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10 Things to Do on the fourth of july in maine

6/27/2018

Ever since we figured out how to launch fireworks, Americans have loved celebrating our freedom from the British Empire with massive displays. But fireworks aren’t all the celebratory events going on in Maine. Here are ten events --- both explosive and not --- going on in Maine this year. Links to the sites are in red and blue.

1. Celebration in Bar Harbor: At six in the morning, the Fourth of July Celebration in Bar Harbor starts with a blueberry pancake breakfast and ends with the fireworks display. The entire day is filled with events. For the full list, click here.

2. Portland’s Fourth of July Stars and Stripes Spectacular: Portland, Maine’s annual fireworks display is a popular attraction for Maine residents and tourists alike. While the Portland Symphony Orchestra won’t be playing this year, the fireworks will still be going off at their usual time. Check out the website as the date grows closer here.

3. Rangeley Park’s Independence Day Celebration: This celebration is family-friendly, with a Children’s parade, a duck race, a silent auction, and more. At dusk, the fireworks display begins.

4. Moosehead Lake Celebration: Celebrate Independence Day at Maine’s largest lake. “With craft fairs, parades, live music, and a fantastic show of fireworks, you’re sure to have a great time!” Look it up on their site for more information.

5. Bath Heritage Days: Bath starts its heritage celebrations on June 29th this year, ending on the Fourth of July with a firework show at 9:15. This website has more information.

6. Camden Harbor Fireworks Sailing: Sail on the Schooner Olad from 7:00 to 9:15. Enjoy a beautiful sunset over the mountains of Camden Hills State Park, then watch the fireworks display over Camden Harbor.

7. Kennebunk Fireworks Show: Kennebunk and Kennebunk port are putting on a firework display that promises to be one of the most spectacular of the night. Look on the website for some information and visit this one too.

8. Ogunquit July Fourth Fireworks: Ogunquit is celebrating Independence Day with a continental breakfast, discounts for the zoo, and a trolley ride to the beach for the fireworks. Click here for more information.

9. Casco Bay: Ride the train during the day, then board the Fireworks Express in the evening to get to the fireworks show. The Express runs from 4:30 to 7:00. Find out more about this event here.

10. Bangor’s Pancake Breakfast: Bangor is having a pancake breakfast from 7 to 10 in the morning. The parade starts at 11. Click here for more information.

Nancy E. Randolph operates Just Write Books, publishing Maine books by Maine authors telling Maine stories. Randolph quickly developed a reputation as a publisher of quality Maine books. An active community member along with two others she founded and serves as a member of the board of Save Our Swinging Bridge.Org to ensure the maintenance of the historic Roebling-designed and -built bridge connecting Topsham and Brunswick.

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Submission Guidelines for Just Write Books

6/13/2018

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Just Write books is not accepting new manuscripts. We are working on several projects and are unable to even look at new ones until June 2019. However, once June 2019 arrives below are guidelines to use when preparing your book for publication.

Just Write Books does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. Call, write or email to tell us about your book. Begin a conversation before sending anything.

Publisher Nancy E. Randolph will want to speak with the author to learn about the book, the author and why this book should be published. Only a very few manuscripts evolve into a book with Just Write Books.

Just Write Books does not return manuscripts. We carefully shred them.

Don't send us your only copy. If your manuscript is rejected for publication, it will be shredded. The cost of returning the manuscript far outweighs the cost of reprinting.
No reading fee but a donation. Just Write Books asks that you donate to save our swinging bridge.com/donate when sending us a manuscript to review. Upon being invited to submit your manuscript, please send a copy of your check or online receipt (to the nonprofit) with your manuscript. $25 for 1- to 99-page manuscript. $50 for a manuscript of 100-200 pages and $100 for 201-400. *If your manuscript is longer than 400 pages, it is highly unlikely that Just Write Books will publish your book.
Before printing your manuscript, complete a thorough edit. It will survive another round or two of edits at Just Write Books. Please read it aloud and spell check. Both things might prevent your manuscript from going through the shredder.
Your manuscript must be a computer-generated printout. No handwritten submissions. Use clean, white 8 ½ by 11-inch unlined paper of average thickness. No designer paper. Use an easy to read font such as Times New Roman. Please do not use different typefaces or sizes. Don't try to make it look "good." You'll only irritate the reader. Our preferred font size is 12 points. Left justify the print. Do not right justify, center or fill the line to force a right flush. Do not format or insert photos. Print just the text please. Use a one-inch margin: top, bottom, right and left. Indent each paragraph by .3 or .5 inch. Do not leave a blank line between paragraphs.
Double space the entire document.
Create a running head with the title of the book and your name.
Place page numbers centered at the bottom of each page. Ensure that the document is set to automatic numbering. If you do not know how to do this; ask a friend or a friendly computer geek for help.
Do not 3-hole punch, staple or otherwise bind your manuscript. We might take only 20 pages to read away from our desk.
Provide a list of photographs or illustrations and include a couple of printed samples of the same (photocopies will do).
Check every page for clear printing and that each page printed.

If you have followed the above suggestions, our reader will be able to read your file, make comments, edits and suggestions without straining her eyes or developing a migraine headache. In addition, when it is time to make your manuscript into a book, it will be in the right format for flowing into desktop publishing software.

Two more things before mailing your manuscript:

Do not include a cover letter. (By this time, we've already told you to mail a copy.) This will allow you to mail the manuscript via Media Mail through the US Postal Service. (If you want to send a cover letter; mail it separately in a first-class envelope or email anything you want to tell us. Remember: do not email the manuscript.
Double check everything before mailing, including our mailing address.

Just Write Books, 14 Munroe Lane, Topsham, ME 04086. Seal and drop in the mailbox.
If you haven't heard from us in two months; send a postcard, email or simple letter. That's polite and non-irritating.

I hope this helps clarify things for the authors.

Happy writing!

Nancy E. Randolph operates Just Write Books, publishing Maine books by Maine authors telling Maine stories. Randolph quickly developed a reputation as a publisher of quality Maine books. An active community member along with two others she founded and serves as a member of the board of Save Our Swinging Bridge.Org to ensure the maintenance of the historic Roebling-designed and -built bridge connecting Topsham and Brunswick.

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Join Tom Seymour's plant walk at Topsham Library

6/7/2018

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Event Cancelled

Learn to identify Wild Plants of Maine.

Tom Seymour identifies Curled Dock during a plant walk at Crystal Spring Farms several years ago.

Tom Seymour, an experienced Maine forager, will lead a plant walk on June 13th around Topsham Public Library, 25 Foreside Road, Topsham at 11:00am. He will teach
participants how to identify plants as food and medicine. Register with [email protected], or call 837.0558, at $15 per person. The walk starts promptly at 10:30 AM, so show up around 10:15. Wear sturdy shoes.

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Summer Beach Reading

6/6/2018

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Summer is here again, and that means it’s time for day trips to the beach and thunderstorms in the afternoon. No matter the weather or the place, a book is the perfect thing to bring to have a good time anywhere. Check out the updated list of books from Just Write Books to bring with you wherever you go.

Thirteen Moons by Robert Chute

Into poetry and Maine history? Read Thirteen Moons

Thirteen Moons contains a series of story poems based on various sources depicting the life of the Jesuit scholar, Sebastian Rale, beloved priest to the Abenaki Indians near Norrigewock whose life he shared for thirty years.

Into poetry and travel? Read Taking Flight

Travel with poet Diane Schetky from the state of Maine that she calls home to the Arctic and even inside the lives of “Friends who have lost their way.” Taking Flight is a selection of poetry that will provoke a thoughtful journey companioned by a mindful guide.

Taking Flight: New Poems and Others by Diane Schetky

Check out some of Maine's local history with Topsham, Maine: From the River to the Highlands

The riverside settlement that became Topsham and was once the buffer between the wilderness and Brunswick, became a mill town and now a noted retirement location with a retail and commercial center rivaling surrounding municipalities. Robert C. Williams brings the people of Topsham—yesterday’s and today’s—to us in this very readable history of Topsham.

Topsham, Maine by Robert C. Williams

Driftwood from Popham Sands by Florence, Margaret, and Edith Oliver

Going to the beach? Try Driftwood from Popham Sands

History buffs surely will enjoy the product of Driftwood from Popham Sands, a quilt of recollections illuminated by fine old photographs. Driftwood from Popham Sands is a labor of love. Florence Reed Oliver recorded her observations and her family's memories with loving care and preserved original documents, pictures and heirlooms. After her death, Florence's daughters Margaret and Edith worked to make their mother's compiled notes and memorabilia into a book. After Margaret's passing, Edith completed the work begun decades ago.

Find out how the Gooches got their start in The Seaside House: Maine Innkeeper

Read this fascinating narrative of the Gooch family as they settle in Colonial Maine. Follow them as they continue into the 21st Century. The family purchased an innkeeping business that continues today and is operated by a member of the current generation of Gooches. Through perseverance, back-breaking work, bravery and sometimes luck—the family beat the odds and held onto their land for centuries. The Seaside House tells of trials and triumphs each of these generations encounter while providing for the family. The rich characters will entertain and astound readers with their adventures and struggles. Enjoy them coming to life in the extraordinary events that shaped their lives and offers glimpses of Maine's history.

The Seaside House by Trish Mason

The Spirit of Songo by Norma Salway

Explore a Maine Lake in The Spirit of Songo

For centuries, families have retreated to summer havens on lakes, rivers, and ponds to reconnect with nature while escaping the stresses of everyday labor. The poems contained in this book celebrate the history and allure of the natural marvels that Maine’s Songo lake offers. The book reflects the author’s affection for her year-round home and the influential experiences of rich days spent on the shores of a lake.

Discover treasures like the ones in The Attic and ME: History Uncovered in a Maine Attic

Walk through the childhood days of this Maine native and author reflecting on life growing up before technology. With this book, the author honors her parents and the engaged lifestyle they provided to her and her three sisters on the family farm in Albany Township, Maine, during the 1940s and 1950s. Outside physical play, interactions with nature, opportunities to “make do,” inspiring thought and imagination provided the foundation of her youth.

The Attic and ME: History Uncovered in a Maine Attic by Norma Salway

Lovewell's Town: From Howling Wilderness to Vacationland in Trust by Robert C. Williams

Read the "first professional history record of the town of Lovell in Lovewell's Town

Visit Lovell, Maine and travel in time through the years! Dr. Robert C. Williams has retired to Lovell, Maine, and taken the opportunity to use his educational background combined with his love of history and finely-honed writing skills to produce this first professional history of the town of Lovell. Read this book and follow the settlement from the survey of the Merrimack River in 1652 through the famous battle at Pequawket in 1725 to the current struggle between the forces of development and preservation. Williams haunted local archives, as well as state archive collections of Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire to produce this comprehensive history of Lovell, Maine. The writing is enlivened by current and historical photos and illustrations, for the historical researcher Williams has added a very thorough index.

A Daughter of Francis Martin has returned to the summer reading list

An historic novel set in the 17th century settlement of Falmouth, in the Province of Maine following the life of Mary Martin. This novel is deftly written keeping to historical facts and filling in with an imagination and a sharp pen that allows us to follow the late Virginia Chute on her travels back in time.

A Daughter of Francis Martin by Virginia Chute

Ever wonder about the woods out back? Find out a bit about them in Hidden World Revealed

Hidden World Revealed: Musings of a Maine Naturalist by Tom Seymour

Hidden World Revealed is a collection of short works by Tom Seymour previously published in his blog "Wild Plants and Wooly Bears." In Hidden World Revealed Seymour discusses his interaction with animal neighbors and explores plants and seasonal changes. Each piece reflects Maine rural life. The narratives of his walks in the woods are instructive about the natural environment and revealing of a human who walks lightly on the earth. A humble man with a fine mind invites us to know our Maine woodlands and rural neighbors. A great book to read in summer when the plants and animals are out.

Everyone has a story to tell. These are the stories of Maine-ly People

Read about and see Maine people at their finest—everyday hard at work, ready to lend a hand and creating a better world—right here at home in Maine. Maine-ly People by Paul Cunningham features stories and photos chosen from his nearly two decades of photojournalism at the The Times Record in Brunswick from 1990-2008. Some of these photos and stories were published in that paper and others are from Cunningham’s collection.

Maine-ly People: Short Stories and Tall Photos by Paul T. Cunningham

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10 Things to Do on the fourth of july in maine

Submission Guidelines for Just Write Books

Join Tom Seymour's plant walk at Topsham Library

Event Cancelled

Summer Beach Reading

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