Blog-Letter April 2022

 April 1, 2022

No fooling - it's April!  But if you enjoy pranks associated with this date, keep on reading!

The Spaghetti Harvest - This classic April Fool's Joke from 1957 is still an all-time favourite.

And following in the tradition:

1986 - Le Parisien reported the Eiffel Tower was to be dismantled and re-assembled inside the new Euro Disney Park.

1965 - Denmark Parliament, as noted in a Copenhagen newspaper, passed a law decreeing that all dogs be painted white to improve road safety at night when they could be more clearly seen.

2008 - Canada's WestJet airlines advertised their most spacious overhead cargo bins, and would charge passengers an extra $12.00 to use these 'sleeper cabins'.

2009 - Germany's BMW advertised new 'magnetic tow technology'. This would allow drivers to cut their car engine, and get a free ride by locking onto the car ahead via a magnetic beam.

Liz Here: When I worked in the corporate world, I loved April Fool's Day. The best prank I pulled was when my desk was located outside the small copy room.  I always arrived at work at least an hour before anyone else, so it gave me the perfect opportunity to put my plan into action. I'd prepared signs and put them in place. Over the photocopier I posted an official document from HP, advising that new voice-activated technology had now been installed, and provided instructions on how to 'speak' to the printer.  The best part was as soon as an unsuspecting co-worker began reading the sign, I had my finger on the print button (all of us connected via a network to the printer so I could select 'print' from my own computer).  Priceless to see their face when they commanded "Print" and their copy spit out.

 

 

Pam here! I'll leave the jokes and pranks to Liz.

I promised a review of Ann Cleeves' first novel in a new series. The Long Call. This book was written in 2019 after the success of the Shetland, and  Vera television series. You may have enjoyed the TV series of Jimmy Perez in the arctic weather and the treeless terrain that is Shetland out in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland. Or VERA, entertaining us in her quirky ways in Northumberland and Tyneside in the north of England. 

This new series takes us to North Devon. It's not an area I'm familiar with but by all accounts, it's a beautiful part of the country. It's not all cream teas and thatched cottages. The Long Call has a new Detective Inspector by the name of Mathew Venn. Cleeves' characterizations in her books are what make them so memorable. And this book doesn't disappoint.

D.I. Venn is mourning his father's death in the Two Rivers region where he grew up. He's working on his first major case since he returned and was totally focused on the body found on the beach. A man was stabbed to death sporting a tattoo of an albatross on his neck. Who is this man? Who hated him enough to end his life? What Mathew found in his investigation was a community with secrets. Deadly secrets.

You will meet the characters that surrounded this man's life. But who ended the life of Simon Walden?

Book #2 The Heron's Cry is now available. I'm looking forward to reading more about DI Mathew Venn.

The Long Call is also a new television series. Let's hope it comes to North America soon.

Liz and I had the pleasure of meeting Ann Cleeves at the Bouchercon conference in Toronto a number of years ago. Ann has been awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger and has over 30 critically acclaimed books to her credit. 

                                                                  

Books, Old and New

I cannot live without books. 

I've always been surrounded by books of all kind. My father, Alister William James, wrote poetry and many articles. 







I cherish his Writers and Artists Yearbook, circa 1974.



My H.G.Wells "The History of the World" volumes are falling apart but still have a place in my many bookcases. Our home always had a set of encyclopedias ( you know, the Google and search engines of the day) and we used the library often.


In 1963,  my boyfriend, (later my husband)  gave me a gift of a copy of NJAL'S SAGA. It was a Penguin Classic costing 5 shillings.

In the introduction, it claims to be the mightiest of all the Icelandic Saga's. It was written by an unknown author in the last quarter of the thirteenth century- somewhere around the year 1280. My copy is brown with age and the front cover has torn off. No, I've never read it. At seventeen I was not so interested in the middle ages. My interests were in the Beatles' latest song. But after thanking him profusely I stashed it in my bookshelf where it has languished for fifty-six years.

 I did read with great delight the latest book from 
Gail Bowen. 
 "A Darkness of the Heart"

The Queen of Canadian Crime fiction is a well-deserved title. I have read many of the Joanne Kilbourn books in this series and you will not be disappointed. As a master storyteller, the tension builds with many references to contemporary Canadian life.
I adore her husband (Joanne Kilbourn's husband) who always has a martini ready for her at the end of the day after she has been out sleuthing. She trained him well! This is Gail's 18th book in this series.


My next author is the irrepressible Ian Rankin.  His latest book in the Rebus series "In a House of Lies". The author of twenty-three books in this series alone, I was expecting Rebus to be put out to pasture. But no, he is now in retirement but still manages to interfere and get himself involved with the cops in the Leith and Gayfield Square police stations. I am always intrigued by his books as he wanders around my home town of Edinburgh and mentions many landmarks and pubs I know well. (Not the pubs so much but I know of them) Gayfield Square police station was a walk away from where I was brought up and my husband was a policeman at Leith station many years ago. This book is a trip down memory lane for me.
An award-winning author, he has done it again with a thrilling story right to the end.

Barbara Fradkin is a fixture as a  Canadian crime writer with her award-winning series featuring Inspector Green. Her new series,  the Amanda Doucette Mysteries are equally compelling. I have just finished Prisoners of Hope. The location is the beautiful Georgian Bay and the Thirty Thousand Islands area of Ontario. An intrepid amateur sleuth, a handsome RCMP boyfriend and some interesting characters make up this mystery and highlight the plight of foreign domestic workers. Oh yes, and a murder. 






The Girls Whispered Murder is the 2nd book in the Izzy Walsh Mystery series. Set in the '50s this cozy mystery is well researched for accuracy and is a fun read. We can look forward to more Izzy escapades from Lynn McPherson in the future.






While working on book three in the Dorothy Dennehy Mysteries, Liz Lindsay and I, as 
Jamie Tremain are looking forward to launching book number two Lightning Strike soon. Date to be determined. 

Check back next week for a few more books and their authors.

Slainte,

Pam

And How was YOUR Monday?

 

Mine started out normally – that is, I really didn't want to get up.  Stayed up a little later than usual Sunday evening in order to watch the première of Louise Penny’s “Still Life”.  Quite enjoyed it, although it’s always a challenge to condense a book with multi-faceted characters into a set time limit.  And I think the Quebec atmosphere was downplayed somewhat, perhaps for future consideration to the American market.  The setting could pass for New England, but was filmed in Quebec, which is where the story plays out.   Loved Inspector Gamache, played by Nathaniel Parker and hope that there will be subsequent episodes based on the rest of the Gamache/Three Pines series.

Back to Monday morning.  Left at the usual time, and began my 40 minute or so trip to work.  Hadn’t gone but five minutes when my car started chugging and no amount of pressure on the accelerator would get it going beyond a crawl.   This as I’m entering a fast paced express-way!  With hazards flashing I managed to creep to the next exit and limp my baby back home.  Nerve wracking with other commuters buzzing past and I’m sure muttering a few comments at my turtle pace.

She’s now been towed to my local garage, where I received the verdict about an hour ago.  Because I’d googled  for the meaning of the dashboard warning light I wasn’t surprised to learn I need a new throttle assembly, along with a fistful of dollars!  Make that a trunkload of dollars.   Now I wait to see if a) the part is available today, and b) if it can be repaired today.   Yes, a day off is nice, but this is not the way I would have chosen it.   I’ll be making up lost hours for the time over the next week or so as well.  

However I’m very grateful this didn’t happen right on the 401 Highway, or at the end of the day coming home. So there’s always a somewhat of a bright side I suppose.   And while I’m waiting for an update on my car I can spend some time reading.  Right now, I’m enjoying Barbara Fradkin’s  “The Whisper of Legends”.

Last Monday’s work day ended with a gas leak in my neighbourhood, here’s hoping by the end of today, THIS Monday will have settled into something resembling normal!

Cheers!

Liz

Theatrics, Food and Sunshine

Another weekend is fast coming to a close.  Lately they all seem to be going by in a blur – so hard to believe it’s May already!   But at last Spring really seems to have taken hold.  Trees have greened overnight and the lawns are sporting their first crop of dandelions. 

And huge congratulations to Louise Penny - THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY has just won the Agatha for Best Mystery Novel in the US!

Hope you managed to catch the excellent interview Pam had with Barbara Fradkin last week – if not, be sure to check it out and see what this successful author has to say.  Another interview is in the works for later this month – the guest to be announced later.

Pam spent most of the day with me yesterday.  We had some business items to discuss and then set aside in order to concentrate on polishing up our 3500 word short story submission.  This afternoon Pam sent our newest tale away to compete with others at August’s Scene of the Crime.

Aside from working hard – and oh how we suffered sitting outside in the warmth of the afternoon – we found time to enjoy a light summery lunch and shared it with two friends as well.  Pam brought along some delicious treats for dessert.   And for break I supplied scrumptious shortbread cookies produced by Sprucewood Brands.  If you haven’t sampled any of their handmade shortbread cookies, you are missing out!

Shortly after Pam’s departure, two of my grandchildren, Makenna and Max, arrived for a sleepover.  Makenna is quite theatrical and I believe she’d do well in that area when she is a little older.  The genes go back to my mother, who was quite the amateur actress in her day.  Several photo albums attest to her various performances in England prior to her settling in Canada after WWII.

This morning, after a good night sleep, we enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast of French toast, bacon and fruit….marvellous way to start the day.

And too nice of a day to spend inside, it was off to the local park for some playtime.  My son and his wife came to pick them up just after noon, by which time they were nicely wound up after a few rounds of pretend sparring and other gymnastic activities!  Sorry about that – no not really.

Which then left a few hours with nothing specific to do – except head for the outside with a book, sunglasses and the complete intention of dozing off – mission accomplished.

And now as the afternoon lengthens and the sun’s rays sink a little lower in the Western sky, I know its time to start gearing up for the week ahead….a bright spot will be the return of a good friend at work who has been away for a few weeks.  It will be good to get caught up on all that’s been happening and even better, to have someone to share lunch with again.

Here’s hoping your week ahead will be full of sunshine and all things good.

Cheers!

Liz

Spring Has Sprung

What a glorious spring day here in south western Ontario. Finally some agreeable weather.  Managed to sit outside on the patio, read a few pages of  Fever Dream by Preston & Child and bask in the comforting warmth of a late afternoon sun.   I might even have dozed off there for a moment or too.  Heavenly!

Pam and I squeezed in a couple of hours on-line earlier, working hard to have our short story all polished up for submission to Scene of the Crime later next month.   Fortunately she is planning on spending a writing day here next Saturday so it will be the time for final touches.   No surprise that having to limit a story to stay within a word-limited guideline makes this exercise quite challenging.

I’ve probably spent as much time on my computer today as I do at work.  First thing today  I needed to wind up this month’s newsletter for work and send it off, and then it was time to review a 45 page document received late yesterday afternoon in preparation for a 9:00 am meeting on Monday.  Welcome to the last minute club!  After that I started working on what Pam had sent until she came online a little later.  Still have a few pages left to review, perhaps we can carve out some time tomorrow.

Sunday afternoon will see my family gather to celebrate my granddaughter’s first communion  - an event I wouldn’t want to miss.  Plus it presents an opportunity for us to gather and catch up on what’s been happening.  Even though we all live with ten or fifteen minutes of each other, lives are busy and schedules rarely mesh.

The delivery of two hundred plus chairs went well Thursday evening.  Out with the old and in with the new.  So far comments on the new seating seems favourable.  With help from a couple other staff working late, we did manage to complete the task in two hours.  As fast as the delivery people offloaded new chairs, we were whipping them to their new locations and moving the line up of old chairs towards the elevator.  Quite the production.

When it was time to leave, a spring downpour was in progress, but the rain felt so good as I walked to my car.  And then I was blessed to see the most magnificent rainbow, brilliant and stretching in a perfect half circle over buildings and highway.  Others at work the next morning commented on it as well.  A fitting end to a very long day.

And a last minute reminder to stay tuned for Pam’s planned interview with Barbara Fradkin here on Monday. You won’t want to miss it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend – Cheers!

Liz

Blame Game

The Groundhog should be shot.  The Groundhog got it wrong. He lied!  Poor groundhog – such responsibility to bear and he can’t even talk!  Never mind that he’s annually disturbed from a nice winter snooze to suit our purposes.  Perhaps this is his payback for years of abuse and who could blame him?  Or perhaps it’s the fault of ever optimistic golf courses announcing they’d be open April 11.  Oh, and the fact that I switched out my winter tires for new all season tires on Thursday would have nothing to do with it either.  For those who live in my neck of the woods I don’t have to explain the lovely weather we’ve endured the past couple of days.  Yesterday morning, I stood in the teeming rain for almost twenty minutes trying to hack off the coat of ice on my car.  Only to sit for the next forty minutes in rain soaked jeans as I took a slow drive to work.

We love to blame don’t we?

But now the weekend has arrived and while it’s still dreary and damp out there I’m happy I can stay put, cozy and warm.  Some chores beckon, but after that, coffee and writing are on the agenda.  Unless it doesn’t happen and then I’ll have to blame the headache pounding away – a coffee and aspirin will hopefully put that to rest in short order.

I spoke of Pinterest last time and yesterday followed a link on Twitter to a commentary on The Creative Penn using Pinterest as a marketing tool for writing and publishing. Some helpful advice there and I’ll see what I can do to incorporate myself and Jamie Tremain into this new found and enjoyable internet tool.  (Time I added the word Pinterest to my computer’s dictionary!)

Enjoyed the day with Pam last Saturday – lunch at Stoney’s was not a disappointment at all!  Then stopped by for a short visit (tea and scones) with my sister and her husband.   And we've diarized May 4 as our next day to hook up -  the plan is to finalize our short story entry for Scene of the Crime.   As well, this week we received back another instalment of review from our CWC mentor, AlisonBruce, so there’s discussion and revising to be done on Body Perfect.  Hoping that Pam and I can do some online chatting later today.

Don’t forget to stay tuned for April 29’s interview between Pam and Barbara Fradkin.   So there’s a reminder and if you miss it, you can’t blame me!

Have a great weekend - and cut the groundhog some slack - he's probably not happy either.

Cheers!

Liz

One Week Past Bloody Words

Hard to believe just a week ago Pam and I were at Bloody Words. I’ve been enjoying all the Facebook chatter this week from attendees – all in all it seems as if everyone had a terrific time.

 We’ve managed one quick get together since then and are getting ready to have another look at the opening of Body Perfect, as well as watching for some other pointers throughout the story to continue the polishing and perfecting progress.  

Pam has read a couple of well-written and timely blogs this past week.  She forwarded them to me and I agreed that they needed a mention. The links for these blogs will go up, but the specific posts are what caught our interest:

Of Bodies and Beginnings by Barbara Fradkin is very apropos for Jamie Tremain and offers encouragement for us, and others writers.

Tuesday Brings Trouble highlights the use of marketing via the electronic tools we have available today.

So its back to the drawing board in a way, but thanks to Bloody Words and the information gleaned there, in addition to making some new connections, we are energized and anxious to get on with it.  My personal challenge is balancing writing (which I love) against work (which is a necessity, but I also enjoy).  Anyone know where I can get a clone?

A muggy damp weekend is in the forecast – perfect for writing don’t you think?

Cheers!

Liz