Cursing John McPhee

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Richard Cass

Before anything else, acknowledgements to various places that have helped me launch In Solo Time, the prequel to last year’s Solo Act. More to come as the fall unfolds. In no particular order, many thanks to:

Now, on to the screed. I love John McPhee, regardless of anything I say after this. He’s the consummate long-form nonfiction writer on topics as diverse as  oranges, the pine barrens of New Jersey, and the American shad. I started reading him when I came across Encounters with the Archdruid in the late seventies and followed his work in the New Yorker and his books, right up to his most recent book, Draft No. 4, which summarizes the lessons of the writing course he’s taught at Princeton since 1975. This last one, I’m afraid, is what’s plunged me into the Slough of Despond.

In his chapter on Structure, McPhee recounts how his high school English teacher forced him (and presumably his classmates) to outline every piece of writing before he started to write. In the Draft No. 4 chapter, he recounts how he decided on structures for various of his projects, drawing shapes, arrows, mazes, recurring curves, and lines peppered with dots well in advance of the point at which he wrote anything down. Many of these structures are marvels of architecture, reflecting deep thinking about the relationships among bits of information and story he’s picked up in his research travels, how to create the reader’s journey through the arc of the bales of information he’s picked up. All of this thinking he accomplishes before he writes a word.

For me, it usually takes three or four drafts of a novel to decide if there’s even a story in it. I can’t seem to think out the arc of a tale ahead of time, let alone what its ideal structure is, until I’ve thrown some words down on the page to work with. I remember an interview with Calvin Trillin in which he called his first drafts the “vomit draft.” I’m still heaving three or four rounds in. (I had a conversation with another writer once in which she told me she felt like she had to grow the tree before she carved it into furniture, which may be a more pleasant metaphor.)

At any rate, the fact that McPhee can create these elaborate structures and write to them amazes me, though I know it probably shouldn’t. The more time I spend with writers, having those tentatively weird and revealing conversations about process and procedure, the more I realize that everyone’s process is a unique collection of quirks, myths, prejudices, amulets, and incantations that works, mostly. If there were an easy way to get it done, someone would have patented it and be living on a yacht by now.

So I’ve calmed myself down. Temporarily. Yes, I cursed McPhee when I read Draft No. 4, until I realized my own strange process works in its own way. Of course, he has published a few more books than I have . . . I wonder if I took up drawing . . .

Posted in Dick's Posts, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

On Having Solitude to Write

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Brenda Buchanan

By Brenda Buchanan

Backshore, Peaks Island, on a late September morning.

I was blessed to have the opportunity in late September for a writing retreat on Peaks Island, where I lived year-round for a dozen years a decade ago, and where, incidentally, my first protagonist Joe Gale came into being.

Every writer needs a good dictionary.

I was in need of a deep dive into Big Fish, my book-in-progress, a head-first immersion to tighten, clarify, sort out, button down, amplify, sharpen and better describe a hundred (maybe a thousand) details. And revise a scene or two. Or maybe eight.

The ferry landing.

Thanks to the good people of the Illustration Institute (for more about this amazing organization founded by my friends Scott Nash and Nancy Gibson Nash, go here: http://www.illustrationinstitute.org/) I was able to stay for an entire week at a marvelous, century-old cottage in the heart of a forest glen tucked above the backshore.

Chock full of art and books, the cottage was an inspiring space that offered several possible writing nooks. I chose a spacious table in front of two huge swing-up windows that overlooked the peaceful (except when a rafter of wild turkeys sashayed past) woods.

My writing space for the week.

Once settled, I wrote. All day, every day. After an early morning walk along the shore or through the woods, a quick shower and a cup coffee, my hands were on the keyboard by 7:30 a.m.

Dawn on Peaks – beauty everywhere you look.

When my stomach growled at midday I wandered downstairs for a sandwich and a cup of tea. Then it was back to the writing desk to take apart each chapter of Big Fish, then each scene, each paragraph, and finally, each sentence.  I worked until well after nightfall, stopping only when the dark fully enveloped the house and the night insects hummed outside the screens of its only illuminated windows.

When I had no more words to write or reconsider, I sat on the screen porch and recharged my brain listening to my beloved Red Sox on the radio. Later, my characters showed up in my dreams, blurring the line between sleep and wakefulness when the day’s first light filtered through the surrounding trees each morning.

The morning sun illuminating the woods.

I was following in the steps of some of my MCW colleagues who’ve found opportunities to get away for periods of intensive writing. Kate Flora spent two weeks at a prestigious writing center a couple of springs ago. Barbara Ross, Jessie Crockett and several of their Wicked Cozy Writers blog mates hold a group retreat each spring. Most recently (maybe even the same week I was on Peaks) Maureen Milliken was holed up at a friend’s lakeside cabin.

I’m sure they agree it’s a gift beyond measure to have the time, the space, and the solitude to immerse oneself in the imaginary but very real world that is your book, and to stay there for hours on end. Stepping away from routine allows a level of focus that’s increasingly elusive in our busy lives.

In another measure of grace, the Illustration Institute and the Friends of the Peaks Island Library organized a reading for me one evening at the beautiful Fifth Maine Regiment and Museum.

Stained glass windows commemorate the Fifth Maine Regiment, which fought in the Civil War.

Friends old and new at the reading.

I enjoyed having the opportunity to introduce Neva Pierce, my protagonist in Big Fish, to talk about writing and creativity and about how the island is the kind of place one can slip into the magical zone and stay there all day and into the night.

My time on Peaks was extraordinary, and I thank all who made it possible.

Writers and other creative types who read this blog: Does it help you to get away when you need to do a significant piece of work?  For the non-writers, do you seek out a retreat for other reasons? Please share your experiences in the comments.

Brenda Buchanan’s Joe Gale mysteries feature an old-school reporter with modern media savvy who covers the Maine crime beat. The first three Joe Gale books—Quick Pivot, Cover Story and Truth Beat—are available in digital format wherever ebooks are sold. She’s now working on a new series featuring a Portland lawyer named Neva Pierce.

Brenda can be found on the web at www.brendabuchananwrites.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BrendaBuchananAuthor and on Twitter at @buchananbrenda

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A Recent Interview

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Bruce Robert Coffin

Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Peter Bollen for a piece in the Bridgton News. Pete was gracious enough to allow me to repost the unabridged interview here on the Maine Crime Writers blog.

Q: You had a distinguished career in law enforcement. Are you now retired and do you write full time?

Thank you. I was very fortunate to work twenty-eight years with some phenomenal people, and I had some amazing opportunities. I retired from police work in 2012 with the dream of becoming a full time author. My dream has been realized.

Q: When did you decide to become a writer?

Always a tough question to answer. I often wonder if the decision was truly mine. Sometimes it feels as though these things pick us. I loved reading and having stories read to me as a youngster. I can still remember sitting cross legged on the floor at my grandmother’s house listening to Peter and the Wolf on the console record player over and over. And I remember my third grade teacher Mrs. Dunham reading Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the class. I think the true turning point for me was when I read Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. It was King’s storytelling really made me want to pen my own tales of fiction. In 1976 I was writing a paper about Stephen King and wrote to him with a few questions. I still have the typed and signed letter that he wrote back to me.

Q: Has any particular writer influenced you?

There are many. King obviously, for the reasons stated above. Robert B. Parker’s Spenser hooked me early on. Dennis Lehane and James Lee Burke have captured my attention as of late. I’m trying to catch up on all the mystery reading that I never had the time for as a police officer.

Q: What individuals have influenced you in life?

New England writer Kate Flora has had a huge impact on me. As prolific as they come, Kate has penned several different mystery series as well as true crime books. I met Kate when she was writing a book about a murder case I helped work on, Finding Amy. Many years later, Kate became my writing mentor. I don’t believe I would be where I am today without her guidance.

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Q: What books do you have on your bookshelf? Any particular genre you prefer?

I think horror, mystery, and true crime interest me the most. But really anything well-written that captures the imagination or evokes emotion is my go to. I recently finished Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kruger and I highly recommend it.

Q: Would you say in your current book that parts of it are autobiographical?

Many people think so. In truth, the books I write are filled with things that I or my former colleagues have experienced. I try to insert as much realism as I can in each book, this means I draw heavily on personal experience when writing certain scenes. So in that way I guess the answer to your question is yes.

Q: Are you working on a new book or project?

I am currently working on the third novel in the Detective Byron series, tentatively titled Beyond the Truth. There is no question that the third novel has been the toughest to write. I have found myself digging deep into my own well of personal experiences and emotions on this one.

Q: Do you have a particular writing regimen?

I normally like to write first thing in the morning. I find that my brain and typing fingers are a bit more in sync at that time of day. Most times I will sit down and begin by editing some of the previous day’s work. Editing acts as a warm up and stretching exercise for the brain. I write anytime the mood hits me, but earlier in the day seems to suit me best.

Q: I always ask writers about Writer’s Block. Do you experience this? If so, how do you deal with it?

I’ve never experienced anything like the full blown writer’s block described by some scribes. There have been times when the scenes aren’t coming to me or I’m stuck on some plot point. When that happens I either head to the gym and punish myself on the elliptical or go down to the basement and work the heavy bag until the fog clears. I’m not sure why this works for me but there is something about getting the blood pumping that opens the creative floodgates.

Q: Do you have any advice to an aspiring writer who wishes to publish?

Be prepared to work your butt off and to be disappointed. Landing a traditional publishing deal is hard. Finding an agent is hard. Writing a novel is hard. But if you really enjoy the writing then you’re halfway there. The goal can be publication, but the love should always be the writing. If you want it bad enough and are willing to take criticism and improve your writing skills, publication is an achievable goal.

Q: If you could have an evening with three individuals dead or alive, who would you invite?

My first invite would go to novelist Robert Peter Tristram Coffin, a distant cousin, won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and taught at Bowdoin College. My second would be Charles Carleton Coffin, another distant cousin and novelist. Charles was perhaps the best known reporter to cover the civil war. He interviewed Union generals and was present for many of the battles, including Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg. My final invite would probably be Stephen King, for it was his storytelling that hooked me in the first place.

Q: Anything you wish to add to this interview, please feel free.

Prior to becoming a full-time writer I was an award-winning artist. In 2008 I was commissioned to paint a portrait to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The portrait I created was of Special Agent Edwin C. Shanahan, the first agent to be killed in the line of duty when he was shot in Chicago while trying to apprehend a car thief on October 11, 1925. The painting titled Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity is on permanent display in the Boston Field Office of the FBI. Of all the pieces I was commissioned to paint, this is one of my favorites.

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Posted in Bruce's Posts, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Your Dimensions May Vary

Posted on October 3, 2017 by kaitlynkathy

Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson here. Back when I worked in the circulation department at Mantor Library at the University of Maine at Farmington in the 1980s, part of my job was re-shelving returned books. We used to joke that the job would be so much easier if they were all the same size. I found myself remembering that last week, when the paperback reprint of the tenth Liss MacCrimmon mystery, Kilt at the Highland Games, hit stores.

Bala inspects the newly arrived box of author copies

We don’t have to contend with oversized books in the mystery genre, but there are three distinct print formats. Despite dire predictions about the changes wrought by the e-book revolution and the decision by some publishers to eliminate mystery imprints, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

It isn’t always clear to readers (or writers, for that matter) why one book is published in hardcover first and then, about a year later, as a mass market paperback, and another comes out only as a trade paperback or only as a mass market paperback original. From the publisher’s point of view, there are financial considerations to do with printing and distribution. I’m not going to get into those. I’m not even sure I really understand them. What I will ramble on about for a bit is my own experience with all three formats.

Back in the 1990s, when I was writing category romance and historical romantic suspense, my books were published as paperback originals. Decades later, when I wrote my “Secrets of the Tudor Court” novels, they were published in trade paperback. To distinguish between historical romance and historical? I truly have no idea, nor did I have any say in the decision. Trade paperbacks are nearly the size of a hardcover but are easier and lighter to handle and cheaper to produce. The three books in my historical Mistress Jaffrey Mysteries, came out first in hardcover, but also in large print, e-book, and trade paperback. The hardcovers are expensive, making the trade paperback look like a much better deal to the average reader. There is no mass market option.

The Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries are published in what’s called a hard/soft deal. Hardcovers are what libraries want, and libraries, even in difficult financial times, still buy books. Hardcovers, however, are expensive to produce. Full price tends to be $25 or more. The e-book editions that come out at the same time are also more expensive, as in over $10. The good news for cash-strapped book lovers is that there will eventually be a paperback reprint. Once that is in stores, the price of the e-book also drops.

It’s hard to make generalizations about book publishing, but what seems to be the norm in the mystery genre is that series in hardcover or trade paperback publish one new book in that series per year while series that are mass market paperback originals have a new entry every six months or so. An aside: I’m talking about books from traditional, royalty-paying publishers here, not books produced by the authors themselves. Indie publishers can bring out as many or as few books a year as they choose and price them however they like as well. Most of them, if there is a print edition, choose the trade paperback size.

To make a living at writing, most writers have to write two or more books a year. A deadline every six months can be grueling, whether the book is supposed to be 70,000 words or 100,000. It doesn’t allow much leeway for ill health, family emergencies, or anything else. I admire writer friends who manage two books in the same series year after year and still manage to keep the plots and characters fresh. I regularly write two or three novels a year, but not in the same series. I need a break in order to recharge my batteries and rekindle my enthusiasm.

I’ll tell you a little secret. When I wrote Kilt at the Highland Games I thought it was going to be the last book in the Liss MacCrimmon series. I was out of ideas for Liss and her friends, fearful that I’d just be repeating myself if I wrote any more about them. I came up with a proposal for a new series with a different setting, a different (older) sleuth, and a different profession, to be written from a different point of view—first person instead of third. But a funny thing happened during the long process of selling that series to my publisher. Simply by working on something else for awhile, and encouraged by the fact that Kensington wanted more Liss MacCrimmon mysteries, new ideas started popping into my head. I wasn’t finished with Liss after all. Before I knew it, I had a plot for the eleventh book in the series, X Marks the Scot, which will be out in hardcover at the end of November. And the series written about in first person with an older woman as amateur detective? The first book in the “Deadly Edits” series, Crime and Punctuation, will be out in hardcover in June of 2018.

Although I delight in having a “new” paperback in stores, there’s no rest for the wicked. The twelfth Liss MacCrimmon Mystery, Overkilt, is due on my editor’s desk on December first, I need to come up with a plot for Liss #13 by March first, and Clause and Effect has a June first deadline. Whether they come out in hardcover, trade paperback, or mass market, mystery series keep their writers busy!

Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett is the author of more than fifty traditionally published books written under several names. She won the Agatha Award and was an Anthony and Macavity finalist for best mystery nonfiction of 2008 for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries and was an Agatha Award finalist in 2015 in the best mystery short story category. She was the Malice Domestic Guest of Honor in 2014. Currently she writes the contemporary Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries (X Marks the Scot—December 2017) and Deadly Edits series (Crime and Punctuation—2018) as Kaitlyn and the historical Mistress Jaffrey Mysteries (Murder in a Cornish Alehouse) as Kathy. The latter series is a spin-off from her earlier “Face Down” mysteries and is set in Elizabethan England. New in 2017 is a collection of short stories, Different Times, Different Crimes. Her websites are www.KaitlynDunnett.com and www.KathyLynnEmerson.com

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Brilliance Before the Dark

Posted on October 2, 2017 by mainecrimewriters

Kate Flora: It is one of those days, or weekends, or weeks, when I’ve had a dozen great IMG_0249ideas for blog posts and cannot seem to choose among them or get organized to write them. So tonight, as I was driving along admiring the full moon after a spectacular day by the ocean, I thought about entering the month of October. October makes me happy, because it is crisp and fresh and gorgeous, with the bluest skies and the bluest water and energizing wind. One of my Joe Burgess mysteries, Redemption, opens on an October day much like today.

October makes me sad because it is followed by the grays and browns and dull golds of November. Therefore, I have to remind myself to seize these beautiful days. Stop bending over the keyboard hour after hour, but get up, go outside, and breathe it in. The smells, the geese honking overhead, the clouds of butterflies and frantic bees.

IMG_1089One particularly splendid aspect of October is that, for some reason (which a weather person might explain) we have the loveliest and most spectacular sunsets then. Even as I grow cranky at the fact that my days are shorter, they are coming to an end in unsurpassable fashion.

Obviously, October has just begun, so I can’t share this year’s sunsets with you yet. But this weekend, I was scrolling through years of photographs, trying to organize them into categories (including whimsy, abstracts, and signs), and I kept scrolling past breathtaking  sunsets.

I imagine that everyone’s camera rolls (or the current equivalent thereof) are full of IMG_0278photos of sunsets. We all want to try to capture that magic, though we’re rarely successful. But since I have the luxury of a west-facing view, I have some that for me, at least, still make me draw in a breath and go, AAAHHH! OH! YES! How lucky I am to have seen this.

Let’s see what you think.

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Posted in Kate's Posts, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Weekend Update: September 30-October 1, 2017

Posted on September 30, 2017 by kaitlynkathy

Next week at Maine Crime Writers, there will be posts by Kate Flora (Monday), Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson (Tuesday), Bruce Coffin (Wednesday), Brenda Buchanan (Thursday), and Dick Cass (Friday).

In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:

Kensington Books and Barnes and Noble have been running a promotion during September (Sept. 5 until October 5) featuring some of Kensington’s paperback cozies in an end cap display. If you buy three Kensington paperback cozies from B&N, you get another Kensington cozy paperback for free. And now there’s another neat wrinkle in the promotion. Everyone who buys a Kensington cozy paperback from B&N, in store or online, between those same dates and registers their purchase at http://sites.kensingtonbooks.com/kensingtoncozies/BN/ will receive a free Kensington Cozies recipe booklet plus a download code for the novel A Story to Kill by Lynn Cahoon on October 6 and be entered into Kensington’s Cozy Mystery Bonanza sweepstakes for a chance to win a $300 gift basket. One grand prize winner will be announced on October 6. Why are we promoting this here at Maine Crime Writers? Because one of Barb Ross’s cozies is on the B&N end cap and the rest of her Kensington books and all of the Kensington titles by Lea Wait and Kaitlyn Dunnett (in paperback) are part of this deal. And, if the response from the public is good enough, Kensington and B&N may continue the program. Win-win, right?

Scheduling next weekend? Saturday, October 7, will be the first annual Bath Literary Festival, co-sponsored by the Patten Free Library and The Mustard Seed Bookstore. Maine Crime Writers Brenda Buchanan. Bruce Coffin, Dick Cass, Gayle Lynds, Gerry Boyle, Jen Blood, Kate Flora, Lea Wait and Maureen Milliken — and others — will be at Waterfront Park in Bath between 9:30 and 12:30.

Do You LOVE Free Books? Until Oct. 2nd, Kate Flora’s publisher is offering a free download of her first Thea Kozak mystery, Chosen for Death, and seven other amateur sleuth mysteries. Here’s the link: http://mailchi.mp/ebookdiscovery/8-free-amateur-sleuth-mysteries-ends-oct-2

Sept 26 - Amateur Sleuths - Newsletter Graphic

Bruce Robert Coffin will be appearing at the Walker Memorial Library in Westbrook on Tuesday October 3rd at 6 pm. He will be reading from and discussing his latest novel Beneath the Depths. The Bookworm will be on hand selling copies of both Detective Byron novels.

And on Friday, October 6th from 5-8 pm, Bruce will be the First Friday featured author at the Maine Charitable Mechanics Association Library. MCMA is located at 519 Congress Street.

An invitation to readers of this blog: Do you have news relating to Maine, Crime, or Writing? We’d love to hear from you. Just comment below to share.

And a reminder: If your library, school, or organization is looking for a speaker, we are often available to talk about the writing process, research, where we get our ideas, and other mysteries of the business. Contact Kate Flora

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IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE, COOK ON

Posted on September 29, 2017 by susanvaughan

Yes, I know Shakespeare didn’t write it that way in Twelfth Night. But I’m definitely not the first to make the connection between food and love. In crime fiction as well as in romance fiction, people’s relationships are at the core of the story. Many mystery novels contain love stories, and even cozy mysteries employ the heroine sleuth’s bakery or restaurant or cupcake business as the set-up for the mystery. The Maine Clambake series by our own Barbara Ross (Iced Under) is a prime example. And in a previous post this month, Lea Wait (Thread the Halls) announced her new series will be a food mystery series, the Maine Cafe. Both authors include recipes. I can’t wait! (No pun intended)

Eating is one of the most intimate activities people can share. Many family traditions (holidays, weddings, funerals, family reunions, etc.) include gathering for meals and sharing food. Even in a romantic suspense, the hero and heroine have to eat sometime. Preparing food can bring the hero and heroine closer, creating a vital connection between them. Sharing food brings people together and can build a relationship, but it also provides the opportunity for conflict and/or insight into character in any kind of fiction.

Sharing a meal can break down barriers. In my book Twice a Target, Holt tries to avoid Maddy, who’s serving as nanny for his orphaned nephew, but when she cooks Turkish Summer Vegetable Stew and offers him a taste, she penetrates his wall. Judi Phillips (Through All Time) stresses that food scenes provide an opportunity to add sensory levels of smells and tastes. Food feeds the mind and soul—and heart—with comfort, texture, flavor, and smell. Experiencing the cooking of a savory pot roast or an apple pie (my husband’s favorite) can associate that aroma in the man’s psyche as part of the woman who cooked it for him. Applying the five senses in a story scene creates context, building reality for the reader.

A woman preparing food for a man is the most primitive form of nurturing. Even more powerful emotionally is when the hero cooks for the heroine or feeds her by taking her to a restaurant or bringing her food. As a basic mating ritual, it’s part of providing for the mate, the male as provider, and not just with food. It demonstrates he pays attention to her needs and likes and will meet them. It’s a primordial yet binding aspect of the courting dance. Virginia Kantra (Home Before Midnight) tells me that in her books, the hero always feeds the heroine, partly because of what I’ve just said. She adds, “Sharing a meal provides a resting moment in the plot.”

Arroz Con Pollo

In my book Never Surrender, Rick prepares his Cuban family’s Arroz con Pollo, or rice with chicken, for Juliana, when they’re hiding out from the bad guys. Preparing the meal provides that resting moment, gives them a chance to share their lives and is, yes, seductive, especially with a bottle of wine.  In Cleo’s Necklace, a book in my just released Devlin Security Force boxed set, Thomas buys cheese and bread for Cleo to eat in the car as they’re fleeing the bad guys on a Greek island. She is totally touched by his concern and it warms her that he always seems to be feeding her.

In Once Burned, Jake brings Lani a blueberry pie from a local baker, which evokes shared childhood memories. Lani’s near orgasmic enjoyment of her slice leads to something more than pie.

If anyone is interested in my recipes, you can download them at http://www.susanvaughan.com. Rick’s Arroz con Pollo is at the bottom of the Never Surrender page, and Maddy’s Turkish Summer Vegetable Stew is at the bottom of Twice a Target. Sorry, you’re on your own for blueberry pie. I’d love to have people share ideas about food in novels, or, hey, why not your real-life examples.

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Funny and Weird, the Police and Me

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Barbara Ross

by Barb, in her first post as a fulltime resident of Maine! (Please, don’t ask me about all the boxes.)

The last few times I’ve posted I’ve written about my interactions with the Boothbay Harbor Police Department. (You can read those posts here and here.)

But the strangest interaction I ever had with the police wasn’t in Boothbay. It was in Newton, Massachusetts, where we lived for eighteen years and where we raised our family. Newton is a close-in suburb of Boston, and despite its location and size (population nearly 90,000) it’s usually a pretty mellow place.

It was a beautiful summer Sunday in the early 1990s. So beautiful Bill had cooked our dinner on the grill. There had been reports on the news that a murderer had escaped from Walpole prison and that he might return to Newton where he’d executed a man years before.

I wasn’t really worried about it. It seemed much more likely he’d go to the South Shore of Massachusetts where he had family and associates, or head out for the border.

After we got the kids to bed, Bill and I settled in to watch TV. WGBH had run a marathon of the first season of Prime Suspect in preparation for the second and we’d recorded it on our VCR. We were entirely enthralled with Jane Tennison. There was no word for binge watching in those days, but that’s what we were doing. We kept saying, “Just one more. Just one more.” It got quite late.

Finally, we had to face the reality that we both had work in the morning and kids to get off to day camp. While I turned off the TV, Bill went out to check to make sure the coals in the grill were completely out, as he always did.

I will never forget the look on his face when he came back inside. He said, “I found some stuff in the backyard.” He handed me several 8 x 10 pieces of paper. They were black and white autopsy photos! And I could tell, looking at the first one, they were from the autopsy of the murder victim whose killer had just escaped from Walpole. Bill said, “They were all along the back fence.” I said, “We have to call the police.”

The police told us a patrol car would be right over to collect the photos. A young officer appeared on our porch within a few minutes. We handed over the pictures. “Are they really gory?” he asked, laughing.

He told us one of the sergeants had pulled the files on the murder to see if he could learn anything that would help track down the escapee. He’d sat in his cruiser parked in a cul-de-sac around the corner from us, reading the files. Because it was such a beautiful day, he decided to get out, and took one of the files with him, to read on top of he car as he stood beside it. Suddenly, he got an emergency radio call. Not thinking, he jumped into his cruiser and sped off. “The file blew all down the street,” the young patrolman said. “We’ve been getting calls from your neighbors all day.” We were the lucky yard that won the autopsy photos.

The story has always sounded a little hinky to me. But what worse story could it possibly be covering up? So it must be the truth, right?

By the way, the escaped criminal was caught. On the South Shore, not far from his mom’s house.

Posted in Barb's Posts | Tagged | 3 Comments

Puppies, More Puppies, and a Maine Crime Writers Prize for Coastal Humane Society

Posted on September 27, 2017 by jenbloodauthor

Hi all, I feel like I’m getting a little stale with all this dog business – next month, I promise to write about something more murder-y. In the meantime, though, my life has become considerably more dogged in the past couple of weeks, so I’m going to keep to the theme one more time. First off, though, I wanted to give a quick update on the children’s book I talked about last month. I ended up being less pleased with the printing job than I had anticipated, so I’m working with a local printer to produce a book with a more picture-book feel… Thus, Maya Picks a Puppy isn’t quite ready just yet, but will be available by mid-October. I’ll keep folks posted on dates.

And, onto other puppy-related matters. A little over a week ago, Ben and I became the proud foster parents of three 7-week-old pups from Mississippi. It’s anyone’s guess what their mix might be, but their mom is a sort of beagle-y/Dachsund sort of dog. Here are some pics of the little ones – Sage, Rosemary (Rosie), and Marjoram (Marji) – and you can decide for yourself what the babies might be.

This means that life for me has shifted from a sort of aimless non-routine to a much more regimented existence: up at 6:30 to feed Magnus the cat and then get the pups out. They’re staying in a puppy pen in our rumpus room – which is way more rumpus-y than we ever anticipated it would be, with three little ones running wild in there. The pups came to us with a bit of a cold, so meds and breakfast follow our first out, and then there’s an extended out and lots of wild play time to try and tire the little buggers out. It’s been just a week, but I’m already finding that it takes a lot more to wear out 8-week-old pups than it did 7-week-old pups. Still, I’m having a good time with the whole thing.

If you want to read more about the schedule or view more photos, you can check out my website, where I’ve put together a page with a daily diary of the pups’ antics. I’ve been doing a lot of research on early canine development, as well, so you can read about that there as well.

I’m fostering the pups through Coastal Humane Society, which is located in Brunswick. They will be up for adoption shortly, are smart as little whips, and already know ‘sit’ and are well on their way to being potty trained. You can check in with CHS if you’re interested in adopting one of the girls. Ben and I are seriously thinking about adopting one ourselves… Now it’s just a matter of figuring out which one. Can you say ‘Sophie’s Choice’?

For those unfamiliar with Coastal Humane Society, the shelter cares for about 3,000 stray or unwanted cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, rats – you name it, really – annually, serving fifteen towns in Midcoast/Southern Maine. The Lincoln County shelter also came under the management and ownership of Coastal Humane in June of 2016. In a nutshell? They’ve got a lot going on, and a whole lot of fur and feathers flying ’round the place on any given day.

Coastal Humane’s annual fall fundraiser is coming up on October 28th, and I’m pleased to say that Maine Crime Writers has stepped up and are donating a basket of signed books from our members as one of the prizes in their silent auction. There is also a raffle, for a whopping $10,000. No, that’s not a typo – it really should be that many zeroes. Tickets for the raffle are $100, and only 500 tickets will be sold for the $10K prize, so your chances are actually pretty good. If you are interested in purchasing – and supporting a great cause – you can comment below and let me know and I’ll hook you up, or you can just follow this link, and get your tickets that way. You don’t have to attend the ball to be a winner… If you’re in the area and feel like shaking your bootstraps, though, what better way than this? The hootenanny takes place at Fort Andross in Brunswick, starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 28th. You can purchase tickets here.

Jen Blood is the USA Today-bestselling author of the Erin Solomon Mysteries and the Flint K-9 Search and Rescue Mysteries. You can read more about her at www.jenblood.com. 

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Dining at the Lobster Dock

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Lea Wait

Lea Wait, here.

One of my favorite summer things to do in Maine is to sit outside on a wharf and eat fresh-from-the-water lobster, clams, oysters or mussels, sip a glass of wine or beer, and watch lobstermen unloading their hauls, sailboats dotting the harbor, and private

Where you order …

boats of all sizes coming and going. (Angie Curtis, in my Mainely Needlepoint series, worked the steamer at a restaurant like this when she was in high school.)

Barbara and I after a delicious meal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maine offers dozens of restaurants that fit that description, but I have my favorites. One that’s close to my home is The Lobster Dock on the east side of Boothbay Harbor.

Sadly, this summer I spent most of my time at my computer, and by the end of August I was longing for fried clams and harbor views. Finally, about ten days ago, my husband I and fellow Maine Crime Writers  Barbara Ross and her husband Bill, who’s a photographer, managed to meet at The Lobster Dock and have a final outdoor meal before restaurants like that closed for the winter. (Lobster and clams and mussels and their accompaniments can be found all year round in Maine, but sitting outside gets a bit chilly after Columbus Day.) 

I wish you all could have joined us. But instead, I took some pictures of what you might have seen that evening. Wish you’d been there! But there’s always next summer.

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