Mixing Business with Pleasure by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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Near the start of September, I had the pleasure of doing a book tour in Vermont with my fellow BWL author, friend, and cousin, Eileen Charbonneau. Eileen was promoting her book, Spectral Evidence, while I was promoting The Folklorist.

A lot goes into preparing for a book tour. Presenters have to decide upon which aspect of the book they want to focus and either write a script or assemble notes (the former for me, the latter for Eileen C.) For this tour, we each created PowerPoint presentations to go with our talks. For us, it was an easy choice since Spectral Evidence has a strong connection to the Salem Witch Trials and The Folklorist to the New England Vampire Panic. Witches and vampires make a good team so we decided to focus on the folklore behind both that European immigrants brought to America. The title we decided on, "Witches and Vampires: When Old World Nightmares Invaded the New World" seemed to express well the essence of our presentation.

While working on our talks, we had to contact libraries and bookstores explaining our presentation and availability in hopes that they would agree to host us. We endured our share of "no thank you's" as well as a number of no responses, but were gratified to be enthusiastically welcomed by four Vermont libraries.

Once all of our dates were scheduled, extra book copies ordered (both the featured book and backlist), talks practiced, and arrangements made to stay with my cousin in Ferrisburgh for when we headed to the Champlain Valley for our last talk of the tour we were finally ready to go.

Packing boxes of books, swag, awards, table cloths, and whatever else might be needed along with my suitcase, that by the time I was through I could barely lift, into the car definitely qualifies as work. But once I was on the road headed up to Bellows Falls, Vermont, the pleasure part kicked in.

I should explain that Vermont is my favorite place as both of my parents came from that state and the very best memories of my childhood and teen years were made there during visits to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Not to mention, the state itself is incredibly beautiful. The fact that I was on my way to stay with Eileen and her wonderful husband, Ed, only added that much more joy to the adventure.

All of our talks went well. Every one of the librarians were gracious and helpful hosts. We were delighted to meet and engage with interested readers. Chatting with attendees after our talks concluded was the best part for me. As is always the case, we encountered both larger and smaller than expected turnouts, but in either case, those who attended were enthusiastic and made us feel more than welcome. Overall, it was a successful book tour.

                                       

        Reading from The Folklorist at the                                              Presenting at the Rockingham                Springfield Town Library                                                             Public Library

Eileen O'Finlan and Eileen Charbonneau taking questions from the audience

In addition, there was the pleasure of spending time with Eileen and Ed. Whenever Eileen and I get together we always have a great time. I want to thank Ed for playing roadie for us, driving us to all locations, lugging all of our books, setting up our laptops and getting us online, and generally making sure we were ready when it was time to start. In addition, Ed did most of the cooking when we ate at their home - another bona fide treat! (Eileen, please let Ed know that I still want his recipe for lentil soup.)

While in the Bellows Falls area, we also made time to visit the local farmers market, hit up the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham, and enjoy a fabulous dinner at a French restaurant in Walpole, New Hampshire followed by dessert at Burdick's Chocolates next door, and take in the new Beetlejuice movie.

That was some good hot chocolate!

Once the first leg of the tour was complete, we headed up to my cousin's home in the gorgeous Champlain Valley. Two nights at her house with Lake Champlain in her backyard was heaven.

I was especially grateful that I got to visit with my 90-year-old uncle who is the last one left of his generation. I have been mining him for family history and stories ever since I realized that he's the only one left who knows them. Sharing them with me seems to be energizing him as he keeps supplying me with answers and requesting I ask him even more questions. 

With Uncle Harold and Aunt Theresa

It was a great trip that generated what I'm sure will be lasting memories.

Eileen and I have one more talk to do together, but this time she'll be coming to Massachusetts. On Tuesday, October 29th we will present at Tidepool Bookshop in Worcester at 5:30 p.m. The format for this one is a bit different. Instead of each of us giving a talk, we'll be interviewing each other about our books. If you're in the area, we'd love to see you there!

The Joy of Meeting Readers

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Every time a reader reads one of our books, it is made anew. Readers' life, thoughts, feelings, go into their experience of reading. Is it any wonder that most authors love meeting our readers?

I appreciate you reading this blog, and enjoy reading your  comments. I love when readers write or email. I have mail from readers as far away as Australia that I treasure. 

Best of all for me, is meeting readers. I enjoy doing book signings and talks, often based on my research. When possible, I love teaming up with other writers for this. I often partner with BWL author Eileen O'Finlan. After I met her, we also discovered we are distant cousins. What a nice bonus!

Eileen and I have done talks on the experiences of Irish immigrants to America, the subject of two of our books, her Kelgeen and Erin's Children and my Mercies of the Fallen and Ursula's Inheritance.

We're about to launch a new speaking tour here in New England, entitled Witches and Vampires: When New World Nightmares Invaded the New World. This revolves around our two 2024 novels. Eileen's The Folklorist is a marvelous dual time-line novel set in the museum world of the 1970s and the New England Vampire Panic of the 1830s. My Canadian Historical Mystery #7 is Spectral Evidence, set during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-93. It's set in Newfoundland, where some survivor children are taking refuge with their Canadian cousins. So, I'm in charge of the witches, and Eileen, the vampires. We hope our talk is enlightening and enjoyable to our treasured readers.

And we hope to meet you someday soon!

 

1692 And All That...

 

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I'm so happy that my new novel in the Canadian Mystery series with my co-author Jude Pittman is coming out next month! What do you think of the cover? I think this series is a fine way to learn more about Canadian history, province by province, while engaging in great stories and tacky mysteries to solve, along with resourceful amateur and professional detectives.

Our assignment was Newfoundland-- an island I've admired since seeing the enchanting musical "Come From Away." Since I'm a New Englander, a place with historic ties to Newfoundland in the colonial period, Jude and I decided to link the province's vibrant cod fishing trade to that of Salem, Massachusetts. And what was happening in 1692-93 Salem? You know it-- a witch hunt.

That got our creative juices flowing! 

Then of course, came research and lots of it. I have not set a novel this far back in time, so I thought I share some of our research that I found fascinating...

Did you know....

* That most witch hunts took place, not in the so called "Dark Ages" or medieval times, but in the period of the Renaissance?

*That there was a secret alliance between England and France that left Newfoundland's settlements vulnerable to attack during King William's War?

*That the delightful puffins of Newfoundland did not get their name until 1760? So in Spectral Evidence we needed Newfoundlanders to call them sea parrots!  

Puffin (Sea Parrot)

*That the First Peoples of Newfoundland, the Beothuk, were declared "extinct" by the 1820s, but their friends the Mi'kmaq disputed the claim. Genetic evidence have proven them right.

The Beothuk of Newfoundland

*That there are "easter eggs" in Spectral Evidence that fans of Star Trek might enjoy?

What??? Oh, yes, make it so!

 

Why Salem?

 In our research for our upcoming Canadian Mystery Spectral Evidence, co-writer Jude Pittman and I faced a confounding question:

Why did the witch hunt hysteria of 1692 take over Salem and the New England colonies and not their neighbors and trading partners in Newfoundland?

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Newfoundland of the seventeenth century a multicultural society of indentured servants, planters (year-round settlers), merchants and their servants (some of whom were enslaved Africans) and seasonal fisherfolk from England's west country, Ireland, France the Basque region of Spain, and the Netherlands. Joining them were the Mi'kmaq and Beothuk people who had been living on Newfoundland for hundreds of years. All of these cultures had traditions of witchcraft.

Seventeenth century New England was dominated by a society of puritans. Their religion dominated government, ministry, education. The "other" was suspect, whether it be Quakers or Catholics, another country of origin, or another culture. Both Native Americans and the French were looked upon as "devils," especially after devastating raids that were the result of English incursions into lands claimed by the French or Wabanacki Confederacy.

Mix this with territorial disputes among neighbors, children suffering from the trauma of warfare violence, a bad harvest's hunger. The match was lit for neighbors accusing neighbors of witchcraft. Spectral evidence (actions and torments only the accusers could see) was used to hang devout grandmothers, homeless women, neighboring farmers, even one of Salem's former ministers. The accused included a four year old child.

Only when the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony's wife was accused, did the fever that was the Salem Witch hunt break. 

Why Salem? It's a question that's been asked ever since. Jude and I hope to contribute to the debate in our storytelling. 

The Witching Hour

 

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In researching our upcoming book, Spectral Evidence, my co-author Jude Pittman and I are coming face-to-face with a subject that has fascinated me since I twice appeared in theater productions of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible-- the Salem Witch Trials.

How does the infamous American tragedy connect to a mystery set in Newfoundland of the same 1692 period? Well, the waterways..be they ocean, lake, river, or coastal were the highways of commerce then. Did you know there was a healthy trading network between the cod fisheries of Newfoundland and their American cousins in New England? Our story is of literal cousins, whose connected merchant families are from St. John's, Newfoundland, and Salem, Massachusetts.

Today's Salem is seeped in history.  It's now a small, thriving town that has survived the infamy of its early history of puritan-on-puritan violence, pirates, whalers, murders, a great fire and several Hollywood invasions to become a destinations of thousands of tourists during the month of October. As if making amends for the intolerance of its earlier residents, Salem is also a welcoming home for all, including modern witches, historians, artists, writers, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Spending a witching hour in Salem might mean feeling the darkness gather about you as you tour one of the Witch trial judge's home, of feel a tug as your shawl from the ghost of Dorcas, the youngest of the accused, a 4 year old imprisoned girl said to be still searching for her hanged mother. 

The Witch House, home of Judge Corwin,
where the accused were questioned

Visit the world-class Peabody Essex Museum to hear haunting melodies as you sit under beautifully carved sailing ships' mastheads, and the home that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write The House of the Seven Gables.  There are two (count 'em) pirate museums!

 

The Real Pirate Museum, where I learned what "Matelot" is

There's even a tribute to actress Elizabeth Montgomery, who endeared herself to locals when she filmed the seventh season of her TV sitcom "Bewitched" in Salem.

(Almost) everybody loves the "Bewitched" bronze sculpture!

Yes, research is a rewarding part of this writer's life.  I hope you'll enjoy the fruits of our labor when Spectral Evidence is published next year!