Since last I wrote the weather has taken a change for the better here in Southern Ontario. Dry, sunny, hot and temperatures in the high 20's. My five day vacation from my work at the bank was spent at the Hilton Hotel enjoying the Bloody Words conference in Toronto. Not to give the wrong impression, I have to tell you I did not stay at the hotel as I am not making the big bucks yet!!!
What a well run conference this was and very exciting to meet many of my favourite authors and listen to them in panel discussions and classes where I could learn some more about the craft of mystery and crime writing. It was lovely to meet others Liz and I had chatted with last year in Ottawa and have them remember us and give encouragement. Many of the attendees do not write but are avid readers and of course without them who would buy the books. They run book clubs and work in libraries and reccomend books they themselves like.
Lots of networking with the passing of cards and book marks. Mystery writers are a friendly group and I talked to journalists and short story writers as well as script writers and film makers. This was the tenth anniversary of the conference so there was a party on the Friday evening and of course the banquet on the Saturday night with Linwood Barclay as MC. He was his usual humourous self and had us all in stiches.
www.linwoodbarclay.com/about.html . I can't wait to read his latest thriller- Never Look Away.
The Canadian guest of honour was the incomparible Giles Blunt. I was very fortunate that the dealers room gave me an uncorrected proof of his latest novel to come out in August called Crime Machine. Those of you who know his work will be glad that John Cardinal is back. http://www.gilesblunt.com/
Deon Meyer was the International guest of honour and he hails from South Africa. He also writes thrillers and the Guardian says "A hell of a thriller" to one of his books called "Blood Safari". That is also on my list. www.deonmeyer.com/bio/bio.html -
I am reading Vicki Delaney's Klondike series at the moment and attended a tea she had recently here in Oakville to promote the books. Very enjoyable.http://klondikeandtrafalgar.blogspot.com/
John Moss has finished his latest Quin and Morgan Mystery. Sorry John I have forgotten the name. Please check his blog for word of a launch date and the name.http://johnmossmysteryblog.blogspot.com/
I had a wonderful dinner companion in R.J.Harlick ( Robin)who writes the Meg Harris mysteries. She was a recent nominee for the Arthur Ellis award for best novel. Her recent book takes place in the Artic and she visited the wondrous Artic to do her research. It is called... "Artic Blue Death". http://rjharlick.blogspot.com/
There were many more authors that deserved to be mentioned like Pamela Callow and Rick Moffina. Rick Bletcha and a young fellow by the name of Stephen Legault who is launching his second book "The Darkening Archipelago" next month. www.coleblackwater.com
I would be remiss if I did not mention my friend Anthony Bidulka who has just brought out his seventh book in the Russell Quant Mystery Series. His books are highly entertaining. Check out "Date with a Sheesha". I know you will enjoy reading them.
www.anthonybidulka.com/home.htm
Now when am I going to find the time to write myself if I have all this reading to do?I usually don't look forward to the first day back at work but I am looking forward to bringing Liz up to date on the happening with the Bloody gang.
I will chat later in the week.
Slainte,
Pam
Showing posts with label Bloody Words conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bloody Words conference. Show all posts
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday is what this day is called in Britain, but they celebrate mothers in March. To all you lovely mummies old and new, have a good day and I hope you are pampered and cossetted and your children make a fuss over over you.
My husband bought me a bottle of my favourite fragrance after I left an empty bottle on the dresser. Nothing subtle about me. I know, I am not his mummy but I did carry his three children for nine months!!! Whine, whine.Still to hear from the children!!
On the writing front I have been polishing the first three chapters of "Body Perfect" and just a few minutes ago received back from Liz her changes and agreement to mine. I will take those to the Bloody Words conference at the end of this month. Liz is not joining me as she is moving to a townhouse a few weeks after, so with the expense and all that moving entails she has decided to stay home and pack boxes. It won't be the same as Liz takes better notes than I do so it is up to me to schmooze and talk my fool head off to everyone, especially agents and publishers.
The is the tenth Anniversary of Bloody Words and there is a party on the Friday night . Saturday wil be very busy with workshops and classes all day and then a banquet at night where they give out the "Boney Pete" award. Sunday after a workshop I have booked a place at the luncheon for "Sisters in Crime" get together.
Cold but sunny day although they are calling for a snowfall!! Hail and heavy rain yesterday. It's early days yet for a summer. That's my excuse to stay out of the garden. Don't want the poor plants to die in a frost.
Talk soon,
Slainte,
Pam
My husband bought me a bottle of my favourite fragrance after I left an empty bottle on the dresser. Nothing subtle about me. I know, I am not his mummy but I did carry his three children for nine months!!! Whine, whine.Still to hear from the children!!
On the writing front I have been polishing the first three chapters of "Body Perfect" and just a few minutes ago received back from Liz her changes and agreement to mine. I will take those to the Bloody Words conference at the end of this month. Liz is not joining me as she is moving to a townhouse a few weeks after, so with the expense and all that moving entails she has decided to stay home and pack boxes. It won't be the same as Liz takes better notes than I do so it is up to me to schmooze and talk my fool head off to everyone, especially agents and publishers.
The is the tenth Anniversary of Bloody Words and there is a party on the Friday night . Saturday wil be very busy with workshops and classes all day and then a banquet at night where they give out the "Boney Pete" award. Sunday after a workshop I have booked a place at the luncheon for "Sisters in Crime" get together.
Cold but sunny day although they are calling for a snowfall!! Hail and heavy rain yesterday. It's early days yet for a summer. That's my excuse to stay out of the garden. Don't want the poor plants to die in a frost.
Talk soon,
Slainte,
Pam
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Summer's here!!
The month of June has been almost a perfect spring month in my books. Sunshine, warmer temperatures and of course some rain. Still cool for sleeping at night, but most days perfect for grabbing lunch at an outdoor patio or backyard deck. But it seems along with summer's official arrival has come the humidity! Couldn't be postponed forever. So to that end I made sure I bought a floor-stand oscillating fan yesterday on the way home from work. No air conditoning in my digs, but I do have ceiling fans and now should be able to keep the air moving around.
We are carefully re-working the opening pages of Madelaine, thanks to the critique we received at Bloody Words, and it does seem to now flow so much better. But at this time of year, so many business and personal events seem to cut into our writing time its difficult to get the task completed!
For me, some recently discovered, and diagnosed, aches and pains are a mild interference to the writing at times as well. Will just have to work around them!
And now another morning's commute beckons; while it is lovely to be able to drive in daylight each morning now that I leave later the drive has lengthened from 50 minutes one way to well over an hour. Obligatory summer road construction and blinding sunshine contribute to the delay - I thought most people would be on vacation by now!
Enjoy the day & Cheers!
Liz
We are carefully re-working the opening pages of Madelaine, thanks to the critique we received at Bloody Words, and it does seem to now flow so much better. But at this time of year, so many business and personal events seem to cut into our writing time its difficult to get the task completed!
For me, some recently discovered, and diagnosed, aches and pains are a mild interference to the writing at times as well. Will just have to work around them!
And now another morning's commute beckons; while it is lovely to be able to drive in daylight each morning now that I leave later the drive has lengthened from 50 minutes one way to well over an hour. Obligatory summer road construction and blinding sunshine contribute to the delay - I thought most people would be on vacation by now!
Enjoy the day & Cheers!
Liz
Monday, June 8, 2009
Home Again
What a weekend! The Bloody Words Mystery Conference in Ottawa ended yesterday and it was terrific. Canada has a blossoming network of superb and masterful crime and mystery writers, worthy of international acclaim they have received! Name dropping will follow shortly. And Pam will be providing some photos.
The flight to Ottawa was less than an hour, or equal to my daily commute to work on the highway each day. We flew with West Jet and it was a good experience - nice to see a company live up to their advertising!
Ottawa weather was sensational and Pam and I took to the streets on Friday. Wandered the Sparks Street mall - with an unplanned visit to a local jewellry store which Pam can tell you about, and then over to the ByWard Market, http://www.byward-market.com/ which was established in 1826.
Stopped into a tea shoppe and enjoyed a delightful pot of Earl Grey and sinfully delicious scones sitting outside in the sunshine, watching shoppers and tourists (hard to tell the difference) pass by.
As we wound our way back to the Marriott we strolled the grounds of the Parliament Buildings, enjoying the scenery and appreciating the fact that we could even get that close to our icon of government and political history. No barricades or guards to impede your walk.
Back to the hotel to get ready for the registration and the start of workshops and panels, but lamenting the fact that we seemed doomed to the Starbucks facility within the hotel, not finding a Tim Horton's coffee shop within easy walking distance! (We are SUCH java connoisseurs!) As well, the hotel was situated in the government area of Ottawa so there is not much business activity after 5 pm...in fact the Starbucks in the hotel closed up at noon on Sunday!
The weekend found us mingling with established authors, newly published authors, and those like us who have finished their work and seek the means and venue to get it published! We received a valuable critique of Madelaine and agreed that the points and concerns raised need attention. So we will need to do some rework and polishing.
Our favourite Canadian author, Louise Penny, had an amazing interview which we sat in on. At the end of the interview Pam went up to Louise, who reached across the table to give her a hug, and then Pam mentioned that I was with her. Louise immediately rose from her seat and came off the podium to give me a hug and say it was wonderful for us to meet! She is a very classy lady...throughout the conference we often ran into her and her lovely husband Michael - in the lobby and the elevators, and she was always quick with a greeting and warm smile.
Other authors we met and listened to on panels include Anthony Bidulka , http://www.anthonybidulka.com/home.php from Saskatchewan. I definitely will be looking for his Russel Quant series! Rick Mofina, http://www.rickmofina.com/ from Ottawa, was also a treat to listen to and I have purchased one of his books, "Six" to read.
And so many of these wonderful writers are also incredibly funny....we attended a "Liar's Panel" first thing Saturday morning and I have not laughed so much in a long time. Great story tellers (of course), their task was to answer questions posed by the moderator and then the audience had to determine if they were telling the truth or not...all in aid of fundraising for literacy awareness. If their story was true, the attendee had to cough up a loonie ($1 dollar coin), but if the author had been rightfully deduced to be fibbing, their penalty was $5 or more. Great fun moderated by another wonderful and very funny Canadian author, Mary Jane Maffini http://www.maryjanemaffini.ca/
The international guest speaker was Denise Mina http://www.denisemina.com/index.htm- again I purchased one of her books. She is from Scotland and was an absolute riot to listen to...can't wait to start reading her work as well. Pam will likely tell you more about Linwood Barclay http://www.linwoodbarclay.com/ and Vicky Delaney to mention a couple.
Saturday evening was the Gala Dinner, good meal, and even better conversations.
The time went far too quickly and as we were checking out of our hotel room, I took one last look out of our 16th floor window. As my gaze wandered over the streets below, I called to Pam and asked her to look at the scene below. "Tell me what you see" I said. Puzzled Pam did so, but wondered what she was looking for. So the first clue - "Look for something red" resulted in her seeing a red car parked on the street. I asked her to look just past that red car; she still wasn't sure what she was looking for....until I pointed out the familiar red and yellow of a Tim Horton's coffee shop! All the time just up the street from the hotel! Obviously our attention to detail needs some fine tuning.
What a wonderful time we had, far too much information to even scratch the surface here, but it was well worth every penny (and lack of Tim's coffee) to be there.
I'll leave room for Pam to add more and look for more links to favourite authors to be added soon.
Cheers!
Liz
The flight to Ottawa was less than an hour, or equal to my daily commute to work on the highway each day. We flew with West Jet and it was a good experience - nice to see a company live up to their advertising!
Ottawa weather was sensational and Pam and I took to the streets on Friday. Wandered the Sparks Street mall - with an unplanned visit to a local jewellry store which Pam can tell you about, and then over to the ByWard Market, http://www.byward-market.com/ which was established in 1826.
Stopped into a tea shoppe and enjoyed a delightful pot of Earl Grey and sinfully delicious scones sitting outside in the sunshine, watching shoppers and tourists (hard to tell the difference) pass by.
As we wound our way back to the Marriott we strolled the grounds of the Parliament Buildings, enjoying the scenery and appreciating the fact that we could even get that close to our icon of government and political history. No barricades or guards to impede your walk.
Back to the hotel to get ready for the registration and the start of workshops and panels, but lamenting the fact that we seemed doomed to the Starbucks facility within the hotel, not finding a Tim Horton's coffee shop within easy walking distance! (We are SUCH java connoisseurs!) As well, the hotel was situated in the government area of Ottawa so there is not much business activity after 5 pm...in fact the Starbucks in the hotel closed up at noon on Sunday!
The weekend found us mingling with established authors, newly published authors, and those like us who have finished their work and seek the means and venue to get it published! We received a valuable critique of Madelaine and agreed that the points and concerns raised need attention. So we will need to do some rework and polishing.
Our favourite Canadian author, Louise Penny, had an amazing interview which we sat in on. At the end of the interview Pam went up to Louise, who reached across the table to give her a hug, and then Pam mentioned that I was with her. Louise immediately rose from her seat and came off the podium to give me a hug and say it was wonderful for us to meet! She is a very classy lady...throughout the conference we often ran into her and her lovely husband Michael - in the lobby and the elevators, and she was always quick with a greeting and warm smile.
Other authors we met and listened to on panels include Anthony Bidulka , http://www.anthonybidulka.com/home.php from Saskatchewan. I definitely will be looking for his Russel Quant series! Rick Mofina, http://www.rickmofina.com/ from Ottawa, was also a treat to listen to and I have purchased one of his books, "Six" to read.
And so many of these wonderful writers are also incredibly funny....we attended a "Liar's Panel" first thing Saturday morning and I have not laughed so much in a long time. Great story tellers (of course), their task was to answer questions posed by the moderator and then the audience had to determine if they were telling the truth or not...all in aid of fundraising for literacy awareness. If their story was true, the attendee had to cough up a loonie ($1 dollar coin), but if the author had been rightfully deduced to be fibbing, their penalty was $5 or more. Great fun moderated by another wonderful and very funny Canadian author, Mary Jane Maffini http://www.maryjanemaffini.ca/
The international guest speaker was Denise Mina http://www.denisemina.com/index.htm- again I purchased one of her books. She is from Scotland and was an absolute riot to listen to...can't wait to start reading her work as well. Pam will likely tell you more about Linwood Barclay http://www.linwoodbarclay.com/ and Vicky Delaney to mention a couple.
Saturday evening was the Gala Dinner, good meal, and even better conversations.
The time went far too quickly and as we were checking out of our hotel room, I took one last look out of our 16th floor window. As my gaze wandered over the streets below, I called to Pam and asked her to look at the scene below. "Tell me what you see" I said. Puzzled Pam did so, but wondered what she was looking for. So the first clue - "Look for something red" resulted in her seeing a red car parked on the street. I asked her to look just past that red car; she still wasn't sure what she was looking for....until I pointed out the familiar red and yellow of a Tim Horton's coffee shop! All the time just up the street from the hotel! Obviously our attention to detail needs some fine tuning.
What a wonderful time we had, far too much information to even scratch the surface here, but it was well worth every penny (and lack of Tim's coffee) to be there.
I'll leave room for Pam to add more and look for more links to favourite authors to be added soon.
Cheers!
Liz
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sloughing off Slothfulness!
Slothful says she…well here’s my weekend’s activities.
Yesterday saw me off to the bank at 9 a.m. to take care of some paperwork. Then it was off to work for 4 hours of overtime. Sadly the 4 hours made only the smallest of dents in the volume of work awaiting us tomorrow. On Friday I likened the load to us swimming upstream in quicksand. While others have been loaned to us from various departments to help out, it still becomes so overwhelming to think we may never get on top of the volume of applications which need attending to!
I arrived back home just after 3 pm and without hesitation made my own dent…on my couch, where I drifted off almost immediately into blessed slumber! Awoke, took care of several loads of laundry; some vacuuming and dusting also cried out for attention. And then it was more sofa time. When I finally turned on the TV I realized I had been missing out on a Law and Order marathon day! One of my favourite television series, I catch it whenever I can. So after a healthy dose of the fictional workings of what man is capable of inflicting upon his fellow human (or maybe NOT so fictional after all) it was off to bed.
This morning I attended Church, afterwards went for lunch at a favourite restaurant overlooking the water and then back home. Put my laundry away…and wonder of wonders even ironed! In between, I have been tidying up Madelaine…we will be taking the story along on a travel drive when we attend the conference in June so want it in tip top, ready to go, shape. Because of course, surely there will be a connection made and a full manuscript needed at a moment's notice!
And now as Sunday evening draws to a close, the thought of work once again intrudes on all other thoughts. It will be another very busy week, both at work and personally. Never enough hours in the day to get through it all. At least I have started another of my famous lists to prepare for our Bloody Words Conference – what to take and what needs to be purchased!
Well, do have a good week! I’ll be back again, but probably not before my partner. She may feel she has been slothful, but in reality, we all need a good dose of that at times.
Cheers!
Liz
Yesterday saw me off to the bank at 9 a.m. to take care of some paperwork. Then it was off to work for 4 hours of overtime. Sadly the 4 hours made only the smallest of dents in the volume of work awaiting us tomorrow. On Friday I likened the load to us swimming upstream in quicksand. While others have been loaned to us from various departments to help out, it still becomes so overwhelming to think we may never get on top of the volume of applications which need attending to!
I arrived back home just after 3 pm and without hesitation made my own dent…on my couch, where I drifted off almost immediately into blessed slumber! Awoke, took care of several loads of laundry; some vacuuming and dusting also cried out for attention. And then it was more sofa time. When I finally turned on the TV I realized I had been missing out on a Law and Order marathon day! One of my favourite television series, I catch it whenever I can. So after a healthy dose of the fictional workings of what man is capable of inflicting upon his fellow human (or maybe NOT so fictional after all) it was off to bed.
This morning I attended Church, afterwards went for lunch at a favourite restaurant overlooking the water and then back home. Put my laundry away…and wonder of wonders even ironed! In between, I have been tidying up Madelaine…we will be taking the story along on a travel drive when we attend the conference in June so want it in tip top, ready to go, shape. Because of course, surely there will be a connection made and a full manuscript needed at a moment's notice!
And now as Sunday evening draws to a close, the thought of work once again intrudes on all other thoughts. It will be another very busy week, both at work and personally. Never enough hours in the day to get through it all. At least I have started another of my famous lists to prepare for our Bloody Words Conference – what to take and what needs to be purchased!
Well, do have a good week! I’ll be back again, but probably not before my partner. She may feel she has been slothful, but in reality, we all need a good dose of that at times.
Cheers!
Liz
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Morphing
It's a dark,dreich morning and the forecast is for rain all day. After this endless winter we need the rain to clean up the last of the dirty snow and get the bulbs popping. The trees are starting to bud and that's a sure sign of Spring.
The plan today is to answer all those emails in my in-box with red flags and get organized. I have been trying to get my printer and camera working and if I would only take the time to read the instructions...
Liz is planning to spent next w/e with me as we wrap up our baby Madelaine. We will bind two copies for ourselves and have copies made for the agents that are beating down our doors!. I am all for promoting but once we have an agent we will be in a better position to push for publication. We have new business cards that look like bookmarks that are very neat. Our other expenditure is our plan to go to our first conference in June. We will see what the income-tax man says.
My reading on the subject of self promoting is to get out there and let agents and publishers know who you are. We have picked "Bloody Words" , a conference for Mystery readers and writers. This is a genre we both love and one of our favourite authors, Louise Penny is the guest speaker. Networking is the name of the game and to listen and learn. Agents will be on hand to read manuscripts.
Now "Madelaine" is not what you would call a Mystery as we have pegged the genre Mainstream/ fiction or Commercial/fiction. We are still evolving as writers and as our query letter says we are emerging writers . I feel like a butterfly morphing.
I am in discussions with my daughter-in-law Leanne to help with the marketing.
She is on maternity leave from her job and has had a very successful career in Sales and Marketing. Leanne has been busy making contact with people she knows who have published, albeit self publish, and I know she is always full of great ideas.
The conference we plan on attending is in Ottawa at the beginning of June. It will take a chunk of money but I think it is an investment in Jamie Tremain and hopefully we can claim it back on income tax next year. My other justification is that we deserve a treat after two years of writing our Masterpiece!
Work, the one we get paid for, is extremely busy. We moan about it and complain as there are a million other things we would like to be doing. On the other hand so many people are losing their jobs and my heart goes out to them. I have been there and it is demoralizing to be laid off or downsized.
The rain is still hammering on the windows and I am glad I did not wash the windows as I planned yesterday. You don't believe me?The thought crossed my mind for about two seconds as I was scouring out the toilet bowl. Once I sat down for a cup of java and a well deserved rest the thought was gone.
Write later,
Pam
**** The word DREICH is the Scottish vernacular for a dreary wet and miserable day.
The plan today is to answer all those emails in my in-box with red flags and get organized. I have been trying to get my printer and camera working and if I would only take the time to read the instructions...
Liz is planning to spent next w/e with me as we wrap up our baby Madelaine. We will bind two copies for ourselves and have copies made for the agents that are beating down our doors!. I am all for promoting but once we have an agent we will be in a better position to push for publication. We have new business cards that look like bookmarks that are very neat. Our other expenditure is our plan to go to our first conference in June. We will see what the income-tax man says.
My reading on the subject of self promoting is to get out there and let agents and publishers know who you are. We have picked "Bloody Words" , a conference for Mystery readers and writers. This is a genre we both love and one of our favourite authors, Louise Penny is the guest speaker. Networking is the name of the game and to listen and learn. Agents will be on hand to read manuscripts.
Now "Madelaine" is not what you would call a Mystery as we have pegged the genre Mainstream/ fiction or Commercial/fiction. We are still evolving as writers and as our query letter says we are emerging writers . I feel like a butterfly morphing.
I am in discussions with my daughter-in-law Leanne to help with the marketing.
She is on maternity leave from her job and has had a very successful career in Sales and Marketing. Leanne has been busy making contact with people she knows who have published, albeit self publish, and I know she is always full of great ideas.
The conference we plan on attending is in Ottawa at the beginning of June. It will take a chunk of money but I think it is an investment in Jamie Tremain and hopefully we can claim it back on income tax next year. My other justification is that we deserve a treat after two years of writing our Masterpiece!
Work, the one we get paid for, is extremely busy. We moan about it and complain as there are a million other things we would like to be doing. On the other hand so many people are losing their jobs and my heart goes out to them. I have been there and it is demoralizing to be laid off or downsized.
The rain is still hammering on the windows and I am glad I did not wash the windows as I planned yesterday. You don't believe me?The thought crossed my mind for about two seconds as I was scouring out the toilet bowl. Once I sat down for a cup of java and a well deserved rest the thought was gone.
Write later,
Pam
**** The word DREICH is the Scottish vernacular for a dreary wet and miserable day.
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