Author Archives: Charlene DAvanzo

If there’s one often-asked question that especially bugs authors I think it’d be “where do you get your ideas from?”. Stated that way, it sounds like people think there’s a special place where you can buy them.  The truth is … Continue reading →

During this stressful, bizarre time we all need to escape and immerse ourselves in something engrossing. As I’ve said before, what better way to do that than with books?  For ideas, I’ve assembled a short list of “covid reads” in … Continue reading →

Why do writers write? Certainly, reasons differ for each of us and motives morph with time, but given the shared polestar of this blog I’ll have a go at the question anyway.     Inspired by what they believe is important, … Continue reading →

What’s like opening day that doesn’t, a curtain rise that won’t, the new moon that refuses to appear? For an author it is, of course, the book launch that never really happens. Yup, Book Four in my Oceanographer Mara Tusconi … Continue reading →

My absolutely-favorite-place-in-Maine is Stonington. Famous for lobstering and granite quarrying, the town sits at the tip of Deer Isle. Out on the water you can see Acadia National Park to the north. For me Stonington is “kayak heaven”. For twenty-five … Continue reading →

I was rifling through my messy bookcase earlier today when a paperback tumbled onto the floor. I picked up Agatha Christie’s “Death On The Nile” – the one in which vacationing Hercule Poirot solves a murder aboard a streamer on … Continue reading →

As an ecologist-turned-writer, I regard the outdoor settings of my books as much more than “place”. The Maine coast – its frigid waters, sudden storms, waving seaweeds, all of it – is a glorious and unpredictably dangerous entity that, for … Continue reading →

“The Nature of Life and Death: Every Body Leaves A Trace”—now that’s a book for mystery writers. And the subtitle “Tales of A Forensic Ecologist” certainly got this ecologist’s attention. Author Patricia Wiltshire is a botanist and palynologist who identifies … Continue reading →

Need inspiration as we begin the 2020 decade? Help could be in the holiday books lying around the house. For those who celebrate Christmas the list starts, of course, with A Christmas Carol. Dickens had recently visited the Field Lane … Continue reading →

Ah, the week of Thanksgiving. Time for family, friends, food—and crime? It’s true. According to the Journal of Criminal Justice “Crimes of expressive violence were significantly more prevalent on major holidays ….” (2003, vol. 31, pages 351-360). Sad to say, … Continue reading →