November events

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This month, my main focus is writing, but I have a few events coming up.

On Tuesday, November 22nd, I’ll be reading with two fellow mystery writers at Owl’s Nest Books; I’ll also be signing copies of Deadly Fall at Chapters Shawnessy on Saturday, Nov 19, 12:00-4:00 PM, and Chapters Chinook Mall on Saturday, Nov 26, 1:00-4:00 PM.  Here are the details:    

Partners in Crime
Join us for an evening with three local mystery authors, who will read from their latest novels, which are all set in our own backyard.
Where:  Owl’s Nest Books & Gifts
           815A 49th Avenue SW
          403-287-9557. 
When  Tuesday, November 22nd 2011 at 7:00 pm. 
 
The Authors
Susan Calder, author of Deadly Fall
Linda Kupecek, author of Deadly Dues
Stephen Legault, author of The End of the Line

Deadly Fall by Susan Calder
Paula Savard’s life has stalled. Her lukewarm love life, job as an insurance adjuster and grownup children are more frustrating than exciting. However, she gets more than she asked for when her once best friend, Callie, is murdered while jogging to Paula’s inner-city Calgary home. The police suggest Callie was coming to Paula for help, which is news to Paula since they hadn’t seen each other in ages. Soon, Paula’s suspicions zero in on Callie’s new husband, Sam.

An ill-considered investigation turns personal for Paula when she begins to get close to Sam, but is Sam’s interest a front to trick Paula? Lies begin accumulating. Suddenly, Paula’s not sure who she should protect and who she should fear. As the truth reveals itself, Paula hatches a plan to draw the killer out. The plan’s success would not only allow her to solve the murder, but also give her life a fresh start.
 

Deadly Dues by Linda Kupecek
When former TV star Lulu Malone finds her evil union representative stabbed to death, her first instinct is to run. Unfortunately, the exit is crowded, as she has four actor friends with her. Without much choice, Lulu becomes enmeshed in the real-life detective hunt, one that she has only experienced as an actor on TV. With her life in danger, and her beloved dog Horatio kidnapped, Lulu’s days are filled with threats, thrift store finds, and hindrances by unknown, overweight assailants.

Get ready for the Lulu Malone mysteries, a gutsy new detective series that presents meditations on the life of the artist, in between muggings, murders and mayhem.

The End of the Line by Stephen Legault
It’s the winter of 1884, and five hundred Canadian Pacific Rail workers have halted their push through the Rockies at Holt City, an isolated shantytown in the shadow of the Continental Divide. The men are tired and cold, and patience is as scarce as the rationed food. Then, Deek Penner, a CPR section boss, is brutally murdered at the end of the track. His body is found frozen on the banks of the Bow River.

Durrant Wallace, a veteran of the celebrated March West by the North West Mounted Police a decade earlier, is returned to active duty to investigate the murder. Durrant lost his leg in a gun battle with whiskey traders three years previous, and he struggles with being a Mounted Police officer who cannot ride. When Durrant arrives, Holt City is ripe with possible suspects: illegal whiskey smugglers, spies for rival railways, explosives dealers and a mysterious Member of Parliament who insists on getting his meddling fingers into everybody else’s business. Durrant must use his cunning and determination to discover to identify the killer before he finds his next victim and derails the great Canadian national dream in the process. 

Susan Calder Book Signings:Chapters Shawnessy: Saturday, Nov 19, 12:00-4:00 PM
16061 Macleod Trail SE

Chapters Chinook Mall: Saturday, Nov 26, 1:00-4:00 PM
6455 Macleod Trail SW

Best wishes,

Susan

Sun, Sand & a Writers Festival

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My short story “Freezer Breakdown” will be published in The Best of the Puerto Vallarta Writers Anthology 2012. The book is supposed to come out in time for the Puerto Vallarta Book and Authors’ Festival on Feb 24-26, 2012.  It’s nice to think of my story in that warm place, especially given the story’s title. 

I joined the Puerto Vallarta Writers group last spring after reading a travel article on Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in the Calgary Herald. Author Wanda St. Hilaire mentioned the writers group. A few weeks earlier, a friend who spends half the year in Mexico had told me about the annual PV festival. I was intrigued, having spent one holiday at a PV all-inclusive resort. That week, in addition to lounging by the beach and pool, Will and I strolled the Malecon, hiked up Gringo Gulch, zip-lined and rode a speed boat to a village inaccessible by road. We often talk of returning to Puerto Vallarta some winter for a longer period of time.

A Google search of the festival led me to the Puerto Vallarta writers group website. It invites everyone to join online with no membership dues or requirements such as having any connection to Puerto Vallarta. Most members seem to be English speakers from cooler climates who live or winter in PV, although some members have Latino names. The group meets Saturday mornings at the Los Mangos Library for discussion and writing feedback.

I joined mainly to have a tiny connection to PV, which I felt I’d particularly appreciate during the long Calgary winter.  Plus, I thought, if I ever did return I might like to attend a meeting of the writers group or the festival.

I started getting e-mail postings from group members. One with the subject header “Call for Submissions” caught my eye. The group was planning to publish an anthology.  The requirements were a short story (1,000-5,000 words) and online membership in the group.  You could submit up to two stories, but only the highest ranking one would be accepted. Each story was judged anonymously by 5 or 6 people, some members of the group, some outsiders. “Freezer Breakdown” made the cut.

The anthology is in production now. Its cover image is a beautiful Mexican beach. I’d like to do a warm weather holiday this winter and am thinking of Puerto Vallarta in February.   

The Best of the Puerto Vallarta Writers Anthology 2012 will be available for purchase on Amazon.com. For a list of contributors, visit the Puerto Vallarta Writers Group facebook page.

Back to the Future

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My personal deadline for reaching the midpoint of my novel-in-progress was a trip to Toronto for Thanksgiving weekend followed by a week in Montreal and Kitchener. I made the writing deadline so tightly that I’ve only found time to blog about it now, after returning from the trip. 

This first half of this book is a re-write of the “Summer” Paula Savard mystery I started last fall. It involved changes required to turn “Summer” into the second book of the series. The writing followed the original draft fairly closely until the last four chapters, where I had to rearrange, delete and add large chunks of material. 

Now, I’ve moved into new, unwritten territory. It helps that I developed an outline for the next quarter, except that knowing what’s coming up makes me feel the chapters have been drafted – until I face the blank page and realize I have more to do than I’d thought. 

In the past, I’ve enjoyed writing the second half of novels more than the first.  With the stage set, characters developing and events playing out, the work has usually gone faster as the story rollicks to a close. I hope this happens with my current novel-in-progress – Ten Days in Summer – so I can finish the first draft by my next personal deadline – Christmas.

Alberta authors

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Check out these books by Alberta authors displayed at recent Alberta library conferences by author impresario Susan Toy.http://islandeditions.wordpress.com/library-conferences/

Deadly Fall on Book Club Buddy

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This week I signed up Deadly Fall for Book Club Buddy, a website where readers and authors connect. A photo of Deadlly Fall’scover now appears on the website’s home page. Click to get a description of the story that’s a little different from the one on my website and snippets of reviews and reader comments. 

I subscribed to Book Club Buddy last year. Almost instantly, I won the weekly draw and received a book mailed by one of the site’s authors. I’ll be doing this soon with Deadly Fall. If you subscribe, you might win a copy of the my book or one that interests you offered another week. The site is free to join. www.bookclubbuddy.com
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One Quarter There

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Writing a novel is a daunting task. It becomes more manageable for me if I break the novel into quarters, with each quarter ending at a turning point. I start out with a fuzzy idea of what the first turning point will involve, but know it will be about 80 pages in. Writing toward page 80 feels easier than following that first sentence with a full-blown 320 page plot.

In early August, I started the sequel to Deadly Fall.  This wasn’t a totally new start. I had previously drafted the first half of “Summer,” but wanted to make changes that were significant enough to go back to the beginning rather than continue from where I’d left off. So, this first half feels more like a second draft, while what follows will be all new. I’m calling it Draft 1A.

To reach each turning point, I tend to set personal deadlines. The one quarter mark one for “Summer Draft 1A” was a brief trip to Banff at the end of August. I didn’t quite make the deadline. Calgary’s weather this August was too darn good and I wanted to be out there enjoying it. I tried a few tricks to do that while accomplishing my writing goal: getting up early to write and taking my laptop out to the patio. The first I only managed a couple of times; the latter worked okay, but was better one evening when there was no glare on the computer screen. I made it to the first few pages of my turning point chapter and had to finish it after the holiday, helped by Calgary’s dip into a few bad weather days. 

Now, I’ve entered the second quarter of “Ten Days in Summer”, the working title for the sequel, and Calgary has entered another warm, sunny spell that’s forecast to last until the end of September. My next deadline is a trip to Toronto on Thanksgiving weekend. Enjoying this last burst of summer and meeting that deadline will be a challenge.

Mystery Fiction Night – Sept 30

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On Friday, Sept 30, I’ll be participating in a Mystery Fiction Night with Dave Hugelschaffer and Gordon Cope. Here are the details.

MYSTERY FICTION NIGHT
Shelf Life Books
100, 1302-4th Street SW
Calgary, Alberta
www.shelflifebooks.ca
403 265 1033
Suspense! Readings! Crime! Wine! Murder!
Friday, Sept. 30th
7 – 9 PM
with local authors:
DAVE HUGELSCHAFFER (Day Into Night & Careless Moment)
GORDON COPE (Secret Combinations).
SUSAN CALDER (Deadly Fall)

Check out my other fall events on my updated Events page.