Lea here. And, for all of you who enjoy reading the Maine Crime Writers blog, have I got a book for you!

As many regular readers of this blog know, during the past fifteen years I’ve changed my life, in very positive ways. After ending my thirty-plus years in corporate America I moved to Maine, the state I’ve loved all my life, married the man I’d loved (but lived without) for many years, and began writing fiction full-time. This summer my fourteenth traditionally-published book will be released (THREADS OF EVIDENCE, in late August.)

In the past several years I’ve written blogs for Maine Crime Writers and other sites, focusing on what it’s been like to live my dreams: live in Maine full time, and be an author … and the wife of an artist.   

In response to suggestions from a number of you, I’ve now edited, added to, and brought together 32 of the best of these blogs in one place. LIVING AND WRITING  ON THE COAST OF MAINE is really a memoir.  Starting with a celebration of my anniversary in October, the essays move through Christmas, New Year’s, winter storms, mud season, and on to the joys of Maine summers.

I’ve chosen the selections carefully, based on my most popular blogs, and those that best defined my life now, and sometimes in the past. (We all have backstories.) Warning: they include a fair amount of wry humor.

Because many readers are also writers, or are curious about writers, I’ve also included  25 essay on writing the cosy mystery, doing research, what author signings are really like, how to create a character bible for a book, experiences visiting schools, and other insights into how my life and my writing merge.

Available in both e-book and paperback, I hope you’ll enjoy this peak into living in Maine … and my life.

Lea Wait writes the seven-book Shadows Antique Print Mystery series, starring protagonist Maggie Summer, and the Mainely Needlepoint series, which began with TWISTED THREADS last January. The second in that series, THREADS OF EVIDENCE, will be published in September. She also writes historical novels for ages eight and up set in 19th century Maine.