Next week at Maine Crime Writers there will be posts by Lea Wait (Monday), Barb Ross (Tuesday), Al Lamanda (Wednesday), Jayne Hitchcock (Thursday), and John Clark (Friday).

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

from Kathy Lynn Emerson: Starting Monday at midnight, I’ll be doing a Goodreads giveaway of three copies of the UK edition of Murder in the Queen’s Wardrobe. The link to enter (although I think you have to join Goodreads to do it) is https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/121317-murder-in-the-queen-s-wardrobe

The giveaway runs from January 12 until midnight January 26. The book will be published in the U.S. in hardcover in March with the Kindle edition to follow. This is the first in a new historical mystery series set in the 1580s. This first one takes place in England and Muscovy (Russia) and involves the protagonist, Mistress Rosamond Jaffrey, in both sleuthing and spying. I’m categorizing it as a “cozy thriller” with a sleuth who has a few personal issues to work out—issues appropriate to the sixteenth-century setting, of course.

In the advance planning department: keep the date April 11th open. The second Maine Crime Wave, sponsored by Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, will be held on that day in South Portland. The regulars at MaineCrimeWriters.com will be well represented among the panelists and workshop presenters. The incomplete list available at this date includes Kate Flora, Barb Ross, Lea Wait, Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett, Sarah Graves, Al Lamanda, and alums Gerry Boyle and Paul Doiron.

Lea Wait: Monday night, January 12, I’ll be speaking at the Freeport Community Library in Freeport, Maine at 6:30. And Friday night, January 16, I’ll be joining other authors and illustrators of books for children at Nerdy Authors Night from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Falmouth Elementary School. Both events are free and open to the public.

And this week was the debut of my Twisted Threads! To read a short prequel and sign up for a giveaway, click on http://wp.me/p3nHH-5RU

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. Don’t forget that comments are entered for a chance to win our wonderful basket of books and the very special moose and lobster cookie cutters.

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:  kateflora@gmail.com