Hi. Barb Ross here. Finally coming to you from Maine.
My view as I am writing this post
Usually, we arrive in Maine in early May. Honestly, it’s not the best time weather-wise, but it’s a great time to get old house stuff done and settle in. This year, we were delayed by the good (my daughter’s graduation from UMass Boston with her MFA in Creative Writing), the bad (I had a knee calamity right before Malice this year), and the ugly (Fogged Inn, book 4 in the Maine Clambake Mystery series was due June 1–and got sent in June 15).
The ugly
So while I’ve been in Maine, I’ve been chained to my desk, both getting the manuscript done and getting caught up on the 1001 things that were put off “until after I had the book turned in.”
But, while I’ve been distracted, my husband, Bill Carito, has been getting reacquainted with Boothbay Harbor. I gave him an iPhone photography class for Christmas. (It was truly a Hail Mary pass. We don’t always give each other gifts, and we somehow intuitively know whether it’s an on year or an off year. But this December, he and my daughter were having way too many mysterious telephone conversations, and I started to panic. Since we were going to be in Key West for January and February, I contacted my friend, author Lucy Burdette, who writes the Key West Food Critic Mysteries. She recommended the iPhone class, which she’d taken and enjoyed.)
You never know how those things are going to go, but this one was a hit! Bill posted a photo a day to his Facebook while we were in Key West and has taken a bunch of online iPhone classes since. Anyway, here’s some of what he found walking around Day 1 in Boothbay Harbor.
Pretty cool, huh?
So happy to be back!
Kait Carson
Charlene D’Avanzo 
But wait! You didn’t tell us what the secret present for YOU was! What were your daughter and husband cooking up, that Christmas?
Oh my gosh, Heidi! The most beautiful necklace ever!
Just out of book jail myself, and equally far behind. Looking forward to this new book.
I hope you’ve take some time to breathe and enjoy the awfully short Maine summer before plunging into your next book.
Kate
That’s the plan, Kate! I’m so excited.
p.s. Can you share a link to that iPhone photography class? Curious people want to know.
Welcome back, Barb and Bill! Hope to see you and Boothbay Harbor soon. Although the bars on that Writers’ Jail are closing in on me now ….!
Oh, no! We have to get together soon!
I’m so glad to hear you’ve earned your freedom, Barb. I’m more or less in book jail myself, but the day of my release is approaching. Your revision class from Crime Wave is saving my life, so thank you again for that.
Bill’s photos are wonderful!
Thank you, Brenda–from both of us.
Welcome home, Barb. Hope our paths cross before too much longer. Hey, it’s only a two hour drive from the scenic Western Maine mountains to the coast!
Kathy/Kaitlyn
Hope to see you, too!
Sounds like everyone is glad you are back. The Christmas gift that keeps on giving, the pictures are wonderful.’
Hi Kate,
I took my Key West class with Shirley Drevich who managed to show the potential of iphone photography to a class ranging from technophobes to experienced photographers.
Now, I am taking video classes at the iphoneeditingacademy.com and iphonephotoacademy.com which emanate from http://www.iphonephotographyschool.com. The instructor, Emil Pakarklis, has been excellent. He provides lots of extras including weekly webinars and lifetime access to the videos.
Barb, your gift to Bill was a gift to all of us on Facebook. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed those photos from Key West during the long, endless winter. Bill, keep them coming!