AUTHOR LUNCHEONS
Enjoy a chance to meet authors and to have a delicious lunch!
Each luncheon features a short talk by the author, a sit down, served, catered lunch with dessert, books for sale, and a book signing by the author. All occur at South Freeport Church's Community Hall, 98 South Freeport Road, South Freeport. All author talks begin at 11:30 am. Tickets are $15 each by reservation. Seating is limited. All four luncheons for the year can be purchased for a season ticket price of $50.00. To order, or for more information, call Cheryl at (207) 865-0433, or email: [email protected] |
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Upcoming AUTHOR LUNCHEONS include:
September 13, 2024 - Diane Kane
Author Diane Kane dabbles in all genres and explores every aspect of writing and publishing. She measures her success by the friends she has made along the way. Her short stories appear in several Red Penguin Publications, including her winning historical fiction piece, Ernest Lived. She also has multiple stories in Monadnock Underground print anthologies and online magazine.
Kane is one of the founding members of Quabbin Quill’s non-profit writers’ group. Q.Q. has published seven anthologies that include works by aspiring writers and offers scholarships to writing students. She also teaches writing workshops and facilitates writing groups.
She is the publisher and co-author of Flash in the Can Number One and Number Two, short stories to read wherever you go. In addition, Kane writes public interest articles for Uniquely Quabbin Magazine and local newspapers, as well as professional reviews for Readers’ Favorite.
Kane’s first children’s book, Don Gateau the Three-Legged Cat of Seborga, published in English, Spanish, French, and Italian, won the Purple Dragonfly Award for illustrations and Caring/Making a Difference in 2020.
Her second children’s book, Brayden the Brave Goes to the Hospital, published in April 2021 and endorsed by Boston Children’s Hospital, is helping children and families in children’s hospitals nationwide.
Kane released her debut novel, I Never Called Him Pa, in 2023. It’s an endearing story set in rural America in the 1950s about a young fatherless boy, his wayward mother, the grandmother raising him, and the hobo who changes all their lives.
November 16, 2024 - Adam White
April 25, 2025 - Dick Cass
June 13, 2025 - Tess Gerritsen returns
September 26, 2025 - Shelley Burbank Shelley is a mystery and women's fiction author who splits her time between Maine and San Diego, California. Her debut novel, Final Draft, an Olivia Lively mystery,came out in 2023 and the 2nd book in the series, Night Moves, will be released August 14th, 2024.
September 13, 2024 - Diane Kane
Author Diane Kane dabbles in all genres and explores every aspect of writing and publishing. She measures her success by the friends she has made along the way. Her short stories appear in several Red Penguin Publications, including her winning historical fiction piece, Ernest Lived. She also has multiple stories in Monadnock Underground print anthologies and online magazine.
Kane is one of the founding members of Quabbin Quill’s non-profit writers’ group. Q.Q. has published seven anthologies that include works by aspiring writers and offers scholarships to writing students. She also teaches writing workshops and facilitates writing groups.
She is the publisher and co-author of Flash in the Can Number One and Number Two, short stories to read wherever you go. In addition, Kane writes public interest articles for Uniquely Quabbin Magazine and local newspapers, as well as professional reviews for Readers’ Favorite.
Kane’s first children’s book, Don Gateau the Three-Legged Cat of Seborga, published in English, Spanish, French, and Italian, won the Purple Dragonfly Award for illustrations and Caring/Making a Difference in 2020.
Her second children’s book, Brayden the Brave Goes to the Hospital, published in April 2021 and endorsed by Boston Children’s Hospital, is helping children and families in children’s hospitals nationwide.
Kane released her debut novel, I Never Called Him Pa, in 2023. It’s an endearing story set in rural America in the 1950s about a young fatherless boy, his wayward mother, the grandmother raising him, and the hobo who changes all their lives.
November 16, 2024 - Adam White
April 25, 2025 - Dick Cass
June 13, 2025 - Tess Gerritsen returns
September 26, 2025 - Shelley Burbank Shelley is a mystery and women's fiction author who splits her time between Maine and San Diego, California. Her debut novel, Final Draft, an Olivia Lively mystery,came out in 2023 and the 2nd book in the series, Night Moves, will be released August 14th, 2024.
Previously in our Author Luncheon Series:
Kevin St. Jarre on June 21, 2024
Kevin St. Jarre is a published poet, essayist, and his Pushcart-nominated short fiction has appeared in journals such as Story and Solstice Literary Magazine. His novels range from literary fiction to thrillers and historical fiction and include Absence of Grace and Paris, California. He's most recently completed a novel set on a farm in France during World War I. Kevin grew up in Madawaska, served in the military, and has worked as an educator, a corporate consultant, and a journalist. He now lives in Cape Elizabeth.
Kevin St. Jarre is a published poet, essayist, and his Pushcart-nominated short fiction has appeared in journals such as Story and Solstice Literary Magazine. His novels range from literary fiction to thrillers and historical fiction and include Absence of Grace and Paris, California. He's most recently completed a novel set on a farm in France during World War I. Kevin grew up in Madawaska, served in the military, and has worked as an educator, a corporate consultant, and a journalist. He now lives in Cape Elizabeth.
Jule Selbo on April 12, 2024.
Jule Selbo left a long career as a produced screenwriter (tv and film) in Los Angeles to move to Maine to focus on writing novels and now is officially a ‘Maine Writer’. Her first was a mystery/romance called FIND ME IN FLORENCE, (1st Place Chatelaine Award) followed by two historical fiction novels, one about the amazing experimental physicist Laura Bassi in the 1700s, (Breaking Barriers, recipient of a Goethe Award) the other about Giovanni Caboto (we know him as John Cabot) who, in 1497, sailed under England’s flag and claimed a large portion of the eastern seaboard for King Henry VII. Jule moved into her favorite genre – mystery crime: her Dee Rommel Mystery Series is underway. The first book: 10 DAYS: A Dee Rommel Mystery earned a spot on the Top-Five list of Kirkus’ 2021 best crime/mysteries from small publishers, won the Silver Falchion Award for Best Investigator Novel at Killer Nashville, was a finalist for a Maine Literary Award, a 2021 Clue Award and a Foreword Review Award. The second book in the ten-part series is 9 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery, which also received a starred Kirkus Review and nominated for a 2022 Clue Award and other award nominations. 8 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery was released December, 2023 and has garnered rave reviews. Jule is now at work on 7 DAYS.
Jule has taught writing courses at Maine Media College, and done writing seminars at various high schools in the area. Her theatrical plays have been performed at Good Theatre and Acorn Productions and in Maine and she has served as Resident Playwright for the Maine One-Act Playwrights Festival.
Jule Selbo left a long career as a produced screenwriter (tv and film) in Los Angeles to move to Maine to focus on writing novels and now is officially a ‘Maine Writer’. Her first was a mystery/romance called FIND ME IN FLORENCE, (1st Place Chatelaine Award) followed by two historical fiction novels, one about the amazing experimental physicist Laura Bassi in the 1700s, (Breaking Barriers, recipient of a Goethe Award) the other about Giovanni Caboto (we know him as John Cabot) who, in 1497, sailed under England’s flag and claimed a large portion of the eastern seaboard for King Henry VII. Jule moved into her favorite genre – mystery crime: her Dee Rommel Mystery Series is underway. The first book: 10 DAYS: A Dee Rommel Mystery earned a spot on the Top-Five list of Kirkus’ 2021 best crime/mysteries from small publishers, won the Silver Falchion Award for Best Investigator Novel at Killer Nashville, was a finalist for a Maine Literary Award, a 2021 Clue Award and a Foreword Review Award. The second book in the ten-part series is 9 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery, which also received a starred Kirkus Review and nominated for a 2022 Clue Award and other award nominations. 8 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery was released December, 2023 and has garnered rave reviews. Jule is now at work on 7 DAYS.
Jule has taught writing courses at Maine Media College, and done writing seminars at various high schools in the area. Her theatrical plays have been performed at Good Theatre and Acorn Productions and in Maine and she has served as Resident Playwright for the Maine One-Act Playwrights Festival.
November 10, 2023 - Paula Munier
Paula is the author of the USA Today bestselling Mercy Carr series about a former Army MP and her retired bomb sniffing dog, Elvis. To date there are four books in the series: A Borrowing of Bones, Blind Search, The Hiding Place and the recently released The Wedding Plot. The series is set in Vermont. Paula is a writer, editor, teacher and agent.
Paula is the author of the USA Today bestselling Mercy Carr series about a former Army MP and her retired bomb sniffing dog, Elvis. To date there are four books in the series: A Borrowing of Bones, Blind Search, The Hiding Place and the recently released The Wedding Plot. The series is set in Vermont. Paula is a writer, editor, teacher and agent.
September 22, 2023 - Jessica Ellicott
Jessica is the Agatha Award nominated author of historical mysteries…best known for her Beryl and Edwina series set in England. There are six books to date in this series starting with Murder in an English Village and her most recent, Murder Through the English Post. Also in 2022, she published her first Billie Harkness mystery, Death in a Blackout. As Jessie Crockett, she also writes the nationally bestselling Sugar Grove Mysteries and the Daphne du Maurier Award winning Live Free or Die. She is also the author of the Change of Fortune mysteries writing as Jessica Estevao.
Jessica is the Agatha Award nominated author of historical mysteries…best known for her Beryl and Edwina series set in England. There are six books to date in this series starting with Murder in an English Village and her most recent, Murder Through the English Post. Also in 2022, she published her first Billie Harkness mystery, Death in a Blackout. As Jessie Crockett, she also writes the nationally bestselling Sugar Grove Mysteries and the Daphne du Maurier Award winning Live Free or Die. She is also the author of the Change of Fortune mysteries writing as Jessica Estevao.
June 9, 2023 - Matt Cost
Matt is the author of histories and mysteries. As Matt Cost, he writes the Clay Wolfe mysteries and the Mainely Mystery series. As Matthew Langdon Cost, he has written I Am Cuba- Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution and At Every Hazard- Joshua Chamberlain and the Civil War. The Clay Wolfe series involves a former Boston homicide detective who returns home to Maine to care for his aging grandfather and to start a private detective agency. The first in the series is Wolfe Trap. Cosmic Trap was out in December of 2022 and Velma Gone Awry a mystery set in the roaring 20s was out in April 2023.
Matt is the author of histories and mysteries. As Matt Cost, he writes the Clay Wolfe mysteries and the Mainely Mystery series. As Matthew Langdon Cost, he has written I Am Cuba- Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution and At Every Hazard- Joshua Chamberlain and the Civil War. The Clay Wolfe series involves a former Boston homicide detective who returns home to Maine to care for his aging grandfather and to start a private detective agency. The first in the series is Wolfe Trap. Cosmic Trap was out in December of 2022 and Velma Gone Awry a mystery set in the roaring 20s was out in April 2023.
April 21, 2023 - Timothy Cotton
Tim is a retired lieutenant from the Bangor Police Department who is responsible for creating the infamous Duck of Justice and growing the Bangor PD Facebook page from 100 followers to 330,000. Tim has written and published 3 books to date- Got Warrants, The Detective in the Dooryard, and Dawn in the Dooryard.
Tim is a retired lieutenant from the Bangor Police Department who is responsible for creating the infamous Duck of Justice and growing the Bangor PD Facebook page from 100 followers to 330,000. Tim has written and published 3 books to date- Got Warrants, The Detective in the Dooryard, and Dawn in the Dooryard.
November 18, 2022: Chris Holm
Chris Holm is the author of the cross-genre Collector trilogy, which recasts the battle between heaven and hell as old-fashioned crime pulp; the Michael Hendricks thrillers, which feature a hitman who only kills other hitmen; thirty-odd short stories that run the gamut from crime to horror to science fiction; and the standalone CHILD ZERO, a scientific thriller in the vein of Michael Crichton. He's also a former molecular biologist with a US patent to his name. Chris' work has been selected for THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES, named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and won a number of awards, including the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel. He lives in Portland, Maine.
September 16, 2022: Edith Maxwell (a.k.a. Maddie Day)
Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she pens the Country Store Mysteries the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries. A past president of Sisters in Crime New England, she’s a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America.
Maxwell lives with her beau north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook. Find her (and Maddie) at EdithMaxwell.com, wickedauthors.com, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media.
Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she pens the Country Store Mysteries the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries. A past president of Sisters in Crime New England, she’s a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America.
Maxwell lives with her beau north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook. Find her (and Maddie) at EdithMaxwell.com, wickedauthors.com, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media.
June 10, 2022: Edwin Hill
Edwin Hill is the author of the critically-acclaimed Hester Thursby mystery series. His first novel, LITTLE COMFORT, was nominated for an Agatha Award for best debut. The second in the series, THE MISSING ONES, will be available in September. He lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts with his partner Michael and his favorite reviewer, their lab Edith Ann, who likes his first drafts enough to eat them.
Edwin Hill is the author of the critically-acclaimed Hester Thursby mystery series. His first novel, LITTLE COMFORT, was nominated for an Agatha Award for best debut. The second in the series, THE MISSING ONES, will be available in September. He lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts with his partner Michael and his favorite reviewer, their lab Edith Ann, who likes his first drafts enough to eat them.
April 29, 2022 : Linda Greenlaw Wessel
Linda Greenlaw, America’s only female swordfishing captain, is author of five bestselling nonfiction books about life as a commercial fisherman: The Hungry Ocean, The Lobster Chronicles, All Fisherman are Liars, Seaworthy, and Lifesaving Lessons. She also has written the Jane Bunker mysteries: Slipknot, Fisherman’s Bend, and Shiver Hitch. Linda has co-authored two cookbooks with her mother, Martha Greenlaw.
The luncheon menu included: Linda’s fish cakes, Bill Cohens salad and blueberry lemon glazed muffins!!
Linda Greenlaw, America’s only female swordfishing captain, is author of five bestselling nonfiction books about life as a commercial fisherman: The Hungry Ocean, The Lobster Chronicles, All Fisherman are Liars, Seaworthy, and Lifesaving Lessons. She also has written the Jane Bunker mysteries: Slipknot, Fisherman’s Bend, and Shiver Hitch. Linda has co-authored two cookbooks with her mother, Martha Greenlaw.
The luncheon menu included: Linda’s fish cakes, Bill Cohens salad and blueberry lemon glazed muffins!!
June 11, 2021 we listened to Noelle Granger, PhD
Noelle Granger is a Professor Emerita at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. After forty years of research, teaching anatomy to undergraduates, medical students and residents and raising a family, she decided to turn her hand and her knowledge of clinical anatomy to mystery writing. Dr. Granger grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in a century-old house facing the sea. Descended from a family that settled in Maine in the 1700s, she spent her childhood summers on and in New England waters, some of the best times sailing off the coast of Maine. Her time in New England led to the creation of Pequod, Maine, and her protagonist, Rhe Brewster who has appeared in 3 mysteries so far. Dr. Granger lives with her husband in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but spends part of every summer in Maine.
Noelle Granger is a Professor Emerita at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. After forty years of research, teaching anatomy to undergraduates, medical students and residents and raising a family, she decided to turn her hand and her knowledge of clinical anatomy to mystery writing. Dr. Granger grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in a century-old house facing the sea. Descended from a family that settled in Maine in the 1700s, she spent her childhood summers on and in New England waters, some of the best times sailing off the coast of Maine. Her time in New England led to the creation of Pequod, Maine, and her protagonist, Rhe Brewster who has appeared in 3 mysteries so far. Dr. Granger lives with her husband in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but spends part of every summer in Maine.
William Andrews was here on November 1, 2019
William D. Andrews moved to Maine in 1989 to become president of Westbrook College. The college’s merger with the University of New England freed him to pursue his long held ambition to write. He has since published three mysteries in the Julie Williams series, all with Islandport Press: Stealing History (2006), Breaking Ground (2011), and Mapping Murder (2017). See more at williamandrewsmysteries.com. Along with a dozen other Maine mystery writers, he blogs monthly at mainecrimewriters.com. Andrews earned a B.A. in English from the University of Pittsburgh, a Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Penn’s Wharton School. He is the past president of the board of trustees of the Bethel Historical Society and a former director of the Mahoosuc Land Trust. He and his wife split their time between their home in Newry and condo in Yarmouth. When he isn’t writing, he skis, snowshoes, bikes, boats, cooks and spends as much time as possible with his four-year old granddaughter.
William D. Andrews moved to Maine in 1989 to become president of Westbrook College. The college’s merger with the University of New England freed him to pursue his long held ambition to write. He has since published three mysteries in the Julie Williams series, all with Islandport Press: Stealing History (2006), Breaking Ground (2011), and Mapping Murder (2017). See more at williamandrewsmysteries.com. Along with a dozen other Maine mystery writers, he blogs monthly at mainecrimewriters.com. Andrews earned a B.A. in English from the University of Pittsburgh, a Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Penn’s Wharton School. He is the past president of the board of trustees of the Bethel Historical Society and a former director of the Mahoosuc Land Trust. He and his wife split their time between their home in Newry and condo in Yarmouth. When he isn’t writing, he skis, snowshoes, bikes, boats, cooks and spends as much time as possible with his four-year old granddaughter.
Richard Cass on September 13, 2019
About the Author: Richard Cass is the author of the Elder Darrow jazz mystery series: Solo Act was a finalist for the 2017 Maine Literary Awards in Crime Fiction. Its prequel, In Solo Time, won the 2018 Maine Literary Award in Crime Fiction. The third book in the series, Burton’s Solo, was released in November 2018, and the fourth, Last Call at the Esposito, will be published in September 2019. Cass serves on the board of Mystery Writers of America’s New England Chapter and blogs with the Maine Crime Writers at www.mainecrimewriters.com .
Cass holds a graduate degree in writing from the University of New Hampshire, where he studied with Thomas Williams, Jr. and Joseph Monninger. He has also studied with Ernest Hebert, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Molly Gloss. He has been an Individual Artist's Fellow for the state of New Hampshire and a Fellow at the Fishtrap Writers' Conference in Oregon. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Playboy, Gray’s Sporting Journal, ZZYZVA, and Best Short Stories of the American West. Cass lives in Cape Elizabeth.
About the Author: Richard Cass is the author of the Elder Darrow jazz mystery series: Solo Act was a finalist for the 2017 Maine Literary Awards in Crime Fiction. Its prequel, In Solo Time, won the 2018 Maine Literary Award in Crime Fiction. The third book in the series, Burton’s Solo, was released in November 2018, and the fourth, Last Call at the Esposito, will be published in September 2019. Cass serves on the board of Mystery Writers of America’s New England Chapter and blogs with the Maine Crime Writers at www.mainecrimewriters.com .
Cass holds a graduate degree in writing from the University of New Hampshire, where he studied with Thomas Williams, Jr. and Joseph Monninger. He has also studied with Ernest Hebert, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Molly Gloss. He has been an Individual Artist's Fellow for the state of New Hampshire and a Fellow at the Fishtrap Writers' Conference in Oregon. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Playboy, Gray’s Sporting Journal, ZZYZVA, and Best Short Stories of the American West. Cass lives in Cape Elizabeth.
Peter Swanson was here on May 17th, 2019.
Peter Swanson is the author of five novels, including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year; and his most recent, Before She Knew Him. His books have been translated into 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine.
A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, he lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and cat.
Peter Swanson is the author of five novels, including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year; and his most recent, Before She Knew Him. His books have been translated into 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine.
A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, he lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and cat.
Thomasin (Heyworth) Marietta on March 29, 2019
Thomasin (Heyworth) Marietta has lived most of her life near the coast of Maine, including Damariscotta, Yarmouth, and South Portland, with short stints in Connecticut and Texas. She's spent her working life writing both freelance and in-house marketing, advertising and educational assignments but the writing she most enjoys is what she creates in her free time. Her novel, After June, was published by Lulu Press in 2014, and received a 4.5 star rating from IndieReader. She is currently working on her second novel, The Woods, which takes place in central Maine and explores relationships -- personal, familial and societal -- and how we deal with them when trouble arises. Thomasin Lives in South Portland with her husband where she started a pie shop in her home in 2017, continues writing and hopes to finish The Woods this summer.
Thomasin (Heyworth) Marietta has lived most of her life near the coast of Maine, including Damariscotta, Yarmouth, and South Portland, with short stints in Connecticut and Texas. She's spent her working life writing both freelance and in-house marketing, advertising and educational assignments but the writing she most enjoys is what she creates in her free time. Her novel, After June, was published by Lulu Press in 2014, and received a 4.5 star rating from IndieReader. She is currently working on her second novel, The Woods, which takes place in central Maine and explores relationships -- personal, familial and societal -- and how we deal with them when trouble arises. Thomasin Lives in South Portland with her husband where she started a pie shop in her home in 2017, continues writing and hopes to finish The Woods this summer.
KATE CLARK FLORA was here on November 2, 2018
Kate Flora’s fascination with people’s criminal tendencies began in the Maine attorney general’s office. Deadbeat dads, people who hurt their kids, and employers’ discrimination aroused her curiosity about human behavior. That curiosity led her to the world of crime. The author of nineteen books and more than twenty short stories, Flora’s been a finalist for the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer awards. She won the Public Safety Writers Association award for nonfiction and twice won the Maine Literary Award for crime fiction. Her latest fiction, Death Warmed Over, her 8thThea Kozak mystery, was a finalist for the Maine Literary Award. Flora’s nonfiction focuses on aspects of the public safety officers’ experience. Her two true crimes, Finding Amy: A true story of murder in Maineand Death Dealer: How cops and cadaver dogs brought a killer to justice, follow homicide investigations as the police conducted them. Her co-written memoir of retired Maine warden Roger Guay, A Good Man with a Dog: A Game Warden’s 25 Years in the Maine Woods, explores policing in a world of guns, dogs, misadventure, and the great outdoors. Her latest nonfiction is Shots Fired: The Misconceptions, Misunderstandings, and Myths about police shootings with retired Portland Assistant Chief Joseph K. Loughlin. Flora divides her time between Maine and Massachusetts.
Kate Flora’s fascination with people’s criminal tendencies began in the Maine attorney general’s office. Deadbeat dads, people who hurt their kids, and employers’ discrimination aroused her curiosity about human behavior. That curiosity led her to the world of crime. The author of nineteen books and more than twenty short stories, Flora’s been a finalist for the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer awards. She won the Public Safety Writers Association award for nonfiction and twice won the Maine Literary Award for crime fiction. Her latest fiction, Death Warmed Over, her 8thThea Kozak mystery, was a finalist for the Maine Literary Award. Flora’s nonfiction focuses on aspects of the public safety officers’ experience. Her two true crimes, Finding Amy: A true story of murder in Maineand Death Dealer: How cops and cadaver dogs brought a killer to justice, follow homicide investigations as the police conducted them. Her co-written memoir of retired Maine warden Roger Guay, A Good Man with a Dog: A Game Warden’s 25 Years in the Maine Woods, explores policing in a world of guns, dogs, misadventure, and the great outdoors. Her latest nonfiction is Shots Fired: The Misconceptions, Misunderstandings, and Myths about police shootings with retired Portland Assistant Chief Joseph K. Loughlin. Flora divides her time between Maine and Massachusetts.
Joan Dempsey was here on September 14, 2018
Winner of the 2017 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers, and named by Poets & Writers magazine as one of “5 more over 50” writers to watch, Joan Dempsey is the author of the novel, This Is How It Begins, which won the bronze 2018 Independent Publisher Book Award for literary fiction. The novel is also a 2018 Lambda Literary Award finalist (gay fiction), 2017 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award Finalist (historical fiction) and 2018 Sarton Women's Book Award finalist (contemporary fiction). Joan received her MFA degree and teaching certificate in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. She was the recipient of a significant research grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation for her work on This Is How It Begins, a grant that took her to Warsaw for a month, and to Washington, D.C. for ten days to study in the archives at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her writing has been published in "The Adirondack Review," "Alligator Juniper," "Obsidian: Literature of the African Diaspora," and "Plenitude Magazine," and aired on National Public Radio. She lives in New Gloucester, Maine with her partner and their family of animals.
Winner of the 2017 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers, and named by Poets & Writers magazine as one of “5 more over 50” writers to watch, Joan Dempsey is the author of the novel, This Is How It Begins, which won the bronze 2018 Independent Publisher Book Award for literary fiction. The novel is also a 2018 Lambda Literary Award finalist (gay fiction), 2017 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award Finalist (historical fiction) and 2018 Sarton Women's Book Award finalist (contemporary fiction). Joan received her MFA degree and teaching certificate in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. She was the recipient of a significant research grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation for her work on This Is How It Begins, a grant that took her to Warsaw for a month, and to Washington, D.C. for ten days to study in the archives at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her writing has been published in "The Adirondack Review," "Alligator Juniper," "Obsidian: Literature of the African Diaspora," and "Plenitude Magazine," and aired on National Public Radio. She lives in New Gloucester, Maine with her partner and their family of animals.
Hank Phillipi Ryan spoke on June 8th, 2018
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, winning 34 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Nationally bestselling author of 10 mysteries, Ryan's also an award-winner in her second profession—with five Agathas, two Anthonys, two Macavitys, the Daphne, and Mary Higgins Clark Award. Critics call her "a superb storyteller." Her novels are in Library Journal's Best of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Her SAY NO MORE is also a Mary Higgins Clark, Daphne and Agatha Award nominee. Hank's a founder of MWA University and 2013 president of National Sisters in Crime. Watch for TRUST ME, August 2018.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, winning 34 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Nationally bestselling author of 10 mysteries, Ryan's also an award-winner in her second profession—with five Agathas, two Anthonys, two Macavitys, the Daphne, and Mary Higgins Clark Award. Critics call her "a superb storyteller." Her novels are in Library Journal's Best of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Her SAY NO MORE is also a Mary Higgins Clark, Daphne and Agatha Award nominee. Hank's a founder of MWA University and 2013 president of National Sisters in Crime. Watch for TRUST ME, August 2018.
Maureen Milliken on DECEMBER 1, 2017
Maureen Milliken grew up in Augusta, Maine. She is a freelance journalist who retired from full-time journalism last year. Most recently, she had been city editor of the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, and had been a columnist for the Sentinel and Kennebec Journal in Augusta. She was a third-generation newspaper editor, following her father and grandfather. Her career on daily newspapers spanned 33 years, beginning in Biddeford, and included Massachusetts and New Hampshire, before she came back to Maine in 2011. A lifelong lover of mystery novels, her mystery writing career is much shorter. The first novel in the Bernie O'Dea mystery series, COLD HARD NEWS, was published in 2015. The second, NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS, came out last year. The third, tentatively titled BAD NEWS TRAVELS FAST, is due out in the spring. Her Maine-based mysteries reflect her love of her home state, journalism and the deep dark things that dwell deep in the human soul.
Maureen Milliken grew up in Augusta, Maine. She is a freelance journalist who retired from full-time journalism last year. Most recently, she had been city editor of the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, and had been a columnist for the Sentinel and Kennebec Journal in Augusta. She was a third-generation newspaper editor, following her father and grandfather. Her career on daily newspapers spanned 33 years, beginning in Biddeford, and included Massachusetts and New Hampshire, before she came back to Maine in 2011. A lifelong lover of mystery novels, her mystery writing career is much shorter. The first novel in the Bernie O'Dea mystery series, COLD HARD NEWS, was published in 2015. The second, NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS, came out last year. The third, tentatively titled BAD NEWS TRAVELS FAST, is due out in the spring. Her Maine-based mysteries reflect her love of her home state, journalism and the deep dark things that dwell deep in the human soul.
Detective Sergeant Bruce Coffin on September 8, 2017
Bruce Robert Coffin is a retired detective sergeant with more than twenty-seven years in law enforcement. At the time of his retirement, from the Portland, Maine police department, he supervised all homicide and violent crime investigations for Maine’s largest city. Following the terror attacks of September 11th, Bruce spent four years working counter-terrorism with the FBI, earning the Director’s Award, the highest honor a non-agent can receive.
Bruce retired as a detective sergeant from the Portland police department, after 28 years, to pursue his dream of becoming a published author.
Currently represented by Paula Munier of the Talcott Notch Literary Agency, he is the bestselling author of 'Among The Shadows' first in the John Byron Mysteries from HarperCollins Publishers. The second novel in the series, 'Beneath the Depths', was released on August 8th.
Bruce's short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Fool Proof which appears in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Best American Mystery Stories 2016.
Bruce Robert Coffin is a retired detective sergeant with more than twenty-seven years in law enforcement. At the time of his retirement, from the Portland, Maine police department, he supervised all homicide and violent crime investigations for Maine’s largest city. Following the terror attacks of September 11th, Bruce spent four years working counter-terrorism with the FBI, earning the Director’s Award, the highest honor a non-agent can receive.
Bruce retired as a detective sergeant from the Portland police department, after 28 years, to pursue his dream of becoming a published author.
Currently represented by Paula Munier of the Talcott Notch Literary Agency, he is the bestselling author of 'Among The Shadows' first in the John Byron Mysteries from HarperCollins Publishers. The second novel in the series, 'Beneath the Depths', was released on August 8th.
Bruce's short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Fool Proof which appears in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Best American Mystery Stories 2016.
Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett on May 12, 2017
Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett is the author of fifty-six traditionally published books written under several names. She won the Agatha Award 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 for The Blessing Witch. Currently she writes the contemporary Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries (Kilt at the Highland Games) 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 series and is set in Elizabethan England. New in May 2017 is a collection of Kathy’s short stories, Different Times, Different Crimes. Her websites are
www.KaitlynDunnett.com and www.KathyLynnEmerson.com.
Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett is the author of fifty-six traditionally published books written under several names. She won the Agatha Award 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 for The Blessing Witch. Currently she writes the contemporary Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries (Kilt at the Highland Games) 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 series and is set in Elizabethan England. New in May 2017 is a collection of Kathy’s short stories, Different Times, Different Crimes. Her websites are
www.KaitlynDunnett.com and www.KathyLynnEmerson.com.
Peter Behrens spoke on Friday March 24, 2017
The New York Times Book Review called Peter Behrens' first novel, The Law of Dreams, “Absorbing, unsparing and beautifully written…a masterly novel”, and the Irish Sunday Independent said ". . . it is one of those rare books that comes along from time to time that makes you feel that you are in the presence of greatness." The Law of Dreams won the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2006. The NYT hailed Behrens’ second novel, The O’Briens as “a major accomplishment”. Peter Behrens new novel Carry Me is set in Europe in the darkening period between two world wars and has received extraordinary reviews from The Globe and Mail "Peter Behrens is a powerful stylist . . . if exile is Behrens’s obsession, he’s still making it work in his fiction" -- and the NYT Book Review: “Behrens captures his narrator’s naïveté and the casual anti-Semitism of the times with great skill and intelligence . . . as true an observation about human nature as there is." Peter Behrens is an alumnus of Lower Canada College, and Concordia and McGill Universities. He held a Wallace Stegner Writing Fellowship at Stanford University and was a Fellow of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in 2015-16. He lives in Maine and West Texas.
The New York Times Book Review called Peter Behrens' first novel, The Law of Dreams, “Absorbing, unsparing and beautifully written…a masterly novel”, and the Irish Sunday Independent said ". . . it is one of those rare books that comes along from time to time that makes you feel that you are in the presence of greatness." The Law of Dreams won the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2006. The NYT hailed Behrens’ second novel, The O’Briens as “a major accomplishment”. Peter Behrens new novel Carry Me is set in Europe in the darkening period between two world wars and has received extraordinary reviews from The Globe and Mail "Peter Behrens is a powerful stylist . . . if exile is Behrens’s obsession, he’s still making it work in his fiction" -- and the NYT Book Review: “Behrens captures his narrator’s naïveté and the casual anti-Semitism of the times with great skill and intelligence . . . as true an observation about human nature as there is." Peter Behrens is an alumnus of Lower Canada College, and Concordia and McGill Universities. He held a Wallace Stegner Writing Fellowship at Stanford University and was a Fellow of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in 2015-16. He lives in Maine and West Texas.
TESS GERRITSEN on November 4, 2016
Tess Gerritsen is the child of a Chinese immigrant and a Chinese-American seafood chef. She graduated from Stanford and went on to earn her medical degree from the University of California.. Her first novels were romantic thrillers and first published in 1987. Her first medical thriller was written in 1996 and her first crime thriller in 2001. The Surgeon received a RITA award Romance Writers of America in 2002 for Best Romantic Suspense Novel In 2006, Vanish received the Nero Award for best mystery novel, and was nominated for both an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America and a Macavity Award. She has also won approval from several of her contemporaries, including James Patterson and Stephen King, the latter of whom described her as being "even better than Michael Crichton".
Tess Gerritsen is the child of a Chinese immigrant and a Chinese-American seafood chef. She graduated from Stanford and went on to earn her medical degree from the University of California.. Her first novels were romantic thrillers and first published in 1987. Her first medical thriller was written in 1996 and her first crime thriller in 2001. The Surgeon received a RITA award Romance Writers of America in 2002 for Best Romantic Suspense Novel In 2006, Vanish received the Nero Award for best mystery novel, and was nominated for both an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America and a Macavity Award. She has also won approval from several of her contemporaries, including James Patterson and Stephen King, the latter of whom described her as being "even better than Michael Crichton".
GERRY BOYLE spoke on September 30, 2016
Gerry Boyle is a crime novelist based in Maine. Boyle is the author of a dozen novels, including the acclaimed Jack McMorrow mystery series, featuring ex-New York Times reporter Jack McMorrow and his social worker girlfriend Roxanne Masterson. Boyle recently published the 10th Jack McMorrow novel, Once Burned. The 11th McMorrow novel, Straw Man, was recently released in May 2016.
A former newspaper reporter and columnist, Boyle came to Maine from Rhode Island to attend Colby College. After graduation, he went on to work in Manhattan, but soon realized his heart was in the rural reaches of his adopted state, and so he returned, taking a job at a local newspaper, which he calls “the best training ground ever” for mystery writers. Boyle’s reporting centered on crime scenes and courtrooms, and those dramatic experiences became the fodder for his gritty, authentic, fiction.
Deadline, the first McMorrow mystery, was published in 1993 to national acclaim. Boyle followed his debut with more McMorrow adventures, which were published in six languages and built a loyal following for Jack and his retired Marine buddy, Clair. Boyle plies his trade from his home in a small village on a lake in central Maine, where he lives with his wife, Mary. When he isn’t writing fiction, Boyle serves as the editor of Colby Magazine.
Gerry Boyle is a crime novelist based in Maine. Boyle is the author of a dozen novels, including the acclaimed Jack McMorrow mystery series, featuring ex-New York Times reporter Jack McMorrow and his social worker girlfriend Roxanne Masterson. Boyle recently published the 10th Jack McMorrow novel, Once Burned. The 11th McMorrow novel, Straw Man, was recently released in May 2016.
A former newspaper reporter and columnist, Boyle came to Maine from Rhode Island to attend Colby College. After graduation, he went on to work in Manhattan, but soon realized his heart was in the rural reaches of his adopted state, and so he returned, taking a job at a local newspaper, which he calls “the best training ground ever” for mystery writers. Boyle’s reporting centered on crime scenes and courtrooms, and those dramatic experiences became the fodder for his gritty, authentic, fiction.
Deadline, the first McMorrow mystery, was published in 1993 to national acclaim. Boyle followed his debut with more McMorrow adventures, which were published in six languages and built a loyal following for Jack and his retired Marine buddy, Clair. Boyle plies his trade from his home in a small village on a lake in central Maine, where he lives with his wife, Mary. When he isn’t writing fiction, Boyle serves as the editor of Colby Magazine.
LAIMA VINCE on March 25, 2016.
Laima Vince is the recipient of two Fulbright’s and a National Endowment for the Arts grant. She holds two Master of Fine Arts degrees, one in Poetry from Columbia University and one in Nonfiction from the University of New Hampshire. Laima Vince is a writer, poet, playwright, and literary translator. Her play THE INTERPRETER (VERTEJAS) has been playing for three years at the repertory theater, the Vilnius Chamber Theatre. During the years 2007 - 2011 Laima Vince traveled to Lithuania with her three children as a Fulbright scholar. During that time she interviewed women who had joined the Lithuanian postwar resistance against the Soviets as teenagers and had been subsequently captured and imprisoned. She also spoke to Jewish Lithuanian Holocaust survivors and survivors of Stalin's deportations to Tajikistan and Siberia. The result of four years of research is the book JOURNEY INTO THE BACKWATERS OF THE HEART. At the same time, Laima also wrote about changes in Lithuanian society twenty years after independence from the Soviet Union in her book THE SNAKE IN THE VODKA BOTTLE. Laima Vince lives on Peaks Island, Maine and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Southern Maine.
Laima Vince is the recipient of two Fulbright’s and a National Endowment for the Arts grant. She holds two Master of Fine Arts degrees, one in Poetry from Columbia University and one in Nonfiction from the University of New Hampshire. Laima Vince is a writer, poet, playwright, and literary translator. Her play THE INTERPRETER (VERTEJAS) has been playing for three years at the repertory theater, the Vilnius Chamber Theatre. During the years 2007 - 2011 Laima Vince traveled to Lithuania with her three children as a Fulbright scholar. During that time she interviewed women who had joined the Lithuanian postwar resistance against the Soviets as teenagers and had been subsequently captured and imprisoned. She also spoke to Jewish Lithuanian Holocaust survivors and survivors of Stalin's deportations to Tajikistan and Siberia. The result of four years of research is the book JOURNEY INTO THE BACKWATERS OF THE HEART. At the same time, Laima also wrote about changes in Lithuanian society twenty years after independence from the Soviet Union in her book THE SNAKE IN THE VODKA BOTTLE. Laima Vince lives on Peaks Island, Maine and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Southern Maine.
...and on MAY 13, 2016 we welcomed JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING
Writer of "novels of faith and murder for readers of literary suspense," a military brat, Julia grew up in places as diverse as Mobile, Rome, Stuttgart and Syracuse and currently lives in Buxton, Maine. Her debut novel, In The Bleak Midwinter, (2002) won the St. Martin’s/Malice Domestic, the Dilys, the Agatha, the Anthony, the Macavity and the Barry Awards. Her website is a wealth of information, book excerpts and interviews: http://www.juliaspencerfleming.com.
Writer of "novels of faith and murder for readers of literary suspense," a military brat, Julia grew up in places as diverse as Mobile, Rome, Stuttgart and Syracuse and currently lives in Buxton, Maine. Her debut novel, In The Bleak Midwinter, (2002) won the St. Martin’s/Malice Domestic, the Dilys, the Agatha, the Anthony, the Macavity and the Barry Awards. Her website is a wealth of information, book excerpts and interviews: http://www.juliaspencerfleming.com.
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The Luncheons take place in our beautiful Community Hall and provided an excellent venue to
learn about the author's process, influences and history.
Click on the author's name below to see his or her website.
In 2015 we welcomed
children and young adult writer Lois Lowry,
Maine mystery writer Lea Wait,
novelist, nonfiction writer, and poet Susan Conley ,
and author of suspense thrillers, James Hayman.
The Luncheons take place in our beautiful Community Hall and provided an excellent venue to
learn about the author's process, influences and history.
Click on the author's name below to see his or her website.
In 2015 we welcomed
children and young adult writer Lois Lowry,
Maine mystery writer Lea Wait,
novelist, nonfiction writer, and poet Susan Conley ,
and author of suspense thrillers, James Hayman.
A full house for our Lois Lowry Author Luncheon on March 27th, 2015.
