The Maine Crime Writers
Charlene D’Avanzo www.charlenedavanzo.com
Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson
http://www.Darcyscott.net
Author Archives: Maureen Milliken
Central Maine says ‘Take this, pandemic, we’re lighting things up’
You don’t have to be a big city to have big city lights, and a few Kennebec River towns made that clear this holiday season, telling the pandemic it can go to hell because it’s not going to spoil the … Continue reading
It was a dark and stormy night… or day… remembering is as hard as consistent writing
Ooops! I bet you expected this about 12 hours ago. Sorry! Blame the tryptophan in the turkey. Or that being home all the time makes it hard to remember what day it is. The days just all melt together into … Continue reading
I’ve got New England Crime Bake fever, and I don’t want a vaccine
Early fall 2008 I was trying to get some traction on writing my first mystery novel. It was something I’d intended to do since I was 9. As I tried to figure out how to go about things, it occurred … Continue reading
Should you read a fiction series in order? The answer is…
So, I somehow just binge-read a 23-book series over the last two months. I’m not sure how — or even why — and don’t want to delve too deeply into that part of my psyche right now, so this post … Continue reading
Why write? Because of stuff like this
NOTE TO READERS: Holy Covid! Was it really almost two years ago my last book came out? I’d like to say I’m rerunning this old post because I’m busy finishing up the next one, but I’m actually just really busy … Continue reading
Posted in Maureen's Posts
Tagged Augusta, Bad News Travels Fast, feedback, reader responses, The writing process
1 Comment
Hey writers, there’s no excuse for boredom
You may have seen the clickbait “news” last year that Dover-Foxcroft is supposedly the “most boring” town or city in Maine. It was apparently based on the fact that it has the oldest median population, combined with lack of population … Continue reading
Posted in Maureen's Posts, Uncategorized
Tagged Dover-Foxcroft, mystery writing tips, settings in fiction
6 Comments
Happy summer! Writers, can you feel it?
One day last week, one of the ones that was forecast to be hotter than Maine should be allowed to be, I decided to mow the lawn while it was still “cool” out before I started work for the morning. … Continue reading
Where do writers get their ideas? Try right outside your door
As anyone who reads this blog, or anything written by any writers anywhere, knows, one of the top questions for fiction writers is… wait for it… “Where do you get your ideas?” We’ve discussed this before. You know we have. … Continue reading
Posted in Maureen's Posts
Tagged AMHI, Augusta, Imagination, No News is Bad News, writers' imagination, writing ideas
3 Comments
Welcome to my daily briefing: Writing, book store stats, cat trees, leaf blowers…
We are now in the locked-in era of the daily briefing — they’re ubiquitous and they’re not going away soon. At least there’s a little something for everyone. I like the calm and rational updates by Maine’s Dr. Nirav Shah, … Continue reading
Posted in Maureen's Posts
Tagged bookstores, essential workers, Mad magazine, Maine, writing
2 Comments
Hey Maine, guess whose birthday we missed in these strange, strange times?
There’s nothing about COVID-19 and everything that’s going on that you haven’t already heard, so I’ll save it except to say that I’ve been a social isolation hobbyist for my entire adult life and I can assure you, you’ll come … Continue reading
