Brenda here, a bit freaked out that it’s October 4. How did we get here so fast?

No two ways about it, the big seasonal shift is upon us. Apples are being picked, fall festivals are in full swing and pumpkins are everywhere you look. That fleece jacket’s felt pretty darned nice on some recent chilly mornings, hasn’t it?

The glory of October

A big fall event among local crime writers (as well as readers of crime fiction) is New England Crime Bake, the annual three-day craft intensive/party held outside of Boston each November.  The dates this year are November 8 – 10, and it’s not too late to register.

As a member of the Crime Bake organizing committee, my particular job is to serve as Guest of Honor liaison. This year the GOH is Gabino Iglesias, who writes compelling books about ghosts and demons, his most recent being House of Bone and Rain.

On Friday afternoon Gabino will teach a master class that draws on his experience writing horror:  Killing Puppies: The Art of Violence in Fiction.  He’s a thoughtful guy, and this session promises to be terrific.

Crime Bake also features other accomplished crime writers teaching master classes, including MCW’s own Kate Flora and Jule Selbo, meetings with agents and editors, panel discussions, roundtables (I’m facilitating one on writers’ superstitions), an awards banquet and plenty of time to schmooze in the bar.

A new offering this year is the opportunity to have a professional photographer update your head shot, in case yours (like mine) is a bit out of date.

The conference takes place at the Hilton hotel in Dedham, Massachusetts, just south of Boston. The website is here: https://www.crimebake.org/event/19fc0b86-ef98-4813-abc5-8fe12c599e94/summary where you can find the full schedule, a link to register and all of the other information you need.

For those who haven’t attended Crime Bake before, it has a well-earned reputation as a welcoming conference. By the end of the weekend, first-timers often find themselves with a passel of new friends.

I’ll leave you with a couple of my favorite photos of autumns past and urge you to travel around Maine this month, absorbing the beauty that surrounds us.

In Western Maine, there’s a gorgeous visa around every bend in the road.

Pro tip:  Go online and read all the stories about the best leaf-peeping spots.  Then go elsewhere. The trees show off in all of Maine’s sixteen counties.

The coast is awfully pretty, too.

Brenda Buchanan brings years of experience as a journalist and a lawyer to her crime fiction. She has published three books featuring Joe Gale, a newspaper reporter who covers the crime and courts beat. She’s now hard at work on new projects. FMI, go to http://brendabuchananwrites.com