Crime Writers suggest some beach reads

Posted on July 21, 2026 by mainecrimewriters

Yessiree, it’s summer time, when people are supposed to be vacationing and reading on the beach or the porch. For your reading enjoyment, today we’re sharing some of the books we’ve read and enjoyed. Try some. You might like them, too. (And admire us for restraining ourselves and not suggesting our own books. You should read them, too.)

Kate Flora: We have a little library outside our house, a gift from niece Sara Beth and her husband Russ. Mostly, it’s to share books we want to get out of the house that others might enjoy, and for the neighbors to do the same. Sometimes, though, I find books that sound like fun. One of these was a book called Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with recipes by Elizabeth Bard. Really fun read about a young American in Paris who falls in love, stays, and learns the culture. And yes, with recipes, many of which you might want to try. Then there’s The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl. Many of you may be familiar with her columns in the New York Times. I frequently blog about the important of observation and noticing the world around us. She does this beautifully in this collection.

Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson: I have two recommendations this time around, one futuristic and one historical and both full of interesting characters and plot twists. The first is Jayne Castle’s Enter the Nightmare, a title that might sound off-putting but which combines mystery, adventure, a dollop of paranormal, a setting the the distant future on another planet, and . . .  dust bunnies. They are a bit hard to describe, but let’s just say Castle goes above and beyond having a cat or a dog as a character’s companion. Second is the new Patricia Rice historical, The Killer’s Dastardly Intrigue. Set in England in the nineteenth century and just out today, it is the latest in a series set in a rural village that is all but deserted but comes back to life a little more with each book. It’s probably best to began with The Secrets of Wycliffe Manor  but if you enjoy seeing characters develop and interact (and solve mysteries and hunt for treasure) through numerous volumes, you’ll soon be reading all of them.

Matt Cost: What are beach reads? As far as I can tell, all you need is a beach and a book. Here are some of my recommendations for doing just that.

Antihero by Gregg Hurwitz takes us from the East Coast to the West Coast, so I suppose that qualifies as beach reading. At the center of it is a brutal rape (beware) that makes it so much more satisfying as Evan Smoak, known as Orphan X and the Nowhere Man (he has more aliases than Max Creed), saves the woman and tries to exact justice while following her strict instructions on forgiveness. It is a pulse-pounding read that twists your insides and then unravels you piece by piece.

 

Those Who Choose Evil by Kate Flora is book 9 in the Joe Burgess series and follows a similar script of Joe finding an abused teenage girl, which sets him off to find the perpetrators and others potentially in grave danger. As always, the characters are rich, flawed, and multi-layered. The action is fast and dizzying, the relationships ebb and flow like the tide, and there is even a hero dog.

6 Days by Jule Selbo takes place up the coast of Maine, mostly, as it follows Dee Rommel as she investigates a maternity suit against a wealthy heiress that may or may not be bogus, but quickly traps the reader into turning the pages faster and faster to find out. The Maine setting is as rich as a double-chocolate cheesecake, the characters are as complex as DNA, and the plot weaves a tapestry of beauty and precision.

 

What Happened Next by Edwin Hill takes us to a lake in New Hampshire, where Charlie Kilgore bounces between the past and the present as he tries to solve the current mysterious happenings by understanding why, twenty-five years earlier, his father killed another man and left his mother badly wounded. Focused on creating a true crime podcast about that incident, he is reminded that many people don’t want the past dredged up.

John Clark: How about some mind candy in series. I discovered J.B. Turner’s books by accident and have read most of them since, while they’re a bit formulaic, there’s lots of action, they read fast, and the protagonist has a place in Rockland. There are three series in all, with the Hard books being predominant.

Rob Kelley: My favorite beach reads aren’t crime or thrillers usually. I read those fairly consistently throughout the year. What I turn to is the genre that was my childhood love: SF. Over one vacation a few years ago, I devoured the entire Lois McMaster Bujold Miles Vorkosigan series. It’s a well-written swashbuckling space opera and I absolutely burned through those books (and have reread them).

Another series in a similar vein is David Webber’s Honor Harrington series. They are, quite intentionally, a space opera rewrite of C.S. Forrester’s Napoleanic-era Horatio Hornblower books.

I deeply enjoyed the Expanse series by the duo writing under the pen name James S. A. Corey. It’s another wide-ranging space opera, though one far more focused on power and politics. (Set in much the same thematic direction as Ian Banks’ Culture novels.)

Finally I’ll give a hearty shout-out to one of the most innovative and hysterically funny writers working in SF today: John Scalzi. His Old Man’s War series not infrequently had me laughing out loud while reading. The books are great space adventure stories but with very personal and poignant portrayals of characters who have to face existential dangers. Can’t recommend his work highly enough if you read in this genre, or just need a good laugh.

 

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HBD2ME

Posted on July 20, 2026 by dickcass

Launching, September 1, 6PM at Longfellow Books: Hard as a Headstone and the reissue of The Last Altruist

And so on  . .

Celebrating a big-number birthday this year and I’m strangely calm about it, though there are many days when I feel like I’m like careening down the back side of Mt. Monadnock on a bike with no brakes. Things going way too fast.

Mostly, though, another birthday is a number.

For some reason, twenty-five (which is not this year’s big number . .) was the most difficult birthday for me. I hadn’t made much progress on the grandiose plans for my life and that worried me. I was convinced that opportunity, success, had already passed me. What I didn’t realize what that I was writing the first draft of what my life would be.

Fiction-writing graduate school at forty only made things worse. I studied with, read with, wrote with people decades younger who were better writers and had had more publication success. Generally I was encouraged to believe my time had passed. Second draft? Third draft?

When I do events now, especially if the crowd skews older (which readers often are), I make it a point to tell people my first book wasn’t published until I was sixty-five. Decades of sad stories and blind alleys contributed to that fact but when I say it, I will see some eyes light up. I hope it helps.

More recently, I’ve noticed people at events looking at my aging countenance and, I think, wondering at the fact that I’m past retirement age—whatever that means to a writer—and still writing books and publishing and promoting them. I’ve had at least two people ask me explicitly how long I’m going to keep doing this. As if I had a choice. They seem to think a book, a creative life, ever gets finished.

But this year I have a new publisher, whose people are busting their asses to make me and their other authors successful, people as engaged as I am in bringing the news that stories carry. Two books are coming out in September, one new and one a reissue.  It’s invigorating as all hell and I’m here to tell you that seventy-five doesn’t look too damn bad.

Leonardo said that art is never finished, only abandoned. Good work is the same way. I’m giving up nothing.

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Weekend Update: July 18-19, 2026

Posted on July 18, 2026 by kaitlynkathy

Next week at Maine Crime Writers there will be posts by Dick Cass (Monday), Vaughn Hardacker (Thursday), and Kait Carson (Friday) with a group post on Tuesday.In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:

Matt Cost will interview Jule Selbo about her latest book, 6 Days, on Thursday, July 23rd, at 6 PM, in Topsham, as part of the Topsham Public Library Author Series running this summer.

Matt Cost is also excited to announce that he has been given a new three-book contract from Level Best Books for a series debuting on August 3rd, 2027 with Bob Chicago Investigates, a humorous PI story set in a fictional town in Maine with hints of history and mystery woven throughout.

 

 

Dead Men Don’t Kiss, a Cost short that appeared in Celluloid Crimes, was recognized as one of the top 30 short mysteries by The Best Private Eye Stories of 2026. Give Elton Connor a go. I could see him getting his own series at some point.

 

 

 

 

An invitation to readers of this blog: Do you have news relating to Maine, Crime, or Writing? We’d love to hear from you. Just comment below to share.

And a reminder: If your library, school, or organization is looking for a speaker, we are often available to talk about the writing process, research, where we get our ideas, and other mysteries of the business, along with the very popular “Making a Mystery” with audience participation, and “Casting Call: How We Staff Our Mysteries.” We also do programs on Zoom. Contact Kate Flora

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When You’re Just Too Busy to Focus

Posted on July 16, 2026 by mainecrimewriters

Anniversary flowers

Kate Flora: Today feels like it’s going to be an oops day. They happen sometimes. Yesterday was our 48th anniversary and so writing a blog post for today totally slipped my mind in the midst of musing about how I could possibly have been married for so many years? I make good choices, I guess. So far today, instead of writing this post, I’ve watered the garden, deadheaded the flowers, done the laundry, and made a lemon-blueberry cake because weekends in Maine always mean company.

Leading up to the anniversaral celebrations, I’ve been up to my ears in the masses of paperwork that accompany the process of publishing a book. We authors may think that it’s enough to write, rewrite, get beta reader’s feedback, rewrite, get an editor’s feedback, and rewrite at least one more time. Shouldn’t that be enough? Don’t we already feel farther and farther from the creative process?

Very distracting Harpswell sunset

But then comes the paperwork. Write a synopsis of the book. Write what would be a one or two line headline if the story were in the paper. Craft a 500-800 word excerpt that will draw readers into the book. Write the back cover copy. Provide a set of key words that best describe the book so readers can find it. Identify other authors whose work is similar, so that their readers might like your book, too. Furnish a number of other author’s book covers that can serve as a template for the cover designer. Tweak your author’s bio and furnish, or have taken, an up-to-date author photo.

My first published book

The list goes on and on. It reminds me of back when I’d just sold my first book, book one in the Thea Kozak series, Chosen for Death. The senior editor called up and interviewed me on the phone. I came away from that conversation hoping that he’d determined that yes, I, an attorney, could stand in front of a group of people and speak. I also felt as though, instead of striving to write the best book I could, I should have been resume building. Maybe been a skydiver or spent my time on archeological digs or something else that would pad out my resume and make me sound fascinating. There had been no mention of the story or plot or my characters. Or writing at all.

Over the years, it has led me to tell my students who are dying to get published that they need to separate the writing side from the rest of it. (And that a writer needs to have the hide of an alligator. The publishing world is that rough.) When my first book was sold, that husband now of forty-eight years said, “Congratulations. Now you have two jobs.” And boy was he right!

So when I should be basking the thought that my new, dark, police procedural series will be published, or thinking about what the next book will be, I’m doing paperwork. As the husband says, I have two jobs now.

At the Brunswick second friday art walk

It’s probably three, because there’s always the marketing job. I’m lucky that this summer I’ve had the chance to meet with two book groups, both of whom had read Finding Amy. Great interest. Great questions. And great lobster rolls. Libraries, book fairs, and reading  groups are a delightful extension of the writing process, because I get to talk about what I love and learn what readers think. (If only I had an assistant to carry the books, books stands, table covers, and marketing materials.)

 

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Is the Self-Sufficient Female Sleuth an Anachronism?

Posted on July 14, 2026 by kaitlynkathy

Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson here, today offering another excerpt from my 2008 Agatha-Award-winning non-fiction book, How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries. Unlike most how-to books, mine isn’t just my take on writing. It also includes numerous anecdotes and bits of advice from other published historical mystery writers and touches on several topics that came up over the course 2005-2007 in the Crime Thru Time (CTT) online discussion group.

Were there “liberated women” in past eras? Of course. The difference is that they could not and did not express their feelings in the same way women in the 1960s did. No corset-burnings are recorded in the nineteenth century.

Do your research. Find out what real women did and base what could have happened to your fictional characters on that. Women cannot be placed in roles that were, in that particular time period, exclusively reserved for men. As Lynda S. Robinson points out in her essay, “Women’s Roles in the Ancient Mystery” in Deadly Women, she could not use a woman as her sleuth in Ancient Egypt because although pharaohs did use confidential inquiry agents, these officials were always male.

From the Middle Ages on, however, there are many female detectives in mystery fiction. Some critics say there are too many of them—intrepid, adventurous, independent-minded women who are, they claim, “unrealistic” because they would not have had the freedom, given the restrictions of the society they lived in, to investigate murders. Some call them modern women, even feminists, in costume.

Anne Perry comes in for particular attention in this area, even from critics who admire her work. In The Detective as Historian, Linda J. Holland-Toll labels Charlotte Ellison Pitt, her sister Emily, and their mother “too contemporary,” commenting that “the Ellison women are all rule breakers: why would Perry, who well knows the boundaries of the times, create what to Victorian eyes would have been an unholy trio? The Victorian preoccupation with blood and insanity would seem likelier to dismiss the whole family as mad, rather than accept them in society.”

What this critic overlooks is that most of the sleuthing done by these three women is in secret and behind the scenes. Yes, marriage to a policeman would probably banish most young gentlewomen from polite society, but when Charlotte moves in those circles, it is in borrowed finery that does not betray her current status and usually under the sponsorship of “Aunt Vespasia,” an elderly society matron who has apparently earned the right to do as she likes simply by surviving as long as she has and having money. No one, not even Ms. Holland-Toll, seems to question Vespasia’s believability when she decides to help out with an investigation.

There is, however, no simple way to dispute charges that a female sleuth is too modern in her actions or her outlook. Most of those who make these claims aren’t about to be convinced by the facts. The best you can do is trust your own research. If you’ve based a female sleuth and other fictional female characters on what you have discovered about the real women of the same period, then let your readers know your sources through author’s notes, blogs, speaking engagements, website extras, and any other means at your disposal. You might even make subtle mention of some of your role models in the text.

Paul C. Doherty categorizes the real-life detectives of medieval England as “monks or friars”—like his Athelstan—and “clerks, civil servants, men who attended the schools at Oxford and Cambridge”—like his Hugh Corbett. But Doherty doesn’t stop at enumerating the sort of men who might make good sleuths. For years he has cited two female physicians, Mathilde of Westminster (Edward II’s physician in 1322) and Cecily of Oxford (personal physician of Edward III in the 1330s) as examples of real women who might well have been called upon to investigate a murder. In The Cup of Ghosts, he uses Mathilde as his sleuth.

Rhys Bowen based her character Molly Murphy on her great aunt “who thought herself the equal of any man. Although women in 1900 were still restricted by the mores of society, many of them were attempting to break free of these restrictions. Women’s colleges were turning out young graduates who had learned to trust their own intellect and judgment. Louise Boyd led an expedition to the North Pole in 1910 and the NYPD was already employing real-life female detectives.”

Ask any author of a historical mystery series featuring a strong women and they will tell you that real women of the same era could do and often did many of the same things as the fictional characters in their historical mysteries.

So what can you do to make your historical sleuth stand out? She will need to be unique. Don’t repeat what’s already been done with fictional women in your historical period. Yes, your character can have some of the same traits as other detectives, but she must also have a quality (or a skill) or be in a situation that makes her different.

Aside from working in an unusual profession or craft, a female sleuth can be distinctive because of her circumstances. Give her no choice but to solve the crime and her actions automatically become believable. If she is about to be arrested, or someone she loves is accused of the crime, then she has a strong motivation to solve it herself, even if it means stepping outside the bounds of her usual existence.

Yet another way to make a female sleuth unique while keeping her true to her times is to create conflict in her personal life. Is she an abandoned wife? Does she have an eccentric grandmother to care for? Is she running away from an abusive home life? A heroine hiding a murder she committed in the past has been used in a number of historical mysteries already, so you might want to avoid that one, but there are still plenty of “personal problems” available. Today’s readers—witness the success of Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series—are frequently as interested in the psychological makeup of the sleuth as they are in her ability to solve mysteries.

original paperback cover from 2008

How to Write Killer Historical Novels: The Art and Adventure of Sleuthing Through the Past (2008) was also a finalist for the Anthony and Macavity awards. Reviewer Marv Lachman, in Deadly Pleasures, called it “the best book about writing mysteries that I have ever read.” It is available in a slightly revised and updated 2022 edition in both e-book and trade paperback formats.

Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett has had sixty-four books traditionally published and has self published others. She won the Agatha Award and was an Anthony and Macavity finalist for best mystery nonfiction of 2008 for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries and was an Agatha Award finalist in 2015 in the best mystery short story category. In 2023 she won the Lea Wait Award for “excellence and achievement” from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. She was the Malice Domestic Guest of Honor in 2014. She is currently working on creating new editions of her backlist titles. Her website is www.KathyLynnEmerson.com.

 

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My Vacation Reading Plan: Part Deux

Posted on July 13, 2026 by Brenda Buchanan

Last month I wrote about some of the books I’ll be bringing on vacation, when my mornings are spent writing and the rest of each day is a mix of swimming, reading, hiking, reading, eating blueberry pie and reading.

If you missed last month’s post, here’s the link: https://mainecrimewriters.com/2026/06/16/books-im-dying-to-read/

As promised, below are more previews of the books in my stack. Two of my favorite novelists are releasing new books on August 4 and I have both on pre-order.

♦   YOU’LL BE SORRY by Lisa Gardner promises to be another riveting read. I’m not sure she’s ever written a book that doesn’t grab you by the hand and pull you in with relatable characters, non-stop action and plots that are inventive while staying on the right side of the plausibility line. YOU’LL BE SORRY is a standalone about the new owners of a house inhabited three decades ago by a family (parents and four kids) who disappeared, leaving only bloody footprints behind. The home’s new owners think they can breathe new life into the derelict place, unaware they’re blowing on embers still too hot to touch. Set in New Hampshire, in a small town with a new police chief, YOU’LL BE SORRY also features a dog who senses things humans have missed over the past thirty years. This book is going to keep me awake late into the night. I just know it.

Lisa will be one of the co-Guests of Honor (with Joseph Finder) at the New England Crime Bake in November. It’s the 25th anniversary of the annual regional gathering of the New England crime writing community, and among other things, Lisa will be teaching a Master Class called Character Boot Camp on Friday afternoon. FMI and to register go to https://www.crimebake.org/event/2026CrimeBake/summary

♦          ALL WE HIDE by Robyn Gigl is the first in a new series featuring police Lieutenant Lauren Kelly, who’s winding up her detective career at a District Attorney’s office in New Jersey after coming out as transgender. Having been exiled by her bosses to the dreaded cold case unit, Lauren uses her skills and insight to piece together the facts behind the murder of her former high school classmate, trans sex worker Sherry Darling. She also figures out who covered it up, which puts her at tremendous risk.  All of Robyn’s novels (she’s the author of the acclaimed Erin McCabe thrillers) are peopled with marvelous characters. In ALL WE HIDE, they include a Dad with Alzheimer’s, an ex-wife for whom Lauren still has feelings and a daughter as dear to her as life itself. Having read Robyn’s Erin McCabe books more than once, I expect nothing less from this gifted, powerful writer, who I’m lucky to count as a friend.

And BTW, Robyn also will be at Crime Bake in November, where she’ll sit on a panel on “Building and Keeping Tension” with MCW’s own Rob Kelley and David Heska Wanbli Weiden, the author of . . .

♦           WISDOM CORNER, the much anticipated follow up to WINTER COUNTS, which introduced the world to Virgil Wounded Horse, who people on South Dakota’s Rosebud Indian Reservation turn to when the justice system doesn’t deliver. In WISDOM CORNER Virgil is back, still trying to shed his vigilante past. But when his good friend and mentor, venerated healer Jerome Iron Shell is murdered, he gets pulled back into the criminal world on the reservation. In WINTER COUNTS, David showed himself to be a writer unafraid to probe the underlying causes and emotional costs of the violence that propelled the narrative. I expect WISDOM CORNER will showcase this talent again. An enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota nation, David writes with authority and heart.  I cannot wait to read this new book.

As noted above, David also will be at Crime Bake in November, participating in a panel with Robyn Gigl and Rob Kelley.

♦          6 DAYS by Jule Selbo, another MCW colleague, will be out on August 5.  This is the fifth book in an addictive series featuring former cop, now private investigator Dee Rommel, whose serious injury while a member of the Portland PD doesn’t slow her down one bit. Dee is tough, savvy, intuitive, and very funny. So is her boss, Gordy Greer. Their mutual respect anchors Dee when she needs backup, but her courage and willingness to go it alone with bad guys is what keeps me reading. At Crime Bake in November, Jule, who also is an accomplished screenwriter, will be part of a panel called “From Book to Screen” alongside co-Guest of Honor Joe Finder, among others.

♦          HARD AS A HEADSTONE by Richard J. Cass marks the return of Ardmore Theberge, a former Army CID investigator now a meticulous land surveyor who lives by a code that is Maine to its core. In HARD AS A HEADSTONE, Ardmore discovers the body of Janey Nightingale in a cemetery she was fighting to protect from a rapacious corporation seeking to relocate the graves in order to exploit the valuable aquifer beneath the earth. Ardmore made his first appearance in THE LAST ALTRUIST, his first Portland-set novel. If you haven’t read it, you might consider doing so before picking  up HARD AS A HEADSTONE, which will be out on September 1.

Like almost everyone else mentioned in this post, Dick will be at Crime Bake in November, sharing insights about strong protagonists on a panel titled “Main Character Energy.”

♦          THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY by Elizabeth Strout is a must-read for me because I read one of her books each summer while on vacation. It’s a pleasurable rite, like having blueberry pie for breakfast every day.  THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY is not a crime novel, and Elizabeth will not be at Crime Bake, but it’s a book I’m looking forward to because (a) she gets New England 100% and (b) her prose is so beautiful it can summon tears.

This novel is about a high school history teacher in Massachusetts who is moved to excavate his emotional world andconnections with other people. So in one sense, it’s a book about mystery, the hidden truths we hold in our hearts and are hesitant to reveal, even to ourselves.

As I said last month, whatever you do this summer (swim, hike, nap, dance, eat pie) do keep reading, and if you’re inclined to share what’s on your summer reading list, please let us know in the comments section.

Brenda Buchanan sets her novels and short stories in Maine. Her three-book Joe Gale series features a contemporary newspaper reporter with old-school style who covers the courts and crime beat at the fictional Portland Daily Chronicle. Brenda’s short story, “Means, Motive, and Opportunity,” was included in the anthology Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories 2021 and received an honorable mention in Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022.  Her story “Cape Jewell,” appeared in Snakeberry: Best New England Crime Stories 2025. “Crime of Devotion” was included in Murder Most Senior, an anthology released this spring at the Malice Domestic conference and her story “Links in the Chain” will be published in the anthology The Lines We Cross, which will launch at Bouchercon this coming October.

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Weekend Update: July 11-12, 2026

Posted on July 11, 2026 by kaitlynkathy

Next week at Maine Crime Writers there will be posts by Brenda Buchanan (Monday), Kaitlyn Dunnett/KathyLynn Emerson (Tuesday), Kate Flora (Thursday), and Maureen Milliken (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: All my e-book titles written as Kathy Lynn Emerson are on sale throughout the month of July at Smashwords. For the complete list, go to https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Kathy_LynnEmerson

 

 

MATT COST will be having an author conversation with JULE SELBO on Wednesday, July 15th at 6 PM at the Windham Public Library in Windham, Maine. We will talk about writing quirks, book series, and our latest releases. WHAT REALLY UPSETS YOU? GETS YOUR GOAT? We might ask this to get things started.

 

Matt Cost will focus on his novel, EveryThing vs. Max Creed, a modern-day Robin Hood thriller. Jule Selbo will focus on her novel, 6 Days: Freya Cummings hasn’t left her private island for twenty years. When a teenager files a maternity suit against her and mysterious evidence seems damning, Dee Rommel is hired for her first solo gig.

 

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When the Tank is Empty

Posted on July 10, 2026 by John Clark

 

Facing the day sometimes be like dis.

John Clark: I’ve never had particular difficulty coming up with an idea for a post at MCW…Until this month. I’m in a funk so massive that I could sell off 90% of it and still have more than the average bear. There are many contributors to this unfortunate situation.

Let’s start with the meh factor, when I sit down to write, either nothing comes to mind, or apathy dances naked on the keyboard with a rose in her mouth. Then, there’s the need for ongoing distraction due to the crappy reality we live in. H. Ross Perot was way ahead of his time in 1992 when he coined the phrase ‘giant sucking sound’ regarding where we were headed. Well kiddos, unless you’re living in a condo on the dark side of the moon, you have to admit that our current situation goes well beyond suck.

Then there are physical issues (I am certainly not unique in being afflicted by the slings and arrows that come with age-I’m 78). After 30+ years, I’m grudgingly accustomed to tinnitus, but increasing balance issues, aggravated by clown balloon-like feet (thanks to an anti-hypertension drug), and an energy level that would make a sloth envious, do not make for a great level of creativity.

Am I the only person who thinks the number of drivers who have been infected with Mad Max disease increases daily? Here in Waterville, it seems like there’s an invisible bonus for red light running and lane swerving.

Don’t get me started on cellphones. They’re a modern form of slavery. I shudder at how many shoppers seem to be paralyzed unless Brad or Muffy can instruct them to buy the right size and brand of pickles. Ditto with people in waiting rooms. My pet peeve is how many folks at my Tuesday night AA meeting spend more time sneaking looks at their phones than they do listening to whoever is sharing. The notable exception is Jolly Ollie who uses his to type out on the screen what is being said.

I do remain grateful for some things, notably the level of dark humor which sustains me most days. There are a few others like freshly brewed coffee, a new book to read, and my own brand of dumpster diving. I pick up returnables as well as losing lottery tickets. The money from the returnables goes in our grandkids’ college accounts and I enter the losing lottery tickets online to accumulate points. Every 4000 points nets me another $25 Amazon gift cart which in turn, buys books I read and pass along to the Waterville Public library.

One aspect of writing never flags-that of making out sweepstakes entries. After a dry spell of several months, I’m heating up with some decent wins.

Finally, I am pleased to report that Werb and Nar (remember them from last month?) have discovered the joy of going to grange suppers. Werb is especially happy when Wilma Throckmutton coaxes him to have just one more scrid of her rhubarb pie, while Nar is enamored of Lydia Piffletruffle’s secret coleslaw recipe.

I’ll see myself out.

This is KNOT what I planned to write, but you know, life.

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Embracing The Suck of a First Draft

Posted on July 7, 2026 by joesouza

Hope everyone had a great 4th. Happy 250th birthday America!

I want to talk about forgiveness. To be exact, forgiving yourself for producing a bad first draft of a novel. Or better stated: Embracing the suck.

After many years of writing novels, I’ve come to terms with the fact that the first draft of a novel is not going to produce The Great Gatsby of War and Peace. And you know what! That’s perfectly okay. It’s part of the process. Expect that it’s going to happen and don’t be afraid of a bad first draft. Because if you’re looking for perfection the first time out, you’re always going to be disappointed.

And you know what else? It’s all in the editing.

Writing the first draft of a novel is hard work. Brutal work, to be honest. That’s why Hemingway said “Write drunk, edit sober.” Facing that blank page day after day pushes you to the brink of creative exhaustion. It’s why I can only write a few hours a day but edit for much longer. Developing a story from nothing might be the hardest thing you will ever do. Don’t believe me. Ask God.

Now I celebrate when I finish a first draft. It’s kind of like finishing a marathon with a lot of steep hills. What’s beautiful about completing one is that now you have a finished story on record. You’ve created the story; now all you have to do is refine it. It’s why I stopped outlining my novels; I view the first draft as both my first draft and a chapter by chapter synopsis.

I just finished a first draft with a crappy ending.

BUT NOW I CAN GET TO THE REAL WORK!

What to expect in my shitty first drafts.

-repetition of themes and facts

-different names for the same characters as I try to wrestle with appropriate titles.

-bad grammar

-spelling errors

-cringeworthy sentences

-different tenses

-problematic timelines

-geographical mistakes.

-horrid dialogue

I could go on and on.

These are just a few of the issues I will have to deal with when going back to edit my novel. But it’s okay. Step back and take a deep breath. You did it. While embarrassing at times, accept all this as part of the process. In fact, embrace the suck while you’re writing that first draft. Because it will get better and better with each successive pass.

Here’s the thing; the real beauty comes from the editing. Characters develop into themselves and reveal their true character. Themes blossom and help generate interesting and relevant subplots. The passive language gets more muscular. Humor and wit blossom in places you would never expect. Dialogue sharpens and characters develop their own unique voice. Endings appear organically. Your mind starts whirring, now freed from the conventions of creating. Before you know it that ugly duckling of a manuscript has turned into a beautiful swan ready to send out.

My advice here is to embrace the suck of writing a bad first manuscript. We all do it. Even the best writers do it. The Pulitzer Prize winners and bestsellers. Just know that you’ll do much better in the rewrite.

Peace out, everyone!

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A NOVEL COMING OUT and I’m taking a reading short stories break. What makes a good one for you?

Posted on July 6, 2026 by jselbo

Jule Selbo

JULY 6, 2026

YEAH!   6 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery will be winging its way out into the world SOON!

To take a short break before I move onto 5 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery,  I have been reading a lot of short mystery/crime fiction (less that 10,000 words). Here’s what I am finding that I respond to as a reader and I would love for you to add your thoughts/opinions and “druthers” to this.  I love this form, and it’s all subjective – right? But I wonder where we agree or disagree.

Here’s my list. Can you add or subtract?  I know we all have different preferences.

  1. Characters have to draw me in.
  2. Plot is not enough
    1. Intricate plotting (too much focus on the procedural elements) is not what I respond to.
    2. I get frustrated if the crime or mystery is not foreshadowed or introduced by the second page of a short story. Not sure why.
    3. Character description and backstory hold my attention for only so long, I want to know why I am reading the story. What’s the mystery? What’s the crime?
    4. I admit I am an impatient person but since these are short stories, is it necessary to “get on with it”?
  3. The differences between complicated and complex in the art of storytelling have become clearer to me.
    1. Unbelievable or outrageous machinations of planning and/or executing a crime are not necessary or appreciated by me.
  4. Stakes that are of a personal nature to the main character (s) is (are) a must.
    1. Presenting the crime/mystery more as a puzzle for the reader (and not for the protagonist) is not as attractive to me as being a reader in the passenger seat while the protagonist drives the way to the solve.
      1. This was a bit of a revelation to me. I didn’t know I would have that bias.
  5. Wordsmithing impresses me.
    1. A well-built sentence with a metaphor or simile that surprises or makes me think is appreciated.
    2. Pacing and great word choices? Kudos!
    3. But simplicity and clarity – kudos too.
    4. But my head can be turned (and my heart warmed) by a bit of wordsmithing
  6. Interesting formatting gets good marks if the story remains clear.
    1. Story is revealed through a series of letters? Emails? Texts? Bulletin boards? Graffiti? I take my hat off if it’s pulled off successfully.
  7. Humor? Not necessary it but can add some good flavor.
    1. Sarcasm? Sure.
    2. Personal views of the protagonist or another character that make me smile or agree or disagree – sure.
  8. Horror? Real horror (an evil that can’t be stopped or mitigated) can work well, but for me, that genre should come third in preponderance. I appreciate it if the crime and mystery genres take precedence.
  9. A period piece? I love the addition of that element.
    1. Take me back in time.
    2. Shine a new light.
    3. Get into the heads of people who ventured through different times and politics and societal clutches.
  10. Gravitas? A point to be made? An analogy for a current situation/problem?
    1. All good for me if the story and characters are not at the service of the writer’s opinion or political, religious or social beliefs. The characters and crime/mystery story need to be the main meal and let the gravitas be the gravy.

So excited for 6 DAYS!  Hope you all can read it and let me know!

The FIFTH (5th) book of the Dee Rommel Mystery series!

An ethereal beauty, heiress Freya Cummings hasn’t left her private island in Maine for over twenty years, not since she was thirteen. Her reclusive lifestyle is infamous. When a teenager files a maternity suit against her, and mysterious evidence seems damning, former policewoman and now private investigator, Dee Rommel, is hired. She travels up the coast from Portland to flesh out the truth, and as avenues of investigation are shut down, and New England’s blood banks are hacked, and bodies are found, Dee discovers dark secrets can create dangerous chaos for the families and for her own relationships.

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