Happy Thanksgiving and Halloween Readers!

October is one of the busiest times of the year for authors – and readers. The nights are getting colder, the nights longer: all the better to cozy up with a delicious crime novel.

Word on the Street was a great success this year with the Mesdames back hosting their own table and helping out at the Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime booths.

The Mesdames are racing ahead of the cold fall winds this month with Mmes Lisa De Nikolits’ and Rosemary Aubert’s book launches, several readings and events.

BOOK LAUNCHES!

Be sure to attend Inanna Publications Fall Book Launch No. 3 featuring Mme Lisa de Nikolits at the official launch of her avant-garde thriller, Rotten Peaches.  The event takes place Thursday, October 25th, 6 to 8:30 pm at the Women’s Art Association of Canada, 23 Prince  Arthur Avenue, Toronto, ON. Special guest jazz musician Patrick Hewan will be on hand. Refreshments will be served. Free. For more information about the launch, check out Inanna’s Facebook event.

Rotten Peaches is Lisa’s 8th novel!  It’s received rave reviews already, including kudos from Karen Dionne, the best-selling author of The Marsh King’s Daughter.

Lisa freely admits that her protagonists are nasty people, but she felt compelled to explore what happens when biological half-siblings meet with insidious intentions. Were they born rotten? What further havoc will they wreak upon their families and the world once they join forces?

Lisa continues to thrill us with her disturbing and unforgettable insights into the human condition to create a gripping epic readers can’t put down.

 

And on Tuesday, October 23rd, 7 pm, Mme Rosemary Aubert  invites everyone to attend the launch of her new book Strong, Certain and Alone, Poems in the Voice of Isaac Newton. The event will take place at the Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm Street, Toronto.

Rosemary’s book is a labour of love, the culmination of many years of artistic exploration. Readers may not know that Rosemary began her writing life as a poet (as did crime fiction authors, Peter Robinson and Margaret Atwood). Rosemary used the Toronto poetry scene as the background for her gripping thriller, Terminal Grill.

SHOUT-OUTS AND RECOGNITION!

Huge congratulations to Mmes Cathy Astolfo and Sylvia Warsh whose short stories in 13 Claws are listed as “Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2017” in Otto Penzler’s Best American Mystery Stories 2018.

“The Outlier” by Cathy Astolfo won this year’s Arthur Ellis Short Story Award and “The Ranchero’s Daughter” by Sylvia Warsh was short-listed.  Jack Batten, Toronto Star’s crime fiction reviewer, called “The Outlier” a tale scary enough to frighten Paul Bernardo.  This is HUGE recognition for Cathy and Sylvia, for Carrick Publishing and of course, our anthology, 13 Claws!

 

Congratulations to Mme Rosemary McCracken whose darkly comic short story, “Dining Out,” has been accepted for the Malice Domestic 2019 anthology, Mystery Most Edible. It will be published by Wildside Press. For a full listing of the stories check out the Malice Domestic website.

 

BOOK READINGS AND EVENTS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, October 4th, 5 pm, Mmes M. H. Callway, Melodie Campbell and Rosemary McCracken join authors Lynn McPherson and Dianne Scott in conducting an Unhanged Arthur Workshop for aspiring young writers. The Unhanged Arthur is the nickname for Crime Writers of Canada’s Best Unpublished Mystery Novel Award. All three Mesdames are winners or finalists of Arthur Ellis awards.

Workshop members will be talking about what writers should aim for when submitting to the Unhanged Arthur contest. Deadline for submitting to the 2019 Unhanged Arthur contest, sponsored by Dundurn Press, is coming up on Oct. 15th. Entrants must submit the opening 5,000 words of their completed crime fiction novel AND a 500-word synopsis. The submission rules are here: http://www.crimewriterscanada.com/images/stories/ArthurEllis/Current-Unhanged-Rules.pdf

The workshop includes interviews of the CWC authors, readings and a blue-pencil session with attendees. Location: Jane Sheppard Library, 1906 Sheppard Ave West, Toronto.

On Thursday, October 18th, 6 pm, Mmes Rosemary Aubert, M. H. Callway, Lisa De Nikolits, Rosemary McCracken and Caro Soles will be back at the Mount Pleasant Library to discuss where they get their story ideas, getting published, short story writing and much more. Location: Mount Pleasant Library,  599 Mt. Pleasant Road, Toronto.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also on Thursday, Oct 18th, 7 pm, Mmes Catherine Astolfo, Melodie Campbell and Sylvia Warsh, join authors Karen Blake-Hall, Linda Cahill, Susan Daly and Helen Nelson at Toronto Sisters in Crime for Writing short stories: How hard can it be? Mme Melodie Campbell moderates this powerhouse panel to discuss the whys, wherefores and inspirations for their short stories. And what are the differences from writing longer form? Catherine’s story, “The Outlier”, in our anthology 13 Claws, won the Arthur Ellis Short Story Award. Melodie and Sylvia’s stories have been nominated many times.

The meeting will be held at  the Toronto Public Library, Northern District Branch, 40 Orchard View Blvd (just a block north of Eglinton subway station on Yonge, half a block west of Yonge). Take the elevator in the lobby to the second floor. Everyone is welcome to attend. Please note: a $5 fee is charged for non-members.

On Saturday, October 20th, 9:30 to 2:30 pm, Mmes M. H. Callway and Rosemary McCracken will be book signing and selling at the 28th annual Flamborough Fall Book Fair. Location: St. James United Church, 306 Parkside Drive, Waterdown, Ont.

MORE NEWS!

Our fourth anthology, In the Key of Thirteen, is underway. And the second contest for new authors previously unpublished in crime fiction will open on October 15th with the deadline for submission, March 1, 2019.

Contest rules will be published on our website shortly. Look for our announcement on Facebook and Twitter. All emerging crime fiction authors welcome.

COMING UP ON DEAD TO WRITES

October 1: Interview with true crime author Nate Hendley (The Boy on the Bicycle: A Forgotten Case of Wrongful Conviction) about Ron Moffatt and his wrongful conviction

October 7: Interview with Economist, author and husband Alex Carrick. Reading of “The Madame Lazonga Defense”, by Alex Carrick from Three Scoops Is A Blast, Carrick Publishing, 2010

October 14: Interview with Carolyn Cohagan (Time Zero). Reading by Donna Carrick of “Ghost Protocol” by Angie Capozello, from World Enough and Crime, Carrick Publishing, 2014

October 21: Interview with author Rachael Sparks (Resistant). Reading of “The Canadian Caper” by Mme Rosemary Aubert, from Thirteen by the Mesdames of Mayhem, Carrick Publishing 2013

October 28: Interview with Alison Bruce, (Ghost Writer). Reading of “Family Values” by Mme Sylvia Maultash Warsh, from Thirteen by the Mesdames of Mayhem, Carrick Publishing, 2013