Calgary writer and literary historian Shaun Hunter interviewed me earlier this month. She had some interesting questions. In case you missed it, here’s the interview posted in her blog: http://shaunhunter.ca/writing-the-city
Category Archives: News
Planning my book launch – first steps
My new novel, A Killer Whisky, was published in December. For my previous books, I’ve held book launches close to the release date, but December isn’t generally a good month for these events. Booksellers who host launches are busy with Christmas sales and everyone is shopping and attending parties. They find it hard to fit an additional activity into their hectic schedules.
So, I postponed my book launch event to the new year. Due to other commitments from January through mid-March, I’m looking at late March for the party. The period between now and then will be my soft launch and planning time.
The first step is to settle on a venue and date. My local bookstore, Owl’s Nest Books, doesn’t have space in their premises for our hoped-for number of attendees. I’m considering a couple of options and waiting for more information and confirmation of the date.
Next, I’ll plan the launch program. The last few times, I’ve prepared PowerPoint presentations. I enjoy doing them and the 1918 setting of A Killer Whisky provides more scope than my contemporary novels. I’ll discuss Calgary history in relation to the book and show archival photographs as well as photos I’ve taken on my visits to story settings. In the past, I’ve liked inserting readings from the novel along with an image of the scene’s location.
It’s customary at launches to serve wine and light refreshments. I had the idea to shake this up by serving whisky, which is in the novel’s title and plays a large role in the story. But one venue I’m considering makes providing alcohol problematic. So, how about a Prohibition theme with virgin cocktails? Prohibition features prominently in the novel.
Theme is key to a successful launch I learned from a speaker at a writers’ festival last summer. The best launches create a vibe and atmosphere that brings the world of the story alive. Venue, decorations, activities, food, drink, music. I’ll probably stop short of appearing in period dress.
During this short launch time, I’ve lined up some online happenings that build to the actual launch. First up is an interview by my friend Shaun Hunter, a Calgary writer and literary historian. Check out Shaun’s blog today for the interview. http://shaunhunter.ca/writing-the-city
In February, I’m scheduled to appear on BWL author J.Q. Rose’s blog. https://www.jqrose.com/ I’ll also participate in an online discussion with two fellow Sisters in Crime writers in an event called Between the Covers.
I’ll keep my eyes open for other soft launch opportunities during these next two months of planning and preparation that are turning out to be less relaxing than I’d expected.
Happy New Year!
I’m Starting to Plan my Book Launch
On today’s BWL Author blog, I talk about my first steps in planning a launch for my new novel, A Killer Whisky. https://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/
Christmas Celebrations – Mexican Style!
My husband Will and I have developed the habit of spending part of November and/or December in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. During our visits these past four years, we’ve noticed that as soon as the Day of Dead (Nov 1-2) celebrations are over Christmas decorations appear on buildings and streets. We northerners find it a bit jarring to see Santa Clauses in snowsuits and boots, reindeer, and our traditional Christmas trees juxtaposed with palm trees and swimsuits.
No doubt Mexicans display these decorations partly for snowbird tourists, but they seem to enjoy the festivity. Our hotel desk clerk was pleased when I admired the suggestion box she’d creatively decorated. I wonder if part of the appeal is that red, green, and white Christmas colours happen to be the colours of the Mexican flag.
Most Christmas decorations we saw for sale were similar to ones available at Canada Walmart, although occasional stores sold Mexican piñatas. Unfortunately, they were too bulky and fragile for us to bring home in our suitcases to add a Mexican flair to our own Christmas decor.
Mexico is a predominately Roman Catholic country and Christmas is ultimately a religious celebration. From December 1-12 some 400 processions wind through the streets of Puerto Vallarta and culminate at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. These parades commemorate the appearance of the Virgin Mary to the peasant Juan Diego on December 12, 1531. Our hotel organized a procession for staff members and invited hotel guests to attend. They asked to wear white although the dancers appeared in colourful costumes.
The candlelight processions include both Aztec and Christian costumes and motifs, mariachi bands, and singing by all participants (the organizers gave us song sheets). Food stalls filled the park in front of the destination, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.
We found it a beautiful way to welcome the Christmas season. With luck we’ll continue our Mexico habit next year.
Happy Holidays to you!
Merry Christmas – Mexican Style
On today’s BWL Author Blogspot, I write about Christmas celebrations I encountered on my recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. https://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/
Travels Through (Former) War Zones
My new novel, A Killer Whisky, takes place during World War One, and I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the subject for research. The books have made me realize my ignorance about the Great War, as it was called at the time, despite having watched numerous costume dramas set during that era (Downton Abbey springs to mind) and visiting sites on the Western Front during a 2015 holiday in Northern France.
This September, I travelled to Croatia and Slovenia in the former Yugoslavia, which was a battleground for three wars in the twentieth century. A Serbian nationalist set off the First World War when he assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and, as part of the empire, Croatia and Slovenia were conscripted to the side of the Central Powers. Italy joined the opposing Allies and attempted to break through the Slovenian mountains to capture Vienna. The result was 12 Battles of the Isonzo (Soca) River. Italy’s efforts largely failed — the mountainous terrain favoured the defenders — and accounted for half of the Italian military deaths in WWI.
Our September drive through Slovenia took us by the Soca, which originates in the Julian Alps and is one of the world’s rare rivers that maintains its emerald-green colour for its full length. Today, the region is popular with hikers and others who enjoy wilderness activities.
After WWI, the victorious Allies carved Yugoslavia (“Land of the South Slavs”) from the Austria-Hungary empire. When WWII broke out twenty years later, German, Hungarian, and Italian forces invaded Yugoslavia and divided the regions among themselves. A Yugoslav resistance movement emerged led by Josip Broz Tito. After the war, Tito’s communist party (the only party on the ballot) won victory. Tito served as national leader until his death in 1980.
Tito’s former summer home on Slovenia’s beautiful Lake Bled is now a luxury hotel. You can rent an economy room at Vila Bled during this current off-season for about $230 CAD a night including breakfast.
A decade after Tito’s death, ethnic tensions in Yugoslavia erupted into civil war. During our trip, we encountered the most evidence of that war in Dubrovnik, Croatia. In 1991, the fortress on Mount Srd outside the Dubrovnik Old Town became the last stand for this southern part of Croatia against the Yugoslav army, composed of Serbs and Montenegrins.
When they couldn’t capture the fortress, the Yugoslav army bombed and blockaded the Old Town, killing 92 civilians and damaging half the buildings. This map on a city wall marks the property damage.
Most of the damage was reconstructed during the next 30 years. The city’s Sponza Palace features a Memorial Room dedicated to the city’s volunteer defenders who died during the seven-month siege.
The fortress on Mount Srd now contains a museum depicting the war’s events. We overheard a young tour guide point out her father in this photo of the volunteer defenders.
The siege ended when Croatia finally got its army organized and drove out the attackers. Between 1991 and 2008 Yugoslavia became seven separate nations. The ones we visited seem peaceful now, but the war’s history is startlingly recent.
None of this detail appears in my novel, A Killer Whisky, which takes place on the WWI home front in Calgary, Canada. But the war in Europe is a constant presence in the story and my characters must deal with its impacts on daily life, the uncertainties the war creates for their futures, and sudden, unexpected deaths — since the book is murder mystery. A Killer Whisky is also the 12th and final novel of BWL’s Canadian Historical Mystery Series. https://www.bookswelove.net/authors/canadian-historical-mysteries/
My trip to Croatia – the impact of war
This day after Remembrance Day, my BWL blog post is about the impact of war in Croatia, which I visited earlier this fall. https://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/
My Road Trip Through Croatia & Slovenia
In September my husband Will and I flew to Split, Croatia, to visit our son Matt, who is living there for a year. Before leaving, Will plotted a 10-day road trip from Split through mountains, lakes, and charming towns in Croatia and neighbouring Slovenia. Matt took a holiday from work to join us.
Our trip began with a couple of glitches – the long range weather forecast predicted rain and unseasonably cool temperatures and the airline lost our luggage with our warm and waterproof clothing. Our first stop on the drive was the Mall of Split, where we bought rain ponchos, umbrellas, toothbrushes, and spare t-shirts, underwear and socks.
Day two was Plitvice National Park, about three hours north of Split on the scenic mountainous route. We spent six hours at the popular park walking by hundreds of waterfalls and clear, green lakes. The views were awesome and we were comfortable in our five layers of clothes. The rain held off until the end of our walk, but I wore my poncho the whole time for warmth.
The following day, we drove to Slovenia. The highway wound past cornfields and picturesque towns, including Novo Mesto, birthplace of Melania Trump. At Ljubljana airport we were reunited with our luggage, which Split Airport had eventually located and kindly flew to our next destination. Dressed in our warm jackets, we enjoyed an evening walk in Ljubljana’s downtown riverfront cafe area which buzzed with people and activity. It was lovely to see the castle, buildings, and bridges lit up on a dark clear night.
In the morning, we rode the funicular up to the castle that dominates Slovenia’s capital city. The highlight was the tower lookout’s 360-degree views of the surrounding area. The recent precipitation had fallen as snow on the mountaintops, which made the city’s backdrop extra spectacular.
After our Slovenian lunch of sausages and cabbage soup, we had dessert and cappuccinos at the rooftop restaurant in Nebotičnik Skyscraper (12 stories) for more panoramic views until rain chased us into the National Museum of Slovenia. The museum portrayed the history of Slovenian peoples from Neanderthal to the present time.
From Ljubljana, we settled in Lake Bled for three nights. On our first walk, the lake was stunning in the late afternoon light.
In the morning, we walked up to Bled Castle and around the lake. At the far end, we hiked to a viewpoint with views of Bled Island and Bled Castle. The day’s weather was perfect – sunny and high of twenty degrees Celsius (68 F).
On our second full day in Bled, we did a day trip to Vintgar Gorge. Since COVID, the Triglav National Park has set up a system of timed entries and one-way trails to reduce congestion during the crowded summer season. We found the gorge didn’t outshine similar ones in our Canadian backyard, but the return path with views of Bled Castle and valley villages made the trek worthwhile. The park charges 10 Euro per person which includes helmets for protection from falling stones and banging your head on the rocks jutting out from the side of the gorge’s narrow boardwalk trail.
The following day, we set out for the Julian Alps, took a wrong turn, and found ourselves in a five-mile tunnel. Half-way through it, Matt’s phone pinged: “Welcome to Austria.” Oops! Our car rental was only insured for Croatia and Slovenia. At the Austrian end, a lineup of delivery trucks stretched for miles.
To avoid getting stuck in the lineup, Matt found us a route through Austrian villages and a mountain pass back to Slovenia. We stopped at Kranjska-Gora, a resort town that reminded of us of Banff in our home province of Alberta.
For several hours, we drove the fifty switchbacks (they are numbered) up and over the Vrsic Pass. We stopped at viewpoints with vistas of craggy mountains and a Russian Chapel constructed by WWI Russian prisoners of war who built the road. Many died in the process and are buried near the chapel.
Saturday was caves. First we visited Predjama Castle, built in the mouth of a cave. Guiness World Records lists it as the world’s largest cave castle. The original owner was a robber baron who possibly used the 12 miles of tunnels leading into the mountains to hide his booty.
Postojna Cave was massive, impressive, and fun. A 10-minute train ride took us deep into the cave. A guide led us on an hour-long walk through the multitude of formations. The walk ended at aquarium of olm, a cave salamander completely adapted to life in underground water. Since food isn’t plentiful in caves, olm only eat every ten years. Scientists estimate their average lifespan is 68.5 years.
After the caves, we left Slovenia, re-entered Croatia and headed for the coast. Our last days of the road trip were sunny and warm. We took the slow and winding coastal route back to Split, stopping at seaside towns and villages.
.jpg)
The summer-like weather prompted us to swim at one of the numerous beach coves along the coast. Quite a change from our cool, rainy days at the start of our drive and a fabulous finale to our road trip.
Home from a beautiful holiday in Croatia & Slovenia
My BWL Author Insider post today is a photo blog of my September road trip in Croatia and Slovenia. https://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/
Old Time Medicine
When I was a child, I read numerous novels written over a century ago, such as Anne of Gables, Emily of New Moon, and The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery. Characters who got sick in these stories routinely mentioned taking laudanum. I hadn’t heard of this medicine but assumed it was similar to our everyday modern drugs. So I was surprised to later learn that laudanum is essentially opium.
Anne of Green Gables took opium?
She almost certainly did. From the 18th to the early 20th century, laudanum was a common drug found in most household medicine cabinets. People took it for headaches, coughs, diarrhea, and “female complaints.” They fed drops to babies to ease teething pain and colic.
Drawings reveal that the juice and seeds of the opium poppy were used as medicines in ancient Assyria and Egypt. Opium treatment emerged in Europe in the 1660s, when doctors dissolved opium in liquor and added cinnamon, cloves, other spices and sometimes honey to mask the plant’s bitter taste to create a drug they called laudanum. The medicine worked quickly and more effectively than other drugs available at the time and came to feature in about 25 % of all prescribed medications. Opium was also the secret ingredient in 19th century drugs advertised and sold under innocuous brand names like Dover’s Powder and Winslow’s Soothing Syrup.
While doctors appreciated the value of opium, they were aware of the dangers. Overdose, called “acute poisoning,” could be accidental or intentional. Opium was the most common method of suicide in the 1800s and too many drops of laudanum tragically resulted in infant deaths.
Addiction, or “chronic poisoning,” was another problem. Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s medical treatments led to a life-long laudanum addiction. His famous poem, “Kubla Khan,” was inspired by an opium dream.
In the early 1880s, researchers isolated the active ingredient in opium and named it for Morpheus, the Greek god of sleep and dreams. Morphine is ten times as strong as the same amount of opium but can be more precisely measured, preventing overdose. Hypodermic needles were invented to inject morphine powder and soon people could buy hypodermic syringes in the Sears catalogue for $2.00.
Next Bayer pharmaceuticals developed the even stronger heroin and marketed it with its other new drug, aspirin. Some people thought aspirin carried higher risks because it caused bleeding.
But many doctors and members of the public pushed for restrictions on dangerous drugs. In the early 20th century, governments passed laws making opium and its derivatives only available by prescription and requiring companies to list ingredients on drug labels. Researchers gradually developed effective medicines with fewer serious side effects. Laudanum is still available today but is mainly prescribed to control diarrhea when other medications have failed.
Why am I interested in old time medicine? It’s because my new historical mystery novel, A Killer Whisky, deals with common drugs of the early 1900s. These also included cocaine – great for nasal inflammation – and whisky. During Prohibition doctors were allowed to prescribe liquor to relieve stress, pain, and other physical and mental ailments. Many people took advantage of that legal loophole and enjoyed the medicine’s intoxicating side-benefits.
References:
Halpern, John H., MD and Blistein, David. Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World. New York: Hachette, 2019.
Inglis, Lucy. Milk of Paradise: A History of Opium. London: Macmillan, 2019.
Malleck, Dan. When Good Drugs Go Bad. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2015.