Peaks Island Press
News on Peaks Island AuthorsHayman to Participate in Literary Barn Raising for Cynthia Thayer
“Maine has an unusually strong, tightly-woven writing community, and when tragedy happens to one of us, it impacts us all.”
(writer Shonna Milliken Humphrey in Portland Press Herald)
Darthia Farm prior to the fire
When novelist Cynthia Thayer lost nearly one hundred farm animals (among them draft horses, calves, pigs, and sheep) to a devastating barn fire on the early morning of May 7th, injuring herself in an attempt to save them, Maine’s literary community collectively gasped. Cynthia is not only a beloved member of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance community, but her Darthia Farm operates organically and participates in the Community Supported Agriculture program. Peaks Island author James Hayman joins dozens of other authors who will band together for what they’re calling a literary barn raising this Friday, June 1st from 5-8 pm at Longfellow Books in Portland.
In a Maine Crime Writers essay, Jim shared how he befriended Cynthia:
I initially met Cynthia when she came down to Peaks Island to conduct a writing workshop at the island branch of Portland Public Library. When I was introduced to her, I told her that I was hard at work on my first fiction.“How much have you written?” she asked.
“One hundred and fifty pages,” I replied.
James Hayman
“I have to warn you,” she said, “I’m not your mother. If I think it’s dreadful, I won’t spare your feelings.”
I told her I wouldn’t want it any other way. I emailed her the manuscript that night and she called me back less than twenty-four hours later.
“I have to tell you,” she said, “You kept me up all night. I think the book’s terrific.” Once again, I was thrilled. These were the first words from anyone whose literary judgment I respected that made me think that maybe, just maybe I might really become a novelist. She then offered a number of suggestions on how to improve the manuscript. In each case, she was right. Her suggestions did improve it.
From there, Jim explains, Cynthia became a good friend and mentor. He’s pleased to join the legion of friends and colleagues who are raising funds to help rebuild the barn and acquire new livestock. You can learn more about Cynthia’s writing here and either attend the book-signing event at Longfellow Books or donate to the Darthia Farm Fund.
Literary Barn Raising, June 1, 2012
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Jacqueline Sheehan Offers “Creating Memorable Characters” Workshop
Almost two years ago, I sat down with Jacqueline Sheehan at fellow-author Eleanor Morse‘s house to discuss Jacqueline’s growing list of books, including Lost and Found a New York Times Bestseller that has been optioned for film by Katherine Heigl, star of Grey’s Anatomy. As her devoted readers already know, Jacqueline fancies Peaks Island (or fictionalized versions of it) as a setting for her novels; Picture This, her sequel to Lost and Found, also takes place here.
It’s the launch of this new book that brings Jacqueline back to Maine for an event at the award-winning indie favorite Longfellow Books. Fortunately for us, she will offer a free writing workshop during her visit to the island. Here are the details:
“Creating Memorable Characters” Writing Workshop
Wednesday, June 6th 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Peaks Island Community Room
During the first hour, Jacqueline will lecture and answer questions. The second hour will entail writing exercises. Those interested in participating should contact the Peaks Island branch of the Portland Library at either 766-5540 or email peaks@portland.lib.me.us
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Laima Vince: “The Ghost in Hannah’s Parlor”
Author Laima Vince (Sruoginis)
Islands pull on people. Ferociously sometimes. People are compelled to live on them; sometimes they convince themselves that they can leave, yet the island draws them back again. I know this because it’s happened to me. Fellow writers Michael Steinberg and Twain Braden have also experienced the ensnaring quality of the island, leaving “the Rock” in their wake, only to have it reel them back. Of all those who have felt the island’s gravitational pull, Laima Vince’s orbit has the longest radius; after living on Peaks Island for ten years with her three children, she returned to Lithuania as a Fulbright lecturer to Vilnius University, where she had studied and translated poetry years earlier as a student.
Vince brought her own award-winning skills as a poet and translator to her scholarship in war-torn Lithuania, publishing several books, including “Lenin’s Head on a Platter” in 2008 with the Lithuanian Writers’ Union Press. But it was Laima’s tie to Peaks Island that led her to write “The Ghost in Hannah’s Parlor.” This YA novel starts one night in November on Captains Island when a nine-year-old named Hannah goes downstairs for a glass of water. The adventure begins when Hannah meets the ghost of Hilda De Witt Rose, a turn-of-the-century opera star who lives in a rose in Hannah’s parlor wallpaper along with an entire ghost cast of the opera Carmen.
Laima still spends as many months of the year as possible on Peaks Island and I caught up with her one day where all islanders do – on the ferry. “I call it Captains Island, but it’s inspired by Peaks – the neighborhood, the history of opera on the island, the path to the school. Islanders will recognize all of these things.”
Opera? On Peaks Island? Didn’t she mean the history of opera in Portland? When Vince’s characters go back to 1910 with the help of their ghost, they move through an island world difficult to imagine when walking the streets today, an island peppered with more than a dozen hotels, several grocery stores, and notably, multiple theaters and ferry landings, and an amusement park. “Writing this book made me interested in learning more of the history of the island. It’s so fascinating.”
Gem Theater and historic hotel on Peaks Island, both now gone
As the recipient of a Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and former Director of the Stonecoast Summer Writers’ Conference at the University of Southern Maine, it’s clear that Laima’s accomplishments have astonishing breadth. From poetry to the oral history of holocaust survivors to YA novels, Vince has demonstrated her love for writing and that Peaks Island still has a hold on her.
Here’s some footage of Laima reading from some of her Lithuanian work “Lenin’s Head on a Platter.”
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Empowering from Within: Julie Fisher Melton
Julie works on her third book at a partners desk she shares with her husband
Chatting with Julie Fisher Melton is like taking a virtual round-the-world tour, so don’t do it unless you’re ready to either go where her professional travels have taken her or strap on your best walking shoes and keep up with her as she hikes around Peaks Island. Either way, you’re likely to see the world through her eyes, something that international organizations have sought for years. Julie – a Pomona College alum and doctoral graduate of John Hopkins University – has shared her extensive experience with and research about NGOs (non-government organizations) in two books: The Road from Rio: Sustainable Development and the Nongovernmental Movement in the Third World, Praeger, 1993; and Nongovernments: NGOs and the Political Development of the Third World, Kumarian, 1998. A third book is under contract with her former employer, Kettering Foundation.
Julie’s passion centers on empowering people, collectively, to address problems affecting their lives, their community, and their nation. We’re talking about poverty, unemployment, and every manner of exploitation – not issues for the faint of heart, but then a woman whose career began researching how civil organizations worked in Latin American squatter neighborhoods doesn’t shirk from challenges.
Julie holds a piece of her grandmother's rose medallion porcelain from 1850s China
In “Road from Rio” Julie wrote, “Poverty, population, and environmental degradation ride roughshod over the aspirations and hopes of people everywhere…Third World NGOs will be essential contributors to this process [of survival], provided their remarkable creativity is understood and supported.” As a former consultant for Save the Children, she knows a great deal about the challenges facing a large proportion of the world’s population. When I asked her more about her work, Julie articulated the broad gulf between typical forms of international aid interventions and the local facilitation and empowerment from the grassroots level upward. After researching in Latin America, Argentina, South Africa, and Tajikistan, she’s quite certain that the latter model promises the best potential for sustainable change and improvement in people’s lives.
If you’re looking for inspiration on how to make the world a better place, be thankful that Julie keeps writing.
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Twain Braden: Ghosts of the Pioneers
Twain Braden
When it comes to journeys, Twain Braden knows how to take them – and how to write about them. Professional mariner, lawyer, camp director, and writer, this renaissance man has returned to Peaks Island with his wife, Leah, and their four children after “living “away” since 2003. He returns with several published books and articles to his name with more in the queue.
A graduate of Hobart College and Charleston School of Law, Twain braves not only legal tomes but the unexpected adventures that wilderness trips and sailing the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea can throw at him. I got to know Twain and Leah as near-neighbors who had a son the same age as my daughter. Our shared stories broadened when my husband helped Twain (then co-owner of Portland Schooner Co with Scott Reischmann), sail the historic schooner Bagheera from Delaware up to its new home in Portland. These days, when he’s not sailing or writing, he’s directing Camp Glen Brook in Marlborough, NH.
Twain has published articles with Wooden Boat, Northern New England Journey, and Ocean Navigator. He also authored The Handbook of Sailing Techniques: Professional Tips, Expert Advice, Essential Skills (2003) and the non-fiction thriller In Peril: A Daring Decision, a Captain’s Resolve, and the Salvage that Made History written with Skip Strong (2003[2005] – both published with The Lyons Press.
Ghosts of the Pioneers
The summer before Twain graduated from law school in the spring of 2007, he and his family embarked upon a cross-country journey that led to the publication of Ghosts of the Pioneers: A Family Search for the Independent Oregon Colony of 1844. Twain blogged as they camped from Charleston to Independence, Miss. and then followed the Oregon Trail. In places, such as along a stretch of Rte 80 in Nebraska, major roads overlay the historic trail’s path. In other more rural areas, wagon wheel ruts remained visible. Twain’s first-person narrative juxtaposes the story of the Independent Oregon Colony’s arduous journey westward with his family’s own modern-day trip. None other than documentary film director/producer Ken Burns said of Ghost of the Pioneers “This is a wonderful, close-to-the-earth book about the West, that magical place where the best of us met the worst of us and nothing was ever the same.”
Welcome back to The Rock, Twain, where writers are always welcome! We’re looking forward to the news of your next book, already in the hands of a publisher.
Twain's Writing Closet
Island Authors Featured at Bangor Book Festival
One of the advantages of living on an island is that we all funnel onto our sturdy ferry and cross the harbor together for a full twenty minutes (each way), a period of time sufficient to catch up on our neighbors’ lives. This counts as one of my favorite things about Peaks Island. On one such crossing Friday, I learned that two of our island authors were embarking for Bangor to present at the Fifth Annual Bangor Book Festival.
Anne Sibley O’Brien and Catherynne Valente joined 33 other authors in 25 events over two days. Annie presented “How Fascinating!: Multi-Culturalism in Children’s Literature” with Margy Burns Knight. Cat led a “Journey into Fantasy” workshop and joined Ellen Booraem and Jennifer Richard Jacobson on the “Creating Characters in Children’s Literature” panel.
Congrats to Annie and Cat for representing our island literary community!
Writing through Pain
Patricia Erikson
Those of you who know me have probably noticed that my blogging has slowed down lately. I write two blogs – this “Peaks Island Press” and “Heritage in Maine.” Virtually every printed word advising writers how to write well says “write every day!” “Don’t stop for anything!” My performance in this regard lately has been…FLAIL. I won’t argue against the advice that writers should stay in the flow of their writing, but I’ll confess that I just haven’t been able to do it, haven’t been able to write through my pain.
The source of my pain? I could shorthand it and call it “mortality” – that of my parents, in particular. I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer four years ago and it was as though the floor dropped out beneath me. But, as a mother, a wife, and a professional woman, I kept going and going and going…and going. But now, a few years and a 3500 mile move across the country later and my father’s precipitously declining health and loss of mobility and independence fills my life – often with anguish, sometimes with tenderness. Did I say fills my life? I should say it swamps my life. And yet I keep swimming, lifting my head to gulp air deeply as often as I can remember to try. And, I write to all of you even when I can’t move other writing projects forward.
Writing through pain – it’s good therapy, although not necessarily good writing. When I lost my mother, the pain seeped into an essay that has just now been published in Columbia Magazine at the Washington State History Museum. Check it out. It’s titled “Objects of Pain, Objects of Power“. I hope it touches you in some small way.
Stalking the Ghost Bird with Michael Steinberg
Michael Steinberg at Trout Pond on Peaks Island
Ancient forests, ghost birds, and intrepid scientists. This might sound like a blurb for Rollins’ sci-fi Amazonia, but instead it describes the non-fiction content of Michael Steinberg’s “Stalking the Ghost Bird: The Elusive, Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in Louisiana” (Louisiana State University Press, 2008).
“I was always interested in birds growing up in Missouri. I would read Peterson’s Field Guide every night before bed. Then, once on vacation in Florida, I thought I spotted an ivory-billed woodpecker. Ever since then, I followed the news of sightings.” This love of birds and the environment led Mike into the field of Geography and eventually into a teaching position at the University of Southern Maine. There his academic writing focused on Mayans in Belize who were adapting their indigenous agricultural traditions to a drug economy. Steinberg and his family were then lured out of state by other opportunities that allowed him to write and publish Stalking the Ghost Bird – a culmination of his lifelong interest in this bird.
Stalking the Ghost Bird
The book recounts how scientists cautiously refused to disclose their rediscovery of the supposedly extinct ivory-billed woodpecker until, finally, they captured a short video and sound clip of the bird. Publication of their findings in Science triggered frenzied media coverage and controversy among birders and scientists who disagree – and continue to disagree – about whether the bird really exists. Mike’s writing explores the public fascination with this mysterious species.
These days, Mike migrates a fair amount himself, living part-time on Peaks and part-time in Tuscaloosa where he teaches at the University of Alabama. He brings his research and writing to Maine in summer where he enjoys time with his wife and two sons. “We wanted to move back, to move our boys to where lots of families pursue outdoor adventure for themselves and their kids. Maine is that place for us. Definitely.”
Maine’s literary community has led Mike on a different kind of journey; he enrolled in and graduated from the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing, a two-year low residency program based out of the historic Stone House – a waterfront property designed by John Calvin Stevens in 1918. He now appreciates the skills entailed in writing narrative non-fiction.
Traversing a Peaks Island wetland by boardwalk
We won’t need to wait long to read another of his books. I pulled him away from editing his latest manuscript so that we could traverse together the cattails surrounding Peaks Island’s Trout Pond. In between pulling me out of the mud and pointing out a cedar waxwing, he balanced on a jagged boardwalk and described how “A Brook Trout Pilgrimage” (under contract with University of North Carolina Press) recounts his pilgrimage through brook trout habitats from northern Georgia to Labrador. “I’ve gone from the ivory-billed woodpecker to brook trout.” The connection? “They’re both indicator species – one for bottomland forests and the other for cold water habitats.”
Mike and his family join many who have left Peaks, only to return once again. I’d like to think the island’s literary habitat drew him back. Whatever the reason, we’re glad for it.
“Tickle Your Toes in Tidepools”: Book Launch Beach Party
“Tuesday is for tea parties
and tickling your toes
in tidepools…” – Seven Days of Daisy
Book events often involve readings, author signings, and sales, but it’s rare that they entail book making, stepping up to a rowboat picture booth on an island beach, or the gobbling of icy watermelon, but that’s exactly what author/illustrator Jamie Hogan‘s invitation extends to you – the Seven Days of Daisy Beach Party this Saturday on Ferry Beach, Peaks Island.
Along with Kirsten Cappy of Curious City, Jamie has planned the event as a journey into the picture book that features Hogan’s daughter, Daisy, recently published by DownEast Books.
Author-Illustrator Jamie Hogan
Flatlanders can hop on a Casco Bay Lines ferry, climb down to Ferry Beach tucked under the ferry’s starboard bow, and snatch up your own signed copy of the book before taking a walking tour that visits island scenes featured in the picture book.
SEVEN DAYS OF DAISY BEACH PARTY!
Saturday, June 18th
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM (ongoing)
Ferry Beach, Peaks Island (Beside the Casco Bay Ferry Dock)
The Seven Days of Daisy Beach Party, as well as Dock Day for authors and artisans, are part of the annual PeakFest celebration, Casco Bay’s kickoff to summer Maine style!
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Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay: Peaks Island Authors Hang Out
Peaks Fest Graphic by Marty Braun
You know it’s summer in Casco Bay when Peaks Fest rolls around! This coming weekend – June 17-19 – islanders converge at a number of key locations around the island for the festivities. Like last year, the festival will include a Dock Day. One of the festival organizers, Justin Palmer, explained to me that Dock Day was created because “We wanted something with a festive feel. This is about non-profits, artists, authors, and craftspeople showcasing themselves.” A number of authors already plan to display their work, including: Jamie Hogan, Chris Hoppin, Fran Houston, Justin Palmer, Reta Morill, and George Rosol.
If you’re an island author and would like to display your work, come sit down at the dock any time between 8:30 and 4:30, rain or shine. The Inn and The Cockeyed Gull will be selling appetizers, and rumor has it that Kevin Attra and Ronda Dale will perform in the afternoon. It you’re a reader, then don’t miss the opportunity to support local authors!
- Peaks Fest Graphic by Marty Braun
