Coming up for air

Finally I have some time to myself. It has been one very busy fall with the release of the next Meg Harris Mystery, RED ICE FOR A SHROUD. What with 3 launches in Ottawa, Mayo QC and Toronto and a whirlwind tour of visiting, I swear, every bookstore in southern Ontario - well not quite, but it felt like it - I'm pooped.

Barbara Fradkin, Rick Blechta and I had a super time on our RendezVous Crime Spree. I put on almost 5000 kilometers on my car. But I tell you with one Chapters Book Store looking much like the next, it got a bit hard at times to remember exactly what city you were in. And I certainly won't miss the many meals of tasteless franchise food. My own cooking never tasted so good.

But it was great fun to meet people who love to read mysteries. And particularly thrilling to have someone say I loved your first book and can't wait to read this next one. I even had one woman race into the St. Catharines Chapters to buy my book after reading the terrific review Margaret Cannon had given the book in that day's Globe and Mail. Turns out she is a professor at Brook University who teaches a course on detective fiction and used my first novel, DEATH'S GOLDEN WHISPER, in one of her classes.

And while the big box bookstores provide the bread and butter, I still prefer the intimate signings at the independents, like A Mysterious Affair in Waterloo, Ont. or As The Plot Thickens in Kingston, Ont, two delightful mystery bookstores. And I'll be signing at another this coming Saturday, Prime Crime in Ottawa.

The book tour also gave me an opportunity to visit with friends and family, some of whom I'd not seen in several years, in particular my husband's cousin, Edna. We had a delightful time getting caught up with each other's lives.

I have some photos from the various events, some taken by me, some by others. Check them out.

And the reviews are starting to come in. Mike Gillespie gave RED ICE FOR A SHROUD a super review in the Ottawa Citizen. And I hear tell others are on their way.