Kathy Lynn Emerson's Blog, page 50

Weekend Update: March 4-5, 2017

Next week at Maine Crime Writers, there will be posts by Brenda Buchanan (Monday) Dick Cass (Tuesday), Lea Wait (Wednesday), Barb Ross (Thursday) and Brendan Rielly (Friday).

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

Tuesday evening, March 7, Joy Seymour, Dale Phillips and Lea Wait will be speaking at 6 p.m. at the New Hampshire Technical Institute, 51 College Drive, in Concord, New Hampshire.

 

 

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

Book Touring

Bruce Robert Coffin here, wishing a happy March to all! The madness of winter has almost ended. Be brave.

As we draw closer to spring, I wanted to reflect a bit on the ongoing promotion that I’ve been doing for my debut novel, Among the Shadows. This past week I made two more appearances, Tuesday I was at the Naples Public Library and yesterday I spoke at the Cumberland Club in Portland in front of the Rotary Club of Portland Sunrise. I have to tell you, this might be my favorite thing next to actually writing the books. And it’s a good thing I feel this way, yesterday’s Rotary appearance was my 36th since the book launched last September, and I have two more scheduled for next week!

Why do I enjoy this aspect of being an author so much? Well, first off, I’d have to say it’s largely because of the people who turn out to these events. Fellow book lovers, closet writers, and mystery fans. The crowds tend to be enthusiastic and no two appearances are ever the same. Some of them have already read my novel while many others haven’t. Most of the audiences want me to read a passage or two and they all want to ask questions. Some focus on my path to publication, some about my prior career in law enforcement, some want me to describe my writing process, and a few hearty souls want to hear about all of it. The librarians and bookstore owners/employees are great too. They spend a great deal of time getting the word out, sending press releases, posting fliers, updating websites and social media. There’s a lot more to it than simply putting on the coffee and unlocking the doors.

What I enjoy most are the questions posed about my characters, John Byron, Diane Joyner, and the rest of the gang. People want to know what makes them tick, what they’ll be up to next, and whether or not I based them on real people. Why do I find these questions so enjoyable? Because I spend most of my time with these characters and it’s nice to know that others care about them as much as I do. Call it a shared psychosis if you like but for me it’s affirmation that my writing matters to people.

Someone said do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, that’s not entirely true, writing novels is a hell of a lot of work. But sharing the experience with others, that is simply awesome.

If you’d like to learn more about scheduling an appearance, visit my website at: brucerobertcoffin.com or drop me a line at: brucerobertcoffin@roadrunner.com

On The Road Again

Kate Flora: I am convinced, of course, that people rarely read what I write here, which

Sign beside a murky pond in North Carolina

gives me license to write nonsense from time to time. Today, having crawled out of the car after eight hours in awful traffic, I’m not sure I have the capacity to write anything BUT nonsense. Sometimes the most fun blog posts emerge, though, when I have nothing planned in advance and just sit down and write, bleary eyes be damned!

As you know, most of a writer’s life is spent sitting at a desk, fingers poised over the keyboard, hoping that the lovely sentences crafted in the writerly brain actually seem lovely when put down on the page. But as I’ve occasionally remarked here, sometimes the writer is allowed to leave her desk and go out into the world in search of inspiration. It can take very strange forms.

For the past several days, being away from my desk has involved driving from New England to the Gulf Coast of Sunny Florida. It was warm when I left, making me wonder why  needed to so south at all, and today it was 90 degrees here.

Mormon church outside DC, gleaming like a Disney castle in the rain

Much of the fun of being out on the road, when there aren’t traffic jams, is watching the world around me. So, heading south toward Washington D.C., I found myself behind a truck with this message written on the back: Hate trucks? Stop buying stuff. Problem solved. Pithy and to the point.

Passing a sign that declared Savannah, Georgia, “the world’s most romantic cities,” and attributing that quote to a travel magazine, I, like any writer would, yelled, “GET ME AN EDITOR.” But then, as my husband and I speculated about what we thought was romantic, we passed a dead skunk, our speculations became about roadkill and romance, or, as he said, “Roadkill and Candlelight.” I said it sounded like a blog post. He agreed. Actually, I think it will end up being a short story.

And instead of letting other people’s annoying driving make me furious, I collect the idiots, and the autos they choose, and their appearances, expressions, and aggressions, and save them up for minor characters.

Do the rest of you take notes on possible stories as you drive along? Are there genius ideas lurking somewhere in your life on small pieces of paper? Now that I’m older,

A trompe l’oeil cat in Calistoga, California

and my memory isn’t as keen as it once was, I tend to write the clever ideas down in my phone. Alas, though, often later I can’t remember what those pithy notes mean. For example, one note reads: A pot full of brown water. On reflection I realize this refers to the coffee at the Ritz. They could do better. I think we all know what “Last French fry before kale,” means. But what about “the bloody tart?” Or “why’d it have to be snakes?” Or the comment someone once made that I heard wrong, about a copy who loved to stop people for “erotic driving.”

Or how about this gem, which ought to send all of you scrambling to your keyboards:

Sex scenes based on Moby Dick, Dickens, Ulysses.

Some good advice for writers, saved in my phone, source unknown: Take two hours and call me in the morning.

Sign in a winery window

Do not allow your heart to harden.

Be a student even when you’re a teacher

Allow Your Fear

and Create Miracles.

Maybe what we all need to do, from time to time, is get behind the wheel, go on a road trip, or explore the gems we’ve at some point recorded on small bits of paper. The world is full of things to intrigue or entertain us.

 

Wintah Weathah

Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson here, today writing about snow.

You may have heard that we’ve had a few pretty good storms in Maine this winter. In my part of the state, the Western Maine mountains, this is good news. The winter sports industries—skiing, snowmobiling, sled dog racing and others—are pretty important to our economy and they live or die by how much snow we get. This year they are all very happy. The ordinary householder? Not so much. There has been an awful lot of snow to dig out after every storm.

Still, it’s pretty when you don’t have to go out in it. And adding a snowstorm to the plot can certainly add tension to a novel. I used that old chestnut of being trapped with a murderer by a blizzard in the fourth Liss MacCrimmon novel. The Corpse Wore Tartan. I think I had more fun writing that novel than just about anything else in my career. Not only were my continuing characters trapped in Moosetookalook, Maine’s grand old hotel, The Spruces, but so were the quarrelsome members of a Scottish heritage society who had been celebrating Burns Night there. To get help, Liss and Dan had to trek overland on snowshoes. The real challenge, though, was coming up with reasons why every single form of communications went out for the stretch of time I needed my characters to be cut off from the rest of the world.

Sprinkled through today’s post are photos I took during various snow storms so far this year. Of course, as I write this, it’s on a day when several places in Maine have broken high temperature records. Maine’s weather is nothing if not unpredictable! You see that shot of snow hanging off the garage roof in a graceful curve? That was taken February 1, when it had already been like that for at least a week. It finally let go on February 21. We were lucky. It only broke one window on its way down.

Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett is the author of over fifty books written under several names. She won the Agatha Award 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 for “The Blessing Witch.” Currently she writes the contemporary Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries (Kilt at the Highland Games) as Kaitlyn and the historical Mistress Jaffrey Mysteries (Murder in a Cornish Alehouse ~ UK in December 2016; US in April 2017) as Kathy. The latter series is a spin-off from her earlier “Face Down” series and is set in Elizabethan England. Her websites are www.KaitlynDunnett.com and www.KathyLynnEmerson.com

Family Color: or the story of my hunting jacket

John Clark taking you back to 1980 and the story of how the Orange Mailbox came to be Mom’s trademark and what happened over 30 years later. The people at Skyward in Owls Head may have saved Mom’s life. They certainly saved her sanity and her career as both a teacher and a writer. There was a 2 ½ year period where she struggled to get and stay sober. It seemed like every time she strung six months together, my father would go into demon mode and she’d have a slip. Each time it happened, the Skyward folks would remind her that staying sober with another active alcoholic in the house wasn’t the best remedy for success. My football playing friend Chainsaw Charlie had a perfect saying for the dilemma. As he put it, “Which time do you learn the play?” Well Mom finally got it.

The Orange Mailbox at 1000 E. Sennebec Road.

At the next town meeting in Union, a funding request for Skyward was in the budget. Merv Merrill, an excellent blacksmith, but a misogynistic curmudgeon, got up and essentially said that women didn’t need any tomfoolish treatment program, all they needed was to stay home and obey their husbands and everything would be fine. He never imagined that Mom would get up, tell her story of recovery and shame him silly, but that’s exactly what happened and the request was funded.

Merv thought he got his revenge when Mom took the family mailbox to him for much needed repairs (Yours truly had put 20+ .22 rounds through it one 4th of July while drunk as a skunk),. He welded all the holes shut, then painted it lobster buoy orange, thinking that would put that uppity schoolteacher in her place. As anyone who knew Mom can attest, that act of revenge backfired and the mailbox not only became her trademark and the name of her long running column in the Camden Herald, it made her world famous.

Fast forward to 2012. I’d been an active hunter since age nine and looked forward to deer season every November, but while walking through new growth behind sister Kate’s blueberry field, I looked down at my blaze orange jacket and saw lots of tiny moving specks. I’d gone through one heck of a bunch of deer ticks and they were crawling everywhere. It’s not the smartest move to strip to white long underwear during hunting season, but at that moment, getting shot was a lesser worry than ridding myself of the evil parasites. By the time I finished,I’d removed and killed 34of the little devils. The experience was enough to get me out of the woods and keep me out. Subsequent stories I heard from others about the size of tick infestation, particularly near Union, was enough for me to turn to other pursuits during November, NANOWRIMO being one of them.

The jacket during the design process

While I might be done with hunting, my jacket wasn’t ready to retire. Beth started wearing it while walking our dog and I used it on those in-between days when coat is too much and a t-shirt not enough. A couple years ago, it took some serious hits from sparks during our annual spring bonfire in the middle of the garden.

Jump ahead once more to post-election America, 2016. Beth and I awake to a terrible new reality. It takes a few weeks for the shock to wear off, then the inauguration comes and shock turns to anger and a realization that there’s no way to stay inside our comfort zones and retain any shred of self respect.

I was very active in college and for a few years after graduation, but the night I told the mayor of Portland to do something biologically impossible at a large gathering following Brownie Carson’s primary loss, was enough to send me into political seclusion for a long time. I contented myself with voting in every election and serving on town budget committees and planning boards. However staying quiet was no longer an option.

The Jacket as part of the exhibit in Bangor.

Beth got involved sooner than I did, making a decision to participate in the Womens March in Augusta. As she pondered how to prepare, she asked if she could wear my hunting jacket. As she thought more about how to make a statement, she pulled out some unbleached muslin and researched women who had impacted the rights movements in America. Each got their name stenciled on a piece of muslin and then were sewn on the jacket.

Little did we know how big an impact her efforts would have on others in the march. Many who marched commented on the jacket and took photos. The next we knew, she was asked if the jacket could be part of a community space exhibit in Bangor highlighting the march. But that wasn’t the end for my jacket. Word continued to spread and it’s now about to become part of an exhibit at the Maine State Museum.

Like the jacket, our activism lives on. We were part of a 30+ group of citizens who went to Susan Collins office to express our concerns about the new presidency as well as to express our disappointment over her support of some of the cabinet appointees. Two weekends ago, we marched in Portland in support of affordable health care. On Presidents Day, I participated in the Not My President demonstration at the state house in Augusta. Beth plans on speaking at a legislative hearing in support of school funding this week, while both of us have made numerous calls and have written letters and postcards to state and national elected representatives. Her latest act was to be part of an open air town hall in Bangor to put more pressure on Susan Collins to have open town meetings.

This Saturday, we’re participating in the Maine Resistance summit at the Augusta Civic Center. (https://www.facebook.com/events/1267468383346444/). Neither of us expects to fall by the wayside any time soon. In fact, Beth posts ‘Why I Continue to March’ on Facebook where she shares her thoughts and insights about stepping out of the comfort zone.

Many of you reading this may disagree with what we’re doing. I’m fine with that. As I said when interviewed by New England Cable News at the Not My President demonstration, I’m ashamed of the world we’re leaving for my granddaughter.

Ya know what folks? We’re not making this up…

Three generations of journalism: my grandfather, my father and me.

I’d had a whole pile of nice, Mainey, mystery writing topics I was trying to choose from for this blog post.

But something else has come up and those are going to have to wait. Normally, I try to stay away from politics on this blog, but things really haven’t been normal lately, have they? Anyway, this isn’t about politics, it’s about the news media, which isn’t politics, even though it may seem like it is.

I recently finished a 33-plus year journalism career. I was a third-generation newspaper editor, following in the footsteps of my dad and grandfather. I’ve come across a lot of journalists in my life. Hundreds, at least. And I can count on one hand the ones who made things up. Seriously. They stood out. They weren’t respected. I asked my dad, and he could name two journalists who made things up — or possibly did — and he had to reach way back into the 1960s or early 1970s to find them. Neither of them worked for or with him, but the newsroom talked about them. He easily remembered their names. In fact, most journalists can reel off the names of their colleagues who made things up. And we can all recall the infamous ones: Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Mike Barnicle. Getting caught making things up is total humiliation. It’s one of the biggest sins, after plagiarism, that you can commit as a journalist. Journalists who did it are remembered.

And you know why? Because journalists don’t make things up. That’s all the way from the biggies — CNN and The New York Times, for instance — right down to the local free weekly that you find in your mailbox.

It bothers me that people in power would toss off accusations about the press so easily, that they’d treat the press as though it’s under the control of government and that it’s some kind of “enemy” because it’s reporting things that those in power don’t like. But there’s been some form of that forever, though not to the degree we’ve seen it recently.

What bothers me just as much is that people buy it so easily. People who’d be insulted if any one of us went into their workplace and questioned their honesty or ethics seem to find it more than easy to believe that hard-working American journalists — all of whom had to display a certain amount of skill, work ethic and commitment to honesty and accuracy to get where they are — would so easily make things up because they don’t like the guy who is in the White House. [It’s also a little laughable that there would be a big conspiracy in the press to do it. Journalists can’t even agree where to go for a sandwich, they’re not going to all get together on making up major government misdeeds.]

Sure I’ve seen plenty of lazy journalists. Plenty of stupid ones, or those who just didn’t care enough to do the job right. It’s the same as where you work, right? But those ones don’t get very far and certainly aren’t the majority.

And as a former journalist I can say that we’re used to being unpopular. I honestly felt when I was a reporter that if the people I covered didn’t like me on some level, then I was doing my job right. I wasn’t supposed to be their friend, I was supposed to shine the light. So this isn’t babyish whining because the press is taking some hits. We’re uncomfortable if we don’t.

But understand this. I’ll say it again, because I can’t say it enough. We do not make things up. Simple as that.

The job of the press is to inform, but also to keep a watch on government, to tell you what the people you elected (or at least the ones who were elected to represent you) are doing. If no one fills that role, then the people running the government can simply do whatever they want. If they tell you that what you’re reading in the paper, or more likely hearing about on TV, is a lie, then they are in total control. That’s how dictatorships start.

I’ve heard people high in government say that the press doesn’t “represent” the people right now, and that’s why you shouldn’t trust it. Well, aside from the fact that the press isn’t some giant slithering hydra, but actual human beings just like you, single parents and people with mortgages and Little League games to go to, and coffee stains on their shirts. It’s made up of people. Normal, everyday people. But, no, it doesn’t “represent the people.” The press is its own institution, not beholden to government or to anyone. It’s not under the single control of any one force except truth and information. The free press is exactly that. It’s obligation to the people is to inform and be a watchdog, and if it represents the people, that’s how it does it: by being a check on government, corporations, institutions and anything or anyone else that may only operate the way it’s supposed to if someone is watching.

Does this sound pedantic and condescending? Sorry. Actually, I’m not. We live in a time where things need to be spelled out in very stark black and white terms if they’re to be understood.

I don’t think the public realizes just how important it is to news organizations to be ethical and accurate, or are aware of the discussions that take place in newsrooms every day to make sure that  happens. The things that even the youngest, least experienced cub reporter does to make sure sources and information are the real deal. When a news organization uses an anonymous source, a lot of discussion goes into why the source should not be revealed. It’s not something anyone takes lightly. That source is vetted and editors make sure that the person is credible and there’s backup to what he or she is telling the reporter. I’ve never worked at a newspaper where use of anonymous sources was taken lightly, or where we sat around and made things up and created anonymous sources to sell it to the readers.

News organizations and journalists feel a huge responsibility for what they do, and they are among the most ethical and accuracy-driven people I know. They frequently do this in the face of criticism, being lied to and being disparaged publicly. They usually suck it up and still do their jobs the best way they can.

Since I’m no longer a working journalist, I can say what many of them can’t, because they still have to stay objective in the face of insults and lies.

We Maine Crime Writers write fiction, for the most part. Several of us have journalism backgrounds and even protagonists who are journalists. I bet every single one of us who was a journalist will tell you how difficult it was in some ways to make the transition to making things up when we started to write fiction because it goes so much against our gut.

Don’t take my word for any of this, though. It’s easy to not be bamboozled, either by politicians or, if you don’t trust it, by the press. Simply seek out as many sources as you can for your information, and keep an open mind to what you’re finding out. Educate yourself. The biggest enemy of free thinking isn’t the lies you may be hearing from politicians, or the ones you perceive in the news, but the inability to think for yourself. Understand what you’re reading and what’s being said, question and analyze. Learn history, and economics and about how the world works.

Don’t believe everything you hear, even if it’s from the most powerful person in the country. As we say in the news biz, “If your mother says she loves  you, get a second source.”

Sure it’s hard to educate yourself and be informed. It’s a lot of work. but living in a world where you let others tell you what to think is a lot harder in the long run.

And you know what? The events of the past year or so? It’s way stranger than fiction. We couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried.

Maureen Milliken is the author of the Bernie O’Dea mystery series. Follow her on Twitter at@mmilliken47 and like her Facebook page at Maureen Milliken mysteries. Sign up for email updates at maureenmilliken.com. She hosts the podcast Crime&Stuff with her sister Rebecca Milliken.

Weekend Update: February 25-26, 2017

Next week at Maine Crime Writers, there will be posts by Maureen Milliken (Monday) John Clark (Tuesday), Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson (Wednesday), Kate Flora (Thursday) and Bruce Coffin (Friday).

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

Bruce Robert Coffin will be appearing at the Naples Public Library, 940 Roosevelt Trail, Naples, Maine, on Tuesday, February 28 at 7:00 pm. Bridgton Books will be on hand with copies of Bruce’s debut novel Among the Shadows.

Registration has opened for the Maine Crime Wave. You can get a description and find detailed schedule and registration links here. Lots of Maine Crime Writers and alums are participating. We’d love to see you there!

 

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

Save

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Social Media for Writers

Vaughn

For the past few years when asked for marketing or PR assistance from my publisher and (yes) my former agent , “Use social media,” seems to be the mantra. I fully understand the importance of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Of the three I believe Twitter to be the most useful. One reason is that I’ve broken myself of the Facebook addiction of late. For eighteen months I couldn’t pick up a newspaper, listen to radio, or watch television news without having one politician or another lying to me (I believe that we should ignore anything they tell us in an election campaign–all they’re doing is telling us what they think we want to here. Once the election is over they push their own agenda–which usually means finding ways to enrich themselves–until the next election that is.). After November 4, 2016 I breathed a sigh of relief erroneously believing that the election was over. Well, on Facebook it isn’t. I have started to unfriend that portion of my friend’s list who continually post politics; I don’t push my political philosophy on you, so please return the favor. The election is over, for God’s sake, move on! (While we’re at it, please stop trying to make me feel guilty by posting pictures of unfortunate children and those annoying posts that tell me if I don’t share it I’ll have bad luck. If you’re truly my friend you’ll know that I don’t share those things so in reality you’re putting a hex on me.) Still as a writer we cannot afford to completely ignore the power of social media.

Personally of the three I find that Twitter meets my needs the most for the following reasons:

You can reach all of your followers for FREE. Facebook will prevent a percentage of your followers from seeing your posts–unless you pay to promote your post. If your followers are logged on to Twitter, they’ll see your tweets.
You can tweet as often as you like. Facebook’s Edgerank algorithm score suffers the more you post.
Engage your readers right now. Tweets are like micro-blogs and Twitter users are accustomed to receiving information at a rapid-fire pace. It is therefore the perfect way to spread news about what’s happening in your writing life at this very moment.

What to tweet and not to tweet (for Authors)

– Do not sell your book!

Nothing annoys your followers more then asking them “Please buy my book”, “Please, read my book”, “Now only 99 cents” etc. Followers are quickly annoyed and will call this ‘shameless’ self-promotion. And you might think the same when reading only these kinds of tweets from people you are following and might decide to not follow these Tweeps anymore.

– Make yourself as Author interesting

Tweet about your writing and the progress of your new book project. Having received an amazing review, award, etc. Share the publishing process, provide tips for others. Share sale success etc. If you make yourself/your book interesting enough  your followers will probably investigate and buying your book and/or reviewing your book. (soft sale)

Let your followers know if your book has been featured, or you’ve done an Interview or a guest-post. Let them know about reading or signings, how to get freebies, etc.

– Get involved in discussions

You’re seeing your followers discussing interesting topics – get involved. Or ask a question to start a conversation.

– Re-tweeting

If you see interesting or helpful tweets from others you’d like to share – RT (Re-Tweet) it to your followers. This helps interesting posts to get a wider audience. Your followers will RT your Tweets as well if they are interesting for them. Don’t ask for RT’s – your followers will re-tweet your tweets if your posts are good (interesting, helpful) enough for a RT.

– Using Hashtags (#)

Use Hashtags – so Tweeps who search for for a category or genre can easier find your tweets, like #thriller #para #ya #WritingTip etc. Don’t overuse them – else tweets can be more difficult to read with to many hashtags.

– Build relationships with other writers

“Thanks for the RT” doesn’t exactly build relationships. If someone retweets your tweet or mentions you, take the extra two minutes to check out their Twitter profile, see what they write, and comment on it in a tweet with a ‘Thank you’ included.

Fellow writers are mostly also readers and are great to have relationships with to share tweets, writing tips, found a beta reader group, etc. Do NOT use these relationships trying to sell them your books. (This can be seen a lot on Twitter)

To get the most out of your Twitter Account I highly recommend you purchase a copy of Twitter for Dummies.

Tools of the Trade

Jessie: Peering out my office window over a sun-blotting snowbank.

One of the many pleasures of being a writer is a sort of carte blanche regarding  stationary supplies. During difficult days spent staring at a blank page I sometimes wonder if guilt-free access office supplies is what makes any of it worth the doing.

Now that I’ve started writing historical mysteries I find the flames of my interest Even more wildly fanned. My characters use  manual typewriters, fountain pens, and reams of foolscap. In the interest of research, I  hardly be blamed if I feel I must try these things out for myself. How could I possibly describe the heft of a fountain pen or the scratch of its nib against a creamy sheet of heavy paper if I had not used one myself?

What started as research has turned into a guilty pleasure  of the finest kind. At present I would prefer not to report the number of pens I feel fondly towards. Things have gotten to the point I am considering  sophisticated storage methods.

Notebooks, and boxes of stationary chomp at the heels of my pen obsession. Used notebooks filled with story ideas and outlines and things I meant to remember sit cheek by jowl on a shelf in my office. Their unsullied neighbors awaiting their own turn beneath the inelegant ministrations of my pens give me chiding glances whenever I attempt to squeeze my latest spontaneous purchase in next to them on a already crowded shelf.

Thus far, I’ve managed to resist the siren song of blotting paper and wax seals. But I won’t lie; I doubt I can hold out much longer. Jetpens.com, Gouletpens.com,  Levenger and even Amazon offer up temptations every time I visit their sites. Trips to bookstores with stationary sections are similarly kitted out with an necessary yet almost irresistible writing tools. The only thing I can say in my defense, especially at this time of year, is that these  purchases are tax-deductible.

Readers is there anything you find especially hard to resist? Do you love pens, notebooks, jars of paste?

Maine House Dreams

These days, I hang my hat in a lovely home in a little neighborhood off Mere Point Road in Brunswick, Maine. Ben and I are renting the place for the year from a couple of professors who have taken a year-long sabbatical to California with their two young children. Yeah, the same California that’s currently underwater and may never recover. Possibly not the best timing there.

It’s worked out well for Ben and me, though. There are quiet roads where I can walk my boy Killian, and the neighbors are dog savvy enough that they don’t let their pooches run wild – thus ensuring that my pup does not eat them. Which is good. The basement has been renovated, which means Ben’s fourteen-year-old son has space of his own when he comes to visit, and I have an office overlooking our quaint Brunswick street. In other words, life is good. The house is good.

It’s not our house, though. It’s not our art work on the walls, and our cooking stuff has to compete for space with all the stuff the home owners left behind. We can’t have bird feeders because we’re only going to be here a short time, and don’t want the owners to come home to songbirds accustomed to getting a daily handout. Thus, we’ve decided that our best next step would be to buy our own place once the lease is up here in July.

Which means we’re house hunting.

I’ll let you in on a little secret:

I love house hunting.

It turns out that it is more challenging, however, when you’re not just daydream house hunting but actually, actively looking for a home. And that much harder when you have two minds trying to agree on a single vision. Ben and I, as it happens, have different ideas of what constitutes the perfect house. I like places that require a little imagination (I once lived in a Kentucky elementary school, and I’m hooked on that HGTV show You Live in What?). Energy efficiency/green building is good. Outdoor space for chickens and gardens and, possibly, goats. And I’ve been mulling over the idea of directing my creative energies toward building funky bunny and guinea pig habitats wherever we end up (I’m not sure what that’s about, but I suspect the current administration may have broken my brain). I like light. I don’t care for neighbors.

Ben likes stately old Victorians, with grand staircases and gorgeous architectural details. He’s okay with less land, though he does agree that chickens and goats would be pretty cool. In-town is fine with him, depending on the town. Ben also has a day job in Portland, so he’s looking for a daily commute of a maximum of 45 minutes each way.

Suddenly, I’ve become part of one of those annoying couples featured on House Hunters (another HGTV show – are you sensing a theme?). “We have $150,000 and would like five bedrooms, four baths, at least two acres, a pool, and an animatronic lawn jockey to carry our children from room to room.”

Our budget is a little more substantial than that, and Ben’s son is perfectly capable of walking, so an animatronic lawn jockey really isn’t necessary… but you get the idea.

Happily, we do have common ground, though. We’re both agreed that we don’t want to break the bank with this house, though chances are good we’ll be staying there for a while. That said, neither of us is up for major renovations, so a fixer upper is not really an option. We both love cooking, so a kitchen with good light, quality appliances, storage, and lots of counter space would be ideal. A good bathtub is a must – the place we’re in now has a giant jetted tub, and I would kind of like to be buried in that thing. If we’re going for a smaller footprint, a fenced yard would be great for Killian; if not, a barn for goats would be lovely. Reading nooks, built-in bookshelves, pantries and half-baths and a walk-in closet… These are the buzzwords that sing in my head now.

It wasn’t so long ago that it seemed utterly fantastical to think I might be a homeowner again, after the debacle with the elementary school in Kentucky. The fact that we’re this close isn’t something I take for granted; hell, just living this idyllic suburban existence in Brunswick often seems like a dream. Now that the moment to move forward is almost upon us, I just need to keep reminding myself what really matters: A peaceful, happy home with a little space for a garden.

And, just maybe, a jetted tub.

What about you? Are you living in the house of your dreams already? If so, what do you love the most about it? If you’re not there yet, what’s the feature you fantasize about the most? Comment below with your thoughts and/or words of wisdom. I’d love to hear from you!

Jen Blood is the USA Today-bestselling author of the Erin Solomon Mysteries and the Flint K-9 Search and Rescue Mysteries. To learn more, visit www.jenblood.com.