WICKED WEDNESDAYS

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Scottish mystery author Quintin Jardine celebrated a birthday last week (I won’t tell you which one) and one of the neat things on Facebook is that it automatically reminds you so you can send your friends a birthday greeting. I mentioned to Quintin that financial circumstances have caused me to no longer be able to travel anymore, especially to Bouchercon and as most of you know I ran two of these World Mystery Conventions in Toronto in 1992 and 2004.

He said that he no longer goes to Bouchercon himself anymore because most of the organizers don’t treat the authors with any respect. His actual words were:

“Your great gift as an organiser was to realise that without authors it wouldn’t exist, and that since most of us actually pay our own $199, we deserve a little respect. In my experience, that’s a minority view.”

Running a convention for 1-2,000 people isn’t rocket science. It isn’t even re-inventing the wheel. It’s also not a walk in the park either. OK, no more clichés. What a chairman needs is to surround himself with is about six really smart people willing to work WAY harder than he is prepared to. Each member of this “executive committee” will handle individual departments: programming the panels, autographing room, social events and banquet, booksellers’ room, liaison with the media and registration (now done on-line).

Each of these people in turn recruit people to populate their own sub-committees, people they have to get along with not you. You have contact only with the sub-committee chairs, (the executive committee) and the chain of communication goes both up and down. The main thing that a chairman has to realize is that these conventions run on several different levels all at the same time.

The authors are the stars of the show and they are there not only to participate on panels, sign books and generally ‘be’, they also like to socialize with other authors, meet publishers and their reps, talk to their agents or look for another one and get interviewed by the media. In short, it’s a working convention for the authors and while most of them pay their own expenses through their “company” like James Lee Burke Enterprises” or whatever, some authors get part or all of their expenses reimbursed by their publisher as part of that author’s promotional budget for the year. Agents are looking for new authors. Publishers too. Booksellers are getting books signed and then hopefully sold. The media are scurrying around cornering authors for interviews. All of these people use Bouchercon and other large conventions as working events.

Only the ‘general attendees’, the readers and fans treat Bouchercon as social events only. They are there to listen to panels, get autographs, buy books and generally enjoy the city they’re in, meet with other friends and fans and yet, organizers seem to think that they are the most important part of the convention. While without attendees Bouchercon and other conventions wouldn’t exist, the key to everybody is the author.

Without the authors there are no books, no publishers, no agents and the media are interviewing each other. So while current economic situations prevent the conventions from picking up the author’s costs, the very least they can do is to give the authors, especially those authors who have considerable backlist, the respect they are due.


Al Navis is the owner of Handy Book in Toronto for the past 28 years, a used and out-of-print independent bookstore. He was chairman and host of Bouchercon: The World Mystery Convention in 1992 and 2004. He has also been on and off Toronto radio for over 30 years. Books are his business and first passion. Other passions are most sports (except basketball), most music (except C&W and rap) and radio. More recently he has gotten back into editing and writing as well as appraising book collections for insurance or for loss.

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

How organic do you want your characters to be?

If someone had asked me that a year ago, I would have answered quickly: As organic

as possible. I want to work with real people moving through my fictional pages.

Now, though, I'm not as sure.

Writing my first novel, Dead Politician Society, my characters were easy to control. They were not layered deeply with complexity like John Irving's or John Le Carre's characters, but I was fine with that; they suited the story. These men and women did exactly as they were told; they stayed well inside the lines of the plot I wanted them to fit into. As a result, I think this book works as a fun, light, logic puzzle.

Writing my second novel, Death Plays Poker, I wanted to continue the series but get deeper with my characters. So I spent more time getting to know the players before thrusting a plot upon them. They struggled a bit – I had to change the plot a few times to accommodate their quirks – but it was nothing I couldn't stay on top of. This book took more work, but I like the way it continues from the first one – a bit deeper, a bit darker, but still fun and light and logical.

So naturally I wanted to push even harder for the third book (still untitled, though it's due at the end of the summer). I wanted to challenge myself to get closer to the writers I most admire (like Irving and Le Carre) for how deeply real their characters can be.

But you know the problem with real people? They don't obey commands so well. These new characters don't seem to care that they're in a series that has to continue to be fun and fast to satisfy readers who enjoyed the first two books. They would rather smoke pot and philosophize than jump into their snowboarding gear and cause havoc and red herrings. But they can't be as dark and brooding as they like. They have to crack jokes and be devious and entertain their audience.

So the question that arises is: Am I pushing the walls of the genre too far out? When you're writing fast-paced crime fiction, how organic do you want your characters to be? Maybe James Bond is flat for a reason – his stories are damn entertaining, and he satisfies his audience time after time. Or is there a way I can keep my characters alive and figure out how to work a tight plot around them anyway?

To answer that, I look at fast-paced crime fiction writers I admire:

Jonathan Kellerman: He gets up close and personal with his characters, and his psychology background shows as he finds ways to layer his characters in very few words. I find myself deeply involved in his stories – they feel real and alive and I can't not turn the pages. His plots are tight, fast, and original each time. (Impressive, because the guy churns out a lot of books.) He can do what I'm aiming to.

Lisa Brackmann: I'm only halfway through Rock Paper Tiger, but from page one, I could feel energy. The story moves fast – she pulls us running along with the protagonist and it's really hard to set the book down. And the characters are even deeper than Kellerman's. I feel like I could meet Ellie for coffee in Beijing and we'd have a million things to talk about. I feel like I could turn on my computer and jump into the online game she's playing. The book is also really fun. I laugh out loud at least three times per page. Lisa can also do what I'm aiming for with this book.

Hilary Davidson: While I wouldn't call The Damage Done fast, because it feels so fluid reading it, the plot moves at a clipping pace and a lot happens. At the same time, I feel like I could meet Lily, drink some wine, and learn from her. That's right: learn from a fictional character. So Hilary can do this, too.

Conclusion: Organic characters can be corralled into a tight, fun, fast plot. I don't have to change genres, and I don't have to turn Clare into James Bond.

So I'll keep wrestling. Maybe I'll miss my deadline, if my characters won't obediently fall into line by the end of the summer. Or maybe I won't achieve that balance with this particular book. But I think it's worth the fight to keep pushing this series in the direction I'd like to

Robin Spano is the author of Dead Politician Society, the first book in a series about a young, hot-blooded undercover cop. This is the closest she will ever come to realizing her childhood dream of being one of Charlie's Angels. She lives in Lions Bay, BC.

MAYHEM ON MONDAYS

Canada Day weekend in my opinion is meant for intense reading in a lawn chair with occasional breaks for socializing, munching on summer foods and watching fireworks. So this weekend was perfect because I decided to open Blink and Caution, by Tim Wynne-Jones. I have always enjoyed Tim’s work. I think he’s a writer for all ages.

Blink and Caution is apparently a young adult novel, but this fairly old adult couldn’t put it down. Blink is sixteen and living on the street to avoid his vicious stepfather and hopeless mother. His current scam scrounging leftover room service breakfasts in an upscale hotel takes a bizarre and dangerous turn when he witnesses three thugs apparently trashing a hotel room. A little fast action nets him a room key, a pile of cash and a Blackberry. Soon the news is full of the kidnapping of Jack Niven, CEO of a controversial mining company embroiled in a legal wrangle with native protestors over a proposed project. Only Blink knows that Jack Niven walked out of that hotel very much in charge of the situation and the thugs. Blink’s response to the frantic calls from Niven’s daughter pulls him into a situation beyond his control.

Caution, on the run from an unthinkable action in her past, is filled with self-loathing and on her own, a girl with courage and edge, streetwise with some surprising skills. She is desperate to escape from her sadistic drug-dealing boyfriend, Merlin, who seems to be able to follow her anywhere. Perhaps in retrospect, Merlin was not the right guy to steal money from. Caution has every reason to get out of Toronto.

When their paths cross (as we know they will) they are drawn into dangerous physical and emotional territory with only each other to rely on. That’s tough when trust doesn’t come easy. Blink and Caution is a satisfying and readable adventure with characters worth caring about. It’s a compelling story, well written. I loved it.

One of the things I value about mysteries is their ability to change the way you view the world. You’ll never look at street kids the same way after this. Too bad all their stories don’t all play out like Blink’s and Caution’s.

For more on multi-award-winning author Tim Wynne-Jones, check out www.timwynne-jones.com


Mary Jane Maffini rides herd on three (soon to be three and a half) mystery series and a couple of dozen short stories. Her thirteenth mystery novel, The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder, which hit the bookshelves this spring, is brimming with names, no two the same.

MYSTERY REVIEW

DIRE THREADS
by Janet Bolin
Berkley Prime Crime

The really neat thing about writing fiction is that you get to make it all up! You can create the ideal village, the perfect job, a great bunch of pals, cute pets,
and a main character who gets to do the things you might want to do and has some of the physical attributes you might long for and of course, has that sexy bit of romance going on in her life.

I'll just bet Janet Bolin had a blast writing Dire Threads!

Willow Vanderling is the owner of a new embroidery store in the village of Elderberry Bay, also known as Threadville. That says a lot right there. Imagine this woman in her late twenties (maybe, we don't know for sure), who escaped the pressures of a high-powered city job, and also the wrath of her ex-boss who she helped put in jail. This is a woman to be reckoned with! She joins her former co-worker and friend in the crafty little village, where most of the stores share a common theme -- well Threadville says it all.

That's the first hook. If you're into any of these dandy crafts, you'll love the notion of this village, along with all the stitching details. Plus, there's an original machine embroidery project tucked in at the back of the book.

The setting is idyllic -- on a Pennsylvania shoreline with the requisite beach within walking distance. A newly-renovated store with an attached basement apartment, also newly renovated and a cute little cottage out back, ideal for renting out. Or finding clues to the murderer's identity. Oh, didn't I mention -- a murder does take place in this sublime locale. And it's Willow's new nemesis -- the zoning commissioner who had dire plans for her Blueberry Cottage. That would give Willow the ideal motive for killing him.

She's not one to go down without a fight, though and she's aided in her sleuthing by her best friend, Haylee and an odd assortment of women, aptly named The Three Weird Mothers. I can picture Bolin laughing out loud as she clothed these women and tangled them up in the plot to prove Willow's innocence. You will have to read the book to enjoy the full effect of her descriptions!

What's a cosy mystery without a touch of romance? And who better to supply it than the delicious renovator. But there's just the hint of the unknown about him, which means Willow has to include him on her list of suspects. But her dogs love him! Tally-Ho and Sally-Forth. Her recently-rescued one-year old pups. The perfect addition to any embroidery shop.

Dire Threads has everything a cosy lover wants in a read! A craftily clever
mystery, an engaging amateur sleuth who leaves you wanting more, a cast of memorable secondary characters, the dogs, the tips and of course...a really fun read.

This is the first book in the Threadville mystery series by Ontario writer Janet
Bolin. Hopefully, we're in for a lot more embroidery projects and adventures!

CRIME ON MY MIND

Hanging out with some cool Canadians...

Happy Canada Day!

What a gloriously sunny day it is, although the humidex may get bit too high later today, for my tastes anyway. Which is part of the reason I won't be joining in the William & Kate lovefest at the Hill. But mostly, it's because of the hordes, already assembling in the early hours.

I'm delighted the Royal newlyweds are celebrating our national holiday with us, here in the capital. But I think I'll stay at home, in my shaded backyard, with some cool Canadians. Reading, that is.

Besides celebrating our nation's birthday, we should also celebrate the wealth of criminally-minded writers that call Canada home. Not only do we have the numbers, we have the talent! And the variety. You can wile away the humid afternoon in quaint but slightly sinister Three Pines, Quebec. Or in Halifax, Victoria or Algonquin Bay. And of course, Ottawa!

You can get some great tips on organizing your home, mixing an alcoholic beverage, or take in a bit of history about Victorian Toronto. Canadian authors will also transport you to Easter Island, Costa Rica or Dublin.

Spend some time with Gail Bowen, Barbara Fradkin, C.B. Forrest, Lou Allin, Joan Boswell, Garry Ryan, R.J. Harlick, Anthony Bidulka, Mary Jane Maffini, Vicki Delany, Kay Stewart, Robin Spano, Pam Callow, D.J. McIntosh, Giles Blunt, Phyllis Smallman, Brenda Chapman, Peter Robinson, John Moss, Tom Heneghan, John Brady, Thomas Rendell Curran, Janet Bolin, William Deverell, The Ladies' Killing Circle, Suzanne Kingsmill, Hilary MacLeod, Donald Hauka...the list goes on and on. I knew I shouldn't start naming names -- I would certainly end up leaving out some very important Canadian mystery authors. No disrespect meant & in no way does that mean they're not on the 'A' list of crime reading. But you can fill in the blanks with your own personal favourites.

The point is...we have some terrific mystery and crime authors and we should wave the flag when it comes to their books. So, Happy Canada Day and Happy Reading!

To find out more about Cool Canadian Crime, visit the Crime Writers of Canada website, http://www.crimewriterscanada.com


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime

LADIES' KILLING THURSDAYS

The Mighty Greenback

Well, we're finally settled in at the cottage. We were late getting here, what with one thing and another: Bloody Words, a couple of book launches and a visit with

grandchildren in California. But I'm here now and although I brought a fully-loaded Kindle as well as a big bag of books from those and other launches, I find myself fingering, sniffing, reading . . . Greenbacks. Now these aren't the American dollars usually associated with that word. The ones I'm talking about are the old Penguin Crime Classics. You know the ones I mean. They're plain and green with a band of white across the middle.

Here's what Penguin Books has to say about them: The first ten Penguin paperbacks were published in July 1935, including the first two Penguin Crime titles: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers and The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie. In those days, all Penguin titles were given a stylish but uniform cover look which was colour coded: orange for fiction, blue for biography, and of course the famous green livery for ‘Mystery and Crime’.

I first started reading greenbacks when I was a child. My mother had shelves of them, both at our home in Toronto and at the old summer cottage on Lake Opinicon. I inherited the ones from Lawrence Park but the summer greenbacks are still lined up

at the old family cottage, owned now by my sister. They're a little moldy, damp and dog-eared from too much reading by too many generations, but they're still there. And whenever I paddle down from the other end of the lake, I end up borrowing one or two of them. It might be one I've read half a dozen times before but I can't resist delving into again. They smell of mildew and mouse and some of the pages are as brown as used coffee filters.

It might be a Michael Innes or a Gladys Mitchell or a Patricia Wentworth. I love those old mysteries with their long descriptive passages and witty conversations. The characters speak in fully formed and grammatically correct sentences and they don't interrupt one another. The clues are cleverly disguised and the detectives are often foppish pedants who can't resist gathering all the suspects together in one room so he (and it was almost always a he) can show the upper classes how clever he's been. You couldn't possibly sell a manuscript like that today. They're far too plot-driven. The characters are stereotypes. The murder methods are contrived.

But I love them. For me they bring back those summer evenings of my childhood when I read them by the light of a coal oil lamp and the whip-poor-wills sang in the distance.

I like my new Kindle and I hope it will serve me well on trips to places where English books aren't readily available. But I never expect to feel the same fondness or nostalgia for it as I do for these old greenbacks.


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.

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

The Good Old Days of Crime Fighting!

When writing yesterday's blog, I got to thinking that crime fighting a couple of decades ago was a much tougher job than it is today. Think about it.

The sleuth didn't have a cell phone with which to call for back-up, phone the perp to see if they were actually home before attempting a little B&E, or a date to cancel that night's romantic dinner because the stake-out went into overtime.

Nor was the sleuth able to do a search on the Internet for background information on the suspect, use Google Streetscape to scope out said suspect's street in search of likely places to park un-noticed, or in the case of police, carry out a nice little scam on unsuspecting scammers.

Think of how much easier today's sleuth has it, when he/she can whip out an IPhone or Blackberry & with the appropriate apps, find a Greek Take-out close by to the stake-out, check what time a movie ends thus know what time the suspect might be leaving the theatre, or find the nearest hospital, if need-be.

And that GPS -- wow! Driving to that warehouse containing the missing storage bins is a breeze. Plus, don't get me started on the wonders of digital cameras.

I think the previous generation of sleuths deserves a lot of admiration and praise. They really had to work hard at getting the bad guys. That is, unless your sleuth was Agent 007. So, do all these techno tools result in a sleuth who is more lazy and perhaps just not quite as smart?

What do you think?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime