Who Am I?

I.M. Aiken, but my mother called me Christina so do most of my friends. I live in Vermont and follow the teacher’s wisdom. I write about what I know. I know New England. I write about New England. I come from a long line of novelists with my grandfather publishing 20+ novels before the 1930s and my father doing the same before the 1990s. I kinda ran from that exposure and yet I wrote. I write. My debut novel was published in September of 2024. #2 arrives in September of 2025 with #3 being released in September of 2026.

What do I write?

In the novels, I explore New England, our history and our challenges. The three novels were completed before I found a publisher. Yes, I ought to knuckle down and scribble the next novel. Sure. So what.

I very much enjoy short stories. Always have. I want character, emotion, and a surprise. And that is what I am writing: short pieces that explore emotion and relationships with a twist. I read my editor’s (Lora’s) comments with joy. Of course she fixed stuff. But then she write me this in a comment:

This sort of thing really builds emotion in this understated way that I don’t fully understand, but I know it works…

On a story called “Just Another”, she put this in a comment:

The story is flowing from this sense of Innocence and rising, to feeling that we are reading of an intense love, romance, and passion, to this pain, this description of a lover’s pain for her beloved, and a feeling of rage, pride in Sam but rage at the cost of Sam’s heroism to them both

Why subscribe?

Subscribing does one thing. It whispers to me that someone is reading.

Funny thing, I’ve learned over a lifetime of writing. I write whether I have readers or not. I write when there is money to spare for travel and I write when broke. Whether you give me money to write or not, I’ll be in my office writing.

Subscribe to get full access to writings and publication archives. Hey, I’d be pleased if you bought a novel or a short story.

Novels & Publications

The Little Ambulance War of Winchester County

A fascinating and darkly funny novel giving readers front-row access to the world of EMS and other first responders — and the sticky, sweat, and sex that accompanies long days caring for others at their most vulnerable.

The Little Ambulance War of Winchester County opens readers’ eyes to the human beings and too-often troubled systems we rely on to rescue us. An important and unforgettable saga of the people who race toward danger to save strangers like you.

James Grady, creator of CONDOR and author of THE SMOKE IN OUR EYES

Following in the footsteps of her beloved Boston cop father, Alex Flynn trains as an EMT, and spends her days chasing emergencies in an ambulance. But the person Alex becomes is a far cry from the hero she signed up to be.

Print (ISBN 9781963511024): Northshire Bookstore, or your favorite bookshop

Audio (ISBN 9781963511369): Libro.fm or Audible

eBook (ISBN 97863511079): Barnes & Noble or others like Amz

Stolen Mountain

EMS Captain turned sleuth Brighid Doran suspects that all is not what it appears on the surface at The Branston Club — a swanky ski lodge being built in her rural Vermont town. While dodging danger and digging up dirt, Brighid faces the ire of small town politics, crooked cops and an ever deepening hole of deceptions all the while, struggling to cope with the constant deployment of her wife Major Sarah (Sam) Ann Musgrave. With help from attorney Morgan Chadwick and a hovering FBI, Brighid must determine the truth of a scheme with the potential of defrauding her
friends and neighbors of millions… but at what cost to her own relationships and where she calls home?

Genre: literary fiction

Publication: 09SEP2025

ISBN: 9781963511284, $21.95 paperback

Captain Henry

Captain Henry allows me to explore the post-Civil War south through the eyes of a young private in the U.S. Army stationed in Chattanooga Tennessee. The narrative comes from my research into my own great-great grandfather who raised his family within an hour of where I now live. Henry’s stories interlace with stories told by Sarah Ann Musgrave a fictional character in the prior two novels. Sarah, or Sam as she prefers, writes about her first hand experiences in Iraq during 2006 when Iraq exploded into a civil war following the American invasion of 2003.

Genre: Who knows?

Publication: Sep 2026

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