Maude and the Holy Oak
(First Ed., Androscoggin Press, Sept 2022)
Have you ever talked to a hawk? Heard a tree sing? Maude has. A curious and bright girl, Maude is invited to meet a 200-year-old oak tree and befriend a hawk and she says, "Yes!"
"Maude's continuing adventures deliver a rich, timeless, and important message about the shared connections of family, time, nature and the friendly creatures around us. Bariluk-Smith's illustrations bring an imaginative flair that suits Graves' fable-like words and message perfectly."
Jeff Cabral, Director, McArthur Public Library
"It's another escapade into the woods for young Maude and again, the sweet connections she forms convey a meaningful message about interconnectedness among all living things."
Kingsley B. Gallup, Owner & Publisher, Tourist and Town
Maude and the Merry Christmas Tree
(First Ed. Androscoggin Press, 2020)
How do tinfoil, a Christmas tree, and a red bird come together in a story that takes place deep in the Maine woods? Maude and the Merry Christmas Tree tells the tale of a young girl growing up in a small Maine town during the 1950s. Maude and the Merry Christmas Tree is the first telling of Maude's many exploits that combine adventure, bravery, and friendship. Come along with Maude into Christmas Tree Woods.
"Maude and the Merry Christmas Tree takes us on a sweet and nostalgic journey, capturing with great purity the childlike wonder of a magical time of year. Looking forward to Maude's next adventure!"
Kingsley B. Gallup, Owner & Publisher, Tourist and Town
SHOP LOCAL Maude of Maine is available online and also at these local Maine gift stores: The Daytrip Society in Kennebunkport and Remember the Maine Gift Shop at the Maine Diner in Wells.
Dusk on Route 1
Revised Ed. 2019 Androscoggin Press
It's Christmas Eve on the coast of Maine and someone has gone missing. Pamela Iverson, a grief stricken widow new to the small town of Wells, is lost as a powerful nor'easter approaches. A rescue attempt is mounted by a crew of townsfolk in need of rescue themselves. Snow flying, waves crashing, time stands still as inexplicable events unfold, changing them all forever.
This new edition of Dusk on Route 1 is the culmination of over twelve years of dedicated writing and revision. The original idea for the book first came to Cynthia in 2007 over a cup of coffee at the Maine Diner in Wells when, looking at the brightly lit florescent tubes of the wall clock, she recalls hearing, “The neon rim of the diner clock spun color into the dim, warm dining room; tints of red, blue and green pooled on plates like gravy.” From that moment, her writing life was consumed by plot and character development for what would become this book.
SHOP LOCAL Dusk on Route 1 is available online and in stores nationwide, including these local establishments in Southern Maine: Cummings Market in Kennebunk, HB Provisions in Kennebunkport, Remember the Maine Gift Shop & Maine Diner in Wells, Mail-It at Kennebunk Plaza, Print: A Bookstore on Congress in Portland, and Book Review Bookstore in Falmouth.
Read an excerpt... "I did not know to ask then, but I ask now: When does a person’s death begin its approach in a palpable way? The appointment is made, the clock is advancing, though we are unaware of its progress. Death will not be denied. It is the remarkable person who, rising to a day full of life plans, scans the skies, seeing the dark cloud forming on the horizon."
"We had a death; the most brutal kind, when there is no time for goodbyes, and the absence of the loved one is deep enough to drown in; a death that walked out from behind the scrim of the day that was July14, 1994, a death that stunned our family, and from which we almost didn’t recover; a death on Pleasant Street, in the ordinary little village of Kennebunk, Maine." (Excerpt from Never Count Crow: Love and Loss in Kennebunk, Maine)
Eyes Like Jewels, a collection of poems.