CRIME ON MY MIND

You're all invited!


In my pre-published writer days, I'd often hear my published friends make comments about each new launch of their latest titles. Comments like, friends being called on so often to come out to these, all that planning..., will my books be out in time?, and, it's as exciting with each new book.

Well, they're right. With the launch of Read and Buried, the second in the Ashton Corners Book Club mysteries coming up on Tues., Dec. 4th...I've caught myself thinking many of those thoughts. In duplicate because prior to the Ottawa launch, Joan Boswell and I are holding a launch in Toronto at the North York Public Library on Sun., Dec. 2, 2-4 p.m. So, double the planning but it's all fun, especially doing it with Joan. She'll also be launching her latest mystery, the fourth in the Hollis Grant series, Cut to the Bone, at both events.

Many Ottawans will know Joan because she lived her for many years while her kids were growing up. Although her primary residence these days is in Toronto, we enjoy her company in Ottawa for many months of the year. She's also a member of The Ladies' Killing Circle and we can be a dangerous bunch of gals.

Two more events are on the Dec. schedule. The first is the Merry Mystery evening at Sleuth of Baker Street, 907 Millwood Rd. in Toronto on Sat. Dec. 1, 5-7 p.m. The second is at Books on Beechwood in Ottawa, 35 Beechwood, on Thurs., Dec. 13, 6-8 p.m. for Murder, Mayhem and Mistletoe. Both will feature six mystery authors signing and schmoozing...a great way to stock up for Christmas giving.

Hectic is one way to describe it all. A blast, is another. Hope to see you at one of these. The Ottawa launch is Tues. Dec. 4, 7-9 p.m. at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington St., Room A. There will be refreshments, a donation wine bar by the Friends of Library and Archives, and books for sale by Books on Beechwood.

We'll have the murder, mayhem and mysteries...sorry, no mistletoe.

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

READ and BURIED,
Berkley Prime Crime,now available
A KILLER READ
also available
www.erikachase.com

CRIME ON MY MIND

Let's get downloading...

Further to Vicki Cameron's post on Wed., which was further to an earlier blog done by me, let's talk a bit more about e-books. We all know how popular it's becoming to turn out an e-book, for fledgling authors and the seasoned ones, too. But how do you launch them when there's nothing to wave around, sell or sign?

We faced that dilemma with the recently published The Whole She-Bang, the short story anthology from Sisters in Crime Toronto, edited by Janet Costello. Of course, we had the lead of the Toronto gals when it came to planning the launch. And, there was a print version available, a print-on-demand.

However, the four of us in the Ottawa area did some humming and hawing before coming up with the idea of a Downloading Launch. I must admit, we weren't original with the thought. But also, we had the ideal location in order to throw such a bash. A branch of the Ottawa Public Library, complete with free Wi-Fi for attendees.

We went through the usual introductions and readings, then came the moment of truth...would most people opt to buy the print copy or would they whip out their e-readers and hook into Amazon or Smashwords to purchase an e-version at just 99 cents? (It's now also available through Chapters for Kobo.) Elizabeth Hosang, one of our authors, was prepared to walk anyone through the logistics but, maybe not so much to our surprise, no one took advantage of the opportunity. They chose the print books instead.

The moral of the story...we can't avoid the electronics, even though I continue to champion print...so what a great way to embrace it. But have those print copies handy, too. And, I've been told, there is a way to sign an e-book...but that would mean I'd have to learn a whole new computer technique. Not this week!

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

A KILLER READ
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
READ and BURIED, coming Dec., 2012, available for pre-order
www.erikachase.com

MAYHEM ON MONDAYS

The “work” side of writing

I’ve always looked at the act of writing words for a living as being two-sided. The first side is the actual creation of something: getting those thoughts down, polishing the prose until it’s right (or as right as you can make it). That’s being a writer.

The second side of the job comes after all this is done. You find and deal with a publisher (with or without an agent), you’re interviewed (hopefully a lot!), and you go out and do book signings and readings. In the past few years blogging, tweeting and maintaining a website have also become part of the your job description. That’s being an author.

I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that the first part of the job is enjoyable. The second part is work.

I’m currently smack dab in the middle of the second part, because my eighth novel, The Fallen One, was released this past week. The launch was on Wednesday at Toronto’s fabled Arts and Letters Club in their Great Hall. For me, it was an extremely nerve-wracking evening and I’d be a liar if I told you there weren’t times getting ready for it where I asked myself why the heck I was putting myself through this. Fortunately, my little soirée was a huge success, all the books were sold, and I think everyone who attended had a good time. I even did, too.

To my mind book launches are important. Cynically, it’s a chance to sell a lot of books at one time, to make a splash, maybe even catch a bit of the media spotlight. The Fallen One’s launch managed to do all those things – well, all except the last part: the media obstinately stayed away. (Sigh...)

Considering how much time and effort go into producing a novel, a launch should be a celebration of the birth of your literary baby. Doesn’t that deserve a party, the best party you can manage?

Having a lot of author friends, I’ve attended a lot of book launches. Usually, they’re pretty lame events, truth be told. You ask fellow authors, family and friends to come to a bookstore or a bar or possibly a library. Some cheese is consumed, washed down by a glass or two of wine or beer. A speech from the publisher is made. The writer speaks briefly, possibly reads. Books are sold (sometimes not very many, truth be told) and then signed. Everyone goes home. A few launches I’ve attended have been over in an hour.

That’s sort of pathetic, isn’t it? Here you’ve spent many months creating this work, spent many more waiting for the publisher to spring into action. If you didn’t have a publisher at the start, you might have spent years looking for one. Then you’ve been through the editing process, approval of covers, talking with the promotion department, texting, tweeting, blogging and facebooking, all in an attempt to get the word out about your literary masterpiece. It is exhausting and generally not much fun.

So to all of you, celebrate the birth of a book. If you’re the author, give that thing a huge send off. You deserve a bit party for all you’ve been through. If you’re a publisher, even though you may publish one hundred books a year, make each launch something special. You deserve it – and your author certainly deserves it. And if you’re a reader, attend that launch, support that writer (probably also a friend) and enjoy the event.

After all, even though thousands of books come out every year, the “first evening” of a new book is a special thing.

Rick Blechta is a Toronto writer and musician whose novels have been critically acclaimed because of the depth of their characters and absorbing plots. All feature music of some sort. His current novel, The Fallen One, has opera as its background and features a globe-trotting soprano who has a critical problem: the husband she thought had tragically died in a house fire might not be dead. He might not even be who she thought he was. It is available now in bookstores and online from Chapters/Indigo, and will be available shortly from Amazon and all other electronic outlets on October first. For more information, please visit: www.rickblechta.com

CRIME ON MY MIND

Crime Spree!



There was a crime spree in Ottawa this week! That's the good news out of the capital city.

It started on Tuesday night with the launch of C.B. Forrest's third Charlie McKelvey novel, The Devil's Dust. Sadly, it's the last in the series but what a send-off it got! And just in case anyone in the room was thinking of leaving before buying a
copy (not really likely), the passage read from it had the line-ups forming at the selling table.

The following night, Capital Crime Writers held the final meeting before the summer hiatus, at Collected Works bookstore. The results of the Audrey Jessup Short Story Contest were announced -- honourable mentions, runners-up and a winner -- and then the crowd was treated to readings by these delightful new authors. Other members were then invited to read from works in progress.

My impression is that the business of crime writing is alive and well. I'm sure this can be said in many cities across the country -- established authors launching new books; new writers testing the waters. The future looks bright, if we can find the markets for these talented purveyors of crime.

And, fingers crossed that C.B. Forrest continues on a journey of crime!

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

A KILLER READ
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
READ & BURIED, coming Dec., 2012
www.erikachase.com

CRIME ON MY MIND

The party's over...pass the caffeine!

Wow...what a night! Had such fun at my joint launch with Vicki Delany at the Library & Archives last night. Couldn't believe how quickly the time went. First we were setting up, then signing, talking and reading and then cleaning up. What did that take -- 20 minutes?

Thanks to everyone who attended. It really means a lot to an author to have old friends, for me -- former customers who I'd lost touch with, family and writing colleagues turning out to help celebrate. Because each launch, but especially the launch of your first book, is so special and exciting.

Vicki Delany, ever glamorous in her exotic hat collection, was worth the price of admission! She's such fun to work with on an event. And an old pro, having had ten of these already under her belt! Thanks, Vicki.

Thanks, too to Mary Jane Maffini who also glammed up the event as our MC! Witty and mysteriously adept at ferreting out facts with which to pepper the intros! And thanks, too to the ever-supportive members of The Ladies' Killing Circle!

I'm afraid I can't get my brain working in blog format today so will leave it at this launch wrap-up. Because as we all know, today it's all about back to work. A deadline is looming....aren't they always!

Happy writing and happy launching to those planning their own fetes!

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

A Killer Read
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
Read and Buried, coming Nov., 2012
www.erikachase.com

LADIES' KILLING THURSDAYS

Honouring one of our own.

Today on Ladies’ Killing Circle Thursday, I want to celebrate the Mystery Maven herself. This is a very special week for her.

For nearly twenty-five years, Linda has worked tirelessly on behalf of Canadian mystery writers and readers. She started off by founding a local writers’ group called Capital Crime Writers at a time when there were almost no groups dedicated to this craft. It began with half a dozen members and over the years grew to about eighty, becoming the most productive writers’ group in the city, possibly the country. It is responsible for Ottawa’s huge success as a hotbed of crime (writing, I mean), launching the careers of about twenty published writers. Linda was its first president. In short order she also gathered together the critiquing group that became the Ladies’ Killing Circle, editors of seven successful short story anthologies.

Her love of mysteries, and her understanding of the hurdles faced by new authors and particularly Canadian authors, also led her to buy Prime Crime Mystery Bookstore along with friend and fellow Ladies’ Killing Circle author Mary Jane Maffini. Over the years, Linda welcomed numerous authors for signings in her store, found homes for their books and celebrated their launches. When Mary Jane’s writing demands became too arduous, Linda continued alone, one of only a half-dozen bookstores dedicated to crime in the entire country.

In the twenty years since we began, we LKCers have all had success with our short stories. We have sold stories elsewhere and received numerous Arthur Ellis Best Short Story nominations and awards (including Linda). We have also gone on to success in other writing ventures, three of us as novelists, Vicki Cameron as a YA writer both here and overseas, and Sue Pike as a publisher/ editor of her own anthology, as well as a premiere short story writer. Linda hosted all our launches and supported us throughout, while her own writing aspirations had to take a back seat.

But no more. After ten years of coping with economic crashes, the rise of big box stores and road construction on the store’s street, Linda decided it was time to let her own dreams take flight. She worked hard on a proposal, landed a three-book publishing contract with Berkeley, and began to write the first in her Ashton Corners Book Club series set in Alabama and written under the pen name Erika Chase. As every author knows, it’s a looo-ooong process from first draft to book-on-the-shelf, but that day finally arrived this week. Linda’s debut novel, A Killer Read, was released this week, and will be officially launched at the Library and Archives Canada on April 19.

Even as she worked on her own writing, Linda didn’t abandon her crime writing and reading friends. To replace Prime Crime Bookstore, she launched Mystery Maven Canada, which has quickly become one of the top blogs of, for and about Canadian crime fiction.

But enough of self-sacrifice, Linda. This is your week, and I know that the rest of us LKCers and indeed all your friends in the writing community are thrilled for you. A Killer Read is a fabulous read. Come hell or high water, we will all be there on April 19 to celebrate with you. Congratulations, Linda!



Barbara Fradkin is a child psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. In addition to her darkly haunting short stories in the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, she writes the gritty, Ottawa-based Inspector Green novels which havewon back to back Arthur Ellis Awards for Best Novel from Crime Writers of Canada. The eighth in the series, Beautiful Lie the Dead, explores love in all its complications. And, her new Rapid Read from Orca, The Fall Guy, was launched last May.

LADIES' KILLING THURSDAYS

Not your average book launch

Peggy Blair is my idea of a Renaissance woman. She's a lawyer, a realtor, a visual artist and a mystery writer and her debut novel, The Beggar's Opera, is creating a big buzz in the publishing world.

The early reviews are in and they're darned good. Jim Napier, of Deadly Diversions calls it “a nuanced account of the struggles of two men to comprehend the sudden and unexpected turns in their complex lives. Blair nicely strings the reader along, casting doubt on what’s real and what’s imaginary, while serving up a tale that combines a penetrating commentary on Cuban life with a whodunit full of twists and turns … readers can look forward to following the further exploits of the enigmatic Cuban police detective.”

I've preordered the book and I'm looking forward to reading it but what's really caught my attention is the launch on February 16th at the Orange Art Gallery at the Parkdale Market, Ottawa. This will not be your average book launch. Peggy is known in Ottawa for the terrific parties she loves to throw, so the usual cold canapés and quiet author-reading just isn't in the cards for this shindig. She began planning a month or so ago and she's been sharing her plans on her blog, Getting Published. http://peggyblair.wordpress.com. Have a look. It makes great reading.

She told her publisher, Penguin Canada, that she was planning a Cuban party with authentic food and live Cuban music. Penguin would be able to cover rent for the venue, but where was the money for the food and the music and the cake we'd all been reading about on her blog to come from? Here's where the plot thickens

When Peggy was shortlisted for the Debut Dagger in 2010, she was invited to attend the awards ceremonies in Harrogate, England. She was between jobs at the time and the trip was going to cost more than she could comfortably afford. It was at this point that a community building movement began. She threw a Cuban dinner party for thirty people, asked each guest to contribute $35 and that along with other donations was enough to pay for the overseas flight. It was at this festival that she met Ian Rankin who in turn introduced her to his agent. The rest, as they say, is history.

But back to the launch. When it came time to nail down the details, Peggy's friends came forward again. Because we had stepped up to the Harrogate challenge, we were now stakeholders. We had an investment in the The Beggar's Opera and we needed this launch to be a success. It wasn't just Peggy's party any more it was ours too. Many offered to cook Cuban dishes for the event. Others threw in money to help with other expenses.

Peggy began contacting wine makers and soon had offers for free wine and even a fruit wine tasting. Beau's All Natural Brewing Company will bring the beer and someone else is providing chocolate cigars with the Penguin logo on the band.

Although people are bringing rum cake and opera cake, Peggy had her heart set on a cake in the shape of a 1957 Chevy that she saw on www.cakestudio.ca (seen here) and she found out that Kate Green Cakes from Kempville will duplicate the cake (in red and white) and transport it to the launch for a reasonable fee and a signed copy of the book.

It's amazing what people will do when they catch the spirit of an event. The mayor is coming as is Peggy's city counselor and the MPP for the area. "Will there be speeches?" I asked, when I talked to Peggy yesterday. "No!" said Peggy firmly. "And no author reading either. I just want to take a moment when the musicians are on break to thank everyone for all their help." That's a first in my experience.

Around 120 people have confirmed their attendance which is just about the capacity of the Orange Gallery. I've never heard of people being turned away from the launch of an author's debut book but this may be another first.

Peggy does say in her blog that if you would like to attend, to please contact her. She'll fit you in, I'm sure.


Sue Pike has published a couple of dozen stories and won several awards including an Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Crime Story. Her latest, Where the Snow Lay Dinted appeared in the January issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Sue and her husband and an opinionated Australian Shepherd named Cooper spend the winter months in Ottawa and the rest of the time at a mysterious cottage on the Rideau Lakes.

MAYHEM ON MONDAY

Canadian crime writers rock!

So, this is not Mary Jane Maffini blogging although it is her day. I've given her the day off. Shouldn't a winner get some extra perks? And in case you haven't kept up with the good news, Mary Jane won the Agatha Award for Best Short Story at the Malice Domestic conference this past weekend!

Although being an award winner is not something new for our gal, it is especially exciting since it's an award given out in the U.S., voted on by those attending the conference, so mainly Americans. What an honour in the cosy mystery market! It's like breaking into a new market all over again.

This award is for a short story that appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery magazine, the Sept/Oct issue. Hope you'll give it a read at http:www/themysteryplace.com/ Her two previous awards have been the prestigious Arthur Ellis from Crime Writers of Canada, again in the Short Story category, beginning with 'Cotton Armour', which appeared in The Ladies Killing Circle, the first anthology for the group. For a complete list of her many nominations and wins, visit Mary Jane's website at http:www.maryjanemaffini.ca

And there's more good news! Mary Jane Maffini is short listed for another Arthur Ellis Award, for So Much in Common, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Those winners will be announced in Victoria, B.C. on June 2nd, the night before the Bloody Words conference kicks off.

Wait! There's more celebrating to be done. On Mon., May 9th, at 7 p.m., Mary Jane's latest book in the Charlotte Adams' series, The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder, will be launched along with Vicki Delany's Among the Departed, her new Const. Molly Smith mystery...at the Library & Archives, Sunken Lobby, 395 Wellington St.

What a trip you're on MJ! Congratulations.

And also, congratulations to Louise Penny for yet another Agatha Award for Best Novel. She won for her latest Insp. Gamache mystery, Bury Your Dead. Canadians really rocked at Malice!

Hurray for all Canadian crime writers!


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
Mystery Book Club series coming
April, 2012 from Berkley Prime Crime

LADIES' KILLING THURSDAYS

My new baby is two weeks old today, having burst forth on the scene on April Fool’s Day.

No, not my new puppy, my new book. I feel guilty because until now, I have not even sent out birth announcements. Cedric O’Toole already has enough to feel inferior about, without adding maternal neglect. So I’m going to brag a bit.

The Fall Guy is the first in what I hope will be a new series featuring simple country handyman Cedric O’Toole. It is part of Orca’s Rapid Reads imprint of short, entertaining novels aimed at the busy or reluctant reader. This book is quite different in style, setting and characterization than my Inspector Green novels, and I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to delve into something new, play with an entirely new set of characters and setting. Cedric couldn’t be more different from Michael Green. He lives alone with his dog on a hard-scrabble farm he inherited from his mother, he’s a dreamer and a tinkerer who collects junk in the hopes of scoring the next great invention. He barely made it through high school and finds his tongue tied in knots whenever the spotlight shines upon him. But he’s good with his hands and ekes out a living as a handyman. A perfect way to accidentally stumble upon people’s secrets.

The setting for The Fall Guy is the rural Ontario countryside, dotted with lakes, cedar swamps and craggy Canadian Shield hills. Although serene and beautiful on the surface, it provides plenty of opportunity for trouble, from decades-old grudges between families to simmering tensions between cottagers and locals. I use my own cottage area around Sharbot Lake as the inspiration.

All the Rapid Reads books have a brisk, punchy style that keeps the reader wide awake and turning the pages. But they are big stories in small packages, written with an eye on character and emotional depth. Perfect for a quick read on the deck at the cottage, or on an airplane, or as a refreshing break from the Stieg Larssons threatening to topple your TBR pile. Written by some of Canada’s foremost crime writers, they are well worth a peek at http://www.orcabook.com/rapid-reads.com/

In keeping with Cedric’s style, my launch for The Fall Guy will be unlike any I have had in the past. I have always wanted to throw a party in a pub, and this is my chance. I am teaming up with two other Orca authors, Brenda Chapman, who is launching her own Rapid Reads title The Second Wife and Jeff Ross, who is launching his young adult novel The Drop. We are throwing a party at the Clocktower Brew Pub at 575 Bank Street in the Glebe (Ottawa). There will be pub food, beer on tap, door prizes, and of course, books for sale, courtesy of Books on Beechwood.

So if you live in Ottawa or want an excuse to visit the city during the Tulip Festival, come on down on May 15 between 4 – 6 pm and raise a pint to Cedric.

It’s his day.


Barbara Fradkin is a child psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. In addition to her darkly haunting short stories in the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, she writes the gritty, Ottawa-based Inspector Green novels which have
won back to back Arthur Ellis Awards for Best Novel from Crime Writers of Canada. The eighth in the series, Beautiful Lie the Dead, which explores love in all its complications, is hot off the press.

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

Launch time – almost...

Who was it said that producing a book is a process that makes childbirth look easy? Not a woman, certainly, and most certainly not an actual mother. But writing a book, from the first empty page – or blank computer screen – to the finished manuscript, and then having it shepherded through to a finished product between covers is a sometimes wrenching process; and when not actually wrenching, really difficult and wearying. Well, for this writer, anyway. In just over ten years I have produced three novels; and a half-dozen unfinished works – many hundreds of pages, hard copy and electronic copy both. Stillbirths, I suppose one could call them, if one were being graphically crude – or just criminally evocative. Which, come to think on it, is what I do.

I have friends and fellow writers (most of them female, though) who produce a novel a year; and one notable friend, the uniquely talented Mary Jane Maffini, who produces more than one book per annum, and juggles three different series.

How does she do it? I have no idea. I think the output would be even greater if she could type more quickly, but thus far that’s only a rumour.

Anyway, my third book is about to appear. Yesterday, I picked up five copies of the advance reading copy of Death Of A Lesser Man from my publicist, Taryn Manias. She had been busy all of that day preparing press kits for mailing out to some 60 reviewers in Canada and the US. We will hope for a good outcome. The release date is a month from now, May 15th. The Ottawa launch will happen a few days later. A launch in St. John’s – scene of all three Inspector Stride novels – is a possibility for later in the summer.

On the last weekend in May, as part of the book-promotion process – I will be in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for a luncheon event with the Canadian Library Association as part of their annual meeting. I will be traveling to and from Ottawa with Barbara Fradkin – she of the very successful Inspector Green series – and the aforementioned amazing Mary Jane.

It seems that I will be the lone male writer on the menu for the luncheon, surrounded by homicidal females. And not for the first time in my writing career. It’s been my – and others’ – observation that the crime-writing milieu is almost dominated by the ladies. There is even an organization known as “Sisters In Crime”, and a local Ottawa branch called “The Ladies’ Killing Circle”. (Imagine, if you will, the hubbub that might erupt if there were organizations known as “The Gentlemen’s Killing Circle”, or “Brothers In Crime”.) There is probably some very good explanation for all this. Perhaps MJ and Barbara will enlighten me on the flight to Halifax.

The week after my return from Halifax, I will be winging my way to Victoria, British Columbia, for the annual gore-fest of the Crime Writers of Canada, Bloody Words 2011, June 3-5. The last time I attended that gathering it was held in Ottawa in 2009. On that occasion I chaired a panel on historical mysteries. At the Vancouver conference, I will sit on a panel on “Cold Cases” (perhaps because I come from an island in the North Atlantic where most cases are chilly?); I will also introduce and moderate a session with Barbara Fradkin and Garry Ryan, “Inspired To Murder”. That should be an interesting session, and this time – for once – the males have the female outnumbered, two to one – although Barbara would probably see that only as evening the odds.


Thomas Rendell Curran was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland. His novels are set in the post-war, pre-Confederation Newfoundland of the late 1940’s. His protagonist is Inspector Eric Stride of the Newfoundland Constabulary. (The designation Royal was added to the Constabulary’s title in 1979.) The first, Undertow, was short-listed for an Arthur Ellis Best First Novel Award from Crime Writers of Canada. The second is Rossiter. And the third Eric Stride novel is on its way.