langlais Sculpture Preserve in Cushing, so I hied out of Friendship to the other side of the peninsula. I figured I’d just drive and see if I stumbled onto the Langlais site.
And I did.
But first, I saw a sign for the Olson House, and since I’d never been there before, I did a sandy road hairpin skid turn, and headed down there first. [If Mom’s reading — no I didn’t. That’s just for dramatic effect.] [Readers, I really did, though, since it was: see sign, process info, decide to go that way all at 60 mph on a little country road.] [Mom, 35, tops] [Readers, ;)]
For those of you not familiar with the Olson House, it’s the scene “Christina’s World,” the painting that made Andrew Wyeth famous. It’s now owned by the Farnsworth Museum, in Rockland.
It was a beautiful mid-May Saturday late afternoon evening and no one — I mean no one — was there. I took a walk down to the cemetery and to the island that’s walkable at low tide, which it was.
It was an afternoon and evening of beautiful light, emerging spring, the smell of hay and low tide. I’m glad I kept driving after my Unity visit.
Does any of this have anything to do with writing? I think you know the answer. If you’re going to imagine that fictional place, the more you have the sights and smells of the real place in you, the better. Bigger picture — there are few things more relaxing, engaging and satisfying than cruising around Maine’s two-lanes, smelling hay, cows, low tide, apple blossoms and the breeze.
Here are some photos. But seriously, don’t rely on my camera, go yourself!
[image error]
I always liked this sign. How can you not want to follow? (Maureen Milliken photo)
[image error]
No, I did not crawl up the hill like Christina in the painting. That’s just wrong. I did look in the windows, because my uncle told me when I was a kid that Christina only washed the walls halfway up, since she couldn’t stand (and I was like, people wash walls?) so you could the clean bottom half and dirty top half. But if that was true, it isn’t any longer. Another childhood dream crushed. (Maureen Milliken photo)
[image error]
I walked out to the Island in the bay since it was low tide. Beautiful evening, really beautiful spot. Maine! (Maureen Milliken photo)
[image error]
I was thrilled to stumble on the Langlais Sculpture Preserve just as dusk was falling. (Maureen Milliken photo)
[image error]
Some of his sculptures have been restored and others haven’t. They’re all really cool. (Maureen Milliken photo)
[image error]
I found some outtakes out behind the studio. (Maureen Milliken Photo)
[image error]
I love art with a sense of humor. (Maureen Milliken photo)
[image error]
I love all his animals. (Maureen Milliken photo)
[image error]
Langlais house with the horse sculpture out front. (Maureen Milliken photo)
[image error]
This explains, so I don’t have to.
[image error]
And wait, there’s more…
May 24, 2019
Weekend Update: May 25-27, 2019
[image error]Next week at Maine Crime Writers, there will be posts by Maureen Milliken (Monday), Lea Wait (Tuesday), Charlene D’Avanzo (Wednesday), Vaughn Hardacker (Thursday), and special guest Maggie Robinson (Friday).
In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:
[image error][image error]from Kaitlyn Dunnett: the trade paperback reprint of Crime & Punctuation, first in my “Deadly Edits” cozy mysteries featuring retired teacher turned book doctor Mikki Lincoln, will be in stores on Tuesday the 28th. Only a month more to wait for the second installment, Clause & Effect.
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
What’s Not On The List
Dorothy Cannell: Every so often since the movie came out I’ve thought about making a
[image error]
Bucket List. I have a dear friend who did this and has joyfully checked off every aspirational item. This inspiration fueled me to put some effort into get going on mine. “What,” I asked myself, “would I most regret not doing, or seeing, in this lifetime? What would keep me awake nights throughout eternity, madly scribbling down what could have beens?” That was several years ago and the closest I’ve come to progress in this regard is in conversations with my husband, Julian after dinner video watching. The latest being American Dreamer, a romantic, comedy thriller set mainly in Paris. It’s an old favorite of ours that we’ve lost and rebought at least three times.
“I really think I‘d like to see Paris,” I said.
“Mmm! That would be nice. But wouldn’t you rather go to Rome?”
“It’s alright for you being Jewish, “I pointed out gently, “but I have this thing about Christians being thrown to the lions.”
“They only have stone ones now.”
“There has to be a zoo, with cages left accidentally or purposely let open.”
There was a pause while bullets smashed through the screen on the drawing room window and our dogs started howling. When that died down Julian readjusted the pillow behind his head and made a magnanimous suggestion: “Wouldn’t you rather go to Amsterdam?”
“Instead of Rome?”
“No, Paris.”’
“I rather fancied seeing the Mona Lisa.”
“But Amsterdam has all those Rembrandts. Remember how we enjoyed seeing some when on loan to the Art Institute.”
“Oh, yes!” I thought back fondly. “There was that one with a dog in it. He could have been dead for hundreds of years with no one caring that he ever existed, but thanks to a man who went from paining by numbers to putting out some pretty decent work, he is immortalized.”
“Are you considering …?”
“Getting portraits done of these two?” I looked at Teddy and Watson. “I have them, no painting could equal that.”
“You, know what I’d like?”
“A weekend in Chicago, visit to the Art Institute included.”
[image error]
Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com
“Perhaps. But what I meant was I’d like a piece of that cake if there’s any left. I can get it myself.”
“No, you did the dishes.” He’d also cooked dinner. “Whipped cream?”
“That would be nice. And perhaps some almonds and a splash of brandy. Would you like me to restart the movie where we got sidetracked? Or would you rather watch something else, or read?”
“Go back. It’s all so wonderfully familiar. It’s you me, Watson and Teddy having the sort of evening we like. I don’t want to go to Paris enough, I just like the idea of going. I think I’ll scrap travel from the list and zero in on doing something meaningful to go on the bucket list.”
“Such as making another cake tomorrow?”
A touch of superiority to my shake of the head.
“Such as saving a stranger from drowning in a raging sea.”
“But you can’t swim more than two strokes. Any help from you would be lethal.”
“You’re right,” I sat back down with my own piece of cake and a cup of tea, “And it is asking a bit much of anyone that they put their life in danger so I can do a noble deed in order to be fulfilled.”
“You could take swimming lessons.”
“At the Y with all those horrible public showers. I’m not that adventurous. In fact I’m not adventurous at all.”
Happy reading
Dorothy
What’s Not One The List
Dorothy Cannell: Every so often since the movie came out I’ve thought about making a
[image error]
Bucket List. I have a dear friend who did this and has joyfully checked off every aspirational item. This inspiration fueled me to put some effort into get going on mine. “What,” I asked myself, “would I most regret not doing, or seeing, in this lifetime? What would keep me awake nights throughout eternity, madly scribbling down what could have beens?” That was several years ago and the closest I’ve come to progress in this regard is in conversations with my husband, Julian after dinner video watching. The latest being American Dreamer, a romantic, comedy thriller set mainly in Paris. It’s an old favorite of ours that we’ve lost and rebought at least three times.
“I really think I‘d like to see Paris,” I said.
“Mmm! That would be nice. But wouldn’t you rather go to Rome?”
“It’s alright for you being Jewish, “I pointed out gently, “but I have this thing about Christians being thrown to the lions.”
“They only have stone ones now.”
“There has to be a zoo, with cages left accidentally or purposely let open.”
There was a pause while bullets smashed through the screen on the drawing room window and our dogs started howling. When that died down Julian readjusted the pillow behind his head and made a magnanimous suggestion: “Wouldn’t you rather go to Amsterdam?”
“Instead of Rome?”
“No, Paris.”’
“I rather fancied seeing the Mona Lisa.”
“But Amsterdam has all those Rembrandts. Remember how we enjoyed seeing some when on loan to the Art Institute.”
“Oh, yes!” I thought back fondly. “There was that one with a dog in it. He could have been dead for hundreds of years with no one caring that he ever existed, but thanks to a man who went from paining by numbers to putting out some pretty decent work, he is immortalized.”
“Are you considering …?”
“Getting portraits done of these two?” I looked at Teddy and Watson. “I have them, no painting could equal that.”
“You, know what I’d like?”
“A weekend in Chicago, visit to the Art Institute included.”
[image error]
Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com
“Perhaps. But what I meant was I’d like a piece of that cake if there’s any left. I can get it myself.”
“No, you did the dishes.” He’d also cooked dinner. “Whipped cream?”
“That would be nice. And perhaps some almonds and a splash of brandy. Would you like me to restart the movie where we got sidetracked? Or would you rather watch something else, or read?”
“Go back. It’s all so wonderfully familiar. It’s you me, Watson and Teddy having the sort of evening we like. I don’t want to go to Paris enough, I just like the idea of going. I think I’ll scrap travel from the list and zero in on doing something meaningful to go on the bucket list.”
“Such as making another cake tomorrow?”
A touch of superiority to my shake of the head.
“Such as saving a stranger from drowning in a raging sea.”
“But you can’t swim more than two strokes. Any help from you would be lethal.”
“You’re right,” I sat back down with my own piece of cake and a cup of tea, “And it is asking a bit much of anyone that they put their life in danger so I can do a noble deed in order to be fulfilled.”
“You could take swimming lessons.”
“At the Y with all those horrible public showers. I’m not that adventurous. In fact I’m not adventurous at all.”
Happy reading
Dorothy
May 23, 2019
Revisiting Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’
John Clark amid a flurry of activity here in Hartland. As many of you know, we’re in the process of selling one home and buying another. Given the market in Hartland, Beth and I figured we’d be dealing with owning two properties for a while (Nightmare version—a year or more). However, the fates seem to be smiling on us. 70 Pleasant Street was on the market for less than six hours before we had someone request a showing and they made an offer that evening. As part of the deal, I must part with my beloved zero turn mower, but I can live with the loss, especially since we’ll be less than half a mile from Home Depot in Waterville who can deliver a new one.
[image error]
Bye Hartland House. We’re off to see the big city.
In the continuing process of downsizing/decluttering, I’ve realized that it’s really a sequential process. The more we look at stuff around here, the more we realize how little we’re going to need in the future. Add in my philosophy on the Zen of value (nothing has any until someone else wants it, or it has decreasing worth once you figure you’ll never use it again) and it becomes increasingly easier to part with ‘stuff.’ There’s another level beyond that, I’ve discovered. In the process of evaluating what’s still desirable, I’ve started to realize that in the future, my wants are also going to decrease. I’m still a hopeless book buying addict and fancy brewed coffee still rules my waking hours, but not much else raises interest these days (well really good cheese and Bolthouse Farms carrot and mango juices DO come to mind).
There’s also the freeing aspect of making a physical location change. When you move, you don’t need to bring location-related responsibilities with you. I’m tiring more easily, my knee is perpetually cranky and the thought of sitting in a comfy chair, outside when warm, inside when cold, with a new book in hand, strikes me as nirvana for my age and mindset.
Now, as to my reinterpretation of Swift’s modest proposal, ponder the following. Most of us have a hell of a hard time letting go of stuff. We can reach the verbal stage of insight when the topic arises quite easily, but pulling the trigger on a house full of possessions, that’s scary. I have a win-win proposal. We have a lot of incarcerated felons, many with burglary skills. Why not select the most promising ones, give them some customer relations training, have them agree to weekly random drug testing and then market them as professional declutterers.
[image error]
Someone gets awesome gardens. We’ll be starting from scratch.
Prospective clients would be allowed to take up to 10% of their household goods as off-limits. Then they go on a weekend getaway. The professional declutterer, goes through their home and snags stuff. What they grab goes into a possession escrow and the clients have a week to remember what’s missing and decide if they really want or need any of the stuff back. Whatever isn’t reclaimed (and there will be limits on the gimme-back option), is kept by the declutterer to use or sell. They will be obligated to contribute 25% of the gross sales to a combination further rehabilitation and victims’ compensation fund.
I figure more wealthy areas in southern Maine can handle at least one of these folks per town, with Portland, Biddeford, etc. using a larger number. Up here in the other Maine, we’ll have to start small and see how it goes. So, good crime blog readers, what do you think? And now back to staring at the ‘we ain’t certain yet’ pile.
May 19, 2019
Maine’s Coast for the Proletariat: The Rest of Us
Over 97% of Maine’ s coast is privately owned and much of that is behind lots of signs telling us we can’t go there. [image error]How on earth are the rest of us to get to salt water? Enter the Maine Coastal Public Access Guides.
Several years ago, I was a writer on this project and since then I’ve shared secret beaches, picnic tables, kayak launches, quiet places to take a lawn chair, and excellent tide pools to explore with kids.[image error]
When Gov. LePage closed the state planning office (yes, that made sense), funding to get the word out about these amazing guides disappeared. You can order them from the state or ask your bookstore to acquire them. I also found some recent copies on Amazon.
We can thank a Maine lottery scratch ticket for making it possible for us to discover and explore hundreds and hundreds of public beaches, secluded shores, marshes, woods.
[image error]
Outdoor Heritage Fund money is also protecting our wild brook trout waters.
In response to grassroots efforts from environmental and sportsman’s groups, the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund was created by the Maine Legislature in 1996. Each year proceeds from Maine Outdoor Heritage Lottery Ticket sales provide approximately $700,000 dedicated to funding “critical wildlife and conservation projects throughout the state.”
In 2013, it granted funds to the Maine Coastal Program to create the “Maine Coastal Public Access Guides” to help residents and visitors discover each of Maine’s public coastal assets.
Funding for the access guides also came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, which supports Maine’s Coastal Program. Together these funds paid for project coordinators who hired site researchers to fan out across Maine’s vast coast to find, photograph, and document each site’s characteristics. This team identified more than 700 locations that are a mix of federal, state, municipal, and publicly[image error] accessible private lands, including land trust properties.
The three guides are comprehensive and easy to carry in a pack or pocket. They detail 700 publicly-accessible shore sites along the coast of Maine from Kittery to Calais. Three volumes, are organized by region – Southern Region (South Berwick to Freeport), Midcoast (Brunswick to Hampden), and Downeast (Bangor to Calais).
Each site includes a description, activities, directions, parking, facilities, GPS coordinates, and more. They include boat launches, beaches, nature preserves, parks, hiking trails, and other scenic areas. The Guide’s local and regional maps can help you plan a day, a week, a season or a lifetime, visiting other coastal access sites in the area. Whether you’re looking for a new fishing spot, a hidden beach, or a seaside hike, there is something for everyone, and you are bound to discover your own new favorite places.
[image error]
The guide is great at helping paddlers find salt water access that is not rough ocean.
Theresa Torrent, senior planner for the Maine Coastal Program said, “There’s an assumption there isn’t much coastal access or that activities are limited to popular beaches. There’s amazing conservation work being done along the Maine coast, and the guides include prime locations for birding, fishing opportunities from shore, historical sites, estuarine habitat, unknown small beaches, little community gems, as well as unusual large preserves that are located near populated areas.”
It was up to Dorcas S. Miller, author of “Kayaking the Maine Coast: A Paddler’s Guide to Day Trips from Kittery to Cobscook,” to shape the raw research into three guides full of short descriptions.
“I concentrated on what would most draw people to a site,” Miller said. “And here’s a tip. When the site description says ‘limited parking’ that usually means, get there early if you want a spot.”
I like the fact that the guide is very site specific; it even cautions folks about poison ivy on some paths and shares what is special about each site.
Here’s some examples.
Alna’s 216-acre Bass Falls Preserve, managed by Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association (part of Mid-coast Conservancy), protects bald eagles, wild Atlantic salmon and other migrating fish, but also boasts paths that wind through “a mixed forest of ancient pines and shady deciduous trees arriving at the river where current trickles through small rapids. Hunters and fishermen are welcome.”[image error]
Damariscotta’s Whaleback Midden State Historical Site, jointly managed by Damariscotta River Association and Maine’s Department of Conservation “protects a significant archeological area where Native Americans created shell middens (or dumps) over thousands of years.”
East Boothbay’s Shipbuilders Park has access to the Damariscotta River, as well as the atmosphere of a diverse working waterfront and a paved ramp, picnic table, and floating dock for tie ups. (I can testify there’s great protected kayaking next to shore here.)
[image error]
One of my favorite coastal places to go. (Yup, that’s me.)
Woolwich has Merrymeeting Fields where Kennebec Estuary Land Trust maintains a 125-acre preserve with “wooded trails that wind to extensive frontage and scenic vistas on Merrymeeting Bay.”
And that Outdoor Heritage Fund lottery ticket next to the cash register? Who knows what treasures it might fund and protect next time? It’s the only lottery ticket I buy and over the years, it’s bought us regular Maine folks untold treasures in access and wildlife habitat. Hope you’ll buy lots of tickets.[image error]
Sandy’s novel, “Deadly Trespass, A Mystery in Maine,” won a national Mystery Writers of America award, was a finalist in the Women’s Fiction Writers Association “Rising Star” contest, and she’s been a finalist for a Maine Literary Award. Find her novel at all Shermans Books and on Amazon . Find more info on the video trailer and Sandy’s website. The second Mystery in Maine, “Deadly Turn,” will be published in 2019.
May 17, 2019
Weekend Update: May 18-19, 2019
[image error]Next week at Maine Crime Writers, there will be posts by Sandra Neily (Monday), Maureen Milliken (Tuesday) Jen Blood (Wednesday) John Clark (Thursday), and Dorothy Cannell (Friday).
In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:
[image error]
Maine Crime Wave
Brenda Buchanan, Richard Cass, Bruce Robert Coffin, Kaitlyn Dunnett, Kate Flora, Vaughn C. Hardacker, Barbara Ross, and Lea Wait are the Maine Crime Writers who will be on panels at Maine Crime Wave in Portland, Maine on May 31-June 1. The deadline to register is May 20. All the information you need is here: http://mainewriters.org/maine-crime-wave/ Also presenting will be Maine Crime Writers alums Gerry Boyle, Jessie Crockett (as Jessie Ellicott), James Hayman, Chris Holm, and Julia Spencer-Fleming, frequent MCW guest Katherine Hall Page, Maine superstars Tess Gerritsen and Gayle Lynds, bestselling author Lisa Gardner, and top agent Meg Ruley.
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
Lea Wait's Blog
- Lea Wait's profile
- 506 followers
