About the author:
Mary E. Maki grew up in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York. She’s a genealogist, mystery writer, and lover of libraries. Mary resides in Portland, Connecticut where she does her best to spoil her grandchildren.
Sometimes you just need a makeover. And that’s what I felt about my first book published in 2015. An Unexpected Death now has a new look! And I love it.
Just Published in Trade paperback and Kindle version
The Art of Murder
The Art of Murder is a story where the two main characters were developed by patrons of the Edith B. Ford Library in Ovid, New York, and patrons of the Newfield Public Library in Newfield, New York. Autumn is a police officer fighting discrimmination and fraud in the Bethany, North Carolina police department. Her friend convinces her to move to Glenside, New York where Autumn is hired as a detective. Yuri is a Ukrainian archivist who is sent on a special mission to the same university town. Not everything goes well for either character. In fact, Yuri ends up as a prime suspect in a murder investigation. An investigation lead by Autumn Whitcomb.
Unchartered Drift
The next book I’ll be working on features Sage Caswell, the owner of the art store in Pont Aven, who readers might remember from Deadly Secrets. Pont Aven now has an upscale assisted living facility where Sage’s mother, Sylvia Caswell, resides. The facility has a number of interesting characters, all with secrets to hide. Sylvia does not like unsolved mysteries, so she is on the trail of who was on the sailboat that washed ashore not far from town.
Why I write
Being an author requires a multi-faceted skill set. A writer needs to have a good grasp of language, creativity, interesting characters and setting, and seat in the chair discipline. When the writer types “The End,” it’s not. Ahead are hours of editing, finding qualified beta readers to go through the polished draft. Does the plot line work? Are the characters believable? The setting? Missing end quotes? Grammar and typos are just a few items a writer hopes beta readers will report on. After many more hours of editing, the book is finally ready to publish. But how? Once that decision is made, another skill set is required. The writer has to become a marketing expert. And that’s probably the biggest challenge. Getting yourself and your books out there. Sometimes a writer wonders if it is worth the time and effort. Then I remember why I write and am thankful for the readers who comment after they’ve read my books. After publishing my first mystery, An Unexpected Death, a reader commented:
“I LOVE the book! First, I love the format. It is easy to read and when I only get a few minutes to read before I fall asleep, I can finish the chapter! Second, the writing is excellent! I knew you were a good writer, but this is phenomenal! Third, the references to things I know are really fun to read: Summit the dog (you have the dog actions down perfect!); the natural therapies for Abby; some of the names "Myra" and many other things. You weave our ordinary life occurrences into the novel seamlessly so it turns out to be authentic reading.”
The note below was sent from my daughter whose client told her about reading my latest book, Deadly Secrets.
“I stayed up way too late last night reading your moms book!” She said she started it at 8:30 to just read a few pages and before she knew it, it was 11:00! She loves it and she wanted me to tell you that she is so in awe that you have had such joy and energy to keep writing in spite of the last 2 years.
Summit joined the Caityn Jamison mystery series team in October 2014, a month after I started writing An Unexpected Death. Readers love him and he assisted Caitlyn in solving crimes. My daughter refers to my books as “The Summit Series.” Whatever. I’m just thankful I have so many readers that love the books.
More about the author:
Mary E. Maki is a member of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library's Fiction Critique Writing Group, Sisters in Crime, and the Sisters in Crime, Connecticut Chapter. She is also her family's historian. She is a member of the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, the Manatee Genealogical Society and the Newtown (CT) Genealogy Club. Her genealogy work has been published in Connecticut Ancestry, the Nutmegger (Connecticut Society of Genealogists), and on the Genealogy Club of Newtown (CT) website. She lives and writes in Portland, Connecticut.