Books in Boothbay: Maine's Summer Book Fair

Join us for year 8!

2011-10-18T15:23:00.001-04:00

Books in Boothbay will return on Saturday, July 14 for year number 8! Mark your calendars! See you then!

One week to go, award-nominees and warm-up events

2011-07-02T11:55:00.000-04:00

It's only seven more days until the best book fair in all of Maine returns to Boothbay Harbor!

This year's Books in Boothbay features six authors have have been nominated for Maine Literary awards for 2011 (books published in 2010): Elisabeth Tova Bailey, Paul Doiron, Sandra Dutton, Lily King, Cynthia Lord and Susan Shetterly.

Also, one of our authors, Melissa Coleman, will be reading from her latest book, This Life in Your Hands, at Skidompha Library in Damariscotta on July 8th at 5pm.

Paul Doiron

2011-07-02T11:50:00.000-04:00

Paul Doiron is an award-winning journalist and the author of THE POACHER'S SON which has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Barry, Thriller, Macavity, and Strand Critics Awards for "Best First Novel." His second book in the Mike Bowditch series, TRESPASSER has been called a "masterpiece of
high-octane narrative" by "Booklist." He is the editor in chief of "Down East: The Magazine of Maine," Down East Books, and DownEast.com. A native of Maine, he attended Yale University, where he graduated with a degree in English, and he holds an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. Paul is a Registered Maine Guide and lives on a trout stream in coastal Maine with his wife, Kristen Lindquist.

All Books in Boothbay Authors for 2011

2011-06-29T15:00:00.004-04:00

We're just days away from this year's Books in Boothbay festival. Here is the fully list of our attending authors and artists. Browse our blog for their bios and other information, and we'll see you soon!

Elisabeth Tova Bailey
Liza Bakewell
Crash Barry
Cheryl Blaydon
Bill Bunting
Tim Caverly
Holly Chamberlin
Richard Shain Cohen
Melissa Coleman
Susan Conley
Ron Currie, Jr.
Katharine Davis
Paul Doiron
Sandra Dutton
Cathryn Falwell
Ardeana Hamlin
Karel Hayes
Hannah Holmes
Shonna Milliken Humphrey
Lily King
Carole Lambert
Cynthia Lord
John McDonald
Tammy L. R.Meserve
Dana Moos
Lillian Nayder
James L.Nelson
Jim Nichols
Maria Padian
Alice Parsons
Van Reid
Michael S.Sanders
Caitlin Shetterly
Susan Hand Shetterly
Jennifer Smith-Mayo & Matthew P. Mayo
Julia Spencer-Fleming
Randy Spencer
Harrison Thorp
Chris Van Dusen
Lea Wait
Jim Witherell

Carole Lambert

2011-06-27T15:33:00.000-04:00

Award-winning author Carole Lambert spent 11 years abroad as an editor at the International Herald Tribune, and journalism professor at the American University in Paris and l’École Supérieur de Commerce. She has written three books on sea glass, and continues to write for numerous magazines and newspapers. She has searched for sea glass around the world and now lives in coastal Maine, which offers prime hunting grounds. She found her first piece of sea glass when she was 5.

Dana Moos

2011-06-22T12:38:00.005-04:00

In addition to her background in design and photography, Dana Moos has immersed herself in the world of innkeeping, as a B&B owner, manager and chef, as well as real estate and marketing specialist to the hospitality industry. Her unique combination of talents has been the subject of several articles and she has been invited to judge culinary competitions in her home state of Maine. Currently chef and manager of the prestigious Pomegranate Inn in Portland, Dana brings a fresh flair to the first, and many say most important, meal of the day. The Art of Breakfast is her first book, which she both wrote and photographed. Dana is now the General Manager at the Pomegranate Inn where she cooks breakfast for her guests from the cookbook.

Jennifer Smith-Mayo and Matthew P. Mayo

2011-06-20T08:29:00.005-04:00

Photographer Jennifer Smith-Mayo, and her husband, writer Matthew P. Mayo, are co-authors of the recently released book Maine Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Pine Tree State, published by Globe Pequot Press, May 2011. Maine Icons is a handsome visual tour of Maine that profiles the likely suspects—lobster, blueberries, lighthouses, whoopie pies—plus a whole lot of surprises, too (Raye’s Mustard, Renys, Fog, and so many more!).

Jennifer specializes in photography of fine dining, rural living, and farming in the US, England, Ireland, Italy, and Scotland. Her photographs have appeared in Down East, National Geographic, The New York Times, and others. Her work has been selected for a variety of juried exhibitions and her solo shows include Learning to Grow: In the Garden with Troy Howard Middle School, Belfast, Maine; Futzing with Focus: Images in Motion; and Kelmscott (Rare Breeds) Farm: Through the Seasons. Jennifer is also an instructor and teaches digital imaging and digital photography workshops for the University of Maine and Senior College at the Hutchinson Center.

Matthew is the author of a number of novels and non-fiction books, including Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks; Cowboys, Mountain Men & Grizzly Bears; and the forthcoming Sourdoughs, Claim Jumpers & Dry Gulchers. His novels include the Westerns Winters’ War; Wrong Town; and Hot Lead, Cold Heart, and he contributes to several series of popular adventure novels. His award-winning short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including Needle: A Magazine of Noir; DAW Books’ Steampunk’d and Timeshares; How the West Was Weird, Vol. II; Mondo Sasquatch; and A Fistful of Legends. Matthew also edits anthologies and contributes to several magazines as writer and editor.

Jennifer and Matthew and their dear dog Nessie live in Northport in the midcoast region of Maine. They frequently travel west to Montana, and east to England and Ireland. Visit Jennifer at: www.jennifersmithmayo.com; and Matthew at: www.matthewmayo.com.

Ardeana Hamlin

2011-06-17T08:27:00.001-04:00

Ardeana Hamlin of Hampden, Maine, is the author of two previous novels, "Pink Chimneys" and "A Dream of Paris." Her latest book, "Abbott's Reach" is a sequel to "Pink Chimneys." She is a newspaper journalist and writes the weekly By Hand column about fiber arts.

Chris Van Dusen

2011-06-16T07:56:00.000-04:00

Chris Van Dusen writes: “I was born in Portland, Maine, on St. Patrick’s Day, 1960. As a child, my brothers and I would spend hours drawing pictures. We didn’t have video games or computers to entertain us, so we drew instead. One of my brothers would sketch intricate war scenes. Another would draw animals so realistic you’d swear they were breathing. My specialty was aliens, robots, and monsters.

“Dr. Seuss and Robert McCloskey were my heroes. I loved the rhythm of Dr. Seuss’ words and I was fascinated by the meticulous detail of Robert McCloskey’s illustrations. I had no idea back then that I’d end up writing and illustrating children’s books when I grew up.

“After high school, I studied fine art at The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and graduated with a BFA in 1982. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. First I was a waiter, and then I was offered a part-time job at a magazine for teenagers. Eventually I started drawing cartoons and illustrations for the magazine and my career as an illustrator was born.

“For more than ten years I worked as a freelance illustrator specializing in art for kids. I was doing mostly editorial work and my illustrations appeared in magazines like Nickelodeon, Family Fun, and Disney Adventures. One day I started thinking about drawing a picture of a boat stuck high up in a tree. I thought that would be a really funny and intriguing illustration. At the same time, a refrain kept running through my head—“Mr. Magee and his little dog, Dee / Hopped in the car and drove down to the sea.” The combination of these two things eventually became my first book, Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee (Chronicle), which was published in 2000. Since then I’ve written and illustrated A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee (Chronicle) (2003), If I Built a Car (Puffin) (2005) and I’ve had a ball illustrating Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson series (Candlewick).

“My contribution to Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out is the illustration of Teddy Roosevelt, who was one of my favorite presidents. I knew he was a great environmentalist, but I was surprised to learn that he and his children kept so many pets in the White House. I could just imagine that TR would have found it quite amusing to be surrounded by so many animals, so that’s what I started sketching.

“I relied on old photographs for reference. I had photos of the president laughing, photos of his children, and even photos of their pets. Since I’ve never been inside the White House, I had photos of that, too. I had to make the staircase wider than it actually is to accommodate five children and twenty-two animals! In the end, I hope my painting captures the playful energy of Teddy Roosevelt’s White House.”

Lily King

2011-06-15T07:51:00.001-04:00

Lily King’s first novel, The Pleasing Hour (1999), won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and a Whiting Award, and was a New York Times Notable Book and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her second, The English Teacher (2005), was a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year, a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year, and the winner of the Maine Fiction Award.

Father of the Rain, her third novel, was published last summer and won the New England Book Award for fiction. It was also a New York Times Editor's Choice, and a Publishers Weekly and Washington Post Best Book of the Year.

Tammy LR Meserve

2011-06-02T09:16:00.000-04:00

Edgecomb resident Tammy LR Meserve says she knew she wanted to become a writer from a very early age. Born and raised in Damariscotta, Maine that dream followed her from the age of seven right on into adulthood.

"I have always been passionate about words,” said Meserve. “As a young child, I remember telling my dad that I wanted to become a writer when I grew up. He encouraged me to follow my dreams. He was my biggest fan. When I was about nine years old, my father introduced me to local award winning author, Mary C. Jane of Newcastle. Mrs. Jane wrote children’s mysteries and became a wonderful friend and mentor.”

As an adolescent, Meserve began submitting poetry and feature articles to local newspapers and church newsletters and enjoyed seeing her words in print. The list of publications to highlight her work soon included several national magazines.

The publishing experiences during her youth led her to begin writing regularly. Since 1988 and the birth of her son Tyler, she has written for various publications, statewide and nationally and has won varied awards for Journalism.

Meserve began working on her first children‘s book, “There’s a Moose Loose in the Hoose!” in 2007. Since its publication in 2009, she has written a second book and is currently at work on her third.

Richard Shain Cohen

2011-05-30T09:11:00.000-04:00

Richard Shain Cohen of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, is originally from Boston. He retired from the University of Maine at Presque Isle after serving as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of English. He holds B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees.

He served as editor of the journal Husson Review and was principal participant in a National Endowment for the Arts Grant for “Images of Aroostook” that was exhibited throughout the State of Maine.

His latest book is Healing After Dark: The moving story of the beginnings of compassionate medicine in America; the memoir of a Medical Pioneer, Morris A. Cohen, M.D. and his Boston Evening Clinic, the first "after-dark" healing center in the nation. With recollections, introduction, epilogue, index by his son, Richard Shain Cohen, and edited by Richard Shain Cohen. Additional editing by Helen Compton.

His own publications, in addition to this book include: The Forgotten Longfellow: Man in the Shadows (2010), Only God Can Make a Tree, poetry from himself and his brother, Alfred Robert Cohen; and the novels Monday: End of the Week, Be Still, My Soul, and Petal on a Black Bough. He also wrote chapters for Aroostook: Land of Promise, academic reviews, other articles, and – with the help of a Shell Grant – a monograph on Samuel Richardson that can be found in major library holdings.

Aside from the present book, in progress is a fourth novel.

Cheryl Blaydon

2011-05-26T13:31:00.000-04:00

Maine artist Cheryl Blaydon, best known for her seascapes in oil, has added a new dimension to her work with the creation of her first book, The Memory Keepers. This fictional memoir describes growing up in a household of loving Italian women who create a tapestry of their lives that is both humorous and poignant when all is revealed.

Interspersed throughout the book are images of the paintings created from Cheryl’s travels to Italy to honor her heritage. Published by North Country Press, the book is expected out at the end of May. To learn more, visit her at www.mainelyseascapes.com.

Karel Hayes

2011-05-23T13:24:00.000-04:00

Award-winning children’s book author and illustrator, Karel Hayes, has a way without words. Her drawings and paintings have appeared in national exhibitions and a wide variety of magazines. She has illustrated numerous books, including Time for the Fair, and Who’s Been Here? A Tale in Tracks, and has both written and illustrated The Amazing Journey of Lucky the Lobster Buoy, The Winter Visitors, Snowflake Comes to Stay and The Summer Visitors. A master of watercolor, she also teaches painting workshops, and is a charter member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC.

Karel, her husband, and Snowy, their Bichon Frisé, live in Center Harbor, New Hampshire.

Cathryn Falwell

2011-05-19T13:26:00.000-04:00

Maine children’s book illustrator and author Cathryn Falwell was born in Kansas City, Kansas and grew up in the Midwest --Missouri, Wisconsin and Minnesota--before moving to Connecticut as a teenager. She received her BFA in Art from the University of Connecticut in 1975. After college, Ms. Falwell lived in New Hampshire for several years where she worked as a teacher and a graphic designer. Returning to Connecticut, she worked as an art director and designer for an award-winning graphic design firm. Five years later, she opened her own design business, specializing in institutional and corporate print design.

Ms. Falwell married Peter Mirkin in 1979. After their two sons were born, she decided to pursue the children’s book field--something she had wanted to do since the second grade. Her first picture book, Where’s Nicky? was published in 1991.

Ms Falwell and her husband live in Gorham, Maine. Their two children, now adults, live happy and creative lives. In addition to writing and illustrating picture books, Ms. Falwell volunteers with community and social action groups, is an active member of a Unitarian church, and enjoys music, traveling, gardening, reading and hiking. Her studio overlooks Frog Song Pond, which has inspired several of her books. She visits schools and libraries to present interactive programs for children that celebrate books, creativity and imagination.

Harrison Thorp

2011-05-16T13:24:00.000-04:00

Harrison Thorp is an award-winning reporter and editor who spent 20 years working at newspapers throughout Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Before becoming a career journalist, he spent time teaching high school English and working for Amtrak. While growing up in Massachusetts, his family spent summers on Southport. He currently lives in Lebanon.

Elisabeth Tova Bailey

2011-05-09T16:04:00.000-04:00

Elisabeth Tova Bailey's natural history/memoir, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, has received a National Outdoor Book Award in Natural History Literature and a John Burroughs Medal Award for Distinguished Natural History. The story of Elisabeth's year-long observations of a wild Maine woodland snail is finding a universal audience regardless of age, gender, or walk of life. But the book holds a particular interest for readers who love natural history and because the backdrop to the story is chronic illness, it is also finding a special home in the hearts of patients and medical professionals. Elisabeth lives in Maine.

Jim Nichols

2011-05-05T16:02:00.001-04:00

Jim Nichols is a Maine native who lives in Warren with his wife, Anne. His work has been published in numerous venues, including Esquire, Portland Monthly, Zoetrope ASE, Narrative and Night Train. He is a past winner of the Willamette Fiction Award, and was awarded an Independent Artists Fellowship by the Maine Arts Commission. His collection Slow Monkeys and Other Stories was published by Carnegie Mellon Press in 2003, and his novel Hull Creek is just out from Down East Books.

Crash Barry

2011-05-02T15:43:00.001-04:00

For more than a decade, Crash Barry worked as a print and radio reporter in Portland, Maine, specializing in his own style of undercover journalism. A recipient of a NEA and Maine Arts Commission Fiction Fellowship, he wrote the critically acclaimed Sex, Drugs and Blueberries, published in 2010.

Crash's latest book, Tough Island, will be released in June 2011. Illustrated by Patrick Corrigan, Tough Island retells the events of the two years Crash spent as a sternman on Matinicus, Maine's most remote island. Hes currently writing a non-fiction account of the first season of a secret, but legal medical marijuana farm in the hills of Maine.

Lillian Nayder

2011-04-28T15:41:00.000-04:00

Lillian Nayder is Professor and Chair of English at Bates College and President of the Dickens Society. She has published critical studies of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins and is writing a novel about Dickens’s two sisters, Fanny and Letitia, and his blind sister-in-law Harriet. Her biography of Catherine Dickens, The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth, is her first venture into life writing. She lives with her family in New Gloucester, Maine.

Holly Chamberlin

2011-04-25T15:39:00.000-04:00

Holly Chamberlin lives in Portland, Maine, with her husband Stephen, an architect and photographer, and their fabulous cats Cyrus and Betty. When not writing, Holly enjoys reading, hosting friends and family at their restored Victorian home, going out to hear friends play jazz and blues, working on scrapbooks, and making beaded jewelry.

Liza Bakewell

2011-04-21T15:36:00.000-04:00

Liza Bakewell is an anthropologist, a faculty member at Brown University and the author of MADRE: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun.

While Liza was an anthropology PhD student, her research took her to Mexico, where she became intrigued by the numerous Mexican expressions that use the word “madre” (mother in Spanish). Her book, part memoir, part anthropological investigation into the culture and language of Mexico, was funded in part by the Fulbright Fellowship that she received in 2008.

Liza graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a B.A. in performing arts and anthropology and earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from Brown University. She has been on the faculty at Brown since 1992, first as teaching faculty, and now as research faculty. She also directs The Mesolore Project (www.mesolore.net), a research and educational software project on Mesoamerican writing systems, manuscripts, and history, from both the pre- and post-Cortés periods. In addition, she has taught courses at Bowdoin College and Colgate University

Liza has lived in Connecticut, Ohio, Colorado, California, Mexico, and Rhode Island. For the past ten years she has lived on the coast of Maine with her twin daughters.

James L. Nelson

2011-04-18T15:35:00.000-04:00

Jim Nelson was born and raised in Lewiston, Maine. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in motion picture/television production but, finding that despite the California sun, it was a damp, drizzly November in his soul, Jim took the cure Melville recommended and decided to sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. For six years he worked on board traditional sailing ships before realizing it would be easier to write about sailing rather than actually doing it.

Jim is the author of sixteen works of maritime fiction and history. His novel Glory in the Name was the winner or the American Library Association/William Young Boyd Award for Best Military Fiction and his nonfiction George Washington's Secret Navy won the Naval Order’s Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval History. He has appeared on the Discovery Channel, History Channel and BookTV. He currently lives in Harpswell with his former shipmate, now wife Lisa and their four children.

Author Announcement: Hannah Holmes

2011-04-14T12:21:00.001-04:00

Hannah Holmes is the author of Quirk, Suburban Safari and The Secret Life of Dust.

Author Announcement: Sarah Braunstein

2011-04-11T12:20:00.000-04:00

Sarah Braunstein is the author of The Sweet Relief of Missing Children (W.W. Norton & Co., Feb. 2011). She was recently named one the “5 Under 35” fiction writers by the National Book Foundation, and was a 2007 recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award. She teaches at Harvard University Extension School and the Stanford Online Writer’s Studio. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, she holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and an MSW from Smith College School for Social Work. She lives in Portland, Maine.

Author Announcement: Maria Padian

2011-04-07T12:19:00.000-04:00

Maria Padian is a freelance writer, essayist, and author of young adult novels. Her debut novel, Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress, was selected as an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults in 2009 and also received a Maine Literary Award and a Maine Lupine Honor Award. Her second novel, Jersey Tomatoes Are the Best, was published by Knopf Books for Young Readers in March, 2011.

A graduate of Middlebury College and the University of Virginia, Maria has also attended Oxford University and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. Born in New York but raised in New Jersey, she currently lives in Maine with her family and their Australian shepherd. To learn more about her, visit www.mariapadian.com

Author Announcement: Caitlin Shetterly

2011-04-04T12:16:00.000-04:00

Caitlin Shetterly is a freelance writer, frequent contributor to National Public Radio, actor and the Founder and Artistic Director of the Winter Harbor Theatre Company

Her memoir, MADE FOR YOU AND ME: GOING WEST, GOING BROKE, FINDING HOME, was released in March.

Author Announcement: Lea Wait

2011-03-31T12:14:00.000-04:00

Maine author, historian and antique print dealer Lea Wait writes historical novels for ages 7-14, and the Agatha-finalist Shadows Antique Print Mystery series for adults featuring protagonist Maggie Summer

Author Announcement: Shonna Milliken Humphrey

2011-03-28T12:10:00.000-04:00

Shonna Milliken Humphrey is the former director of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. Her nonfiction work has appeared in The New York Times and Salon.com. Show Me Good Land is her first novel.

Author Announcement: Cynthia Lord

2011-03-24T12:08:00.000-04:00

Cynthia Lord is a former elementary and middle school teacher whose debut novel, Rules, won a Newbery Honor Award and a Schneider Family Book Award. In addition, students in six states awarded Rules their state’s student-choice award: Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Vermont.

Cynthia’s first picture book, Hot Rod Hamster, with illustrations by Derek Anderson, was published in February 2010.

A new middle-grade novel, Touch Blue, was published in the summer of 2010. Touch Blue offers a warm-hearted, humorous and thoughtful look at what it means to belong – and how lucky we feel when we do.

Author Announcement: Sandra Dutton

2011-03-21T12:05:00.000-04:00

Sandra Dutton's books have been named to "Pick of the Lists" by American Bookseller, and featured in Publishers Weekly.

She has taught both art and writing at the elementary, high school, and university levels, and has a Ph.D. in Rhetoric & Composition. Her musical "Just a Matter of Time" was produced as an Equity Showcase at the Sage Theatre, Times Square, New York City.

Her reviews have appeared in the New York Times Book Review.

Author Announcement: Katharine Davis

2011-03-17T12:04:00.000-04:00

Katharine Davis began writing fiction in 1999. Capturing Paris (St. Martin’s Press, 2006) was her first novel. Recommended in Real Simple Spring Travel 2007, the novel was also included in the New York Times suggestions for fiction set in Paris. Her second novel, East Hope, published by New American Library in 2009, won the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance 2010 Award for Fiction.

A Slender Thread, her third novel, was published by New American Library in August, 2010. She can be reached at www.katharinedavis.com.

Author Announcement: Susan Conley

2011-03-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Susan Conley, author of The Foremost Good Fortune, lived in Beijing for more than two years, returning to Portland, Maine with her husband and two sons in December 2009. She is co-founder and executive director of the Telling Room, a writers’ workshop and literary hub for the region. She was an associate editor at Ploughshares and has led creative writing seminars at Emerson College in Boston. Her work has been published in The New York Times Magazine as well as The Paris Review, Harvard Review, Ploughshares, and other literary magazines. She is currently working on a novel and settling back into life in the States.

2011 date announced!

2011-03-06T18:01:00.000-05:00

The Seventh Annual Books in Boothbay, Maine’s Summer book fair, will be held on Saturday, July 9th 2011 in the historic 1844 Boothbay Town Hall at the Boothbay Railway Village from 12:30 pm until 3:30 pm.

Stay tuned for exciting author announcements!

See you next year!

2010-07-12T15:29:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all our authors and attendees for making this year's Books in Boothbay a huge success!

We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. See you next summer!

Our Full Author List

2010-07-05T10:05:00.005-04:00

Books in Boothbay: Maine's Summer Book Fair is just a few days away. Remember, admission is FREE and the event is RAIN OR SHINE!

Here's the full list of this year's author. Read through our past entries for their bios and more information about their books!

Charlotte Agell

Spencer Appollonio

Norman Beaupre

Dean Bennett

Frances Bloxam
Betsy Connor Bowen

Gerry Boyle

Kate Braestrup

Beth Cadena

Jo Cameron

Tim Caverly

Richard Shain Cohen

Mary Morton Cowan

Bill Dixon

Sandra Dutton

Peter Felsenthal
Jane Freeberg

Maureen Heffernan

Fred Kaplan

Carl Little

Cynthia Lord

Amy Mac Donald

Theresa Mattor

Bob McKay

John McKown
Wesley McNair

Tammy LR Meserve

Christopher Mills

Angeli Perrow

Dr. Christian Potholm

Jay Robbins

Anne Sibley-O’Brien
Michelle Souliere

July Spencer-Fleming

Jim Taliana

Lucie Teegarden

Lisa Tharpe

Jeffrey Thomson

Lea Wait

Books in Boothbay Reading Schedule!

2010-07-02T10:11:00.000-04:00

Six of the forty Maine authors attending this weekend's Books in Boothbay festival will conduct readings from their latest works and take questions from the audience.

Here's the schedule:

1:00 - Mystery novelist Gerry Boyle, author of Port City Shakedown and other popular books

1:20 - Jeffrey Thomson, winner of the 2010 Maine Book Prize in Poetry

1:40 - Award-winning mystery author Julia Spencer-Fleming, author of I Shall Not Want

2:00 - Sandra Dutton, author and illustrator of the newly released children's book, Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth

2:20 - Newbery Award-winning children's author Cynthia Lord

2:40 - Carl Little, author of The Art of Dahlov Ipcar

Show up and support these great authors!

Author Announcement: Tammy L.R. Meserve

2010-07-01T14:06:00.000-04:00

Tammy LR Meserve lives in Edgecomb, Maine. She is the author of the recently published children's book, "There's a Moose Loose in the Hoose!" She is currently at work on her second book.

Author Announcement: Peter P. Blanchard III

2010-06-30T09:35:00.000-04:00

PETER P. BLANCHARD III is a long-time conservationist and environmental activist, and the founder of Greenwood Gardens, a New Jersey nonprofit organization dedicated to horticulture and environmental education. He owns and manages two Maine islands as nature reserves. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Orion Society, which produces Orion, a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to the issues of nature, culture, and place.

Blanchard's latest book is We Were an Island: The Maine Life of Art and Nan Kellam.

Anyone visiting the innumerable islands that hug the coast of Maine has wondered what it would be like to live year round on a "rock" bounded by the sea, essentially cut off from the world, with life's priorities whittled down to the most basic necessities. In 1949 Art and Nan Kellam set off to find their own isolated piece of paradise and eventually settled on a 550-acre island known as Placentia, near Mount Desert Island. They would live there year round for nearly forty years.

In this beautifully illustrated volume--based on Nan's personal journal and the "Big Book," to which both Art and Nan contributed private correspondence and archival materials--Peter P. Blanchard III re-creates the story of their island years.

He shows their singular devotion to each other, finds tantalizing clues to their reasons for seeking isolation from the rest of the world, and considers the mental and physical toll of such an unusual lifestyle on the individual and joined psyches of the couple. The narrative is beautifully enhanced by historic photographs and by David Graham's recent color photography. While evoking the alluring beauty of Maine's rugged coast, the book celebrates the Kellams' courage and determination to follow a
distinctive life path. We Were an Island paints a sensitive and sympathetic portrait of a relationship that endured, even prospered, in isolation.

Poet announcement: Jeffrey Thomson

2010-06-29T13:23:00.000-04:00

Jeffrey Thomson's Newest Book is Birdwatching in Wartime, which was just awarded the 2010 Maine Book Prize in Poetry from the Maine Writers and Publishers Association.

One more reason to attend Books in Boothbay: Fresh Paintings!

2010-06-25T09:49:00.002-04:00

In the ten days leading up to Books in Boothbay: Maine's Summer Book Fair, the members of the Plein-Air Painters of Maine will be painting scenes of the Railway Village, where the book fair is being held. These paintings will be displayed to the public for the first time at the authors & artists reception after the book fair!

The reception is free, and you'll have the chance to mingle with the authors and artists, and also to purchase any of the paintings created by the Plein-Air Painters.

Hope to see you there!

Author Announcement: Bob McKay

2010-06-24T13:20:00.000-04:00

Bob McKay is the writer and illustrator of the fun new children's book, Percival the Lighthouse Mouse.

Author Announcement: Amy MacDonald

2010-06-23T16:15:00.000-04:00

Amy MacDonald's books include Rachel Fister's Blister, Cousin Ruth's Tooth, No More Nice, No More Nasty, Please Malese!, The Spider Who Created the World, and Quentin Fenton Herter III. These books have won awards ranging from Best Books for Babies to the IRA/CBC Children's Choice Award, to the Oppenheim Platinum and Parents Choice Gold awards.

Author Announcement: Norman Beaupré

2010-06-22T09:24:00.000-04:00

Norman Beaupré is our latest author attending Books in Boothbay. Here's his brief bio:

Born in Maine and received his B.A. from St. Francis College, Biddeford; A.M. and Ph.D. from Brown University in 1974. Taught 30 years at the University of New England: French literature, French Impressionism, World literature and Transcultural Health Care.

Traveled extensively: France [2 sabbaticals in Paris and received a National Endowment for the arts grant to study Gothic Architecture under Professor Stephen Murray of Columbia Univ.];Brazil[Fulbright-Hayes grant]; Mexico to do research on curanderismo(folk healing); Belgium; Amsterdam; Germany, Prague and most of Eastern Europe; Spain; New Mexico and Arizona.
Professor Emeritus at the University of New England, Maine where he was full professor and department chair of the Humanities Dept.

Received two major decorations from the French Government: Ordre de la Francophonie, la Pléiade and Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres[arts and literature] for exemplary contributions to the French culture.

Author Announcement: Spencer Apollonio

2010-06-17T13:28:00.000-04:00

Spencer Apollonio is a retired marine biologist and a research fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America (AINA). He has made fourteen trips to the Arctic and established AINA's Devon Island Research Station.

Lands that Hold One Spellbound is an informal history of East Greenland. Author Spencer Apollonio has written the only known overview of the history of this region, summarizing indigenous settlements over four millennia and describing European explorations from the Norse to recent years. East Greenland is an immense land of mountains and fjords, of glaciers and meadowlands, and of unique contrasts in weather. It has been colonized seven different times over 4,000 years by migrants from the West. Apollonio details the struggles of vessels to reach the coast through the ice pack, the longest Arctic sledge journeys, the peculiar story of World War II in East Greenland, and the impact of centuries of exploration and change on Greenland’s indigenous populations.

Author Announcement: Poet Peter Felsenthal

2010-06-16T13:26:00.000-04:00

Poet Peter Felsenthal's latest book is More Scents Please.

Felsenthal is a Chicago native educated and brought up on the East Coast. His poetry took second place to earning a living for many years. Peter is the father of four, grandfather of nine. He resides on Barters Island, in mid-coast Maine.

Author Announcement: Theresa Mattor & Lucie Teegarden

2010-06-15T13:21:00.000-04:00

Theresa Mattor and Lucie Teegarden are the authors of Designing the Maine Landscape.

Mattor is a landscape architect and author based in Greater Portland. A native of Laconia, New Hampshire, she received a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Oregon. Since moving to Maine in 1988, she has enjoyed a design career that focuses on historic and contemporary landscapes, with a specialty in residential sites. She lectures frequently about contemporary landscape design, native plants, and historic landscapes. She lives in Hollis, Maine, with her husband and son.

Teegarden is a writer and editor who has spent more than 35 years producing college, university, and museum publications and books. She holds a B.A. in languages from the College of New Rochelle and an M.A. in French from Yale University and enjoys editing French and ESL teaching materials as well as books on art, history, gardening, and other subjects. Before moving to Brunswick, Maine, in 1983, she lived in Kenitra, Morocco, and in the suburbs of Boston, New Haven, and New York City.

Author Announcement: Bill Dixon

2010-06-10T13:17:00.000-04:00

Bill Dixon's latest book is Disorderly Conduct: Tales of the 1960's. He is also the author of Guitar Collecting, currently in its third printing.

In addition to his books, Dixon has established a successful real estate development company; climbed mountains in Vermont and New Hampshire; released a music CD; built a couple of hundred feet of natural stone walls on his property in Maine, and lectured on several unrelated topics: guitars as an art form, marketing and business development, Russian Icons and other things. He’s completed a number of other peculiar projects, as well.

Author Announcement: Betsy Connor Bowen

2010-06-08T13:11:00.000-04:00

Winner of the 2010 Maine Literary Award, Betsy Connor Bowen is the author of Spring Bear, her first novella.

Betsy Connor Bowen lives and writes in central Maine. “A life journey of many decades led me to a place in my imagination named Soper’s Mills, where the people who live there are not ‘fast food.’ They are your mother’s meatloaf – baked in a woodstove, with gravy like nobody else makes, garden vegetables – you can’t get it anywhere else. Not in a million years. I love these people and I love writing about them. I love to tell about the choices they make, their fragile souls diminished by the world sometimes, enlarged at others; about their unnoticed moments of grace. They are all heroes to me.”

Author Announcement: Tim Caverly

2010-06-02T16:20:00.000-04:00

Tim Caverly has spent his life in Maine’s outdoors. Growing up shadowing his father who was a fire warden with the Maine Forest Service and his brother, a ranger in Baxter State Park, it was natural for him to seek a career in the outdoors. Tim is originally from Skowhegan, Maine and has a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Maine at Machias.

While in college, Tim began working as a ranger at Sebago Lake State Park for the State Parks and Recreation Commission. After Sebago, he continued his employment with the Department of Conservation with assignments as a manager of Aroostook and Cobscook Bay State Parks as well as a regional supervisor of the Allagash Region, which included the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and the Penobscot River Corridor. Tim was supervisor of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway for eighteen years.

In 1999, Tim retired from the Department after a 32-year career, and became director of Maine Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Tim resides in Millinocket, and now works in the Millinocket School System. He enjoys raising Golden Retrievers, and sharing stories about the Allagash.

Author Announcement: Jane Freeberg

2010-06-01T16:17:00.000-04:00

Jane Freeberg, author of The Scallop Christmas, provided this bio: My husband and I have lived in Maine for 33 years....the best 33. We grew up in New York where I graduated from Adelphi College. We have 2 sons, both teachers and both writers. I've always loved to tell stories, and I recognize a good tale when I hear one, so when my friend told me the story of the great scallop harvest that occurred when she was a child, and the odd circumstances surrounding it, it really stuck in my head. For 35 years, it would pop into my head every once in a while and I'd think to myself, "That's a really unusual story. Somebody ought to write that down". Finally, I realized nobody was going to do it, so I gave it a try. I'm sorry now that I didn't start sooner.

Author announcement: Christian Potholm

2010-05-27T09:33:00.000-04:00

Chris Potholm is DeSilva Alexander Professor of Government and Legal Studies at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

He is the author of a dozen books on politics all over the world. His Just Do It! Political Participation in the 1990s is a look inside electoral politics in Maine and the nation. His An Insider's Guide to Maine Politics was published early in 1998. His most recent book is Winning At War.

Chris is the founder and president of Command Research, a national polling firm which for the last 20 years has polled in all of the 48 contiguous states. His clients include companies, institutions, interest groups and political causes.

Author announcement: Anne Sibley O'Brien

2010-05-26T09:27:00.000-04:00

Anne Sibley O'Brien of Peaks Island, Maine, has illustrated thirty books for children, thirteen of which she also wrote. Her passion for multiracial and global subjects was kindled by being raised in South Korea as the daughter of medical missionaries. She illustrated Jamaica's Find (a Reading Rainbow selection) and six other Jamaica titles by Juanita Havill; Africa Is Not a Country (Children's Africana Book Award) and four other titles by Maine author Margy Burns Knight; and the just-released Moon Watchers: Shirin's Ramadan Miracle, by Maine author Reza Jalali. She wrote and illustrated The Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood of Korea (Aesop Award; Asian-Pacific American Award for Literature; Global Korea Award; and Booklist's "Top Ten Graphic Novels for Youth 2007"), and After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance (Maine Literary Book Award 2010), which she co-wrote with her son, Perry O'Brien. She blogs about race, culture and children's books at Coloring Between the Lines.

Author announcement: Mary Morton Cowan

2010-05-25T09:23:00.000-04:00

Mary Morton Cowan is a graduate of Westbrook (ME) High School and Bates College. Her 2003 book, Timberrr… A History of Logging in New England, received Maine Library Association’s Lupine Honor Award. Her new book is Captain Mac: The Life of Donald Baxter MacMillan, Arctic Explorer, which tells MacMillan's adventurous story -- the vital role he played in Robert Peary’s 1908-1909 North Pole Expedition, his death-defying 1913-1917 expedition to northern Greenland, and his 1925 expedition which pioneered the use of radio and aircraft in Arctic exploration, and more!

A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, nearly 70 of her articles and stories have been published in children’s magazines, and several have been reprinted in textbooks and anthologies. She lives with her husband near Sebago Lake, and enjoys hiking, camping, skiing, and spending time with her four grandchildren.

Author Announcement: Frances Bloxum

2010-05-20T13:15:00.000-04:00

Frances Bloxam of Bath, Maine, is the author of three children’s books: Antlers Forever, Little Tom Turkey and Beau Beaver Goes to Town. Each tells the story of a Maine wild animal and the dramatic and often hilarious process of growing up. Written in lively rhyme, Frances’ books are perfect for the very young and also for the adults who enjoy reading aloud to children. Her books have been read to Maine school children by Senator Susan Collins and are found in bookstores and national park gift shops throughout the United States. Maine Fish and Wildlife Department personnel have used them in educational programs for children. Frances devotes her time to book fairs, book signings, school programs and read-aloud programs at libraries throughout Maine and other states.

Although Frances’ first book was published in 2001 when she was 67, her entire life has embraced learning, literacy and helping children grow to be strong adults. A Midwesterner, Frances’ mother was the town librarian – Frances’ library card number was 7. Her father wrote informative, humorous columns for the local newspaper. She has strong memories of another librarian, Ms. Jeanpert, who always spoke with her, not as a child, but as a person with her own thoughts.

Frances completed graduate work in Child Development, worked as a preschool teacher for many years and married a teacher. Together they raised five children, who still quote Dr. Suess to each other. (It drives their spouses crazy.) The love of words, humor and rhyme continues in the grandchildren.

Frances has balanced her creative, home and family-based life with years of adventurous travel through dozens of countries, and with driving, camping and motorcycling trips in the US.

A reviewer says “Frances knows children well; their love of nonsense, their feeling for rhyme and rhythm”. She believes in the value of the written word and the need to challenge children as they grow.

Recently, Frances received a Maine Literary Award in the Children’s Division for her recent publication Beau Beaver Goes to Town.

Author Announcement: Cynthia Lord

2010-05-18T08:37:00.000-04:00

Cynthia Lord's debut novel, RULES was a New York Times Bestseller and has received numerous awards, including Newbery Honor and; the Maine Student Book Award. A former elementary and middle-school teacher, Cynthia spent a year teaching on a Maine island, which is the setting for her second novel (TOUCH BLUE, August 2010). Her first picture book, HOT ROD HAMSTER, was published in February and became a Publisher’s Weekly Bestseller. She lives with her husband and her two children fifteen minutes from the ocean in Brunswick, Maine. You can visit Cindy on the web at www.cynthialord.com.

Author announcement: Wesley McNair

2010-05-13T08:31:00.001-04:00

Books in Boothbay: Maine's Summer Book Fair is proud to announce that poet Wesley McNair will be attending the festival this July.

Wesley McNair’s latest book is Lovers of the Lost: New & Selected Poems. He has held grants from the Fulbright and Guggenheim foundations, two Rockefeller Fellowships, an NEH Fellowship in literature, and two NEA fellowships. In 2006 he was selected for a United States Artists Fellowship of $50,000 as one of “America’s finest living artists.” Other honors include the Devins Award for Poetry, the Jane Kenyon Award, the Robert Frost Award, the Theodore Roethke Prize, the Eunice Tietjens Prize from Poetry magazine, an Emmy Award, and the Sarah Josepha Hale Medal. A guest editor in poetry for the 2010 Pushcart Prize anthology, he has served four times on the nominating jury for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. His work has appeared on NPR’s Weekend Edition and The Writer’s Almanac, with Garrison Keillor; two editions of The Best American Poetry; and over fifty anthologies. He has authored or edited eighteen books, including poetry, nonfiction, and anthologies.

Author announcement: Angeli Perrow

2010-05-11T08:27:00.001-04:00

Here's another author coming to the Books in Boothbay Festival this summer:

Children's author Angeli Perrow is the author of four picture books and a mystery novel for children. Her love of lighthouses and the history surrounding them led to the writing of Captain's Castaway, Lighthouse Dog to the Rescue, and Sirius the Dog Star, which are all based on true events at Maine lighthouses. The Lightkeeper's Key weaves Maine lighthouse legends into a page-turning mystery that thrills children with ghosts, a treasure hunt, a secret code, and lots of adventure. Her newest book, Many Hands, takes a different path as it relates the tale of a Penobscot Indian girl who dreams of being a master basket maker and learns the importance of community.

Angeli is an art teacher in Hampden, Maine, where she lives with her family. She is a former classroom teacher, newspaper reporter and editor and nautical products artist. She enjoys gardening, hiking, biking, Celtic music and Irish dancing.

Author announcement: Strange Maine author Michelle Souliere

2010-05-06T13:00:00.001-04:00

Maine is well known as a land of fresh air and clean water, as the home of L.L. Bean and as one of the most popular camping and outdoor recreation destinations in the country. But what lies behind this idyllic façade? Unmapped roads. Whispering rocks. Deadening fog. Ghost pirates. Lonely islands. THINGS in the woods. This is the great state of Maine, home of Stephen King, land of the Great Northern Woods and all the mystery that lies within their dark footprint. What better setting than this for tales of strange creatures, murderers, madmen and eccentric hermits? From the “Headless Halloween of 1940” to the mystery of who lies in the grave of V.P. Coolidge; from the Bigfoot sightings to the “witch’s grave” in a Portland cemetery, writer and illustrator Michelle Souliere brings to life these strange-but-true tales from the Pine Tree State.

Michelle Souliere is the author and editor of the Strange Maine blog, winner of the Portland Phoenix’s “Best Blog” award in 2008 and 2009, and the Strange Maine Gazette, its print offshoot. She is the founder of the Green Hand Bookshop in Portland, Maine. She spends a portion of her time creating artwork for local display and publication, which includes drawing, painting and photography. She likes Maine very much.

Artist announcement: Jim Taliana

2010-05-04T11:31:00.000-04:00

It's Tuesday, which means we're announcing another guest for this year's Books in Boothbay Festival.

Jim Taliana has had 14 one-person shows and has exhibited in watercolor, oils, India ink, photography and sculptures in welded metal, wood, and stone. Recently, he has illustrated three children’s books:　 "The Littlest Tugboat," "The Seagull Who Refused to Be Ordinary," and "The Small Tall Ship," all available at most bookstores in Maine.　Jim started and chaired the first annual statewide juried Maine Photography Show in 2006.　He is a trustee and past president of the Boothbay Region Art Foundation and has been tutoring in art and conducting painting and drawing workshops for over 20 years, both in Maine and Michigan.　Each July, he conducts a five-day outdoor painting workshop.　Jim is currently represented by five galleries: The Ambleside Galleries in Greensboro, N.C., Cary Gallery in Rochester, Mich., Harlow Gallery in Hallowell, Boothbay Region Art Foundation in Boothbay Harbor, and the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset

Author announcement: Lincoln biographer Fred Kaplan

2010-04-29T14:33:00.000-04:00

Time to announce one more author coming our way for the 6th annual Books in Boothbay festival, Fred Kaplan, author of Lincoln: the Biography of a Writer.

Here's a description of the book:

For Abraham Lincoln, whether he was composing love letters, speeches, or legal arguments, words mattered. In Lincoln, acclaimed biographer Fred Kaplan explores the life of America's sixteenth president through his use of language as a vehicle both to express complex ideas and feelings and as an instrument of persuasion and empowerment. Like the other great canonical writers of American literature—a status he is gradually attaining—Lincoln had a literary career that is inseparable from his life story. An admirer and avid reader of Burns, Byron, Shakespeare, and the Old Testament, Lincoln was the most literary of our presidents. His views on love, liberty, and human nature were shaped by his reading and knowledge of literature.

Since Lincoln, no president has written his own words and addressed his audience with equal and enduring effectiveness. Kaplan focuses on the elements that shaped Lincoln's mental and imaginative world; how his writings molded his identity, relationships, and career; and how they simultaneously generated both the distinctive political figure he became and the public discourse of the nation. This unique account of Lincoln's life and career highlights the shortcomings of the modern presidency, reminding us, through Lincoln's legacy and appreciation for language, that the careful and honest use of words is a necessity for successful democracy.

Illuminating and engrossing, Lincoln brilliantly chronicles Abraham Lincoln's genius with language.

Author announcement: Julia Spencer-Fleming

2010-04-27T09:59:00.000-04:00

Award-winning mystery author Julia Spencer-Fleming shall join us in July for Books in Boothbay: Maine's Summer Book Fair. We hope to see you there!

Author anouncement: Kate Braestrup

2010-04-22T16:44:00.001-04:00

Kate Braestrup is a community minister, law enforcement chaplain, and the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, Here If You Need Me, and Marriage and Other Acts of Charity, now in stores.

Author announcement: Richard Shain Cohen

2010-04-20T14:32:00.002-04:00

Richard Shain Cohen, of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, is originally from Boston. He retired from the University of Maine, Presque Isle after serving as the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of English. He holds B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. His latest book is The Forgotten Longfellow: Man in the Shadows.

THE FORGOTTEN LONGFELLOW is a snapshot of America in the 1800s, and amazing tale which reads like an adventure story – as Alexander, Senior feeling like a failure in contrast to his famous poet brother, takes a position as coast surveyor and begins a life of exploration. He surveyed the northern border of Maine in the boundary dispute with England. This begins his description of the northern wilderness, life among Indians, Acadians, and lone trappers; dangerous journeys around Cape Horn; and surveys in a South ravaged by war while mingling with wandering former slaves and the dispossessed.. We meet Dolley Madison, John Quincy Adams, and President Polk and a cast of hundreds in the drawing-rooms of Washington, D.C.; we experience his eventual courtship and catch rare glimpses of family life in the country manor-houses of Maine; and having been enriched by a most unusual journey through Nineteenth-century America, courtesy of a man who never realized how significant his gifts and accomplishments really were. The book is a visual treat also, studded with gorgeous maps, many drawings, and photographs – a coffee table adventure story. For further information see: www.theForgottenLongfellow.com

In addition to this book, his publications include: Only God Can Make a Tree, poetry of his and of his brother, Alfred Robert Cohen; and the novels Monday: End of the Week, Be Still, My Soul, and Petal On A Black Bough. He also wrote chapters for Aroostook: Land of Promise, academic reviews, other articles, and — with the help of a Shell Grant — a monograph on Samuel Richardson that can be found in major library holdings.

Another author announcement: Charlotte Agell

2010-04-12T17:00:00.000-04:00

The Books in Boothbay author list continues to grow! Our latest announced guest is author/illustrator Charlotte Agell, whose most recent book, The Accidental Adventures of India McAllister, is due out any day now.

You can read more about Charlotte Agell at her website, or visit her character's blog over at http://indiasink.wordpress.com/

Author #8 Announced: Beth Cadena

2010-04-02T10:39:00.002-04:00

Author, mother, friend and "Maine-ah" Beth Cadena is the author of Supersister, a Junior Library Guild selection and a Winter 09/10 Children's Indie Next pick.

Here's the great description of the book:

Brave enough to walk to the bus stop alone. Strong enough to lift--and pour--her own bowl of cereal. Able to read a story aloud all by herself. Who could this masked girl be?

It's Supersister!

This energetic and playful story follows hero through a typical day of accomplishing ordinary feats for her family in an extraordinary way. And by the end you'll find out why she's such a super helper to her mother and how she earned her name. This fresh take on a new sibling story is sure to empower young readers, as it reminds them of all the super things they can do by themselves, and makes it possible for any child to become a super-helper.

Author # 7: Carl Little

2010-03-31T13:44:00.000-04:00

Books in Boothbay is excited to announce our seventh confirmed author: Carl Little

Carl Little is the author of more than a dozen art books, including Edward Hopper’s New England, The Watercolors of John Singer Sargent and, new this year, The Art of Dahlov Ipcar.

He is a regular contributor to Art New England and Art in America, where he was formerly associate editor. He has written essays for museum and gallery exhibitions and lectures widely. Little’s poems have appeared in The Paris Review, New Directions in Poetry and Prose and The Hudson Review, as well as in the new anthology, Maine in Four Seasons: 20 Poets Celebrate the Turning Year, edited by Wesley McNair.

Little directed the Ethel H. Blum Gallery at College of the Atlantic; he currently is director of communications and marketing at the Maine Community Foundation. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College, Columbia University and Middlebury College. A native New Yorker, Little lives on Mount Desert Island.

Author # 6: Dean Bennett

2010-03-25T15:27:00.000-04:00

Dean Bennett writes and illustrates books about nature and wilderness. He has authored and illustrated five published trade books for the general public. His latest book is Nature and Renewal: Wild River Valley and Beyond, 2009, Tilbury House Publishers.

Other books are Maine’s Natural Heritage: Rare Species and Unique Natural Features, Allagash: Maine’s Wild and Scenic River, The Forgotten Nature of New England: A Search for Traces of the Original Wilderness, and The Wilderness from Chamberlain Farm: A Story of Hope for the American Wild.

He has written and illustrated three children’s books: Everybody Needs a Hideaway, Finding a Friend in the Forest, and The Late Loon, all published by Down East Books.

Another Author Announced: Lea Wait

2010-03-23T13:27:00.000-04:00

Maine author Lea Wait writes acclaimed historical novels for ages 7 and up set on the coast of Maine. STOPPING TO HOME was named a "notable children's book of 2001" by Smithsonian Magazine and a “best of the best” by Bank Street College.

In FINEST KIND (2006,) a family moves to Maine after the Panic of 1837 so the father can work in a lumber mill. Jake, age 13, must prepare his family for the winter – and keep the family secret they brought with them from Boston. Kirkus called it "a story that will linger in the hearts of readers."

She is also the author of Scribner's Shadows Antique Print Mystery series, traditional mysteries for adults. SHADOWS AT THE FAIR was a finalist for a "best first mystery" Agatha in 2002; SHADOWS ON THE COAST OF MAINE was a Mystery Guild "Editor's Choice" in 2003. SHADOWS ON THE IVY (2004) was also a Mystery Guild selection.

Fourth author announced: Sandra Dutton

2010-03-19T10:55:00.000-04:00

The author list for Maine's Summer Book Fair continues to grow. Here's author # 4!

Sandra Dutton has published five books for children and a sixth, Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth, a novel, is forthcoming in June 2010 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Dutton has an A.B. in Fine Arts and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric & Composition, and taught English at the University of Louisville and New York Institute of Technology. She was the founder, in 1982, publisher and editor of her own literary magazine, River City Review, in Louisville, Kentucky. She is also a painter, exhibiting most recently at the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset, the University of Southern Maine at Lewiston, and the University of New England. She is the mother of two grown sons and now lives with her husband in Maine.

Third author announced: Gerry Boyle

2010-03-15T11:33:00.000-04:00

Books in Boothbay is excited to announce our third confirmed author, mystery writer Gerry Boyle!

Gerry Boyle is the author of 10 mystery novels, including the acclaimed Jack McMorrow mystery series, featuring an ex-New York Times reporter transplanted to Maine. A second Boyle series, featured Portland boat bum turned rookie cop Brandon Blake, launched in 2009 with publication of PORT CITY SHAKEDOWN. The ninth Jack McMorrow mystery, DAMAGED GOODS, was published in May. DAMAGED GOODS is set in the fictional Maine coast town of Galway, where McMorrow rescues an injured "escort" named Mandi, and his wife, social worker Roxanne, is stalked by a crazed Satanist after taking his abused children into custody.

Boyle is a former newspaper reporter and columnist. In addition to writing mystery novels, he is editor of Colby College magazine (his alma mater) and a freelance writer. Boyle lives with his wife Mary by a lake in a small town in central Maine.

Look for our next author announcement later this week!

Second author announced: Christopher Mills

2010-03-10T14:59:00.000-05:00

Books in Boothbay: Maine's Summer Book Fair is excited to announce our second confirmed author, Christopher Mills.

Christopher Mills is a freelance writer, editor and graphic artist with decades of experience in the publishing industry, working primarily for newspapers and comic book publishers. A professional writer for twenty years, he has scripted numerous independent comic books in a variety of genres, including Leonard Nimoy's Primortals, Shadow House, Kolchak Tales (based on the much-beloved TV show, Kolchak the Night Stalker), The Night Driver, Captain Midnight, the Spinetingler Award-winning Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries and the critically-acclaimed crime thriller, Gravedigger: The Scavengers.

He has also authored a number of published short stories, including contributions to Moonstone Books' The Spider Chronicles, Captain Midnight Chronicles and Werewolves: Dead Moon Rising.

He lives in an old farmhouse in Central Maine with his wife, dog, cat, and thousands of books and videos.

First author announced: Maureen Heffernan

2010-03-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

Books in Boothbay: Maine's Summer Book Fair is happy to announce our first author for 2010.

Maureen Heffernan is the Executive Director of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens where she has worked since 2004 helping to create Maine first major botanical garden in Boothbay, Maine.

Her books include: Native Plants for Maine Gardens and Fairy Houses of the Maine Coast, both published by Downeast Press.

Look for more author announcements soon!

Back for Year Number Six!

2010-02-23T13:47:00.001-05:00

We're back for another year of fun, sun, and a celebration of the written word!

The sixth annual Books in Boothbay festival (formerly Books and Blooms) will be held on Saturday, July 10, 2010 at the Boothbay Railway Village, the same site that provided us with such a great location last year.

Books in Boothbay is Maine's Summer Book Fair, and we're excited about the great lineup of authors we have signed up already. Look for bios and information soon. Around 40 authors will be in Boothbay for this great event. Some will offer readings or discussions; all will be available to sign their books and talk with their readers.

Look for author bios and more information shortly. Until then, mark your calendars! We look forward to seeing you in July!