I had fun this week at the launch of Sarah L. Johnson’s first novel, the apocalyptic Infractus, released by Calgary’s Coffin Hop Press. My name was drawn for one of the door prizes. Winners had to come up to the front of the auditorium and lead the audience in a sing-a-long, with lyrics posted on a giant screen. We drew our prizes from a grab bag of items related to the novel. I won a Holy Bible, autographed by the author. My seatmate got a toy dragon.
The evening will feature a one-on-one conversation between award winning Canadian author William Deverell and Crime Writers of Canada Prairie Director, David Poulsen (Cullen and Cobb Mysteries). William Deverell, a successful trial lawyer and creator of the acclaimed CBC series Street Legal, will also read from his latest Arthur Beauchamp novel, Whipped, and answer audience questions. Throughout the evening western Canadian crime writers Jayne Barnard, Susan Calder, Dwayne Clayden and R.M. Greenaway will announce this year’s Arthur Ellis Awards finalists. The event will be capped off with a 35th anniversary celebration of the Crime Writers of Canada – with cake!
Free. Everyone welcome
Today on the BWL Author BlogSpot I write about my winter getaway to Ottawa and the world’s coldest capital cities. Can you guess which city is #1?
My post today on my publisher’s website is about how I came up with the titles for my mystery novels. 
Happy New Year!
The holiday season was a cold one in Calgary, good for staying inside. I’ll be getting out soon to some writing events, starting with the January 11th launch of Loft 112’s Print(ed) Word Project. My short story “When a Warm Wind Blows off the Mountains” is privileged to be included in this creative and original collection.
Then, on Saturday, Jan 13th, 7:00 pm, I’ll participate in the first Loft Salon featuring artists and writers involved in the project. I’ll read from “Warm Wind” and my artist partner, Sylvia Arthur, will discuss how she turned my story into a work of art.
For more details, visit the Loft 112 Facebook page.
I wish you a happy and healthy 2018.
This year I spent a quiet New Year’s Eve with Will, sipping almond Tequila, playing a few rounds of Phase 10 with our son before he left for his New Year’s Eve party (Will is winning so far), and watching the movie Love Actually for the 3rd or 4th time.
Despite staying up past midnight I woke early this New Year’s Day and plunged into a couple of activities worthy of a new year – sorting through some boxes, throwing out old papers and dragging my blog into 2018.
An email from a friend brought sad news. Author Sue Grafton, author of the Kinsey Millhone ‘alphabet mysteries’ series, died on December 28th, from cancer. Grafton published books with titles ‘A’ is for … to ‘Y’ is for … in her series but was struggling with ‘Z’ during her two years of treatment. Her family says there will be no ‘Z,’ but I hope Grafton found a way for someone to complete her vision.
After my long holiday to Ontario and South America this fall, it was hard to meet the deadline for my regular Books We Love Author Blog Post.
Today I blog about my embarrassing knowledge of South American writers.
On today’s Books We Love Author Blog I discuss my process for naming story characters.
