The Silly Season has begun

The silly season for Canadian crime writers has begun as it does every year at this time. So many events, so many happenings it's hard to keep them all straight. And although it tends to erode my valuable writing time, I find it a fun time of year and love participating in all the hoopla. It's all oriented around National Crime Writing Week, a week sponsored by Crime Writers of Canada(CWC) to showcase Cool Canadian Crime. This year it runs from June 1 to June 8, when the Arthur Ellis awards are given out in Toronto.

On May 30th, the happenings started off with a bang in Ottawa with a CWC event that dared to ask the question "Why is Ottawa a Hotbed of Homicide...writing that is?". With so many crime writers living in or close to Ottawa - over a dozen novelists and as many short story writers - it seemed a natural question to ask. So I, in my capacity as CWC VP for Ottawa and the Eastern Region, posed the question to Peter Clement, author of two medical thriller series, Barbara Fradkin, award winning author of the Insp. Green series, Thomas Rendell Curran, author of the Insp. Stride series and Mary Jane Maffini, award winning author of the Camilla MacPhee series.

The four authors did a masterful job of answering the question and offered many comic moments in doing so from suggesting that the murky waters of the Rideau Canal or Parliament Hill's dimly lit tunnels were perfect killing sites to highlighting the value of a local crime writing association, namely Capital Crime Writers, that has helped foster many emerging writers, myself included, of the mystery genre.

And although only Barbara and Mary Jane use Ottawa as their setting, Peter admitted that many of the locations he uses in his northern New York State based novels are drawn from his childhood growing up in the Ottawa Valley, namely Perth. Even Tom admitted Ottawa had potential as a setting, although it didn't sing to him the same way Newfoundland does. And so he sets his series in the province of his birth. I'm afraid I had to admit the same held for me. I love Ottawa dearly, but what sings to me and what I want to write about is the great Canadian outdoors, namely the endless forests, bottomless lakes and rushing rivers of West Quebec.

We had a great crowd to our event. And I want to offer special thanks to the Ottawa Public Library and Prime Crime, Ottawa's very own mystery bookseller, in helping to make it a success.

Later in the week, on June 1st, Alex Brett and I were interviewed on CKCU's Literary Landscapes radio show. Hosted by consummate broadcaster, Jane Crosier, it offers an insightful glimpse into Ottawa's literary scene. If you live in the National Capital Region tune into 93.1 FM every Thursday, 6:30 pm to 7:00 to find out the latest literary happening.

And this week promises to be even busier. On Thursday, June 8th, in Toronto, the Arthur Ellis Awards will be announced and we have four Ottawa works in the running. Namely for Best Novel, 'Cold Dark Matter' by Alex Brett; for Best Short Story, 'Lightning Rider' by Rick Mofina and 'Plenty of Time' by Melanie Fogel and for Best Non-Fiction, Starlight Tour: The Last, Lonely Night of Neil Stonechild by Susanne Reber and Robert Renaud. So we Ottawans, will be there loudly cheering for the hometown.

Then from Friday through to Sunday, Bloodywords, Canada's great gathering of mystery writers and fans, takes place. I've been going to this conference since its inception in 1999 and find each year more exciting than the last. With Mary Jane Maffini as this year's Canadian guest writer, Stuart Kaminsky as the international guest writer, two tracks of panels and of course the Mystery Cafe, it promises to be no less as energizing. And of course I must not forget the mass book signing at 5:30 on Saturday night.

And I find myself in the august company of Rosemary Aubert, Giles Blunt, and Maureen Jennings on a panel moderated by Louise Penny that will discuss something that is very near and dear to my heart, 'Setting as Character'. As a reader, I love to travel vicariously through a novel's setting. As a writer I want my reader's to experience what I believe makes Canada unique, its boundless wilderness and seasonal extremes. I want my readers to fill their lungs with the cleansing scent of balsam, to feel the icy prick of snow on their faces and to experience the heart stopping jolt of a sudden face-to-face encounter with a bear. But enough said. Come to Bloodywords and learn more about why I think setting is so important to the lifeblood of crime novels.

But the weekend isn't just about Bloodywords. Book Expo Canada is taking place at the same time. So on Sunday I will be signing free copies of DEATH'S GOLDEN WHISPER at 1:30pm at the Crime Writers of Canada table and then from 4:00 pm to 6:00 at the Napoleon Publishing/RendezVous Press reception. So if you're coming to BEC, please drop by and say hello.

And if all this activity isn't enough, on June 16th, back in Ottawa I will be reading from the upcoming Meg Harris, RED ICE FOR A SHROUD at the Canadian Library Conference.

And then wheeyuuu... I can relax. But not for long. The third Meg Harris is calling.

PS. by the way, today is the real life Sergei's birthday. DeMontigny, my giant poodle is 11 years old. And I might as well mention my own momentous attainment of another milestone birthday. And while I was dreading its coming, once reached it's not so bad. I'm healthy, enjoying life and writing. That's what counts. Not how old you are.

And my apologies for such a long, long blog. Gotta make these things shorter.