K. Stephens's Blog

Reviewers on BookSirens take note Looking for a grounded story steeped in mythology while feeling like you are immersed on a small Maine island in the 1920s? Offer open to reviewers on Goodreads and Amazon. ​https://booksirens.com/book/EPESJ2I/DY942AP See what others are already saying about the book on my Reviews page.

Now that the new book is launched, I’m looking for verified reviewers on Amazon and Goodreads. Until September 28, the book will be available for a free download on NetGalley, so DM me and let me know you saw this post so I know it’s you. On Booksprout, I have approximately 20 more downloads left until October 15. And stay tuned for Kindle Select, a free giveaway will be coming soon.

Thank you my salty friends,

​K. 

The Bee's Knees crafted by 8Bells, an Irish bar in Camden, Maine. Photo by K. Stephens Years ago, Lori from The Next Best Book Blog was kind enough to feature The Ghost Trap as a recommendation to her readers, along with an online author chat with me. She has just given me the opportunity to be part of her author series "Books and Booze.https://thenextbestbookblog.blogspot.com The Bee’s Knees
This cocktail was invented in the 1920s and its name is slang for “excellent” or “the best.”Gin .75ozLemon Juice .75ozHoney SyrupLemon Twist or Lemon Wedge garnish  
So, I’m sitting in an Irish bar called 8Bells, newly opened in Camden, Maine when I see The Bee’s Knees on the menu. What are the odds? My just released Prohibition-era novel set in Maine features the making of the cocktail, The Bee’s Knees in one of the chapters. Read a snippet here. (enter the password: selkies)
 
Prohibition in Maine isn’t the same as it was for every other state in the nation. For one thing, Maine enacted Prohibition in 1851, almost 70 years before the rest of the states followed in 1920.
 
Let me back up a bit. I live in Maine (near Camden) and my debut novel about lobstermen called The Ghost Trap, was turned into an award-winning feature film in 2024. I was honored to also write the screenplay and serve an executive producer on the project when we shot it in Midcoast Maine.
 
OK threading it all together, my next novel By the Dark o’ the Moon took 10 years to finish and also features lobstermen as rumrunners. You see, the other unique angle to Maine and Prohibition is that many lobstermen and fishermen were the first rumrunners in America. Because they were on the coast, they could zip out to Rum Row (three miles out to sea to the international boundary of U.S. territorial waters) grab the forbidden liquor off steamers, ships, and schooners, and zip back in on their modified boats with V-12 engines to the rocky coast way faster than the Coast Guard patrol boats could catch them. They most always did this during the dead of night or “by the dark o’ the moon.”
 
In my story, Elray Cross, a one-armed jerk of a lobsterman-turned-rumrunner, stands out, not only for his superior distillation of a white whiskey called The White Wraith, but also, for his ruthlessness. Years ago, he captured a selkie’s baby off the storm-ravaged rocks and claimed her for his own. Her stolen sealskin protects him from the wrath of the selkie colony, lurking nearby in the Atlantic waters.
 
Let’s enjoy a sip of The Bee’s Knees. I ordered it off the menu, and took a sip. It is September now in Camden, and the trees are still vibrantly green, with good weather and 75 degree days still holding on. The wistful feeling is that this is impermanent, and hard frost will start hitting a month from now. But for now, as I enjoy the sweet lemony honey of the cocktail, it feels like endless summer in a glass.
 
I am planning a four month book tour of Sip & Signs in New England, where I’ll be talking about the novel, its relation to Maine’s famous Prohibition history, about hidden speakeasies I’ve photographed in the Midcoast as a journalist (yes, real attics and basements that once hosted wild secret parties in the '20s before they got renovated into apartments and stores.) With a book like this, it only makes sense to have a sip of something alcoholic and delicious while having a literary chat. My motto, “"Let's not get healthy, let's just get another round."

Cheers and Sláinte to my fellow TNBBC readers and thank you Lori for having me back again!

I wrote this article for Pen Bay Pilot in 2014, when I was still writing By the Dark o' the Moon. My personal and professional life intertwined after discovering that the owners of a Main Street building in Rockland were renovating their building when they discovered a hidden speakeasy in the attic with vintage alcohol bottles unearthed. I was the only reporter to document this speakeasy before the building was renovated and have done presentations for historical societies based on my photos and articles. This particular speakeasy on Main Street and the one under the Thorndike Hotel both appear in the novel and are brought back to life with rich, historical detail.
The old speakeasy in ruins seen through the "peek panel" that would have opened to see who the revelers were. Photo © Kay Stephens ROCKLAND — 435 Main Street, the four-story brick building in the heart of downtown Rockland, is being renovated into a multi-use market this summer called Main Street Markets. But that’s not the only fascinating element of this building. It once hosted a mysterious speakeasy on its top floor.

Developer Rick Rockwell has grand plans for the building, aiming to salvage every beam, every brick and every architectural element he can as he works to get the building ready for tenants on the top floor and and a market and retail space on the bottom floors. Rockwell, who grew up in Port Clyde, will offer a consignment space for locally produced food, beer and wine. The cafe will offer salads, juices, shakes and smoothies while other sections of the market will be a one-stop shop for locally harvested seafood, produce and meats. He even has plans for a beer and wine section with a brew pub in the works.

Rockwell was gracious enough to show me the speakeasy that once occupied the attic space of the building back in the early 1900s, during the roaring times of Prohibition.

In 1851, Maine became the first state to ban the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, only allowing an exception for "medicinal, mechanical and manufacturing purposes." Other states followed Maine’s lead and in 1919, the 18th Amendment passed, starting a national Prohibition, which officially became law by January 16, 1920.

It wasn’t surprising then, that in the years leading up to the 18th Amendment, that covert gatherings in small towns such as Rockland would take place in speakeasys, which were nightclubs that sold liquor illegally. In the seafaring towns of Maine, bootleggers and smugglers could get the illegal liquor via Rum Row, a line three miles off the tip of Maine that ran down to the coast of Florida.

According to Rockwell, attics and basements used to be the perfect hiding spots for speakeasys and the cavernous attic room of 435 Main Street was used for exactly that purpose. Currently, all four floors of the building are in the process of renovation. As I walked up the stairs to the third floor, the walls began to tell their own story. Scrawling signatures on the plaster walls testified the presence of the partygoers in that era.

G.G. Rogers wrote “Big Night” on Aug. 25, 1917 and one can only imagine what the big night was. A birthday? Engagement? A grand old hooch-filled evening?

Fallen plaster from ceilings revealed wooden slats in most of the rooms and hallways on the third floor. Finally, we had reached the attic stairs.  The spooky stairwell leading up was swimming with dust motes. On both sides of the walls leading up to the door, more signatures — hundreds of them — filled every available space. This was the graffiti of the 1920s, daring to let others know that they existed and yes, they were drinking illegally.

Once we reached the top — just like the movies — there was the door to the speakeasy with the little “knock knock” panel. You could almost hear the music inside and expect to see a burly fellow with a cigar clamped in his teeth squint one eye at you as he opened the panel.
Inside the large, rubble-filled attic, time stood still. Only two small sky lights let in diffuse light. The arched ceiling looked like ribs of a dead whale. Everything had fallen into total disrepair. That’s what happens when a speakeasy goes unused for nearly 100 years.

A few remnants of humanity still existed up there — a broken chair, an old water closet with pull chain and an industrial sink. The knob and tube wiring snaking the walls might have gone unused. Even though the speakeasy had electricity, the kerosene marks on the walls told a different story. Keep the lights as low and you won’t get caught.

This building used to the the Wise & Kimball Block owned by Iddo K. Kimball, which sold stoves and hardware on the first floor in 1853. But nothing I researched could tell me what became of this speakeasy and whether it was eventually busted or abandoned after Prohibition ended. 

Many remember the building as the high-end kitchen accessories, the Store, before Sara Foltz sold it to Rockwell. According to Rockwell, she discovered hundreds of old “medicinal” bottles from Boston and Long Island stored in the building and has kept a large cache of them. The few remaining bottles Rockwell possesses have their own nudge-and-wink labels like Beef, Iron and Wine a “Nutritive Tonic”with 20 percent alcohol that “restores the natural vigor that goes with good health.” Another bottle labeled P&S Tonic, for physicians and surgeons claiming to be “an approved formula especially indicated in run down and weakened conditions.” A full tablespoon was recommended three times daily.

A few doors down on Main Street, the Thorndike building basement, another reputed speakeasy in Rockland, is also being renovated at the same time this spring. All I could see peeking in from the street side door was a big empty basement room, gutted to the studs. If there was ever any writing on the walls or remnants of its illicit history, it’s all gone now.  Several attempts to reach the owners directly were unsuccessful, but I discovered through the Rockland Historical Society that in 1854 the Thorndike Hotel was built by William Thorndike, who happened to be a mariner, a merchant and an owner of stables.

He opened the hotel in 1855, with a a livery stable attached and charged only $1 a day for a room. According to Ann Morris’ historical booklet A Walk Along Main Street, the Thorndike Hotel was considered “a first class hotel...patronized by the large number of steamboat travelers and the public generally.”

It’s interesting to note that only a few short years after Maine banned the manufacture and sale of liquor, this particular hotel became popular. Was it because there was a secret basement entrance to the speakeasy? That’s what local rumors have long suggested. In 1937 (not long after Prohibition ended), the Thorndike Hotel was taken over by the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard. The basement room was officially recognized as the Rainbow Room and became a favorite saloon for many in the area.

According to local historian Gil Merriam, when he was a boy working at the Strand Theater, everyone referred to The Rainbow Room as “The Passion Pit.”

People always say “if these walls could talk.” I imagine if they did, the sound would be of hundreds of people shouting their own names and the dates that they could be found carousing in back rooms that only a select few knew about. “I was here!” they’d say. And that’s all we’ll ever know before the carpenters come in and wipe away the past.

Now go back to 1927 and picture this room in good shape, hopping with young people enjoying whiskey and beer with a band in the corner. Photo © Kay Stephens The stairway leading up to the speakeasy had hundreds of scrawled signatures during Prohibition. I got the photos before the walls were painted. Photo © Kay Stephens Vintage alcohol bottles discovered upon renovation. Photo © Kay Stephens The Thorndike Hotel circa 1915. The speakeasy would have been in the basement past the candystriped awnings on Tillson Ave. (Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Well, let me tell you. I thought the summer of 2024 was bonkers with the film coming out and six film premieres all over the country! This summer I told myself, "Slow down, take it easy." But, obviously I can't seem to do that.

Most you you coming here know me from my debut novel, The Ghost Trap, (Leapfrog Press, 2009) which got a major revival and new cover when turned into an award-winning feature film in 2024 after working on it for six years. You can now watch the Maine-shot film on multiple platforms for $3.99. See where. If you're in Maine, the movie is coming back to the Strand in Rockland for Maine Lobster Festival Week!

I'm currently working with Maine Authors Publishing to publish my next novel, By the Dark o' The Moon, (forthcoming, fall, 2025) which has--just like The Ghost Trap--taken me at least 10 years to write and research. I'm not exactly prolific, but I'm thorough.

Here's what else is happening this summer.

June 21-Orono Performing Arts Center-Orono  We did a screening of The Ghost Trap with a Q&A from me afterward. Waiting backstage to go on after the credits roll. July 1-Rockland
The Rockland Public Library is featuring the works of my side project, Tonic of the Woods, with hand-crafted shadowboxes and miniature literary sculptures using natural forest materials, old books, wood, and repurposed items.

The exhibition spanned more than seven years to create and features 10 custom miniature shadowboxes and sculptures. Each comes with a story to lure the viewer deeper into the scene. The enchantment of each tiny scene may spur people to pick up the book it was based on and read more.

Anyone who has a longstanding love for books and miniatures, this exhibit is for you.

An informal artist's reception will be held on Friday, June 11 from 2 to 4 p.m.
A miniature scene in a vintage box created from a chapter in By the Dark o' the Moon, where a farmer hides illicit booze behind a false wall in his root cellar. July 2- OystHERS Raw Bar Book Club- Bath Two sisters, daughters of a lobsterman who co-own Oys-HERS, read the book last year and invited me to be the first book club pick of the season. I had a blast chatting with about 20 book club members with gorgeous views of the Kennebec River. The prosecco and conversations flowed and it was a thoroughly fun evening.
The book club members and I enjoyed an evening talking about the book and movie. Coming up in August
Coming up in September
The Maine Authors Publishing catalogue comes out September 1 and the I'll be announcing more on the new book launch soon!

“It’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time.” Click to watch review.

Today marks the second anniversary of the first day we began shooting The Ghost Trap in Maine. I took all of the behind-the-scenes photos of the cast, crew, producers, and lobstermen. It was such an exciting day even though it was cold and wet outside. I’d never been on a movie set before and neither had some of the lobstermen and extras, so we tried to stay out of the cast’s way as they began shooting the scene of Jamie and Anja going out to haul. 

What struck me was how hard it is to be an actor and do the same scene, the same lines over and over for HOURS just to get one solid scene in the can. That meant our shooting schedule only allowed 2-4 scenes a day, and days were sometimes 16-18 hours long. 

I love the instant chemistry Zak and Greer had and you can see them joking around with one another while cameras were reset. You’ll also see lobstermen Ryan Post, Cheri Savage and Dan Merriam, who were absolutely integral to the making of this movie. They provided the boats, the access to wharves, boat houses, and even a lighthouse! 

A big shout out to our camera crew, our costume designers, our makeup artists, and others you’ll see behind the scenes who brought all of the elements together. 

You’ll also see in this video real-life working crew at the lobster coop and wharf where we shot that we turned into extras, along with a shot of Sarah Waterman, the inspiration behind Susie Q., a highliner lobsterman (whom I modeled after the amazing Zoe Zanidakis of Monhegan). 

It was a thrilling day, one of many to come, so stay tuned to more insights behind the scenes.

This video format might be too small to see everything, so hop on over to see it on TikTok:.www.tiktok.com/t/ZTN7N4XW8/ #wsite-video-container-790127241917048118{ background: url(//www.weebly.com/uploads/b/2555843-5081... } #video-iframe-790127241917048118{ background: url(//cdn2.editmysite.com/images/util/video... } #wsite-video-container-790127241917048118, #video-iframe-790127241917048118{ background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position:center; } @media only screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and ( min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and ( min-resolution: 192dpi), only screen and ( min-resolution: 2dppx) { #video-iframe-790127241917048118{ background: url(//cdn2.editmysite.com/images/util/video... background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position:center; background-size: 70px 70px; } }

D.P. Michael Tedford and Director James Khanlarian shooting scenes from the International Great Crate Races in 2022 for the feature film. Last November, we published a blog titled “Lobster in Pop Culture: How Lobsters Are Portrayed in Movies.”

Well, once again, Maine and lobsters are the prominent third character in a new lobstering movie, “The Ghost Trap,” which was partially filmed on the Festival grounds back in 2022! The film is set to premiere at the Maine International Film Festival in Waterville on July 17 & 20, 2024.

The novel of the same name by Maine author K. Stephens was published in 2009 by the Massachusetts-based publisher Leapfrog Press. It’s the story of Jamie Eugley, a young lobsterman from the fictional town of Petit Point (set between Friendship and Tenants Harbor) who is forced to choose between right and wrong when his girlfriend suffers a traumatic head injury and a rival lobstering family sabotages his gear, sparking a deadly trap war.

Stephens, who lives in the Midcoast, wrote several scenes in the book about Jamie and his best friend, Thongchai, a Thai lobsterman, wandering through the Maine Lobster Festival as they observe the International Great Crate Races, the carnival atmosphere and the food tents.

“I first moved here 30 years ago and used to go to the Festival every year,” she said. “Those happy moments of the crowds roaring when kids ran the lobster crates and fell off always stuck with me.”

The book was discovered by the producers of Khanlarian Entertainment, based in North Carolina, with an office in Los Angeles. As it happened, one of the producers, Peter Couture, who has family ties from Waterville, was back in Maine visiting in the summer of 2018, when he happened to pick up a copy of “The Ghost Trap” at Beyond The Sea, an aptly named bookshop in Lincolnville. After reading it, he contacted Stephens to option the book, telling her it had all the elements they were looking for to produce and direct their first feature film.

Stephens was hired to adapt her novel into a screenplay and worked with the producers to scout locations, as well as consult on cast selection, costumes and set design. She was also the liaison between her lobstermen friends and the production team.

Local lobstermen Ryan Post; Cheri Savage; Dan Merriam; Kurt Winters (who appears in the film as a sternman); John and Lynn Post; and Charlie, Amy and Drew Philips all provided their boats for pivotal scenes, with crew boat assistance from Aaron Crossman. These lobstermen took off many valuable days in the height of summer fishing to provide their boats, as well as access to wharves, boathouses and other iconic locations. They also served as script, dialogue and set consultants so that the film would be as authentic as possible.

What could be more authentic than actual footage from the Maine Lobster Festival? In the film, there are about three minutes of footage that Director James Khanlarian and Director of Photography Michael Tedford shot with the full blessing of The Maine Lobster Festival.

In one scene, they have a clear shot of a boy running the lobster crates toward Board of Directors member Shannon Kinney. The backstory to this scene is pretty wild. They would have shot more footage on that August day, but a massive lightning storm was barreling toward the Rockland coast. With a $150,000 camera to protect, Tedford and Khanlarian quickly got their shots and covered the equipment, dashing out of there before the deluge.

As films often need to shoot out of sequence to conserve time, another scene from the Maine Lobster Festival had to be recreated long after the five-day event was over. The production got permission to film in Gilbert and Adams Central Park next to the Rockland Police Department and spent the entire day there, with locals patiently filling the role of extras – sitting at picnic tables and pretending to eat lobster. Thanks to the Mac Attack food truck, they also got a giant inflatable lobster for this scene!Other notable Rockland scenes in the film were shot near the Rockland Yacht Club, the Rockland Public Landing, J&J Lobster, O’Hara Lobster Bait, and part of the Dry Dock Restaurant’s boardwalk. See behind-the-scenes photos.

“The Ghost Trap” will not only premiere at MIFF this summer, but additionally at Vermont Film Festival on July 26, the Maine Outdoor Film Festival in Portland on July 28, and Vacationland Film Festival in Biddeford on Aug. 8. Freestyle Digital Media has acquired the North American rights to distribute the film, which will be released nationally in theaters along with video-on-demand on Nov. 1, 2024.
K. Stephens will be on hand to sign copies of “The Ghost Trap” and chat about the making of the film at the

Maine Lobster Festival on Thursday, Aug. 1 and Aug. 4 in the Marine Tent from 11 am to 3 pm.
For more information, visit: www.theghosttrap.com

Did you know there will be many talented local Maine authors and artists at the Maine Lobster Festival this year? Come every day to The Marine Tent and Arts & Crafts Tent to meet the creative people who are inspired by this beautiful state. The Festival, from July 31 to Aug. 4, has FREE ADMISSION every day! Visit https://mainelobsterfestival.com

Story originally appeared on the Maine Lobster Festival blog on July 10, 2024.

A man walks out on a wharf in Friendship, Maine, Thursday. Two lobster boats were recently sunk by vandals in Friendship. The dispute among tightlipped lobstermen points to the unwritten laws of the sea: Fishermen mete out justice themselves, sometimes with violent results.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) When we did an audience Q&A for our encore screening in Greensboro, NC, one of the questions I got around the nebulous ending of whatever happened to Neal Ames was: “are the stories about lobstermen taking matters into their own hands true?”

Short answer: yes. The majority of lobstermen are honest, hard-working, and follow the rules that their own great, great grandparents set up on the water hundreds of years ago. Marine Patrol does police the industry as well, but for the most part, lobstermen make and enforce their own rules.

Though some true stories were embroidered into The Ghost Trap, I made a pact with the tellers of those stories I would keep names, dates, and other identifying factors anonymous. So, what you get, is an amalgam of truth woven into fiction. 

That said, I’ll leave you with a public story that was recently posted on a Maine site. Keeping in mind it’s a story heard third hand, you can decide for yourself.

“ I remember a story when I was a kid, I think it was about Friendship. Some guy moved in and wanted to try lobstering. Didn't go over well with the locals, and apparently some army vet (also reportedly a lobsterman) ended up blowing up the guy’s dock.

This would have been mid ‘90s, no real idea if it was true either tbh, but the whole school loved to recite it. There have been a few documented occurrences of people sinking other people's boats there though, so I guess it's plausible.”

And if you’re curious about the lede photo and what happened here’s the news story.www.pottsmerc.com/2012/05/11/lobster-hostilities-lead-to-boat-sinkings-in-maine/

​So, yeah, lobster justice is real.

Photo courtesy Maine Lobster Festival Story courtesy Maine Lobster Festival

Last month we explored how the iconic crustacean got its close-up in our blog, “Lobster in Pop Culture: How Lobsters are Portrayed in Movies.” To continue the series, this month we’re spotlighting Maine artists who have portrayed lobster and fishermen as the subject in various forms of artwork.

Paintings & Drawings

Many artists draw inspiration from their surroundings, including the following artists who incorporate lobsters into their work.

We’ll start with Maine’s most notable painting family, N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, and Jamie Wyeth — all three artists created multiple paintings featuring lobstermen at work.  N.C Wyeth’s “The Lobsterman (The Doryman)” created in 1944, is set in the coastal regions of Maine, depicting a solitary lobsterman in a dory. Andrew Wyeth’s 1937 watercolor “Lobsterman” tells the story of a hard-working lobsterman tending to his wooden traps. And in 2019, Rockland’s prominent cultural institution, Farnsworth Art Museum, featured an exhibition by Jamie Wyeth that revealed a man enjoying his just-cooked lobster in the 2013 painting “The Lobster Bib-Third in a Suite of Untoward Occurrences on Monhegan Island.”

Belfast artist and educator Susan Tobey White has painted a series called Lobstering Women of Maine featuring women who work in today’s lobster fishing industry. The series, now turned into a book, also highlights Maine’s oldest female lobster fisherman, Virginia Olivera, 103, who still works on a boat and is known worldwide as the “Lobster Lady.”

Native Maine artist Andrew Cook takes a whimsical approach to his art under the name “Lobstering is an art.”  Each design features the shape of a lobster, but every drawing is interpreted through a particular concept — whether it’s sea glass, a NYC subway, or an island. You have to see it to understand.  Hollis believes in the industry’s value to Maine so much that he donates regularly to various organizations, including the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

Photographs

Ogunquit artist Amy Kelly has a fascinating story: At age 56, she asked a local lobsterman if she could work as a sternman for him to maintain her sobriety. She went from being homeless to working hard on the harbor, gaining back her sobriety, and photographing and printing large-scale lobster tail artworks, which are now sold all over the country. After that, she became a gallery owner of TaleSpinStudio .
JewelryTenley Seiders, a Midcoast jewelry maker, got inspired to make jewelry and ornaments from discarded lobster shells after sterning on a lobster boat when she was younger. Her process involves pulverizing the shells with a mortar and pestle, then sifting the crushed shell with a strainer, according to a profile in . Her business, called  Lobster Designs , features vivid, handcrafted jewelry with each piece unique in color, texture and markings.

Wall Hangings & Sculptures

Appleton artist Eric Darling upcycles discarded lobster rope he finds on the shore into artistic wall hangings and sculptures featuring nautical themes. Calling it his “drift rope project” as seen on wmtw.com , this colorful rope, which would have ended up in a landfill, is woven into scenes, which he describes as “painting with rope.” He prefers to work with old rope that’s been handled by lobstermen and has been seasoned in the ocean for a few years. See his work at his website.

MLF Lobster Posters

Beyond Maine Lobster Festival’s support of local working artists with its annual Arts & Crafts Tent , the Festival has commissioned numerous artists over the years to use their paintings in each year’s Festival poster.  For example, Jean Kigel was the artist for the 2023 Maine Lobster Festival poster. Her painting depicted two red lobsters shaking claws. And check out the gorgeous posters from past years in our Poster Store  (only $10 each!)

Come to the 77th Maine Lobster Festival for free again this year (July 31 to Aug. 4, 2024) and you will be sure to meet some of the most interesting local artists, writers, lobstermen, and colorful community volunteers you’ve ever encountered! For more info, visit: https://mainelobsterfestival.com