Here are some photos taken by Harman Clark at the wonderful book launch party that greeted The Secret Room on Sept. 9 at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. I especially like the one that shows local student Maggie, with the cover for which she was photographed in the spooky basement of the publisher's house in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, months ago. (On the back of the book, Maggie is joined by her friend Katherine.)
Making the party especially exciting were 35 middle school students from the St. Johnsbury School, invited and chaperoned by librarian Beth Mallon and her team of volunteers. Mrs. Mallon, you rock! Thanks, all of you students and readers whoo hiked to the Athenaeum to join the fun (and solve some codes!).
Vermont author Beth Kanell especially enjoys storytelling. For her 2008 novel The Darkness Under the Water she wove together family stories of New England, the experiences of neighbors who knew what life was like here during the Vermont Eugenics Project, and a LOT of historical research. Her 2011 novel THE SECRET ROOM is also embedded in Vermont and US history, even though it's set "today."
In the writing room right now ...
In the writing room right now ... I have the walls covered with brown "butcher" paper so I can pin up ideas, photos, drawings, and my constant supply of hand-drawn maps and plot outlines. I've finished revisions on a YA murder investigation set in 1921 in Vermont -- Cold Midnight. Next up, revisions on an 1850 winter adventure of three girls, The Long Shadow. Very much in a gentle research stage is an 1883 novel called Copper Mountain and a haunted story of "today" called The Fire Curse. Some poems, too. Count on the blog getting bits from all of these. Yes, I guess I do like multi-tasking! How about you?


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