With September almost upon us, those still in school are starting a new year of classes. Parents are adjusting schedules to manage both school and after school activities. And Maine crime writers? Well, this seems like a good time to plan for the cold, stay-at-home-and-write days ahead. Here’s a peek at what some of us will be working on once summer comes to an end.

Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson: Since I started Indie publishing my Kathy Lynn Emerson backlist titles in 2020, I’ve managed to make almost all of them available in both e-book and print-on-demand trade paperback formats, but there has been one big (and I do mean big) exception. Because it runs to 2556 pages, my A Who’s Who of Tudor Women (over 2300 mini-biographies of women who lived in England during the years 1485-1603) has only been available as an e-book. Early on, I started receiving requests for a print version, but not only would it have to be very expensive, it would also have to be in 2-3 parts because there is a limit on the number of pages in a POD paperback. I also hesitated because I knew I’d have to proofread the whole thing (again!) to catch any remaining typos in the current version and to make a couple of corrections—I have had some wonderful e-mail exchanges with people researching their family histories and/or writing their own books about the period, both fiction and nonfiction. Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter, my fall and winter project is a careful proofread of the current text, followed by a corrected e-book edition and a (probably) three-volume POD edition. It will still be expensive, at around $22 for each volume, but at least it will be available. Since the e-book version has been my Indie bestseller, I have hopes that at least a few will sell. This, by the way, is the upside of being semi-retired. I can take my time and do it right, and it won’t cost me anything except time because I self-publish through Draft2Digital and they don’t charge for set-up. Win-Win, right?

Maureen Milliken: I’m working on NEWS FROM AWAY, the next book in my award-winning Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea series. Look for it in November. If I get it done when I’m supposed to.

Rob Kelley: I’m gearing up for the launch of my debut, Raven, on October 28. 2025: working on getting pre-publication reviews, reaching out to schedule readings, and making sure bookstores are going to carry it! This is my first book marketing blitz and I’m finding it, frankly, a little daunting. But joyfully soldiering on nonetheless.

At the same time I’m in final edits on my next book, Critical State, which is due to my publisher, High Frequency Press, in January and is scheduled for a fall 2026 publication. This is the first in a new series set in present-day Boston and Silicon Valley with a new protagonist, journalist Olivia Wolfe (shout out to Brenda Buchanan’s Joe Gale series as an inspiration!). Book two in the series (as yet untitled) is already under contract, so I’m also noodling on exactly where that book will take me (though I already know it starts off in London with a reveal with global economic implications!).

Matt Cost: I will be busy promoting my recently published Glow Trap–speaking at libraries, signings at bookstores, and whatnot. I’d love to hear from any libraries, bookstores, or book clubs.Edits and marketing for two books with the publisher set to be released in 2026 will also keep me busy–EveryThing vs Max Creed and 1955. I am currently shopping around looking for an agent for a new series, book one being titled Bob Chicago Investigates. I will be attending two conferences this fall. The first is Crime Wave which has Noir at the Bar on September 26 and roundtables on September 27.

I will be sharing the master of ceremonies spotlight with Jule Selbo on that Friday night at Novel in Portland, Maine, with a stellar cast of writers. And on Saturday, I will be teaching a workshop on the Six Hats of a Writer. In November, I will be reconnecting with many friends at Crime Bake. And, of course, I am writing. Currently, I am finishing up the third book in the Chronicles of Max Creed, entitled Max Creed takes the Spice Road. And then? Write on!

Jule Selbo. I attended Killer Nashville Aug 22-24 in Nashville Tennessee – along with about 400 other mystery crime writers.  Sara Parestky was there and she was lovely and everyone (as they should) were  talking to her about her influence.  I got to hang up with some other writers that I can now consider as ‘writer-friends’ and that’s one of the reasons to do these conferences. T K Sheffield (Model Ghost) who writes in the Crime/Mystery/Comedy mode and Jim Nesbittt (Crime/Mystery/Western) and Matty Becker (Historical Crime Mystery)  and Teel James Glenn (Crime/Mystery/Horror) also catch up with Barbara Newhart (met her at Malice Domestic last April and new to the genre  and met first time, Michael Lucker (Rule One, Crime/Mystery/Action) and many more.  I did 4 presentations (Structure, Story Genre, Adapting Book to Film and The Power of “No” in crime mysteries), so I got to interact with a lot of people who came to the presentation in a great way – hearing more about their work.  Came home exhausted – but still thinking about the good times.  Now the focus is CRIME WAVE in Portland Maine – coming up end of September-  and having at great time with Matt Cost at Topsham Library here in Maine April 28th!

Kate Flora: I’ve been trying to finish the next Thea Kozak mystery, Until Death Do Us

Kate and game warden Pat Dorion with Death Dealer at the Newport Library

Part, for so long I’m beginning to think this is the book I will never finish. But I’m back to making myself write a thousand words a day, so there’s still hope. I have passed the 60K mark, which is something. When I’m not puzzling about who killed the headmaster at the prestigious Grimley School, and why, I’m trying to tweak the manuscript for my other true crime, Death Dealer. I’ve never been entirely happy with the way the publisher edited it and now that I have the rights back, it’s mine to tweak at will. It’s fascinating to closely reread a book I wrote years ago. Still a very compelling story. There are a few other projects like that awaiting attention. When the Thea is done, I’m going to write another romance, Emily and Mr. Rogers, about a widowed librarian and a match-making neighborhood cat. I’m hoping it will be a lot of fun. Otherwise, looking forward to Noir at the Bar and the Crime Wave, a great book event in Waterville, The Maine Book Fest, on Sept. 6 & &, and some other fun events this fall.

Sandra Neily: I WILL finish the 3rd “Mystery in Maine” this year. I have it plotted out; now it’s just … butt in the chair time. It looks like I will be serializing the beginning of this mystery in our area newspaper, hopefully to jump start a conversation about current development pressures. I plan to get an audio book out for “Deadly Trespass.”  I have a goal to set up guest visits on at least two podcasts this year, and I bought a tripod for my phone and will be offering up short readings for my YouTube channel. I plan to do these readings in various outdoor locations that might be unusual: half buried in leaf pile for example. Am feeling like I have not been visible enough, hence this ambitious list.