What’s New… July 2024

Since the last newsletter I have been on the road to library conferences, hiking, writing poetry, and working on a variety of research and writing projects….

JUST RELEASED:

lighthouses of midcoast maine & tales of the folk who lived there

We brainstormed this book while on a 2023 lighthouse cruise out of Bar Harbor, Maine. The book features photographs by Craig Pursell and poetry I wrote. All the poems are based in fact but born out of imagination and conjecture about how life must have been for families stationed at lighthouses.

Signed copies of books are available through my website, www.faithlanebooks.com and copies of pictures at Craig’s website, www.twowildgeese.com/Maine-Coast-Lights.

Also… Emery Orson Lane & Rose Mabel Haskell: The Story of the Lane Farm. This is the shorter version of Descendants of Emery Orson Lane & Rose Mabel Haskell and is available to the general public.

SPRING EVENTS:

I was invited to the Open Mic at the Frenchman’s Bay Community Center on 1 June 2024. Writers, painters and photographers were able to showcase their work, and six or seven poets read their poetry. The event was co-hosted by poet Phil Wormuth of RSU24 Adult Education, and Cyndi Stanley of the Sullivan Sorrento Community Center who also provided delicious refreshments. I read from my books zen(ish), toxic & tonic, lighthouses of midcoast maine, shared news about my nonfiction book Rural Librarianship: From Surviving to Thriving and described some other projects soon to be published.

I attended the Maine Library Association Annual Conference, Libraries: Beacons of Democracy, in May at the Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine. Imagine my surprise upon meeting a cousin, an archivist, completely by accident! We enjoyed a great class with author Craig Freshley; a keynote address with author Colin Woodward; and a keynote speech by Maine Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma, who is herself a librarian. The many interesting breakout sessions and conversations have already given me fresh ideas about my next books on librarianship and community-building.

Earlier in May, we attended the Maine Reading Roundup Conference in Augusta, Maine. This annual conference focuses on books for children and young adults. We discussed activities to help librarians in the ever-changing dynamics of book-banning culture and the future of AI in our libraries.

STILL TO COME IN 2024!

I have finalized research (for the moment) and have begun to style set and edit materials for a lineage book [working title] Descendants of James Lane & Eunice Chase of Readfield & Kents Hill, Maine. Fingers crossed for an August 2024 publication.

I have started recording poetry from zen(ish): poetryto publish my first audiobook. This is fussy but enjoyable work. I hope to have both zen(ish) and toxic & tonic recorded for publication this winter.

And as always, several new books are in the works including:

The Lane Farm Herbal: Edible & Medicinal Plants of Western Maine

Grandpa’s Bench: A Schoodic Adventure [followed swiftly by it’s partner book, Grandma’s Bench]

Veleda’s Vision: A Novel

That’s all for now!

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates as we begin another collaborative sea-going, travel adventure project this fall!