ISLANDPORT PRESS

Keepin' up with the bloggers

Okay, so we've been pretty remiss about keeping our blog up to date. Good thing our two favorite bloggers, Becky Rule and Ida LeClair (aka Susan Poulin) are faithful! 

Check out the latest from "Just Ask Ida." It's Charlie's birthday and Ida's got a special day planned. Here's a snippet: 

"I also got him a couple four-packs of new underwear. I know, romantic, huh? I think so, ‘cause let me tell you, there’s nothin’ romantic about prehistoric briefs, full of holes, stained. I mean, come on! I wouldn’t even use ‘em as dust rags!"

You have to read the whole thing now, don't you? Here's the link.

Over on "Travels with Becky,"  Becky's got a few gems, from kitty tales to colorful bean supper stories. Always good for a chuckle. And who doesn't need a chuckle?

 

 

Ida LeClair Blog Post: Mr. Wasp and Me

Read the latest blog post from Ida LeClair:

Settling into fall here in Mahoosuc Mills: pumpkins and apple cider, thick socks and polar fleece. I’ve kind of lost interest in watering my mums, which is OK, ‘cause ol’ Mother Nature’s doin’ a pretty good job of that. And when the sun shines, doesn’t everything seem to pop with color? Yellow leaves against blue sky, red leaves scattered on the wet, green grass.

Finally switched over my clothes this week. I always wait too long to do this. I think there’s a part of me that just doesn’t want to surrender to the change of season. So I end up grabbin’ a sweater here, some fall slacks there, from my Tupperware of winter clothes. (I have a couple of big ones I use to store my off-season stuff.) ‘Course, I have to rummage around to find what I’m lookin’ for, so everything gets all jumbled up. And my closet? A total disaster zone, with flip flops and suede shoes, summer t-shirts and a quilted jacket all thrown together. It always ends up being a bigger chore in my mind than what it turns out to be when I actually do it. And it feels great to get things in order!

Click here to read the full post.

Meet Buxton's Josh Pahigian; set to release debut novel, but he's no stranger to writing

Josh Pahigian was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of a high school biology teacher and a long-time elementary school secretary. He moved as a youngster to Charlton where he won his first writing contest as a second grader. Pahigian earned a BA in English from The College of the Holy Cross in 1996. While at Holy Cross, a love of sports and writing led him to part-time work at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. After a short break to work, Pahigian headed to grad school, enrolling at Boston's Emerson College where he earned an M.F.A in Creating Writing in 2001.

After graduation, he remained at Emerson working in the development office. It was there that he and Kevin O'Connell conceived of the idea that became The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip (The Lyons Press, 2004). A looming baseball strike in 2002 threatened to derail the book, but when the strike was averted, he immediately headed out to visit half of the nation's major league parks. The following spring, he visited the rest. "We were ecstatic to have a first book contract and for two guys just out of college, traveling to ballparks on the publisher's dime, it kind of felt we were living the dream." That first book also led to six additional baseball-related books for Pahigian.

Meanwhile, Pahigian, who now works as an adjunct professor at the University of New England, kept his hand in fiction by writing short stories, many published in national and international literary journals. Pahigian, who has Armenian roots, wrote some stories based on the experiences of a great uncle who, as a child, had fled with his family from Armenia to Russia to escape the Armenian Genocide during the final days of the Ottoman Empire. He also started and abandoned several novels, but his lifestyle and experiences were planting the seeds for success. Just before starting his first book, Pahigian had moved to Maine. To help pay the bills, he worked a part-time job at the Old Orchard Beach Recreation Department, which helped him get to know that famed beach town. Then one summer he and his wife, Heather, both educators, spend more than 40 days on Old Orchard Beach. During that long summer,  Pahigian developed an even better feel for the rhythms of the area and gained an understanding of the local beach scene, all helping him develop the confidence necessary to write a book. Finally, during a brief vacation in Camden, inspiration struck and he wrote the opening scene and developed the central ideas that would become his debut mystery novel, Strangers on the Beach.

Meet Josh Pahigian

Josh will make numerous appearances this fall to promote his new book, Strangers on the Beach.

They include:

• Tuesday, Oct. 16: University of New England, UNE Library, Biddeford, ME, noon to 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 17: Portland Public Library, Portland, Maine, noon to 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 17: University of Southern Maine Bookstore, Portland, Maine, 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 11: Christmas Farm Alpacas & Country Farm Store, Buxton, Maine, 10 a.m

• Saturday, Dec. 8: Nonesuch Books, Biddeford, Maine,  11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Sunday, Dec. 8: Sherman's Books, Freeport, Maine, noon to 2 p.m.

Check our events calendar regularly to see the latest scheduled events for all of our authors.

Ida LeClair: Missing Mom

I’ve been missing my mom a lot lately. Some of it has to do with the time of year. I mean, both her birthday and death day fall in October. But it’s more than that. My book launch was such a magical, happy day for me. Throughout it all, though, I kept thinking, My mom would have loved this. She’d have gotten all gussied up, and sat in the front row with my dad, the two of them beaming. She’d have persuaded her entire book group and fifty of her closest friends to buy the book, which she would have breezed through in one sitting, two max, book lover that she was. And God, I wish she could have been there!

I confessed this to my sister, Irene, at lunch the following week, and she said she’d been feelin’ the same way. “It was the strangest thing, Ida. All that day of the book launch, I felt so happy and proud, but kind of sad, too. What’s goin’ on, I’m thinkin’? Then I realized what it was. I was missin’ Mom.”

To read the rest of Ida's blog post, please visit www.justaskida.com.

 

Susan Poulin, the groundbreaking creative force behind the beloved Ida LeClair, will be out and about in Maine this fall

The uber-talented Susan Poulin will be out and about across the state of Maine (and southern New Hampshire) this fall chatting with folks and signing copies of her new book, Finding Your Inner Moose: Ida LeClair's Guide to Livin' the Good Life. For those unaware, writer and performer Susan is the creative mind behind the character Ida LeClair. Ida is now the star of five stage shows, writes a weekly blog, and has just released her first book. Drawing from her Maine and Franco-American roots, Susan developed Ida as a woman with a good-heart, a strong sense of herself, a big sense of humor and a real joie de vivre. She also created Mahoosuc Mills, the charming small Maine town where Ida lives, as well as the many folks who live and work there. However, Susan has not only injected a female voice into what has been the historically male-dominated world of Maine humor, but she has essentially hit the refresh button on the entire genre. (Read more about Susan by clicking here or watch her video book trailer by clicking here.) Her numerous events this fall give everyone  a great chance to catch up with Susan and find out just what's happening in Ida's beloved hometown of Mahoosuc Mills. Listed below are most of her currently scheduled book events. We will update the list regularly. Also, please visit Ida's website to see a schedule of her stage perfomances.

• Oct. 12: Maine Coast Book Shop, 158 Main St., Damariscotta, 4 to 6 p.m. FMI: 563-3207
• Oct. 13: Beyond the Sea, 74 Main St., Belfast, 2 p.m. FMI: 338-2100
• Oct. 24:  Orono Public Library, 39 Pine St., Orono, 1 p.m. FMI: 866-5060
• Oct. 24: Franco-American Centre, Crossland Hall, University of Maine at Orono, 6 p.m. FMI: 581-3791
• Oct. 25: Ellsworth Public Library, 20 State St., Ellsworth, 6 p.m. FMI: 667-6363
• Oct. 27: Franco-American Collection, 51 Westminster Street, University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College, Lewiston, 1 p.m. FMI: 753-6545
• Thursday, Nov. 1: Longfellow Books, 1 Monument Way, Portland, Maine, 7 p.m. FMI: 772-4045
• Friday, Nov. 16: Barnes and Noble Booksellers, 45 Gosling Road, Newington, N.H., 4 p.m. FMI: (603) 422-7733

• Saturday, Nov. 17: Skillins Holiday Open House, 89 Foreside Rd., Falmouth, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. FMI: 781-3860
• Saturday Nov. 24: Kittery Trading Post, 301 US Route One, Kittery, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. FMI: 888-587-6246. She will appear with Rebecca Rule and John McDonald. FMI: 1-888-587-6246.
• Dec. 8: Ecopelagicon, 7 Pond St., Rangeley, 2 p.m. FMI: 864-2771

 

Storyteller Rebecca Rule tells a story about when "Warren and Razor Go Ice Fishing."

 

It's Monday, and Ida's got a new blog post!

I was doin’ a book reading recently. (And let me tell you, I gotta pinch myself whenever I say that, make sure I’m not dreamin.’) Anyways, after the formal part of the program, I’m takin’ questions from the audience. You could ask ‘em in person, but for shy folks, I also have these 3x5 cards available. You know, so audience members can ask some of their more embarrassin’ questions anonymously, if they prefer. Someone collects the cards and hands ‘em over to me to read aloud. Askin’ for trouble, I know, but every once in a while you gotta walk on the wild side, right?

Here's the full blog post from Ida! 

Revealed! Cover of the Islandport Press Fall/Holiday 2012 catalog

Drumroll, please....Here is the cover of our Fall/Holiday 2012 catalog cover. We will be mailing catalogs to everyone on our mailing list in late October/early November. This year's catalog features nearly 80 great books and CDs from Dahlov Ipcar, John McDonald, Susan Poulin, Bert and I, Rebecca Rule, John Ford Sr., Josh Pahigian, and many others. If you want to join our mailing list, just click here and follow the instructions.