It’s kind of ingrained into me now to be up to my eyeballs in writing during the month of November. While NaNoWriMo may no longer exist, the patterns I developed when it was in full swing continue to this day, though I have to admit, the accountability the little word counter their website offered during the various writing periods was quite the inducement for moving forward. My current writing tool of choice — Scrivener — offers something similar, though I don’t often dig deeper into the more granular stats it keeps. The one time I did, I was moderately surprised to find out weekends were the days when I wrote the most; makes sense, I suppose, given how I’m working this whole novelist thing around my actual daytime gig.

November has also long been the dominion for my original character, Sean Colbeth. Only on one occasion did I not work on a novel for his series during this part of the calendar; that was a two years ago when I wrote the initial part of Reflection in the Shadows. Since then, I’ve reverted to form and generally find myself deeply enmeshed in whatever adventure Sean manages to get himself mixed up in; as the calendar closes in on Thanksgiving, I’m close to a third of the way through Aftermath and on track to have it done by year end. In past years I’ve often started working on the “November Project” in mid-to-late October, sneaking in a few weeks of bonus work; this year, due to a bunch of traveling — mostly around those pesky half marathons I’ve been running — I was forced to start pretty much on November 1. That’s not a bad thing, but my inner writer feels guilty about not being further along.

I also feel the most in tune with Sean during November; some of that has to do with the fact his first novel, Blindsided, pretty much takes place then. But the larger part has to do with my own feelings about Maine, and how, for many years, I spent the two weeks around Halloween visiting with family back there. My sense of how the state exists during that not-quite-completed transition from summer to fall to winter is quite vivid, right down to the chilly breeze that can slice through any amount of fabric you care to wear. The trees are often bare but the grass is sometimes still green, though it could crackle beneath your step if an overnight freeze had occurred. It’s a season of contradictions, rife with nefarious possibilities that just seem perfectly suited for my detective to tackle — especially with the promise of a year-end redemption waiting in the wings.

Sean, obviously, senses all of this thanks to his author, but oddly, has a different view of it. To him, Fall represents the beginning of his reprieve from the mass of tourists invading his small village; it’s the gateway to a quieter period more in harmony with the town he grew up in. Having Windeport become a cruise ship destination upended some of that, of course, but like any good Mainer, Sean has adapted and endured.

Events in Aftermath see Sean working a case in Florida, and as he moves from one scene to the next, I can feel how he’s constantly comparing the places he encounters down there to his home back in Maine. It pulls him in ways I didn’t expect, leading me to think that it might be next to impossible to get him to ever leave Windeport behind. For short periods? Not an issue. Permanently? Probably never going to happen.

I mean, I could force the issue, of course, but I feel strongly he would fight me — and then find a way to work his way back to Windeport. Which, in the end, makes perfect sense.

I’m ecstatic to announce that I’ve been selected to participate in the 2026 Tucson Festival of Books Indie Author Experience, taking place March 14 & 15, 2026. As competitive as the selection process is, getting a spot in the tent is a huge honor and one that I am humbled to be able to accept once more. This time out, I’ll be there for Reflection in the Shadows — and my time is on Sunday, March 15, from 10 to 1. Mark your calendars now, and I can’t wait to see you!