Lea Wait's Blog, page 39

The Great Gym Class Rebellion of ’65

Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson here, with no idea why this particular memory popped into my mind some sixty years after the event. Still, once a thought turns up, I tend to make use of it, hence another nostalgia post for the Maine Crime Writers’ blog.

I was sixteen when I started my senior year in high school and one of the youngest in my class. We’d moved into a brand new building the previous school year and acquired, along with it, a fair number of new, young, energetic teachers. They were in their early twenties, which made a few of them only three or four years older than the oldest members of the class of 1965. That certainly made a change, and I suspect most of my classmates far preferred young blood to the rather nasty old biddies who, in particular, taught almost all the required sections of math and history. But I digress.

Gym class was mandatory. We had nice new locker rooms, new playing fields, new equipment, and something we’d never had in the old building—facilities for taking showers after gym class. In our senior year, the powers that be decided that showering after exercising and working up a sweat should be mandatory. We were told there had been complaints about the smell of that sweat in the classes that followed phys. ed., and that using deodorant wouldn’t be sufficient to eradicate the problem.

According to our graduation program, there were fifty-three girls in our class. There were probably three sections of physical education, although I won’t swear to that. There were at least two sections. Anyway, as I recall, almost all of us shared the same reaction to this mandate—no way! Why? Because using the showers in question would mean showering with the rest of the girls in each section of gym class. As a group. Naked.

yearbook photo of some of us fooling around with the laundry basket after gym class (that’s me in the white blouse)

It may sound quaint in 2024, but in 1964-5, at least in our quiet rural community, modesty was more common then exhibitionism. We were sixteen- and seventeen-year-old girls who weren’t allowed to wear skirts above mid-knee to classes and weren’t permitted to wear slacks in school at all. I wouldn’t say we were overly concerned about body shaming, although I can think of at least one girl in my class who would gleefully have pointed out flaws in the rest of us, but speaking for myself, I was a “late bloomer” and self-conscious about my lack of cleavage. I know I wasn’t the only one wearing a padded bra, but there’s a big difference between being seen in your underwear in the locker room by other girls and stripping down to the skin to shower with a large group of them.

To our gym teacher’s surprise, the senior girls, en masse, refused to comply. It wasn’t an organized revolt, but it didn’t take us long to realize there were advantages to sticking together. During that entire school year, only one or two members of our class compromised, and then only to make use of the one private shower available. However insignificant our gym class rebellion may seem, especially compared to demonstrations over much more serious matters that were taking place throughout the 1960s, for us it was a learning experience. Eventually, the mandate to shower was withdrawn.

I suspect that even our gym teacher (who happened to be married to the older brother of one of our classmates) might have had a grudging respect for our stand. By the time we took the candid photos for the yearbook (shown below with yearbook caption), she was happy to go along with the fun.

Still, there might have been consequences. At the time all this started, many of us were in the process of applying to colleges, colleges that were going to look at our grades, and at one point we were warned that our behavior could result in an F in physical education.

There were some nervous moments when the next report cards came out. An F was traditionally marked in red. When I opened mine, that color leapt out at me. Then, as I recall, I laughed. All of us who rebelled received the same grade—a D written extra large and in red ink.

Fortunately, those D’s had no effect on academic standing. Nine of us were among the top ten graduates in our class.

So ends my tale of youthful rebellion. What issues, silly or serious (but silly preferred), do you remember feeling strongly about during your high school years?

Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett has had sixty-four books traditionally published and has self published others. 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. In 2023 she won the Lea Wait Award for “excellence and achievement” from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. She was the Malice Domestic Guest of Honor in 2014. She is currently working on creating new omnibus e-book editions of her backlist titles. Her website is www.KathyLynnEmerson.com.

 

What Would I Do with an Extra Day?

Kate Flora: This is a Leap Year, that rare extra day that only comes around every four years, so today we’re commenting on what we might do with an extra day. Lounge around? Read one of those books that pile up when we’re writing? Knock off a few thousand extra words? Go out to eat to celebrate that gift of time? Or will it not feel different at all?

I’m going to be in Savannah, Georgia, on the third day of a drive to Florida, where we will spend the month of March. I know, it sounds indulgent, but actually it only means that I will be moving my laptop, my files and notes, and myself to a different location where I will settle in to work. It will feel different to write in shorts and tee shirt in March, instead of being bundled up as I’ve been for the past three months. Will it be liberating to leave my fleece-lined leggings behind? I’ll report from the field.

original version of novel being revised (cover has no resemblance to plot)

Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson: My extra day is going to be spent playing catch-up. As things turned out, on Monday we had to drive to Augusta (an hour each way) for an appointment, so forget accomplishing much else that day. Then Tuesday was the annual meeting with our accountant to sort out income tax for another year. That’s both less and more complicated now that I’m calling myself “retired” and my better half has taken up writing (and selling) fiction while still making almost a dozen custom (read expensive!) jigsaw puzzle tables during the last year. Throw in the weekly trip to the grocery store after the tax session, doing the week’s laundry, which would normally have been done on Monday, and there’s another day shot.

I’m not going to claim that, if I hadn’t had those appointments, today would be for goofing off. Being “retired” means I can goof off anytime I want. But I’ve been trying to revise one of the historical romance novels I wrote back in the 1990s, and momentum helps. With nine of seventeen chapters to go, averaging revisions on one chapter a day (about two hours in the morning to revise by hand and another two in the afternoon or early evening to enter changes into the doc file and revise a bit more while I’m at it), I wasn’t going to finish in February anyway, but the last thing I want to do is skip another day just now. So there you have it: I’ll be working on my extra day.

Maggie Robinson: I am reminded of my elementary school report cards. One of the categories was “Makes good use of time.” (No, one was not “Runs with scissors.”) I always got a plus sign in that column, but if The Great Efficiency Expert in the Sky was grading me lately, I would have a minus sign for sure. There is definitely room for improvement. I will probably be wasting this extra day with the same skill and diligence as the previous ones. But it’s time to ditch the Valentine hearts and decorate my Easter tree, so the last day in February will find me getting ready for March. Somebunny has to do it.

 

Matt Cost: Oh, the glorious reality of an extra day to accomplish all I want in life! The possibilities are endless. Perhaps I will go to Boston, spend the night and go to a Celtic’s game on Friday. A winter festival could be in the offering or perchance I will go to a movie. I recently went to my first movie theater flick in many a year, American Fiction, and greatly enjoyed it. There must be a band playing somewhere, a drink to be had, a fine meal out to be eaten. The possibilities of what to do with an extra day are infinite. But who am I kidding? I will most likely just write. Write on.

John Clark: I’m sleeping in because it’s predicted to be cold as hell. I indulged in one of my guilty pleasures yesterday and visited Pennywise,(https://www.facebook.com/FirstCongregationalChurchPittsfield/) a thrift shop operated by the Congo Church in Pittsfield. They sell tons of books at dirt cheap prices (think coming home with 5 tote bags for $10.00) I’ll be sorting them to see which sell, which I can trade on Paperbackswap.com, and Beth has already picked out a number of picture books to share with Gemma and Reid. In sum, I’ll be having fun while being busy, then topping everything off by going to refresher training so I can work at the polls next Tuesday.

You, as the Surviving Souse

Photo by Nick Fewings via Unsplash

Yes, I wrote that. Worse, it slipped past me, my boss, several continuity readers, and ended up in the pleading that we filed. I didn’t see it until I was sitting beside my boss at the hearing. The judge, who always enjoyed a joke, never noticed it. He’d have made a droll comment. Boy, was my face red! There’s power in seeing what you think is on the page. And danger, too.

Typos, the bane of a writer’s existence. They multiply like rabbits when you’re not looking. Some, like the one above, can be downright embarrassing. Others are merely funny. None of them are pleasant. Of one thing you can be certain—you won’t notice them all until after the book comes out. After multiple reads, one of my books announced to the world on the acknowledgement page that Sisters in Crime is a warm and close-knit group of the most generous crime writers on the plant. Boy, was my face red! Fortunately, few copies of that book sold, and it’s now in rotation for a new edit and a re-release. I shudder to think what else is lurking between those covers.

If only there were a silver bullet. A Lone Ranger of typos. There is a school of thought that suggests indie books are more prone to the lurking typo. A prejudice from the days of vanity press. It may have been accurate at one time. The theory is no longer true. There is something to be said about having control over your work.

Typo Free!

I used to think a traditionally published book would be an insurance against the lurking typo. Not so. I’ve read some that changed character names in mid-stream, repeated paragraphs, and worst of all, identified the victim as the villain—once. Boy, should their faces be red. Editors are overwhelmed. They rely on spelling and grammar programs to augment their solid knowledge of language. In the golden days of publishing, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Wolfe, and other Scribner’s authors had the incomparable Maxwell Perkins oversee their manuscripts. Alas, that level of commercial editing is a thing of the past.

Whether you publish traditionally or independently, the lion’s share of editing falls on the author. Writers write, edit, and polish their books to a high gloss before sending them off to beta or first readers for comment and that invaluable second set of eyes. After addressing beta issues, and finding more typos, the manuscript goes to an independent developmental editor who reads for continuity and common sense. More changes, and colorful language, ensue before the book goes to a copy editor who line reads, and hopefully, finds any remaining typos or grammar problems.

No Typos Here!

These edits are not the sole purview of the indie author. Traditionally published authors often pay for an independent editor before pushing send on their manuscripts. Indie authors have more control over the process. They are hands on at each step. The mind is an amazing thing. It will show you the word you think is on the page. Alas, the mind is often a liar. Fresh eyes are needed at regular intervals.

At the end of the day, an author proudly opens their newly published book to a random page, and finds…a typo. Boy, is their face red.

Typo Free Zone

Readers, if the book is indie published, and you see something, say something. It can be fixed. Speaking for myself, you will earn my undying gratitude. Publication takes a village. Traditionally published authors are not so fortunate. Which is why, if you have an early print copy of one of my traditionally published books, you’ll find references to gunnels. Oops. Boy, was my face red. The typo is corrected in the newly released ebooks and will be correct in when the paperbacks come out.

Readers and writers, how do you handle typos in books? Toss them to the wall? Contact the author or publisher? Chuckle and ignore them.

 

Everyday Heroes are in the news, well, everyday

 Charlene D’Avanzo: Some heroes are famous–think Alexi Navalny–but most are not.

For example, there’s the former New York Giants player Cole Ferrand who grabbed an extension ladder and pulled a neighbor from a burning roof as flames shot skyward. David Phung from Louisiana is another. Phung jumped into raging Baton Rouge water to rescue a woman sinking her car to certain death. He also saved her dog.

Speaking of dogs, they, too, are heroes sometimes.

There’s Leala, the Staffordshire Terrier who raced for help when her two-year-old owner fell from a dam; Buddy, the lab who licked his owner awake to save her from a house fire; and Brian, the pit bull who valiantly fought off three other dogs to protect his owner, Debbie.

Here are several books that feature amazing dogs:

In Dogs with Jobs: Inspirational Tales of the World’s Hardest Working Dogs author Laura Greaves  tells true stories of incredible working dogs. Two are Molly, the diabetes alert dog whose round-the-clock job is to keep her two young owners healthy and Daisy the Collie mix who is a full-time guide dog to another blind dog.

 

Judy: A Dog In A Million by Damien Lewis is the story of an English pointer and the only animal POW of WWII. Judy, who dragged men to safety from torpedoed ships and scavenged food for starving inmates of a Japanese POW camp, was cherished by Allied servicemen who fought to survive alongside her.

 

• Horses and humans have also worked together for thousands of years. In 1860, for example, when telephones and fax machines didn’t exist, the Pony Express horse relay kept the mail moving day and night and cut down the time for mail to reach California from the east to eight days. There were over 150 relay stations and riders changed horses 6 or more times. For more horse stories take a look at Heroes, True Stories Of Amazing Horses by Kate Petty.

 

Weekend Update: February 24-25, 2024

Next week at Maine Crime Writers there will be posts by Charlene D’Avanzo (Monday), Kait Carson (Tuesday), a group post (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:

What? Nothing? That’s February for you. A good time to ask our faithful readers what they’d like to see blog posts about?

Last Saturday Kate Flora moderated a panel of police officers to help crime writers get cops right in their books. Fascinating, as always. Gunfights? Crime scenes? Weapons? Warrants? So many interesting topics were covered. If you’re curious about the police officer’s reality, you might check out retired Mass. State Police Detective Lieutenant Bill Power’s podcasts powersonpolicing.com

We say this all the time, but if you’re looking for a speaker for your school, your organization, or your book group, get in touch. We love to talk about writing. Or invited us to your library for Casting Call: How Writers Staff Their Books.

At the end of this month, our group post will be what we’ll do with that extra Leap Day. And next month? Our favorite writing books.

Do you have favorites? We love it when you give us feedback.

 

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, along with the very popular “Making a Mystery” with audience participation, and “Casting Call: How We Staff Our Mysteries.” We also do programs on Zoom. Contact Kate Flora

 

Our Fascination with Pirates by Matt Cost

Argh, matey. Walk the plank. Dead men tell no tales. Hoist the Jolly Roger. Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest, yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum. Shiver me timbers. Crack on!

The world has always had a fascination with pirates. What is the hook that makes just about everybody from young to old love a pirate?

Blackbeard. Anne Bonney. Calico Jack Rackham. Mary Read. Black Sam Bellamy. Henry Morgan. Black Bart Roberts. —Yes, there seems to be a blackness to many of the names. One for his beard, one for his hair, and one for his disposition.

For me, I believe that my love of pirates began when I was almost four years old. At the time, my mother owned a bookstore in Henniker, New Hampshire, and we lived above it. Not yet school age meant that young me spent a fair amount of time at North of Boston.

The bookshop was nestled on the Contoocook River and just across the bridge was New England College. There was a group of students from there that befriended me and would come hang out during the day. We would pass the time arguing about what color the sun, sky, trees, and other things were on each particular day. I was using my imagination. I now realize they probably had other help.

One day, this group of college students, took me on treasure hunt. We followed a series of clues to a park around the corner from North of Boston. Wedged into a pile of rocks was a small treasure chest filled with gold doubloons (the best kind with chocolate inside) and water pistols amongst other things. Quite some booty!

What reader has never turned the pages of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson? Welcome to the world of deserted tropical islands, treasure maps marked with an X, and one-legged pirates with a talking parrot on their shoulders! I suppose that I was Jim Hawkins on my young pirate adventure, but I’m not sure which college students were Captain Flint, Long John Silver, Billy Bones, or Ben Gunn.

This century has introduced us to The Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Jack Sparrow. Four more sequels followed this huge blockbuster hit. In the movie, Johnny Depp embodies the film’s essential fantasy, that a pirate’s life is exciting and unfettered. Of course, if that were true, there wouldn’t be so many peg legs, hooks for hands, and eye patches.

 

These are the pirate pieces of my life that made me so excited to write my upcoming Pirate Trap about a modern-day treasure hunt for long lost buried treasure. Clay Wolfe, Baylee Baker, and Port Essex become consumed by pirate and booty frenzy. It will be available on March 27th.

 

Matt Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries.

Cost has published five books in the Mainely Mystery series, with the fifth, Mainely Wicked, just released in August of 2023. He has also published four books in the Clay Wolfe Trap series, with the fifth, Pirate Trap, due out March 27th, 2024.

For historical novels, Cost has published At Every Hazard and its sequel, Love in a Time of Hate, as well as I am Cuba. In April of 2023, Cost combined his love of histories and mysteries into a historical PI mystery set in 1923 Brooklyn, Velma Gone Awry. City Gone Askew will follow in July of 2024.

Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. A chocolate Lab and a basset hound round out the mix. He now spends his days at the computer, writing.

Man in Bar Says Art is Good for You

 Obligatory Self promotion —Over on my Substack , in addition to the usual free content, I am serializing another novel. As I did with The Retrievers, I’m making the first three chapters of The Righteous Brother available for free, then putting the remainder behind a not-very-tall paywall. Love to have you join me—a small monthly payment limits your risk, if you decide you don’t like it.

Some of you know that I once made my living as a technical writer, so I come by an interest in technology and science legitimately. I was the kid who liked to take things apart and put them together again, if not always successfully.

Thomas Aquinas was the first philosopher to separate faith and reason and I feel about that the same way I feel about the assumption science and art somehow don’t have anything to say to each other. I’ve always been interested in ways the two come together and happened on some interesting stories in a book I read recently, Your Brain on Art.

Your Brain on Art deals specifically with the study of neuroaesthetics, how art affects the brain in physiological and biological ways. There are great chunks of society that consider art a luxury item. The authors of this book posit that not only are activities like painting and dancing, and, yes, writing, useful, they are essential to human well-being.

I can’t do justice to their entire thesis in a blog post, but I encourage you to read the book if you are interested in creativity, art-making, or brain science. Here are some of the research-based findings the authors came up with.

Music with a rhythm of 60 beats a minute can synchronize with human brains to produce alpha waves, the brain frequency associated with rest and relaxation. Take it down to 40 beats or so and the rhythm synchronizes with delta waves, associated with sleep. Music can also help rewire the brain after a stroke.Colors have a biological effect on human thinking and emotion. The color red raises the galvanic reaction in humans, how much sweat glands react, more than colors like green or blue. In one study, people in a gray-painted room displayed higher heart rates than people in a more colorful room.Research into architecture shows that building with elements like curves instead of straight walls can reduce the blood pressure and heart rate of the people living within.Imaging studies show that poetry has neurological benefits. Reading poems lights up the part of the brain associated with restful states, and rhythm is something our brains are hardwired to respond to.Coloring, drawing, even doodling stimulate the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that keeps us focused and interprets sensory information.Research even supports the notion that people who engage in art have a lower risk of developing chronic pain as they age.  

Kurt Vonnegut’s advice on a successful life was this: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

And while the soul-growing is a noble end, so too is finding ways to enhance your physical being, your biology. Exercising your creative skills, however you do that, is an inescapable part of living a healthy life, physically as well as psychologically. So go out, dance, sing, write, cook, garden, knit, do what you do, however you create. It’s not just your soul you’re taking care of . . your brain will appreciate you.

Fitness: Squats. Scat. Owl Pellets … And Some “Fit” Newsletter Advice

There’s Author News and Updates, too.

Winter Fitness Class. (I never made it back to the gym after Covid shut down)

AM Class: Squats to put snowshoes on. Snowshoe Raven the dog up through new snow into the woods for dog business and sniffing of fresh animal tracks. Return to see busy plow. Keep snowshoes on; clear off car. Squats to remove snowshoes; add boots. Drive car away to await plow job. Return and shovel out doorway and access to woodshed with large push shovel (saves my back). Change into ice cleat boots: more squats. The driveway ice was exposed by the plow. Sand a path to the car and to the woodshed. Load the wheelbarrow with two separate loads of wood and deliver each to the woodstove. Remove cleat shoes (final squat). Squats rather than bending protect my arthritic back. Stare at computer and think, “Yaaa, right. Got energy for that.”

PM Class: At 3:00 Raven will demand—with nose nudges —a more vigorous outing. That would be skis, I think. More boots and the head lamp. Hahaha…

******

NEWS & NEWSLETTERS: All the advice says “yes” send one but give your readers something brief and useful. Folks are divided about how often the missive from an author or anyone who has a list of interested people should appear before supporters, readers, and/or relatives, but this site is helpful.

In my last ‘letter’ I shared that I was hoping to send more than one or two newsletters a year. A few folks emailed back and said that was just about the right amount. Good to know.

I do think I will crank it up to about three a year; 2023’s got delayed by a bout of rugged Covid. I will stick with my repeating theme and headline, “Let’s Get Out There.”  Here’s an early example.

It’s important to give readers (quickly) something of value. In keeping with my “theme” or brand, I include at least one give-away opportunity, quick links to cool or surprising outdoor locations, events, guides, books, or ways to easily (and cheaply) support conservation and citizen science, and of course, author news and where to find my books and presentations. In a world that often feels overwhelming, giving letter readers something simple or inexpensive they can actually DO to make a difference in their lives or the world around us …. is so very welcome.

Generosity is the key to a successful newsletter. To sign up for mine, please go to my website.

*****

Here’s draft content for my first 2024 newsletter:

The Giveaway Contest: The first three folks to email me a request for “Scat Finder,” will get a copy. Like Miller’s other fabulous pocket guides, it will fit into your pocket. (I always have it with me when out with my granddaughters. Kids seem to love scat; take baggies and some medical gloves. Hahaha.)

If you’re curious about which critters are crossing your path or are in your backyard, then Scat Finder by Dorcas S. Miller is just what you need. It includes

Key to mammal scat: cords, pellets, splats, and tubesTips on where to find scat and what its color and shape can tell youClues for distinguishing between scat from similar species (e.g., within the same family)The author’s professional drawings of the animals and their scat

PS: If you’d like a guided tour of bear scat, here ya go.

Books! This is an amazing book list.. Mystery Fanfare: EARTH DAY: Environmental/Ecological Mysteries 2022 (mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com) I’m hoping to be on Janet’s next list. If you think I belong there, please email her and ask that she add my two environmentally-themed novels. Thanks! janet@mysteryreaders.org.

Citizen Science: Easy, inexpensivestuff you can do: – The Maine Owl Pellet Project (une.edu) Regular people can help biologists understand the diet of Maine’s owls and the distribution and composition of the small mammal community on which they prey. “We are proud to partner on this project with the University of New England, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and members of the public, like you, who are passionate about Maine’s wildlife. The project is funded by a grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund.”

Pellets aren’t scat. But on the other hand … If this is not for you, maybe just buy a few Heritage Fund tickets where lottery tickets are sold. The proceeds fund so many great wildlife projects.

More Cit Science: Environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb says cars and roads do more than kill all kinds of animals (large and small). Highways cut off them off from their food sources and migration paths. His new book about road ecology is “Crossings.” Listen to his Fresh Air interview for his new book, “Crossings.” https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fresh-air/id214089682?i=1000629231551

Check out all the creative ways people are helping animals deal with roads.

Join road-warriors saving salamanders during Maine’s Big Night. Great for kids … young and old.  More in the next “Let’s Get Out There” newsletter: Big Night is Coming!

AUTHOR NEWS

Michael leading a group in Acadia National Park

Coming to Your Library With Something New: In January I was at the Jessup Library in Bar Harbor with a different kind of author presentation, “Live Birds and Deadly Forces.” I teamed up with birding guide Michael Good, his PowerPoint of birds and habitat at risk, a reading from my most recent novel (“Deadly Turn”) and a drawing for a free copy of it, and plenty of time for comments and questions. Maybe share this idea and presentation link with your own library so we might visit? Thank you!

The Next “Mystery in Maine (#3) Yes, the third novel is coming; it’s just taking forever. I think I tend to disappear down fascinating research avenues (wildlife trafficking was a deep dive) or just head out the door to be outside.

Here’s a story teaser. Cassandra Patton Conover, weak from a six-month recuperation in Portland, arrives home at her woods cabin only to fall through melting spring ice with her dog Pock. Life gets complicated when her snowshoes snag a body under the water, she finds her backyard woods littered with No Trespassing signs and surveillance cameras, and bewildered wildlife seeks safety near her camp. Helped by the mystery of the body in the lake (someone you met in book #1, “Deadly Trespass”), she plots a cure against impossible odds of rampant development that’s also mixed up with illegal wildlife trafficking. With her badly-behaved dog, wild creatures of all sizes, and a game warden who cannot turn away from Patton or the looming loss of his ancestral tribal lands, she …  (It is a teaser.)

they say, “butt in chair” is the only way

I am still working on a salamander cover that doesn’t look too huge and prehistoric: bit of a challenge.

Sandy’s debut 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 was a finalist for a Maine Literary Award. The second Mystery in Maine, “Deadly Turn,” was published in 2021. Her third “Deadly” is due out in 2024. Find her novels at all Shermans Books (Maine) and on Amazon. Find more info on Sandy’s website.

 

Squats. Scat. Owl Pellets. Newsletters … Of Course

Winter Fitness Class. (I never made it back to the gym after Covid shut down)

AM Class: Squats to put snowshoes on. Snowshoe Raven the dog up through new snow into the woods for dog business and sniffing of fresh animal tracks. Return to see busy plow. Keep snowshoes on; clear off car. Squats to remove snowshoes; add boots. Drive car away to await plow job. Return and shovel out doorway and access to woodshed with large push shovel (saves my back). Change into ice cleat boots: more squats. The driveway ice was exposed by the plow. Sand a path to the car and to the woodshed. Load the wheelbarrow with two separate loads of wood and deliver each to the woodstove. Remove cleat shoes (final squat). Squats rather than bending protect my arthritic back. Stare at computer and think, “Yaaa, right. Got energy for that.”

PM Class: At 3:00 Raven will demand—with nose nudges —a more vigorous outing. That would be skis, I think. More boots and the head lamp. Hahaha…

******

NEWS & NEWSLETTERS: All the advice says “yes” send one but give readers something brief and useful. Folks are divided about how often an author should land in the inbox of fans, supporters, and/or relatives, but this site is helpful.

In my last ‘letter’ I shared that I was hoping to do more than one or two a year and a few folks emailed back and said that was just about the right amount. Good to know.

I do think I will crank it up to about three a year; 2023’s got delayed by a bout of rugged Covid. I will stick with my repeating theme and headline, “Let’s Get Out There.”  Here’s an early example.

It’s important to give readers (quickly) something of value. I include at least one give-away opportunity, quick links to cool or surprising outdoor locations, events, guides, books, or ways to easily (and cheaply) support conservation and citizen science, and of course, author news …and where to find my books and presentations.

To sign up for my ‘letter,’ please go to my website.

*****

Here’s draft content for my first 2024 newsletter:

The Giveaway Contest: The first three folks to email me a request for “Scat Finder,” will get a copy. Like Miller’s other fabulous pocket guides, it will fit into your pocket. (I always have it with me when out with my granddaughters. Kids seem to love scat; take baggies and some medical gloves. Hahaha.)

If you’re curious about which critters are crossing your path or are in your backyard, then Scat Finder by Dorcas S. Miller is just what you need. It includes

Key to mammal scat: cords, pellets, splats, and tubesTips on where to find scat and what its color and shape can tell youClues for distinguishing between scat from similar species (e.g., within the same family)The author’s professional drawings of the animals and their scat

PS: If you’d like a guided tour of bear scat, here ya go.

Books! This is an amazing book list.. Mystery Fanfare: EARTH DAY: Environmental/Ecological Mysteries 2022 (mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com) I’m hoping to be on Janet’s next list. If you think I belong there, please email her and ask that she add my two environmentally-themed novels. Thanks! janet@mysteryreaders.org.

Citizen Science: Easy, cheap stuff you can do: – The Maine Owl Pellet Project (une.edu) Regular people can help biologists understand the diet of Maine’s owls and the distribution and composition of the small mammal community on which they prey. “We are proud to partner on this project with the University of New England, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and members of the public, like you, who are passionate about Maine’s wildlife. The project is funded by a grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund.”

Pellets aren’t scat. But on the other hand … If this is not for you, maybe just buy a few Heritage Fund tickets where lottery tickets are sold. The proceeds fund so many great wildlife projects.

Environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb says cars and roads do more than kill all kinds of animals (large and small). Highways cut off them off from their food sources and migration paths. His new book about road ecology is “Crossings.” Listen to his Fresh Air interview for his new book, “Crossings.” https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fresh-air/id214089682?i=1000629231551

Check out all the creative ways people are helping animals deal with roads.

AUTHOR NEWS

Michael leading a group in Acadia National Park

Coming to Your Library With Something New In January I was at the Jessup Library in Bar Harbor with a different kind of author presentation, “Live Birds and Deadly Forces.” I team up with birding guide Michael Good, his PowerPoint of birds and habitat at risk, a reading from my most recent novel (“Deadly Turn”) and a drawing for a free copy of it, and plenty of time for comments and questions. Maybe share this idea and presentation link with your own library so we might visit? Thank you!

The Next “Mystery in Maine (#3) Yes, the third novel is coming; it’s just taking forever. I think I tend to disappear down fascinating research avenues (wildlife trafficking was a deep dive) or just head out the door to be outside.

Here’s a teaser. Cassandra Patton Conover, weak from a six-month recuperation in Portland, arrives home at her woods cabin only to fall through melting spring ice with her dog Pock. Life gets complicated when her snowshoes snag a body under the water, she finds her backyard woods littered with No Trespassing signs and surveillance cameras, and bewildered wildlife seeks safety near her camp. Helped by the mystery of the body in the lake (someone you met in book #1, “Deadly Trespass), she plots a cure against impossible odds of rampant development that’s also mixed up with illegal wildlife trafficking. With her badly-behaved dog, wild creatures of all sizes, and a game warden who cannot turn away from Patton or the looming loss of his ancestral tribal lands, she …  ( It is a teaser.)

they say, “butt in chair” is the only way

I am still working on a salamander cover that doesn’t look too huge and prehistoric: bit of a challenge.

In your next “Let’s Get Out There” Big Night is Coming!

Sandy’s debut 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 was a finalist for a Maine Literary Award. The second Mystery in Maine, “Deadly Turn,” was published in 2021. Her third “Deadly” is due out in 2024. Find her novels at all Shermans Books (Maine) and on Amazon. Find more info on Sandy’s website.

 

Writers! What do bookstores REALLY want from you?

Whether you’re traditionally published or indie-published, one of the big challenges is getting your books into bookstores, am I right?

Traditionally published authors (theoretically) have a leg up, because that’s their publisher’s job. But if you’re published by a small press, it may feel like you’re an indie author when you’re out there slogging your books from store to store, doing the ask.

As someone published by a small press, and now my own imprint after that press pulled back operations, I’ve developed my own strategy. More on that later. I’m also lucky enough to be friends with [and, full disclosure, a seasonal employee of] a bookseller. Renee Cunningham opened Oliver & Friends Bookshop in Belgrade Lakes in June 2020, right at the height of the pandemic. Despite having to limit customers in the small space for many months, her store filled a need and the community responded.

In a few months, Renee is moving the store to 150 Main St., in Waterville (the Colby College-owned Bill & Joan Alfond Commons building). She’s sad about leaving Belgrade, where she built up a following not only among the locals, but the region’s robust summer population as well. But she’s happy to bring books to a bigger audience, and really isn’t leaving the region, since Waterville is right down the road.

Renee is super-focused on running her business the best way possible, one reason she’s had so much success even though she opened, as I said, during the worst of the pandemic in 2020. I’ve seen her excellent business sense firsthand as an author, a customer and an employee. With that in mind, I’ve asked her to weigh in on some best practices for writers who’d like to get their books on store shelves.

Keep in mind every store is different, but this Q&A should be a good guideline if you’ve got questions. At the end, I’ll outline some of my own strategies.

Oliver & Friends Bookshop in Belgrade Lakes. Owner Renee Cunningham, while sad to leave the village, is moving the store to Waterville in the spring.

Question: Do you sell books by indie authors?

Renee: Yes, we love to support indie authors as much as possible.

Q: How should I approach you about selling my book?

R: We ask that you send us an email with information about your book. Phone calls or walk-in requests can be tough during open hours. The chance to review your request via email when we have time to spare makes it much easier and allows us to give your request more attention. In your email, please let us know if you are seeking to sell your books wholesale, or to place them with us on consignment. [Maureen note: More on this in my section at the bottom.]

Q: What if my book is traditionally published?

R: That works too! Just like with indie authors, send us an email with some details about your book, including how we can purchase it wholesale.

Q: How does author payment work when you sell my books on consignment? How about if I have a publisher and you’re ordering them that way?

R: If we’ve agreed to sell your books on consignment, we will run a sales report once a month and issue a you a check. If we purchased them directly through your publisher or through a wholesaler like Ingram, you’ll get paid directly through your publisher or agent.

Q: Do you sell books by any author, or are there reasons you won’t sell someone’s book?

R: Yes, we will sell books by any author if the book is a good fit for our inventory mix and/or if we have shelf space and room in our buying budget. For instance, Health & Wellness is a genre that does not sell well in our store, so we may pass on a book from that genre. Other reasons we may pass on a book include a lack of professional editing or cover design.

Q: What happens if my books are on your shelves, but no one buys them?

R: If your books are on consignment with us and there are no sales in a six-month time frame we’ll contact you and ask that you pick them up. If we’ve purchased them from a publisher or wholesaler, we may mark them down or return them for credit.

Author Shannon Bowring signs books at Oliver & Friends Bookshop in Belgrade Lakes in August.

Q: Do you do author signings? If so, what’s the best way for me to approach you about them, and if we do one, what can I expect?

R: Yes, we enjoy welcoming authors to our store for signings. Please email us a request along with information about your book (if we don’t already carry it). If we host you for a signing, it’s a joint effort between us and you. We’ll do our part to promote your event and we ask that you do the same. We’ll provide a table, chair and event signs. While we can’t guarantee what the turnout will be, we’ll do our best to make it a great experience for you.

Q: I know other bookstores may do things differently. Are there any resources that tell me what bookstore best practices are?

R: There sure are! The New England Independent Booksellers Association has a great section on their website for authors. Click here to visit it.

Maureen here again. Thanks Renee! That’s some good info.

I’ll add some tips of my own from the author’s point of view:

1. Sell your books like a professional. When you bring them to the store [after they’ve agreed to sell them], also provide them a packing slip or invoice that has the book or books name, ISBN, retail price, your percentage, and quantity of each book. Keep a copy for yourself. This way both you and the store will be on the same page with your books. It’s as much your job as theirs to keep track and know what you’ve given them.

When you first pitch, also be clear and informative. I’ve created what’s called a “sell sheet” or “info sheet” for all of my books. It has all the information about the book, including ISBN and distribution channels. When you contact booksellers, or libraries, include the sell sheet in your email. This will give them all the information they need as well as signals to them you’re a professional who knows what you’re doing. Be sure to convert it from a word doc to a PDF for email distribution. It will look more professional that way. Here’s an example of one of mine:

2. If you are an indie author, publish your books through IngramSpark as well as KDP (Amazon), and mark them as returnable on Ingram. Even though you will make less money if they’re marked as returnable, bookstores are more likely to stock them, so you win in the long run. Why publish them both on IngramSpark and KDP? That’s a blog post for another day, but the short version is that as far as getting your books into bookstores, Ingram is a distribution channel, one that bookstores and libraries order from. Bookstores battle Amazon for customers [note when buying: you can buy online from most bookstores just as easily as you can buy from Amazon]. They aren’t thrilled if they see an Amazon ISBN on your book and may not stock it. If they order from Ingram and can order your book there, they may be more likely to do just that. If your book is marked as returnable, they’re more likely to order it knowing they can return it to Ingram if it doesn’t sell.

If you are traditionally published by a small press, urge your publisher to make your books available on Ingram and to accept returns, even if it means less of a profit for everyone. Big picture, more stores will stock your books.

Even if you are traditionally published, you may choose to sell on consignment. This is where you sell directly to the store, rather than through a distributor. Ask the store which they prefer. With consignment, you have more control and make a few more cents  per book. Many indie bookstores prefer it as well, because they don’t have to pay upfront for the books. The downside for you is that those sales do not count as “official sales” when you are pitching future books to agents and publishers, whether you are indie published or traditionally published. They like to see how your previous books sold, and only sales through a distribution outlet, like Ingram or Amazon, count as official sales. It may not seem fair, but that’s the way it works, since you could conceivably buy hundreds of your own books, not sell them, then claim to have. Not that you’d do that. But you could.

3. Do your homework. Before approaching a bookstore, go to their website and see if they have any information about their preferences. Some will have that info, some won’t. Check out the best practices on the link Renee provided. Approach the store respectfully [as Renee outlines, an email introducing yourself is the best way to go for the most part, and be sure to attach your sell sheet].

4. No means no. If a bookstore won’t sell your book, don’t argue with them or be rude. They have their reasons, even if you may not agree. They are a business, not a charity organization or your free PR firm. Walk away with some dignity intact by being professional and polite.

When I was making the rounds of stores asking them to stock my first book [I didn’t email first! Rookie mistake!] one bookseller handed me back my book like he was handing me a bag of dog poop and said, “I don’t think so.” Another one said “we don’t sell self-published books,” even though I told him mine was traditionally published. In both cases, I thanked them for their time, and left. Their loss, as far as I was concerned. On the other hand, the Sherman’s chain began selling my books when they were the sellers at an author event I was involved in after my first book was published. They have sold them ever since and they are awesome to work. I get a check in the mail just about every month. Sometimes it’s for less than $11, sometimes it’s for a lot more. It feels great every time, no matter the amount. Ditto for Renee — she began selling my books when she opened Oliver & Friends Bookshop four years ago, is happy to talk them up to customers, and I’ve sold many through her store. When other authors ask me about selling through stores, I can’t say enough good things about Sherman’s and Oliver & Friends. Actually, when shopping for books comes up in general conversation, I also sing their praises.

5. If a store asks you to pay a “shelving fee,” say no thanks and walk away.

6. Remember that it’s up to you to market your books. If you have an author signing, be sure you publicize it and find out from the bookstore what it expects you to do both in advance and day of.

7. Communicate and be proactive. Be sure both you and the bookstore are on the same page as far as what is expected of you, how you will be compensated if your books sell, how many books you’ve provided them, and what will happen if they don’t sell.

If you would like a bookseller to sell your books at a library event, be sure you communicate with both the library and the bookseller well in advance and make sure you understand how it will work and what your role is. Keep in mind the bookseller is running a business, even though they’re offsite, and will expect a portion of your profits, likely the same percentage they get when they sell your books in their store. Judge whether it’s worth their time and your money to come to the event, or if you’ll just sell the books yourself (or get a friend or family member to do it).

8. If you get feedback about your selling style, information, or book quality, take it to heart and see if there are changes you can make that will bring positive results in the future.

Bottom line

With all of this in mind, know that individual sales at bookstores, while they’ll make you some money if you’re lucky, aren’t likely to be the thing that will put you on a bestseller list if you are an indie or small-press author. [Unless the local newspaper compiles its bestseller list from that store alone, but that’s another blog post for another day.]

The bottom line is use your energy wisely, understand that bookstores are a business. Be the professional author that you’d like the bookstore to treat you as. If you respect the businesses that can help you along the way it will pay off in the long run.

Oh, and I almost forgot — be sure you have the best possible book that you can write, and if you are self-published, produce, including paying for professional-looking covers and good editing.

Good luck and good writing!