What a day! So many people…so many dogs! It was a beautiful day and we were set up on the stage – where Roger got to be a guest judge for the best dressed, best barker, best owner/dog look-alike, and more! And oh, those dock divers!

What a welcome in Newport on Saturday! It’s always kinda cool when the sign out front has your name on it! And Lee McCartin was a great hostess! She even went so far as to sell a book to a lady in her car out front who couldn’t come in.

After flying solo this winter, it was great to have Roger paired up again with co-author Kate Clark Flora.

The NCC Friends of the Library are sponsoring a series of Meet the Author days. This was the second of this series. Fellow crime writer and retired detective sergeant, Bruce Coffin is to be featured on June 17 at 11:00 am. Be sure to come out for that one, too!

The best prime rib dinner in the state, he said.

Yup, that’s how Frank Dunbar described the treat we would receive when we visited the Buck’s Mills Rod & Gun Club in Bucksport – and that’ s just what we got! Oh my, it’s been a long time since I’ve had prime rib like that!

It being the Game Warden Appreciation night, it was a privilege for Roger to be the guest speaker and share about his book and his exploits – some of them were with a few of the wardens that also attended…..

Roger got the evening started off, then Lt. Dan Scott shared an update on the Maine Warden Service and each game warden, retired or currently working, stood and shared a little tidbit about themselves, their patrols, and their take on the job. Great memories were shared and even for these game wardens, some of them were the good part of the job as well as the difficult part of the job. Many spoke on how taxing it can be on oneself as well as one’s family. But all agreed that it was the best job on earth.

I, personally, loved it when one of the last to stand was fresh-out-of-the-academy Game Warden John Carter. When he stood, he said something to the effect of …”yesterday, I started making my memories”.  To which I say, the best is yet to come!

Thanks again, to Frank & Jackie Dunbar for seeking us out to invite us!

From the MWPA announcement:

“The MWPA is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2017 Maine Literary Awards. The awards—which honor books published during 2016, as well as adult and youth manuscripts in drama, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry—brought in a near record-breaking number of submissions. This year, 150 books were entered across the award’s categories; compare that to the 2011 awards when 70 books total were submitted. In addition, more than 80 manuscripts were submitted into the award’s Short Works Competition, and nearly 40 Maine students submitted work in the same categories in the award’s Youth Competition. The winners of the 2017 Maine Literary Awards will be revealed live at a ceremony on Thursday, June 1 at SPACE Gallery in downtown Portland. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the ceremony beings at 7:00 p.m. Longfellow Books will be on hand at the ceremony to sell books by the finalist’s, and there will be a cash bar. The event is free to MWPA members with a suggested $5 donation for nonmembers.”

Here are the two we are watching and will be awaiting the results:

Book Award for Crime Fiction
Straw Man Gerry Boyle
Solo Act Richard J. Cass
Led Astray Kate Flora

Book Award for Memoir
Poor Your Soul Mira Ptacin
A Good Man with a Dog Roger Guay with Kate Clark Flora
In the Darkroom Susan Faludi

Monday night saw us headed to Millinocket. We had a wonderful meal at our favorite Millinocket Restaurant – Ruthie’s (or as we think of it – The Terrace) and then met with the local book club who had chosen A Good Man with a Dog as last month’s read.

Little did we know there were a few ladies at the restaurant who were going “Psssst….isn’t that Roger Guay? He’s coming to our book club meeting later!”

Just kidding! It was great to sit and visit with those who had already read and perused the book together. As 7 o’clock came around, more people drifted in for the author visit. It was great to see some familiar faces! Fellow-author Tim Caverly and fellow-game warden Jim Davis and his wife, Judy, were part of this friendly group. Thanks for coming out, folks!

We were so pleased to be part of a re-birth, if you will, of this beautiful library. It had fallen on some hard times as much of the local area has and is working to get back on its feet. The staff is wonderful and the facility is beautiful. Head on over to the Millinocket Memorial Library and read this summer!

Scouts, scouts, and more scouts! What a day at LL Bean’s flagship store in Freeport!

We were so thankful to be invited to attend this great event! And allowed to put our tent up right next to “the boot”! 

This is where we met Game Warden-to-be Galen Neal, III!

He and Roger struck it off right away. Let me tell you, this young man is going places! We were privileged to become his friends. He promised to let us know where his first warden-patrol area is.

Thanks, again, to the Boy Scouts of America and LL Bean for allowing us to be a part of such an awesome, inspiring event!

Sanford turned out to be quite a drive, but well worth it! We love seeing and learning about the different libraries right here in Maine.

Many thanks to Jackie McDougal

and all who took time out of their evening to spend it with us!

The Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance hosted the Maine Crime Wave at USM’s Glickman Family Library in Portland on Saturday.

Roger was invited to be on a panel discussing Law & Disorder, along with Bruce Coffin (fellow author/retired detective sergeant) and Lynne Raimando (fellow author/former lawyer). Kate Flora served as moderator for this panel.

These conferences are always great to attend as fellow writers and especially crime writers want to be the best they can be. These panel discussions make it possible to ask questions of those who have the answers. You may think it simple, like what the minute details of a crime scene might be….but authors want to get it right. Right down to the direction of travel determined by the mud puddle in the road…..

The keynote speaker was Maine Attorney General Janet Mills – who by the way, does not want to be addressed as General Mills…….she did an awesome job sharing her experiences and wealth of knowledge.

Once again, a great time to gather and share wonderful food and allow the cadets to glean from the retirees tidbits of how a warden’s life used to be…

Best wishes to all the new game wardens! May they never “work” a day in their career!