Blog: Favorite Handbag and Book with author Martha Crites - Oh, the Places You Have Gone and her book

About the Handbag:

This old Keen handbag isn’t lovely, but oh, the places it has been: 7 trips to Spain, 5 to Mexico and 1 each to Puerto Rico, Portugal and France. Most of my trips were related to the Camino de Santiago, the medieval pilgrimage route through Spain. Mexico and Puerto Rico could be considered either language practice or getting warm during Seattle winters. Though my handbag never got to walk the Camino (lucky Vicki didn’t ask for a photo of my favorite backpack), this purse was my airplane favorite and patiently waited in hotel luggage rooms during my long walks. I stuffed it for this picture, but I usually travel light.

The Camino has inspired many memoirs, but I haven’t included it in a mystery novel yet. In my recent book, Danger to Others, I sent my amateur sleuth’s daughter to Spain just in case. Maybe that would work for a short story!

Thousands of pilgrims arrive in Santiago each year. None of us ever forget the time spent walking in nature and the camaraderie formed with people from all over the world.  Some of us return again and again. This October I’ll serve as a volunteer host in an albergue, a hostel where only pilgrims stay. My handbag can’t wait. If you’d like to learn more about the Camino, you can visit  American Pilgrims on the Camino online.

Here’s a tip about that water bottle, a Nalgene flask from REI. It’s light and fits a handbag much better that something big and round, but back in the US, I took a sip in a coffee shop one day while waiting for my order. The barista nearly kicked me out, thinking that I was drinking the hard stuff—be aware!

About the Book:

Late October in the Pacific Northwest foothills brings more than a change of season. Psychiatric evaluator Grace Vaccaro is on edge. A field evaluation gone wrong leads to a shooting, Grace’s mother has died and ghosts from her family past are everywhere. When a young psychiatric patient says she killed her therapist, Grace suspects it’s a delusion until she escapes from the hospital.

About Martha Crites:

Martha Crites worked in community mental health for many years and taught at the Quileute Tribal School on the Washington coast. When she isn’t working and writing, you will find her

walking and volunteering on the Camino de Santiago, the medieval pilgrimage trail in Spain. Her first novel, Grave Disturbance, was a finalist for the Pacific Northwest Writers Association's Nancy Pearl Award. Her second Grace Vaccaro mystery was just released. Martha’s short work has been featured in the anthology, Camino de Santiago: a spiritual companion. She lives with her husband and their nearly perfect Labrador retriever in Seattle, Washington.

Answer these questions:

Red, White or Blue? White. I just bought a white ukulele for travel.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? Fall.

Cake or Pie? I usually don’t go for cake but have you ever baked Julia Child’s Queen of Sheba Cake?

Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Coffee, please.

Country music or Michael Buble? I started learning the ukulele during the pandemic and country music suits this beginner perfectly—3 chords.

Pencil or Pen? Pilot G-2 10. In blue, not that I’m picky.

 

Find DANGER TO OTHERS at: Amazon Buy Link

Visit Martha at: https://marthacrites.com