Tess Gerritsen Book Talk
By Iris Bly
On August 13th, 2026, best-selling author Tess Gerritsen visited the St. George town office for a book talk sponsored by the Jackson Memorial Library. The residents of St. George were very happy to welcome her and listen to her stories, methods, and anecdotes.
A resident of Camden, Maine, Gerritsen is currently touring the United States on a book tour for her newly released thriller Shadow Friends. Before the launch of the tour, she took some time to visit a handful of small libraries and venues in Maine.
Gerritsen detailed her methods for the audience. One is reading several newspapers, looking for a story she can make into a book. Another she calls the “2 + 2 = 5 formula.” It involves taking one idea or story, adding it to another, and making a new idea–or in Gerritsen’s case, a new book. She keeps folders with stories awaiting their “other part.
Gerritsen shared examples of the 2 + 2 = 5 formula in action. One is her thriller The Spy Coast. As she grew older, she wanted to include aging in a book, and then she discovered there were retired spies. So she decided to join these both in a book which became The Spy Coast.
Another example is her book Ice Cold. Gerritsen had heard about how a military base was testing nerve gas, and a wind accidently sent it in the wrong direction, causing at least 3000 sheep to die. Another time, when she got lost, her GPS took her the wrong way. She combined these two situations into the thrilling Ice Cold.
She also shared advice for writers, such as that sometimes you need to walk away from a story and come back to it with new eyes, or fresh ideas.
At the talk, Gerritsen brought some of her books and offered that people could pay whatever they wanted for them. All proceeds went to support the Jackson Memorial Library.
Tess Gerritsen has written over 30 books since she started writing in the late 1980s. A major in Anthropology, she was a physician before eventually settling as a writer.
We thank the library staff for helping set up the book talk. Thanks also to Tess Gerritsen for coming to do the talk, and for bringing books, her methods, and great energy.
If you missed Tess Gerritsen at the St. George Town Office, you can catch her at Books a Million at 6pm on September 12th (located at 430 Gorham Rd in South Portland).