Zinc & Bella's Point Cover Reveal

So we've reached the end of another A to Z Challenge! I couldn't find a picture to go along with my Z post so I'm so glad the Challenge blog makes these badges available for us.

It was hard to find anything for Z anyway, so I was thrilled when I discovered that a Civil War statue in the town of Oak Bluffs was made of zinc! I thought, bingo! :D

The statue has an interesting history, as it was commissioned by Charles Strahan, a veteran of the Confederacy who moved to Martha's Vineyard after the Civil War and became the publisher of the Martha's Vineyard Herald. In spite of the fact that he fought for the Confederacy, Strahan erected the statue as a memorial to Union soldiers. Strahan wanted the statue to serve as an icon of healing after the violence of the war.

In 2001 the statue was restored and rededicated, with descendants of Mr. Strahan attending the ceremony.

And that ends my A to Z of Martha's Vineyard! Thanks to everyone who has come by here and made this another fun April. And special thanks to all the co-hosts who do so much work to keep this event running year after year.

Well done, all!

In addition to finishing up the Challenge, I'm also happy to be sharing the cover for Elizabeth's Seckman's novel Bella's Point. Here is the scoop on what is sure to be a great book:

Did you know? Bella has survived the Civil War. Now she must survive the Reconstruction. During that time, white Republicans were called Scalawags in the south. 

Isabella Troy Stanley is a divorced, slave freeing pariah surviving in the shattered post Civil War south the only way a fallen debutante knows how. 

She heads to a Yankee prison and buys herself a husband. 

Jack Byron is the former Troy plantation stable boy and object of young Bella's affection. He rejected her then, and he's still not sold on the idea of marrying her now.  

 It’s complicated.

 Though to Bella, it’s simple: make Jack love her, marry her, and live happily ever after. The plan seems to work...at least until her secret is revealed.

Elizabeth is a wife, a mom, and a writer. She has four wonderful boys, one dusty house, and three published books to her credit. Feel free to check them out and buy them HERE! Erm, the books, not the kids or the house...though all things in life are negotiable ;)

You can find her here - Blog // Facebook // Twitter

Cover art by Sprinkles on Top Studios.

Congratulations to Elizabeth!!

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme was inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

Y is for Yummy

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I'm stretching here because I couldn't think of any place on Martha's Vineyard that started with a "y" except the YMCA. And there's not much I could write about that.

So I decided to write about two of the yummiest places on the island instead.

My favorite is Chilmark Chocolates, which has some of the best candy I've ever tasted, bar none. The chocolates are homemade and come in so many varieties that it's hard to decide what to get to fill your box when you visit the store. In addition to being amazing candy makers, the owners of Chilmark Chocolates run a special program to employ mentally disabled Islanders and they use specially modified machinery to meet their employees' needs. They also sponsor a different Island non-profit organization each month, with portions of their proceeds going to that organization.

It's nice to be able to support good people who also make an extraordinary product.

Another yummy business is Mad Martha's Ice Cream. Mad Martha's has three cute ice cream parlors on the island and their ice cream is homemade. I've been going there since I was a kid and I've never had any ice cream there that wasn't wonderful.

It's safe to say that it's difficult to stick to a diet while on the Vineyard.

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

X is for Extra Stout Beer

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Martha's Vineyard Extra Stout was a craft beer brewed on the island at Martha's Vineyard Breweries. Apparently it is now retired and the brewery itself is closed.

I don't even like stout beer and I know nothing about this brew, but we all know how hard it is to find a topic for the dreaded "X" post. So this is it for me. :D

Two more letters to go!

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

W is for West Tisbury

My family's cottage, The Rookery, is located in the town of West Tisbury near the center of Martha's Vineyard. West Tisbury, like Chilmark and Aquinnah, is considered "up island."

It's a rural community that embodies the charm of an old New England Village. The town hall, shown below and surrounded by red maples and a white picket fence, epitomizes this charm.

Swans are regular residents of the town's Old Mill Pond, shown in the top photo. While they look pretty, their personalities are anything but. They have been known to chase bystanders, including my mother and me when I was a child. A swan at full height with his wings outstretched is not a friendly sight, trust me.

The pond gets its name from the textile mill that was built next to it in the 1850s. Workers at the mill manufactured a variety of materials from island wool and, while the mill itself is no longer in operation, sheep farms are still prominent in the Vineyard's up island communities today.

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

V is for Vineyard Haven

Photo by Melanie Speight

Vineyard Haven is one of the primary harbors on Martha's Vineyard in addition to being one of its six towns. It was originally called Holmes Hole, as "hole" was maritime slang for a nick, or harbor, in the coastline. The name was changed to Vineyard Haven in 1871, reportedly due to the fact that many of its inhabitants did not like to say they were from a "hole" when traveling off island.

The ferry which runs to the island often arrives in and departs from Vineyard Haven, so it is usually the first and last thing I see of the Vineyard when visiting there. The town is home to the famous Black Dog tavern and general store, which can be easily spotted from the deck of ferry.

Photo by Melanie Speight

Because it is a very long drive back to Ohio, we always get the earliest possible ferry to leave the island when heading home. A few years ago my niece took these photos while the sun was coming up over the harbor as we waited for our boat. To me they perfectly capture the peaceful beauty that is Vineyard Haven and are a reminder of why I always hate to get on the ferry to leave the island.

Photos by Melanie Speight

I'm also over at Untethered Realms today for my last post in our A-Z of Fantastical Creatures. Visit me there to learn more about Aleksei Nechayev, my fanged antagonist in Polar Night. I think you can probably guess what my "V" creature is. :D

Happy weekend, all!

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

U is for Up Island

My favorite places on Martha's Vineyard, including Aquinnah, shown above, are all "up island," which is somewhat odd because they are actually in the southwestern part of the island. I never knew why the area was called "up island" but chalked it up to typical Vineyard eccentricity.

But while researching posts for the A-Z Challenge I learned that the name comes from the fact that as you travel west on the island you move up the scale of longitude. The longitude of Aquinnah is -70.800786399999990000 while the longitude of Edgartown on the eastern edge of the island is -70.51335990000001. 

Apparently the phrase "up island" is a holdover from the island's seafaring history. So I learned something new this year thanks to the A-Z! 

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

T is for Tea Lane

As I mentioned in my "H is for Hammett" post, my great-great grandfather Franklin Hammett worked on a whaling ship and sailed around the world when he was a teenager. After he returned to Martha's Vineyard, he and his wife Nancy lived on a farm on a street called Tea Lane in the town of Chilmark.

The Hammetts had a horse named Grover, who is front and center along with Franklin in the above photo taken in the 1890s. My grandfather spent many summers on Tea Lane as a child and his grandchildren all loved his stories about Grover and the other goings-on on the farm. By all accounts, Grover was a fine horse and it seems clear from this picture that Franklin thought very highly of him.

Stella, the main character in my novel The Ghosts of Aquinnah, whose maiden name is Hammett, lives on a farm in the same area where Franklin and Nancy lived so many years ago. While writing the novel, I couldn't resist naming her horse Grover.

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

S is for Shipwrecks

The wreck of The City of Columbus (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The City of Columbus steamer ran aground off the coast of Aquinnah, Martha's Vineyard in January, 1884 and began to take on water, ultimately sinking into the frigid sea. More than 100 people lost their lives and in its day the Columbus was considered one of the worst sea disasters in history. Headlines of the time proclaimed it as "One of the Worst Horrors Ever Known in New England."

This wreck is the starting point for my novel The Ghosts of Aquinnah and one of my main characters is a fictional survivor named Christopher Casey. 

I had never heard about The City of Columbus until I accidentally stumbled onto it while doing some preliminary research to flesh out the story idea that eventually became the Ghosts novel. 

A few years ago The Martha's Vineyard Museum held an exhibit called Out Of The Depths: Martha's Vineyard Shipwrecks. Included in the exhibit was a door from the ill-fated City of Columbus that washed ashore after the wreck. 

In addition to the Columbus, the exhibit profiled the wreck of the Port Hunter, a WWI supply freighter which collided with a tugboat and sunk off the coast of East Chop in Oak Bluffs. While no one was killed in this wreck, numerous supplies that were on their way to troops in Europe ended up ashore on the island instead. 

To me one of the most interesting parts of the exhibit must have been the images of the submerged ships that are now available thanks to sonar technology. When I visited the Vineyard last summer and stood atop the Aquinnah cliffs, I couldn't help thinking about The City of Columbus submerged somewhere below me, underwater for nearly 130 years. 

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

R is for Rookery

In the 1960s my grandfather built the small cottage that my family shares on Martha's Vineyard. For reasons unknown to me, he and my grandmother called it The Rookery.

For decades now, my family, including my uncles and cousins, have stayed at the Rookery on our summer vacations.

Over the years, there have been countless pictures of all of us inside the cottage, on the front steps, or on the back porch. But the below picture, taken when the original "The Rookery" sign was still present above the door, is easily my favorite of them all.

My sisters and I posed on the step for a picture before we headed out to the beach. I'm the little one in the middle.

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

Q is for Quansoo Farm

South Beach surf on Martha's Vineyard (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Quansoo Farm is located in Chilmark along the south shore (shown above) of Martha's Vineyard. It is one of the properties of the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, whose mission is to conserve the landscape of the island.

The word Quansoo means "eel" or "long fish" in the Wampanoag (the native tribe of the island) language. The name is believed to refer to the migration of female eels who went through the farm's Black Point Pond on their way to the sea each fall. Quansoo is a prime spot for fishing and also boasts some of the island's best soil for farming.

I've never been to the farm and honestly don't have much to say about it, but I am grateful to it for giving me a "Q" word! :D

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

Parks and Cape Women Online

Before I get to today's "P" post, I wanted to share that my article entitled "A Midwesterner's Love Letter to Martha's Vineyard" was published in the Spring issue of Cape Women Online this week. I was a little nervous about this article because it's one of the most personal things I've ever written, but now that it is finished I'm super excited to have it on the site. I'm celebrating its publication for this week's Celebrate the Small Things hop!

If you'd like to read the article, please visit the magazine site here.

Now on to P and the parks of Martha's Vineyard.

Since Martha's Vineyard is a beautiful island, it's no surprise that it is the home of some beautiful parks.

Owen Park, named for William Barry Owen, who is known for purchasing the rights to Thomas Edison's Victor Talking Machine, is one of those. After his death in 1914, Owen's widow gave the land the park is situated on to the town of Vineyard Haven and the park was born. Located on the Vineyard Haven harbor, it's a picturesque park that is also close to the town's shops and restaurants. Clancy and I enjoyed our visit there last year.

Another charming park is Ocean Park in the town of Oak Bluffs, which was featured in yesterday's "O" post.

Ocean Park gazebo (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The gazebo shown above is the centerpiece of the park. When I was a kid, band concerts were held at the park every Sunday evening in the summer. While the band played inside it, kids would run around the gazebo.

When my niece was a baby in the early 1980s, my dad would pick her up and take her around and around to the music. What I remember most about this is that our dog couldn't stand it if she was not included. She would insist on accompanying my dad and niece and wouldn't be left out. I can't remember if other dogs joined in, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did because the island has always been very dog-friendly.

I can't see the gazebo now without thinking of our little beagle/dachshund dog with her big ears flapping in the wind and her little legs going like crazy to keep up with the concert runners.

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

O is for Oak Bluffs

Oak Bluffs Beach and Harbor (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Oak Bluffs is the home of both the gingerbread cottages I wrote about in my "G" post and the Flying Horses featured in my "F" post. It is also known as the party town of Martha's Vineyard.

In keeping with New England's Puritan beginnings, many of the towns on Martha's Vineyard are "dry," meaning no alcohol can be purchased in them. Diners who go to restaurants in these towns are invited to bring their own wine or beer to dinner but they will not find any alcohol on the menus. Oak Bluffs is one of the exceptions to this rule.

As a result, Circuit Avenue, the town's main street, is lined with bars. If you are looking for night life on the island, Oak Bluffs is the place to go.

But the town is not just about partying. It is also a diverse community that has been the preferred summer resort for many African-Americans for generations.

Oak Bluffs has been called the "Black Hamptons," and it has been a vacation destination for wealthy African-Americans since the 1800s. A popular beach in the town is known as the "Inkwell," reportedly named by Harlem Renaissance writers who visited the town and were inspired by its beaches. One of the Renaissance writers, Dorothy West, wrote a novel about the Oak Bluffs community called The Wedding, which was made into a movie starring Halle Berry and produced by Oprah Winfrey in the 1990s.

The African American Heritage Trail of Martha's Vineyard chronicles the history of African-Americans on the island and runs a tour dedicated to this effort. Dorothy West's home is included on the tour, along with 15 other sites of historical significance.

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

N is for Net Result

The Net Result is, as you can see from the bumper sticker above, an "upper-scale" fish market on Martha's Vineyard.

One of the things most people love the most about the island is the fresh seafood. I've always been in the minority because, for the most part, I hate seafood. The smell of fish markets is enough to make me gag and I always have to wait outside while others go inside the market to buy the fish they want.

But I do love shrimp, and The Net Result has some of the best I've ever tasted. It also has fantastic flounder which is excellent fried.

As fish markets go, I'm a fan of The Net Result. And I was especially grateful for its existence this month because I couldn't think of a post for N to save my life! So thank you, Net Result. :D

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

M is for Menemsha

Source: Wikimedia Commons

After Aquinnah, Menemsha is my favorite place on Martha's Vineyard. It's a working fishing village in the town of Chilmark and is located at the intersection of Menemsha Pond and Vineyard Sound.

Menemsha is known for its spectacular views of the sunset. In the summer, hundreds gather every night on the beach and watch the sun slowly descend into the water. My grandparents loved Menemsha, and my family always made sure to go watch the sunset at least once each year when we were on the island. One of my main memories of those summer evenings is a saxophonist who came to the beach each night to play Taps after the sun finally disappeared into the sea.

When I was a kid, I loved the jetties which line the beach and the channel that separates Menemsha from Lobsterville. Now that my dad is gone, I cherish this photo of him holding my hand while I was making what was probably my first trip out on the jetties in July of 1972.

These rocks hold so many memories for me that I featured them in The Ghosts of Aquinnah in what proved to be a pivotal scene for the book's main characters Christopher and Stella. It was fun to imagine my characters in the place I love, especially as the Vineyard has a timeless factor to it. Menemsha doesn't change much, and doesn't look that different now than it did back in the 1970s. It wasn't a stretch to think that it probably didn't look much different in the 1880s either.

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

L is for Lobsterville

Lobsterville is a two mile stretch of beach along the calm waters of Vineyard Sound, which is the section of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Martha's Vineyard from Cape Cod. In my experience, Lobsterville is one of the quietest and most peaceful places on the island. Parking in the area is extremely limited, so that could be a reason why.

I took my dog Clancy to Lobsterville when he made his first trip to the island in 2013. In spite of the fact that the water is about as calm as ocean water gets, Clancy was scared to death of it. His body language said it all.

Perhaps because it is so quiet, Lobsterville is a nesting area for the island's many seagulls. I love seagulls and would love to see them nesting, but either they are hidden or I haven't been to Lobsterville at the right time of the year. I suppose the birds would not want me or anyone else disturbing their nests anyway.

While I was doing research for The Ghosts of Aquinnah, I learned that a few survivors of the wreck of The City of Columbus, which opens the book, came ashore at Lobsterville. The ship sunk in January, 1884 off the coast of the Aquinnah cliffs, which are located at the tip of the land shown in the photo below. One of the survivors lumbered ashore at Lobsterville and went in search of help. It's impossible to imagine how terrifying that night must have been when standing on Lobsterville Beach on a perfect summer day and seeing nothing but calm and clear blue water. 

 

I'm also over at Untethered Realms today for our A-Z of Fantastical Creatures. I'm sharing the story of a mythological dog named Laelaps. Please come and visit with us over at our blog. :)

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

K is for Katama

Katama is a beach on the south shore of Martha's Vineyard. I've always preferred the southern coast of the island because it is open ocean and I love the sounds of the surf.

I've also always liked the name Katama, which comes from the language of the Wampanoags, the native tribe on the island. But when putting together this post I learned that it means "crab-fishing place." I hate crab and I had hoped that the word had a slightly more exotic or pleasant meaning. Still, Katama has a much nicer ring to it than crab-fishing place.

The area has been a popular summer resort since the late 1800s, when it was the end of the line for the Martha's Vineyard Railroad, which ran the along the eastern shore of the island between Oak Bluffs and Katama.

In addition, Katama was part of the American national defense efforts during WWII. Artillery shells and rockets were fired out into the ocean from the beach, which was also as a bombing practice area for military squadrons. More than forty years after the war, live bombs from the war were unearthed by waves pounding on the receding beach. Katama was closed for more than a year while the military removed all remaining shells.

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

JAWS and Game of Thrones

Source: Wikimedia Commons

As I mentioned in my "E is for Edgartown" post, Stephen Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster JAWS was filmed on Martha's Vineyard, a fact that made the movie much more frightening to me when I first saw it. JAWS was re-released when I was about 12 years old, and it absolutely terrified me. I spent more time covering my eyes than I did actually watching the screen in the movie theater.

In the years since I've seen JAWS more times than I can count as I always stop on it when I'm flipping channels and see it on television. I love seeing the scenes of the Vineyard.

The fishing shack owned by Robert Shaw's character Quint was located in one of the my favorite places on the island, the fishing village of Menemsha.

I've always loved the long shot of Menemsha as the Orca heads out to sea to do battle with the shark.

A few years ago before visiting the island I read about a rash of shark sightings in the area. I can't deny I immediately thought of JAWS. I was happy to stay on the beach instead of going in the water.

Since today is Friday, it's time to Celebrate the Small Things with Vikki at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author. If you'd like to join in on the hop, visit Vikki's site here.

This week I'm celebrating the return of my favorite show Game of Thrones. I love this show so much even the opening theme makes me excited. :D



I can't wait for Season 4 to unfold.

Happy Friday and weekend, all!

My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.