Southwest Harbor Public Library — Tuesday, June 3, 5:30 pm***

Jesup Library, Bar Harbor — Thursday, June 5, 7 pm***

Sherman’s Books, Portland — Friday, June 6, 7 pm***

Rumors abound of snickerdoodles and prizes….

Hear Downeast Ledge Come to Life Where It Takes Place!

So far–

Tuesday, June 3, 5:30pm–Southwest Harbor Public Library

Thursday, June 5, 7 pm–Jesup Library, Bar Harbor

Watch this space for more Downeast Ledge readings–and snickerdoodles!

Join Norman on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Ideas Network on Tuesday, November 26, from 11 to 11:45 a.m. when he and Larry discuss Downeast Ledge and the mysterious process of writing during the Larry Meillor Show.

https://www.wpr.org/listen-live

As soon as I finished reading the seance scene from MIDNIGHT CATCH at Mystery to Me last Wednesday night, the video screen beside me started doing weird things and then spoke! Bookshop owner Joanne Berg had never head it say that. There was definitely some energy in the room that night, but nobody was expecting it to come out like that.

I also read a short scene from DOWNEAST LEDGE–the arrival of The Intruder. A cliffhanger there!

Sara Rath was also on hand to read from here latest mystery, NIGHT SISTERS.

Next stop–the Big Launch for DOWNEAST LEDGE at A Room of One’s Own on Friday, December 6, at 6. I’ll read all of Chapter 1.

A thousand years after it was written, BEOWULF is still making news. It turns out that many translations of the Old English masterpiece may have been getting it wrong from the very first word. But the Dick Ringler version we used for our dramatization got it right. Get the lowdown:

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/listen-beowulf-opening-line-misinterpreted-for-200-years-8921027.html

KH: …the sailing… oh the sailing. One character calls it “nothing but a lot of physics and a dash of determination.” Having never sailed myself, I’m with the narrator, Amber, who describes “gut-grabbing fear” at sea. Where do you fall on this spectrum?

NG: Looking at sailing logically, I agree with Walt about it being physics and determination, but that’s an oversimplification. It’s like Bach saying that music is nothing but hitting the right note at the right time. Sailing is also about getting out of your comfort zone, and that means biting your nails from time to time. So I’m going with Amber on that one, but we’ve both expanded our comfort zones a lot.

KH: I notice in the book the poorer areas are downtrodden, but the rich summer folk are taking a decent run at poor too. Which “side of the river” do you feel the most affection and affinity for, both in your writing and in your travels? Or do you feel divided?

NG: Well, you know, between the flush summer people on Walt’s side of the river and the chronically poor people on the Dunning side, you have Amber’s house at the mouth of the river, which is an example of the middle class. I’d say that’s where my perspective comes from. It gives you insights into the extremes on either side.

from A Conversation with the Author hosted by Kelly Harms, author of THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS OF SHIPWRECK LANE (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press).

KH: I was delighted to get an early reading copy of DOWNEAST LEDGE and discover it was set in a place so beautiful and enigmatic that it’s inspired my own writing too: coastal Maine. The more I read, the more I realized Down East is not just one character in this story, but two very different ones, trying hard to reconcile themselves. Tell us about your own summers in Maine.

NG: I first came to Maine in 1969 to work at the Jordan Pond House on Mount Desert Island and was immediately taken with everything about the state—the fog, the smell of the woods, the deep clear ponds, the craggy windswept mountains–and the contrast between rich and poor. I worked there for several summers and have visited there most summers since. It’s taken me this long to put my Maine experience in perspective.

Next: Rich vs. Poor in DOWNEAST LEDGE.