AND THE WINNER IS:

For our upcoming anthology, 13 Claws, the Mesdames ran a contest for authors who had never before published a crime fiction story. We had a large number of quality entries so the decision was not easy.

We’re delighted to announce that the winning story is:

NIGHT VISION by Mary M. Patterson

The runners up:

 DANA’S CAT by Rosalind Place

THAT DAMN CAT by Marilyn Kay

All three stories will appear in 13 Claws – and we welcome Mary, Rosalind and Marilyn to a life of crime…writing!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

The Arthur Ellis Award Gala

The biggest annual event for Canadian crime writers, the Arthur Ellis Award Gala, takes place on Thursday, May 25th at the Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm Street, Toronto.

The CWC annual general meeting will be held at 5 pm, followed by a reception at 6 pm. The awards banquet, where the winners of the 2016 Arthurs are announced, will begin at 7 pm.

Tickets are available through Crime Writers of Canada. Contact Vicky Blechta at info@crimewriterscanada.com

The Bony Blithe Minicon

The Bony Blithe Award was created by  Cheryl Freedman and Caro Soles to celebrate the best in Canadian light mysteries. This year’s winner will be announced on Friday, May 26th as part of a new all-day event, the Bony Blithe Minicon.

Caro Soles

Cheryl Freedman

The Bony Blithe Minicon will feature panels, discussion groups, loot bags and good eats. The fun begins at 11 am and runs through to 9 pm at the High Park Club, 100 Indian Rd, Toronto.

The winner of the 2016 Bony Blithe award will be announced over dinner.

Mmes Jane Burfield, M. H. Callway, Melodie Campbell and Rosemary McCracken have already registered and are ready to party! Tickets are available through the Bony Blithe website here.

Publication and Author News

Rosemary McCracken

Melodie Campbell

Big congratulations to Rosemary McCracken! Her story, The Queen-sized Bed, will appear in this year’s Bouchercon Anthology, A Passport to Murder.

And Melodie Campbell’s launch of her latest Goddaughter adventure, the Bootlegger’s Goddaughter, was a smash success. Mel donated all her book sales proceeds for the evening to the Hamilton Literary Council.

The best reward: two formerly illiterate women who had learned to read via the literacy council, read a section of dialogue from Mel’s new book. Mel presented each of the ladies with a full set of Goddaughter novellas .

Lisa De Nikolits

Mme Lisa De Nikolits received exciting news this week: in November she will be the Writer in Residence for Open Book Toronto.

Lisa will focus on 16 Shades of Noir, where together with fellow crime writers, she’ll examine noir crime fiction from its origins to  modern day interpretations.

Events and Readings

M. H. Callway

On Thursday, May 18th, 6:30 pm,. the Mesdames are welcomed back to Mt. Pleasant Library, 599 Mt. Pleasant Rd, Toronto for an evening of crime fiction! Mmes Rosemary Aubert, M. H. Callway, Mel Campbell and Lisa De Nikolits will be reading from their latest books and discussing Canadian crime fiction with mystery fans.

Cathy Astolfo

Cathy Dunphy

On Tuesday, May 30th, 2 pm, the Mesdames pay their first visit to the Beaches Library, 2161 Queen Street East, Toronto. The event was organized by Catherine Dunphy who will be moderating the panel: Catherine Astolfo, M. H. Callway, Lisa De Nikolits and Rosemary McCracken.

More News

And an sneak preview of June – another very busy month. M. H. Callway, Rosemary McCracken and Caro Soles will be attending authors at Limestone Expo in Kingston, Ontario, June 3rd and 4th. Limestone Expo celebrates all genre writing from romance, crime,  fantasy, speculative fiction and horror. This year both Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime will have booths  to celebrate crime fiction.

For more information on registering for Limestone Expo use this link here.