We had a place an hour out to sea off the coast of Maine that felt very much like your off-grid cabin. Pristine ocean wilderness. Wild roses growing down to the water. A ramshackle house that slept twelve. Shelves lined with decades of abandoned paperbacks—mostly thrillers, with the occasional literary novel left behind by an ambitious guest.
There was no hot water. No running water, either. You hauled it from an old-fashioned well and heated it in a kettle. There was an outhouse. An outdoor shower. A propane stove. At dusk, you lit the hurricane lamps. During the day, you sailed, gathered mussels from the shoals, rode bikes, hiked wooded trails, read in hammocks, and bought lobster so fresh off the dock you barely needed a cracker. It was heaven.
And yet, inviting guests there was a bit like watching a hazing ritual. You could explain the water situation. You could describe the outhouse. You could mention that, in a pinch, nature occasionally provides its own toilet paper. But it wasn't until they were hauling the buckets themselves that they truly understood what they'd signed up for.
Usually by Day 4 of their stay, something wonderful happened. Their eyes would light up. Suddenly, they got it. The place wasn't primitive. It was freedom. It was MOONRISE KINGDOM. It was childhood. It was adventure. Not surprisingly, my ex-husband hated it. My girls, who were already little Nancy Drew adventurers in the making, adored every minute.
Which is probably why UP TO HER NECK resonated with me so strongly. I feel like the best mysteries aren't necessarily about discovering who did it. They're about discovering who people ARE.
Like Agatha Christie, you have that marvelous ability to make us constantly revise what we THINK we know. Every new character arrives carrying secrets. Every relationship contains another mystery tucked inside the first one. Every answer creates three new questions. And the setting? A remote place where people can't simply leave when things become uncomfortable? That's total catnip, and it's also why we're so excited to publish this book.
Beyond the book itself, there's so much fun to be had... if we created an UP TO HER NECK Sleuth Society, complete with suspect files, hidden clues, annotated maps, and other Nancy Drew-worthy delights, would anyone else be completely unable to resist? 🔎🌲📖
I love this comment so much — how do you just get everything?? And see more in all of us and our work than we might even realize is there? This is just one reason I feel so incredibly lucky to be working with Empress.
I think everyone who read Nancy Drew when we were at that perfect impressionable age had our brains rewired in the best way. I can’t wait to discuss the Sleuth Society with you!
Well, we're just wicked honored! (Insert Irish lady blushing HARD emoji.) And I'm so glad we found each other, because this is exactly why you do this kind of work—for the STORY. And hey, if we're rewiring our brains in midlife all over again in the most fun, Nancy Drew-esque way possible, then ALL the better. So excited! 🔎❤️
Loved this. And your Bialetti Moka for two. “I believe being a good hostess is as high a calling as medicine or religion.
Deep inside, though, I am a person who doesn’t want to make coffee for you.”
Pia, I thought of you, fellow Moka fan, when I wrote this! It really makes the best coffee.
It really does. I could imagine it happy with the well water up there at your mountain cabin.
We had a place an hour out to sea off the coast of Maine that felt very much like your off-grid cabin. Pristine ocean wilderness. Wild roses growing down to the water. A ramshackle house that slept twelve. Shelves lined with decades of abandoned paperbacks—mostly thrillers, with the occasional literary novel left behind by an ambitious guest.
There was no hot water. No running water, either. You hauled it from an old-fashioned well and heated it in a kettle. There was an outhouse. An outdoor shower. A propane stove. At dusk, you lit the hurricane lamps. During the day, you sailed, gathered mussels from the shoals, rode bikes, hiked wooded trails, read in hammocks, and bought lobster so fresh off the dock you barely needed a cracker. It was heaven.
And yet, inviting guests there was a bit like watching a hazing ritual. You could explain the water situation. You could describe the outhouse. You could mention that, in a pinch, nature occasionally provides its own toilet paper. But it wasn't until they were hauling the buckets themselves that they truly understood what they'd signed up for.
Usually by Day 4 of their stay, something wonderful happened. Their eyes would light up. Suddenly, they got it. The place wasn't primitive. It was freedom. It was MOONRISE KINGDOM. It was childhood. It was adventure. Not surprisingly, my ex-husband hated it. My girls, who were already little Nancy Drew adventurers in the making, adored every minute.
Which is probably why UP TO HER NECK resonated with me so strongly. I feel like the best mysteries aren't necessarily about discovering who did it. They're about discovering who people ARE.
Like Agatha Christie, you have that marvelous ability to make us constantly revise what we THINK we know. Every new character arrives carrying secrets. Every relationship contains another mystery tucked inside the first one. Every answer creates three new questions. And the setting? A remote place where people can't simply leave when things become uncomfortable? That's total catnip, and it's also why we're so excited to publish this book.
Beyond the book itself, there's so much fun to be had... if we created an UP TO HER NECK Sleuth Society, complete with suspect files, hidden clues, annotated maps, and other Nancy Drew-worthy delights, would anyone else be completely unable to resist? 🔎🌲📖
I love this comment so much — how do you just get everything?? And see more in all of us and our work than we might even realize is there? This is just one reason I feel so incredibly lucky to be working with Empress.
I think everyone who read Nancy Drew when we were at that perfect impressionable age had our brains rewired in the best way. I can’t wait to discuss the Sleuth Society with you!
Well, we're just wicked honored! (Insert Irish lady blushing HARD emoji.) And I'm so glad we found each other, because this is exactly why you do this kind of work—for the STORY. And hey, if we're rewiring our brains in midlife all over again in the most fun, Nancy Drew-esque way possible, then ALL the better. So excited! 🔎❤️
I think the shining would be my fav.
We love hosting! Depending on the guests of course 😉
IFYKYK
The Shining is definitely top of the list.
This is hilarious, Elaine! I love it. And I'm the same with houseguests, especially in the morning-- and I've got plumbing!
LOL. Thanks, Ruth!! When I come visit you, I will find a cute BnB close by!