Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 108

Welcome Ryan Hoffman!

Liz here, happy to introduce a new cozy writer in our midst! Ryan Hoffman is here to talk about his cozy debut, Murder & Old Books, about a barista/bookstore owner who gets involved in murder. Take it away, Ryan!

Hello all from the bitter cold of South Dakota. I’m happy to be here and introducing you all to the new world that I’ve created. It took me a long time to figure out that I finally wanted to write a cozy mystery. As most of you have dealt with, I started with, what would my series would be about? I bounced from multiple ideas, asking the simple questions of who would my sleuth be, where would it be set, and who would be my victim. 

The first of all is who is my sleuth?  In my cozy debut, Murder & Old Books, my sleuth is Riley Morgan, a young barista turned bookstore and cafe owner. Except he didn’t start off as a bookseller and barista. I went through many ideas: produce clerk in a grocery store, sales person / manager in a Walmart style department store, a librarian, a coffee shop owner. Then I realized that I like two things in life, besides the people around me, coffee and books. That’s where the character of Riley Morgan started to take shape. I figured he’d have to be smart and observant so that’s why he worked as a coffee shop barista before managing his bookstore Cafe, Pages & Scone. He also needed some baggage, so I decided the reason why he ended up in the city and as a barista is because he had a falling out with his dad. And that led me to my amateur sleuth.

Next, I turned to the setting, I found that was the easy decision. I went in the whole “write what you know” direction and decided to set it right here in South Dakota. The landscape and people are so interesting here in the plains. I created my own fictional town of Cedar Grove borrowing “some” from real towns in the area. I also set it in a fictional version of the county where I grew up Lincoln County which is Jefferson County in the book. That was the really easy part. 

The last part was figuring out who would be my lucky victim. I decided with this series I would not follow some of the usual tropes for intended victims. I wanted Riley to have a reason to get invested and involved in the case. I just didn’t want to make him the prime suspect and follow that old cliche. So that’s why I created Jed the victim. He’s someone Riley would be close to, which would lead him to look into the case. Then came the fun part – figuring out the suspects and clues. 

I’m currently working on book two in the series, Home Roasted Killer, which will be out next spring. 

About the book

Running a bookstore… is murder!

Riley Morgan never expected to be back in his quiet hometown of Cedar Grove, South Dakota, population 3,211. The former barista turned bookstore owner has his work cut out for him. His opening day during Memorial Day weekend turns out to be better than expected. That is until one of his customers, local curmudgeon and drunk, Jed Nelson, turns up dead. Jed decides to leave Riley his dog and house in his will, making him the prime suspect. Of course there are lots of people that wanted Jed dead, from one of his ex-wives to a property developer looking to cash in on his land. Riley with the help of his childhood friend, and newfound canine companion, and his high school crush turned cop, decided to catch the killer before they added another deadly chapter to this mystery?..

About Ryan

Ryan Hoffman has always had a deep passion for writing. He has a degree in Criminal Justice. He is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime. He has held a lot of jobs which bring him a lot of experience to add to his cozy mystery novels. Those range from currently working in a cafeteria to working as a stocking clerk in a grocery store. He has always had a soft spot for mysteries since reading his first Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew book as a child. He graduated to devouring Agatha Christie and other mystery writers in his adult years. He currently lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but grew up in a small town similar to the ones he writes about.

Readers, let us know what you think of this new addition to the cozy scene below!

Thankful Thursday

Hi Wickeds! It’s the last Thankful Thursday of the year. What are you grateful for as we close out this crazy year, and what do you want to give to our readers?

Julie: I’m grateful for my writing life–the books I’ve written, my readers, and the Wickeds. I’m also grateful for streaming services, e-books and Zoom. While not being about to go out is terrible, technology makes it a lot easier. Grateful for friends and family as well. These days those connections matter more than ever.

Edith/Maddie: Right with you there, Julie, on family, friends (with the Wickeds way up top on the list), and the internet (via electricity). I’m also thankful for the scientists who created an effective vaccine in record time and for so many dedicated health workers risking their own lives to take care of the sick among us. I’d love to send one reader a copy of Taken Too Soon, which is about health care worker Rose Carroll.

Barb: As we come up to the shortest day of the year, New Years Day, and my birthday, I am grateful for another trip around the sun. It hasn’t been the greatest year for anyone, but for me it had some real highlights, including the birth of a granddaughter, and the month my husband and I got to spend with our seven-year-old granddaughter and her parents. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. I’m giving away an Advance Reader Copy of Shucked Apart, the ninth Maine Clambake Mystery.

Liz: Happy almost-birthday, Barb! Like Julie, I’m thankful for so much about my writing life. As I wrap up another book, I’ve been reflecting on how thankful I am to be regularly publishing books, meeting readers (online of course) and being able to entertain people. And the Wickeds, of course! I’m giving away a copy of A Whisker of A Doubt, the fourth Cat Cafe Mystery.

Sherry: I’m thankful for all the delivery people and behind the scenes workers who are making a social distance Christmas possible this year. I’m also grateful for an unexpected sixty-seven degree day we had last Sunday that made it possible to be outside with some lovely neighbors that we haven’t seen in a couple of months. I’ll give away an ARC of Absence of Alice.

Readers, what about you? What are you thankful for this month?

Wicked Wednesday: A toast to…

Happy Wednesday! Today I’m bringing you a bit of random trivia about what the tradition of clinking glasses and saying “cheers” really means. I don’t know about you all, but I’ve never given it much thought. It was just one of those things that you did, right?

Well, no. According to this article, people cheer for a number of reasons – including as a way to avoid being poisoned. And to ward off ghosts or evil spirits. Who knew? Wickeds, what does toasting and sending “cheers” mean to you? Or, what is your favorite thing to toast?

Edith/Maddie: Well, the word used for “cheers” in several European languages – salud, santé, saúde – means “health.” German prosit means, essentially, “Do well!” Kampai in Japanese means “Drain your glass” – or, I guess, “Bottoms up.” For me, whatever the language, it’s a ritual of sharing a glass and of wishing my fellow drinkers well.

Barb: One thing I’ve noticed, now that the next generation of grandchildren, grandnieces and nephews is coming along, is that toddlers love a good “cheers.” It’s one of the first social rituals they glom onto. They’re always happy to clink a glass, or a sippy cup, and say, “Cheers!” with the rest of the family.

Sherry: Barb, we went through a phase of always having sparkling cider in the house for Elizabeth and her friends to toast with. I was in the play the Diary of Anne Frank in high school and we did a L’Chaim — to life toast. I’ve always loved that one. We do a cheers when we have family dinners. And toasts are a huge part of military dining ins and dining outs. There is a whole protocol for them.

Jessie: We toast all sorts of things at my house! Champagne is one of my favorite beverages. We cheer each other on habitually but for reallly noteworthy things we will stand at the dining table and give a short speech remarking on the triumph of another and then the speech maker leads thefamily in a rousing, three-round chorus of hip, hip hooray with glasses held aloft. It is has been a tradition in our home since forever and one of my favorite quirky things about life with my family.

Readers, tell us what you’re most likely to offer up some “Cheers!” for in the comments!

Oh, The Mistakes You Will Make!

by Barb, in Maine, where it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Our guest today is a woman who needs no introduction, at least to crime writers in New England. She’s a founding member of the New England Crime Bake, Level Best Books, (first publisher of several Wickeds) and the Maine Crime Writers blog. She’s been publishing for twenty-five years and writing longer than that. She’s here today to give us the benefits of her wisdom.

Take it away, Kate!

There are those who will meticulously research the field before embarking on their first story. Most of us, though, have an idea, a character, and incident, a story to tell that we manage to put down despite our terror of the blank page and the certainty that we have no idea what we’re doing. Our mistakes often begin when we have no idea that we’re embarking on a series.

I had no idea, more than a quarter of a century ago when I started my Thea Kozak series with Chosen for Death that I would write another story with Thea in it. I didn’t know I was using a cliché (unless it was a trope) when I made her a young widow with a sad past, determined never to love again. When she and Andre, the Maine state trooper investigating her sister’s death, battle their way to a relationship, I intended it to be a minor thing. Then I submitted book two (having been given, to my surprise, a three book contract) and got back a nine page critique from my editor, about every other line of which was “pump up the Andre quotient.”

He wasn’t supposed to be a major character. Thea was supposed to rescue herself. For the next several books, I was stuck with the battle of two strong-willed characters, both of whom are rescuers, trying to create a relationship where he can give her the space she needs to be who she is. Not part of my plan.

Conventional series wisdom suggests that you don’t let your character get too entangled in relationships, because having a significant other makes it hard for the amateur detective to leap out of bed at three a.m. to go asleuthing. Someone is going to say “Are you okay?” or “Where are you going?” or “I’m coming with you.” Or someone is going to say, “It’s too dangerous. Don’t go.” Especially when that someone is a “serve and protect” kind of guy. Some of this can be solved by long-distance relationships: Thea in Massachusetts and Andre in Maine. But in the long term, that couple who weren’t meant to be will want to be together.

A mistake that time will make? The writer gets older and the character does not. Technology changes. Music changes. Clothing styles change. Over a quarter of a century, Thea will age a few years. I will age, well, a quarter of a century, and be calling on my nieces and daughter-in-law for advice about the music in Thea’s car.

Don’t let your character get married. Relationships are okay but don’t tie your character down too much. I dragged it out for a few books, but then the inevitable happened. Perhaps there was a nudge from readers when several other series writers killed off their character’s significant other and I started getting mail that said: If you kill off Andre, I’ll never read you again. Don’t make the mistake of forgetting how much readers get invested in your characters.

Biggest mistake you can make? Bring children into the picture. As a former attorney for the Maine Department of Human Services in the area of abused and neglected children, I always used to say that I would take Dave Robicheaux’s daughter away from him because he was such a careless, risk-taking parent. Now I fear I may have to do the same to Thea.

In the latest book, Death Comes Knocking, she is very pregnant when another very pregnant, and mysterious, woman knocks on her door. She and Thea are on track to become friends when the woman disappears, and Thea needs to rescue her. Cue in a demanding job, a house renovation, a protective husband, and a woman the shape of whale. Thea has always been a rescuer. She describes herself a “Thea the Human Tow Truck,” someone who finds people broken down on the highway of life and has to stop and help. But now she is responsible for the baby she’s carrying and must balance her need for caution with her desire to help.

For a while now, Thea and Andre have called their prospective child MOC, for Mason, Oliver or Claudine. They don’t know the sex of their child, so they, and readers, will learn it together in the next book. All they know so far is that they will be the parents of a acrobat. Meanwhile, before book eleven, this writer had better find them an excellent nanny, or readers will be writing to say she’s not taking good care of the baby.

Here are two Christmas stories for you:

A Christmas Story

Angel’s Christmas Eve

Readers: Is there a mistake you’ve made that only could be revealed with time?

About Kate

Kate Flora’s fascination with people’s criminal tendencies began in the Maine attorney general’s office. Deadbeat dads, people who hurt their kids, and employers’ discrimination aroused her curiosity about human behavior. The author of twenty-two books and many short stories, Flora’s been a finalist for the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer awards. She won the Public Safety Writers Association award for nonfiction and twice won the Maine Literary Award for crime fiction. Her most recent Thea Kozak mystery is Death Comes Knocking; her most recent Joe Burgess is A Child Shall Lead Them. Her crime story collection is Careful What You Wish For: Stories of revenge, retribution, and the world made right. Her latest publications include a romantic suspense, Wedding Bell Ruse, a story in The Faking of the President and one in Heartbreaks and Half-Truths. The next Joe Burgess police procedural, A World of Deceit, will be published in 2021.

Flora divides her time between Massachusetts and Maine, where she gardens and cooks and watches the clouds when she’s not imagining her character’s dark deeds.

Traditions

Jessie: In New Hampshire where it looks like it will be a white Christmas!

While I know this year has been strange and different on so many levels for almost everyone, one of the things that has been on my mind most has been traditions surrounding the holidays. For my family, the pandemic isn’t the only thing that is influencing everything. My kids are older. In fact, in a pandemic sort of wayt, we are kind on empty nesters. My youngest started college this fall and despite unexpected returns home by adult kids, we are living a bit differently in the day-to-day.

But we are also facing changes in traditons. The kids aren’t as interested in decorating or cookie baking. No one is excited to make ginngerbread houses. There are fewer gifts since the things they want are more expensive.

Which feels a bit empty and even a little sad. It also provides an opportunity to build new traditions. Except, I have no idea what they ought to be. We will decorate our tree this weekend as we always do witheggnog and appetizers and homemade cookies. I’ll whip up a batch of buckeyes. But what else do people do? Do they play week-long games of Monopoly? Try snow-shoeing as a family? Build bonfires in the yard?

I am open to suggestion from all of you!

So readers, what do you have for traditions with your loved ones that work well for people of all ages?

Welcome Guest Tara Lush

I’m so excited to welcome Tara Lush to the blog! Her first in a new series book, Grounds for Murder, A Coffee Lovers mystery, is set in Florida! Tara has coined a term for cozies set in Florida, but you’ll have to read the post to find out what it is. She’s also offering a very generous giveaway that you can find at the end of the post!

By TARA LUSH

Many people think of quaint English hamlets and twee New England villages when they crack open a cozy mystery novel.

Me? I’m looking for something a little closer to home: Florida.

I know, I know. We’ve all heard and read the “Florida Man” jokes. They’re hilarious. They’re shocking. They’re a staple on every news outlet. As a journalist, I’ve even written many of those stories. Political corruption, horrific crime, alligators, naked people with machetes, cockroaches ending up in unmentionable places…nothing shocks me anymore in this sunny place for shady people.

But in my cozy fiction, I like to imagine a less-dysfunctional tropical paradise. Sometimes too much reality is, well, too much. (Especially in 2020).

It’s why I set my debut cozy series in Florida. I call my books — and those like Sherry Harris’ excellent From Beer to Eternity — “tropical cozy.” Elaine Viets and Lucy Burdette also write Florida-set stories, and I highly recommend their books, too.

Tropical cozies are crime fiction tales set in Florida. They lack the dangerous edge of hardboiled mysteries. There’s a drop of desperation and a murmur of malfeasance, but nothing as terrible as real life. They’re the less cynical cousins to the fictional worlds of Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey. Tropical cozies have characters that you’d like to drink a latte with, not shower in rubbing alcohol after you meet them.

When I first decided to write a cozy, I’d been reading Kathy Reichs’ Deja Dead. Although I loved it, I couldn’t imagine myself writing something so dark. Along with weird Florida, I’d covered a lot of awful and tragic stories as a reporter.

I knew I wanted to write crime fiction that was softer, something with a little romance and a twisty murder… something gentle. But yet, quirky. Like Florida.

So I created the world of Devil’s Beach, a fictional island in the Gulf of Mexico where gossipy old hippies mingle with reformed mafiosos. Where the local newspaper writes stories about chicken nuggets shaped like manatees. Where a handsome Instagram-famous barista is found dead and no one bats an eye when a laid off journalist tries to figure out how the barista spent his final hours.

Settings are supremely important in cozies, and Devil’s Beach turned into another character. It’s loosely based on Sanibel, a stunning island in the Gulf of Mexico. I had a blast writing my first cozy, and it’s turned into a series published by Crooked Lane Books.

Most of all, I’m thrilled that I can show the world the quirky, eccentric, and gentle side of my home state. This winter, join me in reading a tropical cozy — it’s like a vacation for your brain.

READER QUESTION: What’s your favorite beach-themed book?

ABOUT GROUNDS FOR MURDER: Barista Lana Lewis’s sleuthing may land her in a latte trouble as Tara Lush launches her new Coffee Shop mysteries.

When Lana Lewis’ best — and most difficult — employee abruptly quits and goes to work for the competition just days before the Sunshine State Barista Championship, her café’s chances of winning the contest are creamed. In front of a gossipy crowd in the small Florida town of Devil’s Beach, Lana’s normally calm demeanor heats to a boil when she runs into the arrogant java slinger. Of course, Fabrizio “Fab” Bellucci has a slick explanation for jumping ship. But when he’s found dead the next morning under a palm tree in the alley behind Lana’s café, she becomes the prime suspect.

Even the island’s handsome police chief isn’t quite certain of her innocence. But Lana isn’t the only one in town who was angry with Fabrizio. Jilted lovers, a shrimp boat captain, and a surfer with ties to the mob are all suspects as trouble brews on the beach.

With her stoned, hippie dad, a Shih Tzu named Stanley, and a new, curious barista sporting a punk rock aesthetic at her side, Lana’s prepared to turn up the heat to catch the real killer. After all, she is a former award-winning reporter. As scandal hangs over her beachside café, can Lana clear her name and win the championship — or will she come to a bitter end?

LINK: books2read.com/u/4A7KLA 

SOCIAL:

Website: www.taralush.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LushBooks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authortaralush/

BIO: Tara Lush is a Rita Award finalist, an Amtrak writing fellow, and a George C. Polk Award winning journalist. For the past decade, she’s been a reporter with the Associated Press, covering crime, alligators, natural disasters, and politics.

She also writes contemporary romance set in tropical locations under her real name, Tamara Lush. A fan of vintage pulp-fiction book covers, Sinatra-era jazz, and 1980s fashion, she lives with her husband and two dogs on the Gulf coast.

GIVEAWAY: I’d like to give all the readers of Wicked Authors a free novella! GIVE ME CHILLS is set on Devil’s Beach, in the same location as Grounds for Murder, but about a different heroine. Here’s a link to download the book: https://BookHip.com/MAQSRL

Everything Is Possible

by Julie, enjoying a few days on Cape Cod

As part of my life coaching practice, I’ve been taking a class on career transition coaching. This week the conversation was about doing the research to know what a new career entails. The facilitator called on me. “Julie’s a writer. Julie, what does someone need to start writing?”

What she was looking for was a list like this. Space to write, a laptop, classes to help learn, time, professional support.

But my answer, or the answer I would have given in another context, is this. What you need in order to write is the deep belief that it’s possible for you to do, and the determination to figure it out.

Wanting to write a book, or run a marathon, or climb a mountain, or perform, or create, or bake a show-stopper of a cake–all of these creative pursuits start with a “wouldn’t it be interesting if” or “I’d love to do that” idea. From there, many people let the dream die because it’s hard to figure out the path. Or the path itself is difficult. But taking that leap of faith, to believe that it’s possible to achieve the goal, that’s one of the secret ingredients.

Believing that everything is possible, and working to figure out a path, isn’t a guarantee you’ll find a publisher, or get a medal, or win an award. But the point is that you’re opening yourself up to the possibilities that the pursuit offers. And you’re taking action. Which is much better than wondering if you could have done it.

At the end of October, I decided to do NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) because Sisters in Crime was sponsoring it. I’d done NaNo twice before, and had barely clocked 3,000 words each time. Would it be possible to write 50,000 words in one month, I wondered. I decided two things. First, to show up every day. The second thing I decided was to really try. As it turns out, it was possible. Last week I added more words, and finished the very, very rough first draft of Garden Squad #5.

Now, of course, there are very real barriers in front of folks who try to do what feels impossible. I’ve found that a mindset shift has helped me with some of my own barriers. Rather than waiting to celebrate the finishing, I celebrate the doing. Right now I’m taking a painting class online. The only way I can enjoy the process is to show up, watch the lesson, and have fun trying. My painting is not likely to be a masterpiece, especially with the way things are going right now. But by celebrating the doing, I embrace what is possible, and keep going. I’m not waiting for the future to happen, I’m celebrating the now.

2020 has been a time of reflection for many of us. Perhaps it’s the optimist in me, but I suspect that as people look toward 2021, they’re thinking about what matters, and adding some “I’ve always wanted to” items to their list. If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s to rethink my goals, and reconsider what I didn’t think was possible. Hence the canvas in my living room, full of possibility.

Friends, have you done something that you once felt was impossible? What gave you the courage to start?

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Happy Wednesday! Liz here, and today as part of our cheers theme, I’m thinking about Cheers! The Show!

As the theme song is playing in my head, I wonder about the yearning for a place like that bar in Boston. Some place familiar, where everybody knows your name.

A Wicked Welcome to Alec Peche **plus a giveaway**

By Julie, decking the halls in Somerville

I’d delighted to welcome Alec Peche to the blog today! Alec and I met because of her work on the Sisters in Crime national board–she is the chapter liaison, which is a huge job. She also writes several books a year, and is here to tell us about her Jill Quint, MD Forensic Pathologist series. Welcome Alec!

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Two years ago, I was fortunate to take a vacation to Australia and New Zealand. Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef was near the top of my bucket list or would be if I had one. I knew from the time I landed Down Under that I wanted to set one of my Jill Quint, MD Forensic Pathologist series in one or both countries.

The trouble was I had a wonderful vacation, and no one irritated me for seventeen straight days. Who could I kill in a future story? So I came away without a premise for a book. However, my back fence neighbor is an Australian fingerprint expert that works for my California County Sheriff. So I had this Australian echo coming over the fence, urging me to find a story premise. Then my neighbor was a guest speaker at my local Sisters in Crime chapter meeting. He was part of a forensic team sent by Australia to help New Zealand identify the 181 people killed in the Christchurch 2011 earthquake. He had amazing stories (and pictures) of how they identified the remains of people crushed by collapsed buildings. He also spoke of the two countries’ forensic society, and an idea was born in my head. What would a crime scene expert do to cover up his nefarious behavior? That idea cooked inside my brain until FORENSIC MURDER was born.

Other authors have discussed what’s it’s like to drop down the research rabbit hole. This book required my understanding of the organization of law enforcement in both countries. New Zealand has one police force for the country, the coroner is a lawyer, and hospital-based pathologists (in between their clinical duties) perform autopsies. There are no medical examiners with extensive experience performing autopsies on crime victims.

Australia has police forces by States as well as a Federal group. Their coroners are also attorneys as they conduct an inquest into a death. A forensic pathologist or a hospital-based pathologist will perform the autopsy, depending on the deceased’s location.

I’ve set my Jill Quint, MD series in the UK, the USA, Canada, Europe, and the South Pacific. As my stories have moved to each country, I’ve studied how law enforcement works and each country’s quirks. Australia has a deep sense of individualism, and it’s citizens object to being spied upon, so there are few road cameras. That fact hampered my ability as a writer to collect clues for Jill Quint to solve the case.

As for my writing process, when I start a book (I have 15 published novels), I love the first 1,000 words. It’s a new story and a new adventure in my mind. Then I get bogged down in the middle, wondering how I’ll solve the case, and my writing slows. The final 3-5 chapters fly by as I see how the story will end. If this sounds weird, it’s because I write by the seat of pants and start my story without knowing where it’s going. Writers who outline will shudder at my process, but I use it to complete 2-3 novels a year.  

Question – Have you noticed any quirks ascribed to a city, region, or another country that changes how law enforcement solves cases? I have one signed copy of FORENSIC MURDER to giveaway.

Biography



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Alec Peche is the California author of fifteen books. Eleven releases in the Jill Quint, MD, Forensic Pathologist series feature a part-time PI, part-time vintner. Four books in the Damian Green series follow a modern-day MacGyver solving cold cases with a retired detective. I live in Northern California with my rescue dog and cat. AlecPeche.com

About Forsensic Murder

Forensic Murder takes place in Australia and New Zealand. Jill is a guest speaker at the Forensic Society Convention. She, Nathan, and Angela build some vacation time around her speaking engagement. However, from Auckland to Wellington and onto Sydney and all the cities she visits, there are people that die or become very ill. What’s going on?

Covingenuity, Christmas Cheer, and a #giveaway

by Barb, in Portland, Maine with snow on the ground

Hi All. Advance Reader copies for Shucked Apart, the ninth Maine Clambake Mystery, are here and I’m giving one away to a lucky commenter below.

Last Thursday the bug guy came and Bill and I had to be out of the house for four hours. Ordinarily, this would be no problem on a December afternoon. We probably would have strolled to the Old Port, had a nice lunch and poked in and out of the shops for Christmas presents and stocking stuffers.

We’re not doing any of that stuff now. So we planned a different sort of day. We drove up the coast to Boothbay Harbor. We checked in on our former house, which is undergoing a massive renovation. It’s so nice to see someone spending money and care that it needed and knowing it will be a family home for a while to come.

[image error]House soon after it was built in 1879



[image error]House when my mother-in-law owned it.



[image error]House now

Then we picked up food curbside at the pizza place outpost of our favorite restaurant in Boothbay Harbor, Ports of Italy. We drove out to the end of Spruce Point and ate in the car as we watched the sun set.

From there we killed a little time while Bill took some pictures.

Then we drove off for our scheduled time at Gardens Aglow, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens annual holiday light show. Normally it is a lovely stroll around the gardens in the crisp winter air accompanied by the smells of pine and kettle corn. This year, it’s a drive through display, highly organized with timed tickets.

This is an example of what I have been calling “covingenuity”–people and organizations that respond to the current situation with creativity and gusto.

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A dramatic scene in my Maine Clambake novella in the collection Yule Log Murder takes place at Gardens Aglow.

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The light show really helped get me in the mood for the holidays and I’m so glad we did it.

(Note: All photos taken by Bill Carito in challenging circumstances from a slowly moving car. If you would like to see more of Bill’s photos follow him on Instagram @billcarito and @bill.carito.colorphotos )

Readers: Do you have an example of “covingenuity” in your family, friend groups or community? Tell us about them or just say “hi” to be entered to win an Advance Reader Copy of Shucked Apart.