Kathy Lynn Emerson's Blog, page 7
July 31, 2018
Maine Crime Writers Are Everywhere!
It’s summer in Maine, and we’re in libraries and bookstores, at author events, and also enjoying all that Maine has to offer. Here are some of the ways we are enjoying Maine this summer.
Kate Flora: I’ve been at Books in Boothbay with many of my fellow crime writers, on a picnic by the lime kilns near Rockport Harbor and enjoying dinner at Morse’s Cribstone Grill on Bailey Island.
John Clark has been exploring new territory, knocking on doors in Cambridge, Ripley, St. Albans, Hartland, Palmyra and Canaan. I only have to meet 7,000 people by election day. I’ve come to the realization that campaigning is librarianship in reverse. Instead of having new people come to the library and chat, I go to their place and listen. I’ve met hundreds of free range chickens, almost as many dogs (lots of licking and sniffing, no bites), some great goats and have heard concerns I never would have come up with on my own. Chatted with a 70 year old guy yesterday about the 1954 Ford he was rebuilding, with a 357 Chevy engine. Win or lose, this will be a life changing experience.
Susan Vaughan: Here I am in Rockland after a tour of the Draken Harald Hårfagre. This replica of an ancient Viking ship was built in 2014 in [image error]Norway and sailed to North America in 2016. After spending the winter in Mystic Seaport, the 115-foot open boat is touring the East Coast this summer. The deck tour informed and entertained my husband and me. The Draken was built with design and details meticulously copied from ancient wrecks, but boasts modern navigation equipment and two inboard motors. The captain joked that on the Atlantic crossing, they dealt with storms and high seas and ice floes, but the lobster buoys in Rockland harbor were their greatest steering challenge.
Bruce Robert Coffin: This month I had the pleasure of attending my first ThrillerFest in New York City. It’s always a thrill making new friends and catching up with existing ones.
Sandra Neily: Busy, Busy, aren’t we all? Joined a MWPA panel to share various “how to” publishing paths. Had some grandmother time eating whatever Sly puts in my mouth. Some fly fishing time at a secret spot. Wore hard hat fashion to research my next novel (“Deadly Turn” out in 2019). Tried to tell Raven that squirrel levitation on the deck is useless. Failed. Appreciated storms moving across Moosehead Lake. Thanked Coastal Dog for posting rescue dog Raven’s pic with my novel on its site, but had to swear that “no dogs were harmed in the telling of this story.” Oh, part time job setting up and then guiding for Maine Foodie Tours in Boothbay Harbor. Yum……… [image error] [image error] [image error] [image error] [image error] [image error][image error][image error]
Vaughn Hardacker: Along with Books in Boothbay, I’ve been spending time on Aroostook County’s numerous ATV Trails. Below is a picture of Long Lake’s Cyr Cove taken from The Overlook in Saint Agatha.
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Lea Wait making an author visit to a Maine school
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William Andrews: Enjoying a Casco Bay cruise with friends on my son’s lobster boat.
Brenda Buchanan: We’re on our annual sojourn in Brooklin, Maine, a place dear to my heart that I’ve written about on this blog before. If you follow me on social media, you’ve seen some stunning sunset photos this week (all credit to nature, it would be hard to take a bad sunset photo from our vantage point.) But what do we do in the daytime? After a full morning writing, we go here:
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Secret Beach . . .
And I do this:
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LOVE that frigid water.
Jen Blood: I’ve been such a homebody this summer! Apart from Books in Boothbay early this month, I’ve been enjoying time in the gardens and in my workshop, hanging with Magnus and Marji, and generally having a quiet, laid-back time of it. The exception is Bath Dog Park, where Marji and I are likely to be found almost daily. Here are a few shots of daily life ’round here.
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Ben’s birthday cake (vegan chocolate raspberry!) this June…
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Courtney Barnett, July 26 at State Theater in Portland.
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Books in Boothbay!
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Zuke!
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Rogue red squirrel, helping himself to the bird feeder.
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One of Marji’s besties at Bath Dog Park, the lovely Jess.
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Another of Marji’s dog pals at Bath Dog Park, Lilah.
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Poppies.
July 30, 2018
What Happened to the Dog?
Kate Flora: One question that writers are frequently asked when we give book talks is [image error]for information about our process. Do we write every day? Do we outline? Do we know what’s going to happen before we start the book? I’m as interested as anyone in the answers to these questions. The real answer is that for everyone, it’s different. Some people can’t write a book without a lengthy outline. Some are totally flying by the seat of their pants. I describe myself as a “cooker.” I tend to carry the story around in my head for a few months before I ever put words on paper, trying to sketch out the shape of the story.
Then comes the story, which can take anywhere from four months to fourteen months to finally get down on paper (or on the screen.)
For the past few days, I’ve been digging into a full review of the draft of my sixth Joe Burgess police procedural, A Child Shall Lead Them. It’s always such an interesting process to finally read though a story that’s been put together slowly over many months. One of the challenges and surprises of reviewing a manuscript is discovering the holes in the plot and which loose ends need to be tied up and what can be left open for book seven.
While I’m doing that, I’ve trying to be sure that my scenes and my character development may tee off from earlier books, but don’t repeat what has happened before. It’s a challenge to keep three characters, and a lot of crime scene investigation, fresh, after five books. I have to constantly be asking myself what has changed for Burgess, Kyle, and Perry, and what may be different about their family lives. When I go into a book, I usually know about the crime, but far less about what the effect of investigating the crime will be on my characters’ lives.
Here, so you can see how it is going, are some of the questions I’ve written down so far:
Why put the body there? Is it a message to someone? If so, is it clear later in the book who the message is for?
Okay, Kate, now you finally have to deal with that pin, right? So where are you going to put the details when Burgess discovers them?
Do we need to deal with the saw?
Wait – you never dealt with the dog. Guy says his wife came to pick up the dog. But the guy has no wife. Did anyone else see the dog? Or the wife? Or anyone come to pick it up, or is this just a story the guy’s telling?
Where is the computer? The photographic equipment?
How much needs to be tied up with respect to the Guatemalan girls?
Will Stan Perry finally get married, or is that for the next book?
I still have more than 150 pages to go in my review, but if this were on the printed page instead of a computer screen, there would be a lot of little red pencil notes about what needs to be fixed instead of lots of notes to myself in the margin.
This review also makes it evident that my typing skills are deteriorating. But overall, I’m pleased with how the story is moving, and feeling like the banter between Burgess and Kyle, and Perry’s struggle to grow up, are developing nicely. I also find I’m wondering what this cover will look like.
And as I read through it, I am always aware that when I write the characters for the first time, they belong to me, but by the time I get to book six, you, the reader, also have an investment in how their lives are going. I hope I won’t be letting you down.
July 27, 2018
Weekend Update: July 28-29, 2018
[image error]Next week at Maine Crime Writers, there will posts by Kate Flora (Monday) a group post (Tuesday), Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson (Wednesday), Sandra Neilly (Thursday), and Susan Vaighan (Friday).
In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:
Next Saturday, August 4th, Barbara Ross, Kate Flora, and Bruce Coffin will be at the Guilford Library for Maine Authors Day from 11:00-1:00. If you’re in the area, come by and say hello.
The audio book of Kaitlyn Dunnett‘s Crime & Punctuation is now available. The narrator is Margaret Strom.
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An invitation to readers of this blog: Do you have news relating to Maine, Crime, or Writing? We’d love to hear from you. Just comment below to share.
And a reminder: If your library, school, or organization is looking for a speaker, we are often available to talk about the writing process, research, where we get our ideas, and other mysteries of the business. Contact Kate Flora
Maine Crime Writers Are Everywhere!
It’s summer in Maine, and we’re in libraries and bookstores, at author events, and also enjoying all that Maine has to offer. Here are some of the ways we are enjoying Maine this summer.
Kate Flora: I’ve been at Books in Boothbay with many of my fellow crime writers, on a picnic by the lime kilns near Rockport Harbor and enjoying dinner at Morse’s Cribstone Grill on Bailey Island.
John Clark has been exploring new territory, knocking on doors in Cambridge, Ripley, St. Albans, Hartland, Palmyra and Canaan. I only have to meet 7,000 people by election day. I’ve come to the realization that campaigning is librarianship in reverse. Instead of having new people come to the library and chat, I go to their place and listen. I’ve met hundreds of free range chickens, almost as many dogs (lots of licking and sniffing, no bites), some great goats and have heard concerns I never would have come up with on my own. Chatted with a 70 year old guy yesterday about the 1954 Ford he was rebuilding, with a 357 Chevy engine. Win or lose, this will be a life changing experience.
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Lea Wait making an author visit to a Maine school
Susan Vaughan: Here I am in Rockland after a tour of the Draken Harald Hårfagre. This replica of an ancient Viking ship was built in 2014 in [image error]Norway and sailed to North America in 2016. After spending the winter in Mystic Seaport, the 115-foot open boat is touring the East Coast this summer. The deck tour informed and entertained my husband and me. The Draken was built with design and details meticulously copied from ancient wrecks, but boasts modern navigation equipment and two inboard motors. The captain joked that on the Atlantic crossing, they dealt with storms and high seas and ice floes, but the lobster buoys in Rockland harbor were their greatest steering challenge.
Bruce Robert Coffin: This month I had the pleasure of attending my first ThrillerFest in New York City. It’s always a thrill making new friends and catching up with existing ones.
Vaughn Hardacker: Along with Books in Boothbay, I’ve been spending time on Aroostook County’s numerous ATV Trails. Below is a picture of Long Lake’s Cyr Cove taken from The Overlook in Saint Agatha.
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William Andrews: Enjoying a Casco Bay cruise with friends on my son’s lobster boat.
July 26, 2018
10 Best Things about Dying Soon
[image error]Lea Wait, here. And, for anyone who missed it, June 29 I posted https://mainecrimewriters.com/2018/06/29/another-change-in-direction/
that I’d been diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. Since then I’ve learned a lot — about myself and about others. And no, it hasn’t all been negative. So — here’s a short list of some of the “good stuff.”
1 – I’ve heard from friends and family all over the United States, and memories — good memories — are flooding my mind.
2 – A year ago I was worried because my financial adviser said I only had enough money to last eight years. Now? No problem! Champagne days, if I’m in the mood!
3 – Someone else will have to worry about my 2018 taxes.
4 – CNN still depresses me, but I’ve convinced myself the world will get better after I leave it. (I hope no connection!)
5 – People arrive unexpectedly with flowers and/or food. It’s a party!
6 – Deadlines? Who’s worried about deadlines. Except for maybe THE DEADLINE.
7. Medical marijuana is legal.
8. Handicapped parking makes it a lot easier to find a space in summer parking lots in Maine.
9. No more long beauty parlor appointments. My hair is eliminating itself.
10. Prayer shawls, angels, books, cards … every mail delivery is like a birthday!
Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers and encouragement and kind questions and comments.
And — onward! There’s still some life to be lived.
Forget Lettuce
Dorothy Cannell: I married a man who could live by salad alone. Give him a hunk oflettuce and a bottle of dressing and he’s good for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I sadly take after my father who referred to salad as rabbit food and would content himself with a slice of bread and dripping in preference. However, I recently came upon a recipe that spoke to me, because it does not contain the supposedly vital ingredient. I happily pass it along for fellow food challenged persons.
Peach Caprese Salad[image error]
Serves 6
Be sure to use ripe peaches. We like using 4-ounce balls of fresh mozzarella in this recipe.
3 tablespoons –extra-virgin olive oil
1 and ½ tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper
1 pound ripe peaches, quartered and pitted, each quarter cut into 4 slices
12 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, halved and sliced ¼ inch thick
[image error]6 large fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
Whisk oil, lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoons pepper together in large bowl.Add peaches and gently toss to coat.
Shingle peaches and mozzarella on serving platter. Drizzle any remaining dressing from bowl over top. Sprinkle with basil. Season to taste.
Note for faster Ripening: Like bananas, avocados, apples, pears, and melons, peaches are climacteric fruits, which means they continue to ripen once picked. To speed up ripening, you can place a climacteric fruit in a paper bag with a piece of ripe fruit.
New word for me – ‘climacteric’. Never say reading recipes isn’t intellectually rewarding.
Happy book summer.
Dorothy
July 24, 2018
GOING LOONY, REVISITED
Susan Vaughan here. I posted this last summer, but at Maine lakes, loons and their chicks are out and about, so I thought it a good time to revisit the subject.
A few years ago, my husband and I sold our small sailboat and bought a camp. For the uninitiated, in Maine parlance, a camp is a summer or weekend cottage either in the woods or on a lake. Ours is on a lake not far from home. From the very first weekend we spent there, I’ve been entranced with loons. With their tuxedo plumage, their silent-but-deadly diving, their varied calls, their habits— everything. So you could say I’m the one who’s gone loony.
[image error]Although loons may occasionally cruise the entire lake, they have their home territories, so in our cove we’ve had the same pair every summer. Of course, we had to name our loons, so to us they’re Arthur and Bertha. This summer I’ve been glued to the binoculars and the camera because last summer was the first they’d had a chick, a baby we named Rocky. This is one of my photos, not professional, but you get the idea. Rocky’s coloring as a small chick was a soft grayish brown, not unlike his parents’ winter plumage. But notice how Bertha’s tuxedo blends with the rippling water.
[image error]Chicks can swim right after hatching, but [image error]often rest on the mom’s back. By the time we spotted Rocky, he was swimming strongly… yet very close to his parents.
During these few years, I’ve learned a few things about loons. The loon got its name because of its awkward gait on land. There are five species of loons, but the ones in the northern U.S. and Canada are common loons. Arthur and Bertha and the others are large birds, about three feet in length and four feet of wing span. They could live to the ripe old age of 30.
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[image error]Loons spend most of their time in the water, for which their bodies are supremely suited. Their legs and feet are set back under the body, providing strong propulsion underwater, the reason they’re ungainly on land. Loon bones are solid to aid them in diving and swimming underwater. A prime male like Arthur could weigh as much as 15 pounds. They’re stealthy, barely rippling the water when they dive after a fish. Using their feet to power them underwater, they’re agile and powerful swimmers that catch fish in speedy underwater chases. They can dive deep and swim great distances in very short amounts of time, and their short wings help them turn as fast as lightning while chasing prey.
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When I saw Bertha rolling onto her side with one leg lifted high out of the water, I worried something was wrong. But no, she was just preening and spinning while trying to reach breast and belly feathers.
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Experts haven’t been able to translate all loon calls, but there are four types. The tremolo is a wavering call of alarm. The yodel is the male loon’s territorial claim. The wail is the haunting call that loons use to find each other. Hoots are soft, short calls between mates or between parent and chick. You can listen to the individual calls at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site. Bertha and her chick Rocky have hung around in our cove together most of the summer, and Arthur appears, wailing for them, later in the afternoon. By now, late summer, Rocky can feed himself, and he’ll be independent once he can fly, at about 12 weeks.
[image error]Generally common loons are not social birds, but they tend to flock up in late fall. On our lake, folks call it rafting up. Arthur and Bertha will accompany a few others to a saltwater bay for the winter.
Like airplanes, the heavy-bodied birds need a runway to take off. They flap their wings and run a long way across the surface of the water in order to gain enough speed for liftoff. Rocky and the other juveniles will follow a few weeks later. In spring, once ice is out, they’ll all return to fresh water.
Young loons might not breed for six or seven years, so Rocky has time to play the field, or the pond. Once mated, the pair builds the nest together, grasses just beside the water and between mid-May and mid-June. We never spotted Arthur and Bertha’s nest. Loons always lay two eggs that hatch about 28 days later. Both parents tend and feed the chicks.
[image error]Loon chicks are prime prey for predators, eagles and ospreys from above and snapping turtles from below. This may be why our loons had only the one chick. However, Rocky grew and matured through the summer and fall. He still had his brown coat and would until the next summer.
While boating around the lake this summer, we’ve seen loons with one or two chicks, which is great, but…we haven’t seen Arthur and Bertha with a new chick. Yet.
And Rocky? We may never know how he’s faring.
I’ve found conflicting information in different sources, so if I have something incorrect, please straighten me out. And if anyone can offer additional tidbits about loons, please share!
July 23, 2018
A Day on Monhegan, redux
Sorry, folks. I have an August 1, deadline, so I am giving you a rerun. (Remember before streaming TV when summer was all about reruns?) This one a memory of a beautiful trip two years ago.
by Barb, writing on her porch while gazing out at Boothbay Harbor
I’ve already done one “Day In” post for Boothbay Harbor where my husband and I spend our summers, but I couldn’t resist doing another. It’s hard to believe that we’ve owned this house for twelve years and been coming here for almost thirty, and yet we’d never been to Monhegan Island. Monhegan sits just twelve miles off the Maine coast, and Boothbay Harbor is one of three places–in addition to New Harbor and Port Clyde–where you can catch the ferry to Monhegan during the summer season.
This year, we resolved to do more touristy things while we’re in Maine. Plus our daughter and her husband visited Monhegan on their honeymoon and told us we were crazy if we didn’t get ourselves out there.
Our day started with a ride on The Balmy Days II out of Boothbay Harbor. The ride takes an hour to an hour and a half depending on conditions, and it’s one of those situations where your vacation starts the moment you step on the boat–not when you arrive at your destination. The crowd on the boat was lively and excited–a group of women celebrating a friend’s birthday, a group of men going fishing, and plenty of couples, families and dogs.
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Monhegan from the water
You can go to Monhegan for the day, taking the morning ferry out and the mid-afternoon ferry back, but that only leaves you about three and a half hours on the island, so Bill and I had a reservation to stay overnight at the Island Inn, one of two hotels on the island. (There are also several B&Bs and lots of weekly rental cottages.) As it happened, we made our reservation for two of the most glorious days of the summer. In fact, we’ve been joking that we can never go back, because it will never be that perfect again. Though there are very few vehicles on the island, the hotels and cottages send a pickup truck to schlep your luggage from the dock. Even more wonderful, when we got there at 11:00 our room happened to be ready.
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The Island Inn
Lunch: Monhegan has more than twenty artists who will welcome you to their galleries or studios, but only four places to eat. We chose the Fish House Fish Market where you place your order at the counter and sit at picnic tables on Fish Beach. The food was fresh and delicious and the view superb.
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The schoolhouse
Two-thirds of Monhegan is undeveloped due to the efforts of Ted Edison, the son of the inventor, and the Monhegan Associates. In the 1940s and 50s, Edison began buying up land already divided into house lots and now Monhegan Associates’ land encompasses more than 380 mostly wild acres on which they maintain twelve miles of trails. Being humans of the mostly non-hiking variety, we took the easy walk out of town, visiting galleries and shops as we did and then on out to Lobster Cove where Bill explored and photographed the hull of the D.T. Sheridan, shipwrecked off the coast in 1948. While he did that, I sat on the rock promontory, enjoyed the views of the sea, the rocks and the Rockwell Kent-Jamie Wyeth house.
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On the way back, treat yourself to a cold one and a seat in the shade at the Monhegan Brewing Company, the island’s micro-brewery. Or have an ice cream cone at The Novelty behind the Monhegan House. Everywhere you look will be a delightful feast for the eye, I promise.
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From there we headed back to the Island Inn whose deep front porch and rockers were calling to us. I sat and read a book, looking up to enjoy the views of Manana, the uninhabited island across from Monhegan that forms its protected harbor, as well as the boating activity. We had wine on our room’s little deck, followed by a fabulous dinner at the Island Inn accompanied by a glorious sunset. (You can buy wine on the island, but the liquor laws are convoluted and dinner is BYOB.)
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The Lighthouse
Our room at the inn had breakfast included and then we set off again. We walked up to the lighthouse, which has an excellent museum as well as a gallery. Bill continued on across the island to Whitehead while I sat outside, admired the stupendous views, and solved several knotty plot problems.
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The view from the lighthouse
Caveats: One thing to keep in mind. Monhegan is actual nature, not a Disney simulation of same. There’s a big sign when you get off the dock warning you that there are no formal emergency services on the island. Many of the trails are challenging, the rocks slippery. Stay above the high water mark, watch for moss, bugs and poison ivy, and don’t go in or near the water anywhere but Swim Beach, since the undertow and currents around the rest of the island mean no one will even try to rescue you if you fall in.
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View from Whitehead
After we descended from the lighthouse, we had lunch at the Barnacle on the dock and then took a tour around the island on the Balmy Days II before we headed back to Boothbay.
All together a relaxing, visually stimulating and magnificent day in Maine.
[All photos in this post are by Bill Carito. If you like them and want to see more, you can friend him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bcarito and follow him on Instagram at billcarito and bill.carito.colorphotos.]
A Summer of Making Stuff from Other Stuff
This summer, I’ve felt more creative than I have for a long time, and one of my favorite features in this new house of ours is a gorgeous workshop that Ben has graciously agreed to let me use for whatever happens to strike my fancy. I thought I would take this month’s post to show you a few of the fruits of my labors. A lot of these come from the fact that I’m trying to live more sustainably, which means doing away with plastic as much as possible, using salvaged or reused materials rather than buying new, and making items myself rather than purchasing them whenever I can.
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Clockwise from left, these are ginger beer, ginger-turmeric Kombucha, rose-infused grapeseed oil, rhubarb-ginger jam, and oregano-infused olive oil. Fermentation is definitely one of my favorite things to do these days. I love the way flavors and scents develop over time.
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I made this leash for Marji out of some scrap fabric and scrap interfacing I had lying around. The clip is from a leash Marji chewed through a few months ago.
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Totes are definitely one of my favorite things to make. The one with the batik pocket was the first tote I made; since then, I’ve learned how to make the straps so that no edges are showing (and, hence, the fabric doesn’t fray to nothing before your eyes). The handles from the large floral tote actually come from an old pair of blue jeans; the green tote is just a nifty size for lunches or whatever else you want to throw in there. All are made from fabric I got from Goodwill or yard sales.
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When I do craft shows or book signings, in the past I’ve had dog biscuits that I give away to anyone who buys a book. To date, I’ve kept the biscuits in little plastic bags decorated with dog stickers…which are actually super cute. However, as mentioned before, I’m trying to do away with as much plastic as possible in my life, so I wanted to find a more sustainable way to do things. This is a little drawstring baggie made from scrap fabric; the tag is made with images from old postcards on top of tags cut from old manila folders I had lying around. I’m kind of in love with these, to be honest.
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Please forgive the background on this one – I was trying to do something with the fabric in back, but it just wasn’t working and I ran out of time. At any rate, this is Marji’s new dog bed. The inside is an old cushion I got for $3 from Goodwill. I salvaged the zipper from the cushion cover, and sewed it into a cover made from more Goodwill fabric. The top is a super-soft blue fabric that Marji loves.
So… Those are just a few of the things I’ve made lately. I had never considered myself particularly crafty before this year, but I’ve been having a blast with the sewing machine Ben got me for Christmas, and don’t foresee a time when I’ll run out of projects I’m eager to try. Are there things that you make yourself, or have made in the past? Whether it’s jams or jellies, plant holders or pot stickers, I’d love to hear what you make with your own two hands.
July 20, 2018
Weekend Update: July 21-22, 2018
[image error]Next week at Maine Crime Writers, there will posts by Jen Blood (Monday) Barb Ross (Tuesday), Susan Vaughan (Wednesday), Dorothy Cannell (Thursday), and Lea Wait/Cornelia Kidd (Friday).
In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:
Today (Saturday, July 21 from 10:30-12:30) Dorothy Cannell, Dick Cass, Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson, Barb Ross, and Lea Wait/Cornelia Kidd will be signing books and chatting with readers at the Beyond the Sea Book Festival in Lincolnville Beach, Maine. For more details, click here http://www.beyondtheseamaine.com/book-festival-.html
Also today, if you happen to be in Boothbay Harbor, there’s a giant estate sale at Barbara Ross’s house. https://www.estatesales.net/ME/Boothbay-Harbor/04538/1946076 Come one, come all.
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
