Happy 2019

Happy New Year! The first week of 2019 is in the books and I hope yours was a great one, and the rest of 2019 is filled with what makes you happy. Fun, family, friends, adventures, creative pursuits, hikes in the Irish hills…I’m in!

Right now I’m in “monk mode,” as Greg McKeown puts it in his brilliant book Essentialism. This means I’m on a tight deadline. I’m running a bit behind given our multi-day power outage and then a nasty post-Christmas stomach virus, but all is well on our hilltop in Vermont.

This photo’s a favorite from 2018, from a … Read More

After foliage season

The “leaf-peepers” have gone home and my corner of northern New England is quiet. I love the bustle of foliage season–and its spectacular beauty–but there’s something special about this time of year, too. With the leaves off the trees, the landscape opens up. I see more of the river on my walks and runs. Fewer cars pass by, taking back roads to check out the Vermont scenery. I haven’t been asked directions in a couple of weeks.

I don’t take my phone with me as often on these quiet days. No music, no podcasts, no audio books. I let my writer’s mind … Read More

Autumn in Vermont

Oh, what a time of year to live in Vermont. So beautiful! Lots of “leaf-peepers” on the roads, enjoying the colorful foliage, apples, pumpkins, mums and everything wonderful about fall. I’ve been writing, noodling new projects and hanging out with our gang. Nothing like a two-year-old laughing at fallen leaves.

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On the Wild Atlantic Way (Ireland)

We’re just back home after two weeks on the southwest Irish coast. We loved every minute! Enjoy these photos and short video of one of our more peaceful outings, to a favorite spot on the Beara Peninsula.

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The latest from my hilltop in Vermont

Only a week ago I was on my way to Rutland, Vermont, for a wonderful signing and talk for Impostor’s Lure at Phoenix Books, a fabulous independent bookstore. I love this store! Rutland is a small city about an hour west of me, with a great downtown. I don’t get there often enough.

The night before, I was in North Reading, Massachusetts, at a historic library for a fun chat another “full house” of readers. As in Billerica on the 21st, everyone in North Reading and Rutland was so welcoming, gracious and generous. And they all asked great questions! 

The heat and humi… Read More

On the road!

Made it to Boston yesterday despite a flat tire. Well, not on the highway. In the driveway as I was getting myself together to leave. Fortunately Joe tackled it. It wasn’t straightforward because the wheel was bent (hence the flat tire), but it got done. Nice drive south on a beautiful day. I took myself to lunch to celebrate Impostor’s Lure hitting stores. Maybe not glamorous but quite pleasant! I found a nice throw at West Elm, too. Then a pleasant walk along the Charles River to take a moment to be grateful for this day. (Photo above is from my walk.)

The highlight of the day, though, w… Read More

Creating Finian Bracken

Irish priest and whiskey man Finian Bracken appears in every book in my Sharpe & Donovan series, starting with Saint’s Gate. He has a tragic past: he lost his wife and two young daughters in a sailing accident just as the distillery he started with his twin brother, Declan, was taking off. Finian ends up in a struggling fishing village on the southern Maine coast, befriending FBI agents, lobstermen, grandmothers, innkeepers and one particular English art thief.

Finian came together for me as a character one rainy afternoon when I was tucked in an Irish hideaway for a writing retre… Read More

Images of Scotland

Among the recurring characters in my Sharpe & Donovan suspense series is Oliver York, an English mythologist, martial arts expert, “gentleman” farmer and serial art thief. By the start of Thief’s Mark, now out in paperback, he’s working with MI5. As a boy, he witnessed his parents’ murder and then was whisked off to Scotland by their killers. He escaped, but so did they. Now he’s about to find out the truth about that awful night. 

Scotland is one of the most beautiful places Joe and I have visited, and we are looking forward to a return trip. It… Read More

Q & A…

A fun Q&A I had up on my website for a while and just updated. Enjoy!

What’s the most important thing you learned as a reader?

I learned that I love to read! As a kid, I’d clean out shelves in the library and read everything I could get my hands on. Reading opened up the world to me. Nowadays, I love to sit by the fire on a chilly, rainy day at home or on the Maine or Irish coast and read one book after another.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?

I’m not big on guilt but when the local berries are in (as they are now), I have been known to have strawberry shortcake for dinner. Two helpings. Okay, two-and… Read More

An Irish Walk

I’m at home in Vermont, working on Stone Bridges, my next Swift River Valley novel, and doing a lot of walking. I’m getting back to running after my half-marathon in early June, but walking is so good for my creative soul. Joe and I love to walk on our trips to Ireland, often revisiting beloved routes as well as trying new ones. A favorite are the trails at Derreen Garden on the southwest coast. We took this shot on a quiet walk a couple of years ago, when we caught the rhododendrons in bloom. So peaceful and beautiful…

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