Arthur Ellis Shortlist Event / Shrier Family Reunion

I started planning this event back in March - an almost last minute thing, in the way that AE shortlist events go.  It was the first time I went completely solo, too, at least during the planning and organizational phases.

The goal of the night:  to read the shortlisted nominees for the Arthur Ellis Awards, and to host Howard Shrier as he read from three of his current books.

In terms of turnout, it didn't have quite the penetration rate I was hoping for - but the family of one Mr. Howard Shrier is a dedicated bunch, and they turned out in force.  In fact, not only did Howard's mother and father come out to the event, but even his grandmother braved four flights of stairs, and she's turning 101 years old in a couple of days!

We had a lot of food there, too, and all sorts of drink.  I managed to pick up a couple of boxes of coffee before the event too, and my half-exhausted, half-delirious smile managed to charm a free cup of coffee and a 15% discount out of the manager.  Of course, drinking a medium java from Second Cup in under three minutes, not so good for the already-frazzled nerves, but I'm not one to turn down free coffee. 

In fact, there was so much food that I had to tackle those same four flights of stairs, what, five times?  Stairs:  those are good for the nerves.  Jogging up and down all those stairs, especially loaded down with boxes and bags, they're great for burning off nervous energy.

And yeah, I went a little overboard with the goodies.  Listen, when somebody declines an invitation to an event in Toronto - and flies in that day from Boston by way of Toronto - you go all out.

In terms of how the event went:  there was the original plan, there was plan B (cooked up about four hours before the event), and then, five minutes into the event, the plan went completely out the window.  We did a better job off the cuff anyhow.  And funny enough, I had a lot of people approach me after the event, complimenting me on how well organized it was!  I laughed a lot on the inside.

But there's one thing I will say:  I saw Howard Shrier in Toronto as he read from his latest book, Boston Cream, and I was impressed by his composure.  But this time, watching him read from all three of his books, I was really impressed by his ability to read so fluidly, rarely referring to his own books or notes, as if he had memorized whole pages and rehearsed night after night in front of a mirror.  And when he spoke of the research he had done in the past, and the research he's doing this weekend while he's home in Montreal, he spoke with an enthusiasm and passion that was contagious.

He wasn't on the list this year, but that's only because of a matter of timing.  Boston Cream came out this year, not in 2011, so he didn't qualify for this year.

Nancy Kilpatrick was there.  That darling sweetheart of an angel asked me yesterday morning if she could help in anyway, and boy, did she.  She helped me arrange all the food and drink, and she acted as a semi-co-hostess and everything!  I showed her my shaking hand, and she laughed at me, which, ironically, helped to settle me down.  Considering she's been a past guest of Nine Day Wonder and of Fusion Fiction (a mixed-genre event from a couple of years ago), I'm really indebted to her.

Michael Lorenson was there, too - and he played the part of Vanna White when I introduced the raffle.  He won a copy of Boston Cream - and three or four more of his tickets were drawn after that, but we only let him win once. 

Christopher Huang - a former NaNoWriMo participant and a current FB friend - was also there, and he helped me "fix" the microphone by actually reading the instructions taped to the top of the speaker and clicking the "ON" button for me.  I have no brain when I'm under duress.  I've got to fix that.

Michael Blair was in the audience. - he's been a previous guest of mine in events past, and we've had a few chats here or there too.  During my initial spiel, he corrected me about the origins of Arthur Ellis - it was the pseudonym of the last hangman in Canada, not the first.  And that was a ridiculous error to make on my part, considering I'm the one who wrote the Wikipedia article on the Crime Writers of Canada!

Speaking of which, that went over better than expected!  We raised about $135 for the YMCA literacy programs - so all those funds are going directly into the donations I'll bring up to Muskoka in July.

Through the raffle, we gave away sold several copies of Howard's books.  Howard also "donated" a character in his next book, Miss Montreal.  Unfortunately, I missed the winner's full name, but I believe his first name is Hendry.  So congratulations to him.  Howard also "donated" a five page critique - the lucky winner submits the first 5 pages of a work in progress, and he critiques it.  And funny enough, it was Howard's father who won!

Judith Warne from Libraire Clio and her husband (who I've met at least twice before and still I can't remember his name) - they were there, and they sold a full box of books, so they declared the event a success.  Considering how many members of the audience already had a copy (or two), that's really saying something.

After the event, Michael Blair approached me and said, "You did a great job, but if I could offer you one piece of advice..."

I laughed and asked, "Introduce myself?"  It was about half way through the event when I'd realized I had introduced the Crime Writers of Canada, the Arthur Ellis Awards, the raffle, the agenda and my guest star, but that no one in the office except my Facebook friends knew who I was!

Michael Blair laughed and said, "Well, that, and next time, print off the Arthur Ellis shortlist."

Before I'd left home, I'd written a two page list of things I had to bring, up to and including a change of clothes "just in case" (ask Tracey Webster or Mady Virgona about my recurring wardrobe failures).  I'd printed off the agenda, all the stuff I had to say about AE and the CWC, everything except for the Arthur Ellis awards.  Gah.  The one thing I had to print and actually read off, and I'd forgotten to print it.

Fortunately, a netbook and a handy USB modem saved the day, but it's really tricky to read a list of names from a screen that's only six inches tall.

Otherwise, no lights went out in the middle of our wrap-up, no fire alarms went off, and no one choked on the cookies.  I still wish more people had come out, but at least there were more people than raffle prizes.  I think there were about forty people, maybe?  I went home with fewer bags and boxes of food than I'd arrived with, and people seemed to enjoy themselves throughout.

So, all in all, I think it was a success. 

But I'm telling you: next year, I'm getting someone else to help me with the planning and organization. Doing it single-handedly, especially in a month like this one, especially when I'm working full-time, it's bloody exhausting!  Fun, but exhausting.

Stuff I actually read

For a while last year, I'd stopped writing in my blog - not only because I had little to say, but because I thought it was unfair of me writing more and more material without taking the time to read other blogs.

That said, I'm going to take a moment to post a couple of blogs that I actually read on a regular basis.  That's not to exclude any blogs of any of my friends!  This is a list of blogs I've been reading for six months or better, and doesn't necessarily include those blogs I've started following.

Naturally, I have to mention two of my buds - Tobin Elliott over at Left to Write, and Michael Lorenson at...well...Michael Lorenson, both publishing through WordPress.  Tobin's usually got a laugh or two for us, though you never know when he's going to hit you with some naked and uncomfortable honesty.  And Michael - bless his heart - is trying to write a blog post a day as part of his New Years' Resolution.  So far so good!  And I know, because I've been salivating for the moment when I can pop him in Facebook and tease him for not writing that day.

There are a couple of other blurb-worthy blogs I follow, written by folks I've never met.

Now you have to understand, I'm a slow reader - I find it painful and frustrating.  So if I read something on a regular basis, it must be super interesting!

Graveyard Shift, by Lee Lofland (whose name I always read as "Lee Of Land").  According to his "About" page:

Lee Lofland is a veteran police investigator who began his law-enforcement career working as an officer in Virginia's prison system. He later became a sheriff's deputy, a patrol officer, and finally, he achieved the highly-prized gold shield of detective. Along the way, he gained a breadth of experience that's unusual to find in the career of a single officer. 

I love, love, love reading his stuff, because it helps me to separate out "real" from "TV".  This blog forces me to examine the assumptions I make in my own writing.  Plus, Lofland writes in quick, short bursts on a daily basis.  Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's bittersweet.  But I've never been disappointed.  On Friday, he pays hommage to those who have fallen in the line of duty that week, and sometimes, that's the grounding I need.  It brings a perspective I need:  it prevents me from glorifying gun battles and it prevents me from underestimating the courage of a police officer, or what they put on the line every day and night.

Annie Off Leash is another one I read on a regular basis, though she doesn't write as frequently as either Tobin or Mike.  She actually started following me before I started following her.  I don't know what it is about her style - except to say that when Annie Boreson writes a retrospective on her life, there's something indy-cinematic about her style, as if she writes using Super 8 film.  If there's one thing I really enjoy about her blog, it's that she doesn't write a lot about writing!  And that's something I need to learn to do.

I would be remiss if I didn't add the Crime Writers of Canada National Crime Writing Blog.  If you go there RIGHT NOW you'll find a funny blog post by Melodie Campbell, about firearms and their (mis)use in crime fiction.  If you don't get there in time, follow this link and you can read the same article at your leisure.  This is one of those blogs I should have been reading more often, but haven't been.  Must get back into the habit!

So, like I said, this is just a short sample of some of the blogs I've made a point of reading over the last six months.  This list should grow over the next couple of months, as I add more blogs to the list.

I like reading blogs that are about more than just writing, or being a writer.  Take Graveyard Shift, for an example:  Lee writes about what it's like to be a cop, and about, as a cop, how he reacts to things he sees in the movies or that he reads in crime stories.  I find blogs like this endlessly fascinating - not only because it helps me challenge and improve my own writing, but because it gets me out of my own head and into someone else's for a change.

Feel free to leave your recommendations below!

Swoop and Strike - the Inspiration is Back!

I woke up, and four months had gone by. I barely recall writing my last blog post in August! In fact, it wasn't until I saw my name in this most recent edition of Crime Time, a CWC publication, that I remembered I had a blog at all!

I haven't been away from the writer's arena (though I haven't actually been as close as I would like to have been). I've been to a couple of writer's events, I've been emailing and chatting with other authors, I've been reading (kinda), and November's Fusion Fiction event has never been far from my mind.

But last week, it occurred to me: I used to be a writer. Somewhere in the haze of the last four months, I forgot how much I actually like writing. Not the waiting, the sighing and the wondering about that Big Break, of course - but the actual process of writing.

Think of it. Creative chemicals burble and mingle in the back of your mind, synthesizing and reacting just below the surface of consciousness. The process could take months. It could take mere seconds (as in the case of the Mummer series). It could take seventeen years - as in the case of my latest, Her Poison Voice - which I first wrote as a two-act radio play in 1993. But the process never shuts off. It's palpable, it's frustrating, and it's invigorating.

Suddenly, two ideas fuse together in the atom smasher of the writer's mind - sometimes with a click, sometimes with a crackle, sometimes with a billowing shockwave and a lot of dust.

Then comes the artistic urge. Sometimes it swoops and strikes, assailing its unsuspecting victim with a flurry of scenes and snippets of dialogue and mischievous plot twists. Sometimes, dog-like, it walks alongside, or dashes on ahead at the end of its leash, leaving the writer to run and stumble behind - and often comes to an abrupt and inexplicable stop to sniff some other interest. And sometimes, like a sulking cat, it hides on the top of a bookshelf, out of reach and glaring, aloof and untouchable. But it's always there, watching, teasing, whispering.

And then there are those golden moments when all synapses are alight at once, and the writer's expanding mind encapsulates a complete and animated world. Vivid characters interact with objects tangible only in the imagination; sights, sounds, smells, textures, physical actions and reactions - all become fact in the writer's mind, yet remain just malleable enough to bend to the plotting will.

But imagination is one thing. The true thrill of writing is the ability to take what is in my mind and accurately replicate it in yours, with no other resource at my disposal but the words I chose.

To see the quirk of a smile in the reader's lips as they read that perfect comeback, or to have the reader criticize the characters' decision - as if the character had made the decision himself! - or to have the reader feel a certain sense of homesickness when the book is read and laid back on the shelf - that is the thrill of writing. (Assuming, of course, you're lucky enough to watch someone reading your work.)

The ability to transmit accurately an idea or an emotion and somehow touch another person on a personal level, using nothing more than words...that is what I aspire to achieve. And that's what I've been missing these last few months.

Boy, am I glad to be a writer again!

Crime on a Dime - my first big CWC event

It was my first big event with the Crime Writers of Canada, and it was an adventure, let me tell you!

We advertised the "Crime on a Dime" event through book clubs and writing clubs, through community newspapers, websites, and so forth – and Louise even posted it to her blog, which drew out at least one additional fan. My friend Mady did the flyers, the posters and the community news notifications (plus translations). And I rented a sound system with four mikes, so everyone could talk at once (I hate when you have to share mikes, because then all attention is on the squabble, rather than what’s said). So we were well-prepared.

Unfortunately, we weren’t prepared well enough in advance. We had a turnout of only about 15 people, including the librarian, the janitor, two book sellers and five of my own friends. Michael Blair tried to make me feel better by telling me at one of his own book launches, nobody showed up. (That made me feel great about the event, but a little leary of my own book launches!) Then Louise Penny and Mary Jane Maffini chimed in, telling me the same! How encouraging!

Right before the event, a library tech and I set up the table mikes, the Fender mixer/amplifier and the speakers, and when it came to powering everything up, I discovered there was no power cord for the Fender. I plotzed. Fortunately, the power cord that goes into a Fender is the same power cord you use on most computers or monitors, so he and I ran around the whole library and invaded offices in search of a spare power cord. (Turns out the power cord was hidden in a secret chamber in the Fender case. I learned that the following Monday when the vendor left me an email.)

All three of the authors were great, though. I only had to ask leading questions, and they took it from there. The challenge was for each of them to “sell” me one of their books, because I had put up the money for the sound system and was therefore only able to buy one book from each. They had misunderstood me and thought I could only buy one book, period! Michael picked up one of his books and said “It’s thin and it’s the cheapest on the table!” Mary Jane said, “Well, when money’s a factor, you’ve got to go with quality,” and she held up her own book. Louise looked at the audience, she looked at the other two authors, and then she turned to me and said, “Buy Mary Jane’s book.” They played off each other perfectly.

But during the event, I discovered that writers are immune to my magical middle-management powers. Normally, I can keep a 60 minute meeting to 50 minutes or less. But authors are like train engines. It takes oomph to get them started, and it takes even more oomph to get them to stop! So at quarter to five, I was sweating because out of the corner of my eye I could see itchy hand signals from the librarian, who wanted to close soon. Even after I did my wrap-up comments and thank you’s, Louise Penny, bless her heart, kept asking if there were more questions in the audience, and there always. After hearing all their jokes and a sample of each book, one audience member said, “You guys seem like so much fun, and so well-adjusted! Why do you write about killing people?” Michael sat forward with his hand on the mike stand, and he confided, “Well, you’ve heard what we’ve read, and it really isn’t all that dark!”

At that very moment, all the lights went out.

(It was the fifteen minute warning for the library closing time, but we couldn’t have timed that if we tried.)

So eventually people got up to buy books (the vendor was actually quite impressed – she had more sales that night than she normally did with an audience three times that size), and as I packed, I apologized profusely to all and sundry about the small turn out, and about our lateness getting everything knocked down again.

Then the librarian said, “Oh, you have time. We haven’t closed the library yet. Apparently a little girl was taken from the library and now her mother’s looking for her. We’re waiting for the police to show up.”

“Only during a Crime Writers event,” I thought, “does somebody gets kidnapped from the public library.”

They found the girl a little while later.

Not bad for my first big event, eh?

Day Two - NaNoWriMo, and The Nine Day Wonder

My first NaNoWriMo was in 2007. Tobin and a couple of other friends had flirted with the idea of participating, but me, I hadn't really considered it until Hallowe'en, 2007.

Then, the problem was, I didn't know what I was going to write about. For the preceeding five years, I had been working on a massive project in epic fantasy, and I was losing hope. I'd also just been "sharpening the quill" on a few radio plays, so mystery was fresh in my mind. Other than that, my brain was running on fumes.

So, Halloween night, I tossed myself into bed, giggling at the thought that I was going to launch into this venture. I'd never written a book in such a short time before - especially without having a single idea.

Having decided I was going to work on a new mystery (*toss, turn), I figured I would need a unique character. Deaf? No, that's been done - Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye. (*toss, turn) Confined to a wheelchair! No, that's been done - Ironside. (*toss, turn). He's a drunk! He's a hobo! He's jinxed! He's a red head! He's...he's...He's really a SHE! (*toss, turn...)

Out of nowhere, around 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning (dizzy and tangled in the sheets from all the tossing and turning), it came to me: He has no tongue.

Immediately after that, I thought, I'll call it Mummer's the Word.

Immediately after that: "It would have to be Halloween. I don't know if that helped or hindered." They were the opening words to the story. I heard the voice of the narrator in my head, fully formed, sarcasm intact. I could see him, I could hear him, I could laugh with him - I swore, I could reach out and touch him.

For the next few hours, alternating between fussing and giggling, scene after scene fell in place. I gave up sleep, threw my stuff in my backpack and hit the coffee shop before going to work that morning. After that, the story just kinda...fell out of me.

I wrote over 36,000 words in the first week, and I took a day off. Sarah and Tim (my friends in Ontario) were coming down to visit Sarah's newest nephew on his baptismal day, and I really wanted to finish the story before they arrived. I didn't quite make it. But I did have it finished by the 10th. Sarah and Tim, I swear, are the most patient guests ever to walk through the Hobbit Door.

So, between November 1st and 10th, with one day off, I had Mummer's the Word completed in nine days.

Early December, after I'd done my first edits, I received an email from Invisible Cities Network (an artist's forum here in Montreal), championed by Christina M. It was a notice about the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Awards, and how, for the second time ever, the CWC was going to offer the category for "Best New Unpublished Author". I thought...what the heck.

Who knew by April, 2008, Mummer's the Word would be shortlisted for that category? And by December 31st, 2008, I would have an agent representing the series?

I met up with Christina and some friends late 2008. I had been trying to come up with a good website address to register, but I was coming up blank. I didn't want a website for just Mummer - I wanted it for the Author of Allsorts! More than just mystery, more than fantasy - a page for every major project. I had mentioned to one of my friends there that I had continued writing stories for Mummer - I think I had most of the series done by then, actually. So, knowing I had written Mummer in such a short time, he turned to Christina and told her what I had done. Christina gave me a bit of a smile and said, "You're a real nine day wonder, aren't you?"

I had the title to the website.

Granted, a "nine day wonder" is also a bit of a let down. According to Wikipedia, a "nine days wonder" is a sensational event that evokes widespread interest but is soon forgotten.

So I guess I'm just going to have to update Wikipedia! Nine Day Wonder is the story that is Mummer's the Word.

Paper Bag Radio

Short post today (hooray!) I've written two articles for a newsletter in California (yay! International publicity!) all about radio plays, and the first article is called Paper Bag Radio (after one of the most common props used in OTR)! The newsletter is put out by CCYW - Capitol City Young Writers - an emerging resource for young writers in California. According to the website, "CCYW is sponsored by the English Department at Sacramento State University in CA and Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society." Also from their site:

About Our Nonprofit Organization
Capitol City Young Writers is a national 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring young writers up to and including high school. Our goal is to educate today's youth on the art and craft of writing, so as to encourage their own love of writing. Students are exposed to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, memoir, screenplay, broadcast radio, songwriting, and many other forms of creative writing.

The fearless leader of CCYW is Verna Dreisbach, whom I met in person just back in June, right before Bloody Words 2009 (and I showed her the town - a.k.a. Old Montreal!), and as you can guess by the picture, we had a wonderful time checking out the haute cuisine (and the very well dressed men). Unfortunately, I was also having a very non-cute hair (a.k.a. mullet) day, and Verna - well, she just always looks high class. And tall. Really, really tall. And me, I have to work on my posture. So, not only did she ask me for an article for her newsletters, but she's also helping me draft a proposal for a compendium of plays. We'll see how it goes, but I'm quite excited about branching out! And hey, if you're interested in more information about how she supports young authors, check out the link above. CCYW helps to match up teens with mentors, brings in specialists for workshops, Verna has organized outings to publishing houses - you name it. You should check out some of her success stories! I think it's amazing that some of her protegees are already - ALREADY - landing publishing contracts. Wow. Wow! Where was Verna when I was in school? What a great way to support her community - and even better, what an awesome way to support young minds.