What are your ties to Maine?
I’ve been vacationing in the Boothbay/Edgecomb area since I was six years old. In 1955 my parents and grandparents went together to buy the home I now live in. It was built on Westport Island in 1774, and was moved to Edgecomb in 1832. I’ve been lucky enough to live there full time since 1998. I’ve had 13 books published so far (15 by the end of this year and one next January,) and only four are set outside of Maine. I love the people here, the geography ... and I love that our state’s history is so close at hand.
What are the most important themes in your work?
I write two mystery series (the Shadows Antique print mystery series and the Mainely Needlepoint series) and historical novels set in 19th century Wiscasset. They have in common a love of Maine and its history, and of the way ordinary people have lived here in both the past and the present. The importance of family, and of the roles of women and children, can be found in all my work.
Tell us about the book you will be signing at Books In Boothbay this year.
My most recent book is TWISTED THREADS, the first in my Mainely Needlepoint series. Angie Curtis grew up in Haven Harbor, the daughter of a single parent with an unfortunate reputation. Her mother disappeared when Angie was ten, and her grandmother brought her up. After high school Angie headed west, and spent ten years working for a private investigator in Arizona. But now her mother’s body has been found, and she’s back in Maine, determined to find out why her mother left .. and how she died.
She also finds out that her grandmother’s custom needlepoint business has been cheated by its agent, and she finds herself solving a second murder .. perhaps one connected to her mother’s death.
What have you enjoyed about attending Books in Boothbay?
I’ve been at almost all the Books in Boothbay events, and love them. What a wonderful setting, and opportunity for authors and readers to meet each other, talk books ... and for people to add signed books to their collections or gift lists. (I also love talking to other authors, since most of us spend our lived in our studies, starring at screens.)
What do you feel about the future of our local libraries?
Where would I be without them? They’ve been a part of my life since I was a pre-schooler, and they’re now the source of much of the research I do for my books. Plus, of course, I love that books I’ve written are now on the shelves. Many books are expensive today, so, although as writer I depend on people (and libraries!) buying my books, I also love that those for whom buying books is an impossibility still have access to them, through their local libraries, like those in Boothbay Harbor, Wiscasset, and Damariscotta – three wonderful local libraries.
Come meet Lea Wait and many, many other local authors at Books in Boothbay on July 11!
