HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR READERS!
Our Mesdames and Messieurs are striding out in the wintry weather and going places with audiobooks, a flurry of stories and novels, our own anthology, readings for your entertainment and the promise of another Bony Blithe Mini-Con.
CONGRATULATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
Mme Catherine Astolfo’s, novel of connecting short stories Auntie Beers, is coming soon to Audible, Amazon, and iTunes! Auntie Beers was practically made for audio. Of course, it takes a talented actress to give just the right flavour of the Irish lilt that Auntie Beers maintained even after living in Canada for a long time. Luckily, Catherine is related to the perfect voice actress. Meredith Henderson (star of Shania: A Life in Eight Albums, among others) is her Belle-Fille. You might be haunted by the stories of life in difficult times, but you will be uplifted by the resilience and love shown by the characters. Of course, being primarily a crime writer, Catherine had to throw in some of those and a mystery as well.
Things to do: go to https://voice123.com/voice-actor/meredithhenderson5 for more information about Meredith’s voice-over work. Things to do: go to https://voice123.com/voice-actor/meredithhenderson5 for more information about Meredith’s voice-over work.
Visit https://www.amazon.ca/Auntie-Beers-connected-short-stories/dp/1772421812, for Auntie Beers in other editions, published by Carrick Publishing.
Go to http://www.catherineastolfo.ca or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Catherine.Astolfo/ for alerts about the release date of the audio version. We know you’ll enjoy listening to Meredith’s unique, captivating voice as she reveals the tales of an Irish immigrant and the Canadian experience.
Mme Sylvia Warsh’s short story, “Polly Wants a Freaking Cracker,” will appear in the next Malice Domestic anthology, Murder Most Humorous, to be published in April.
Mme Melissa Yi has turned her multi-genre talents to romance for the Glengarry Guards hockey romance series. Her novella, Fire and Ice, launches on Kindle Unlimited on January 10th. Fire and Ice: A Cute Small Town Friends-to-Lovers Hockey Romance eBook: Yi, Melissa, Yuan-Innes, Melissa: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
THE 13TH LETTER
The 13th Letter was featured in Joanne Culley’s annual holiday round-up of recommended reads in her column in the Peterborough Examiner last month along with a picture of some of the Mesdames and Messieurs from our launch at Sleuth of Baker Street.
“These entertaining stories are a mix of funny and dark, with plots featuring not only murderers but stalkers, liars, cheats and more.”
Joanne Culley is an award-winning writer and documentary producer whose previous books are Claudette on the Keys and Love in the Air: Second World War Letters. She has written for the Peterborough Examiner for over twenty years.
MORE PRAISE FOR THE 13TH LETTER
Lorie Lewis Ham, publisher of Kings River Life, sent a link to a review of The 13th Letter by Claire Murray. It’s a wonderful review with info on every story in the book! Here’s the link to Claire Murray’s review in Kings River Life Magazine: The 13th Letter By Les Mesdames & Messieurs of Mayhem: Review/Giveaway
MESDAMES ON THE MOVE
The Crime Writers of Canada is hosting another social evening in Toronto on Thursday, January 23rd at Union Social Eatery, 4899 Yonge St. Many thanks to Jass Ajula and Lorne Estleman for organizing. Mmes M. H. Callway and Lynne Murphy plan to attend.
The Ontario Library Association Super Conference takes place at the Toronto Convention Centre from Wednesday, January 29th to Saturday, February 1st, 2025. On Friday, January 31st, at 1:30 pm, the CWC will be presenting new crime fiction publications at Idea Hub. Mme M. H. Callway and M. Blair Keetch will be presenting The 13th Letter to librarians. Also on January 31st, Mme Sylvia Warsh will be presenting her latest book, The Orphan.
Mme Rosemary McCracken will be reading from her first Pat Tierney mystery, Safe Harbor, at The Writers’ Union of Canada’s Ontario Open Mic Night, Tuesday, January 7th at 7 p.m. TWUC members will receive a Zoom link to attend the evening’s readings.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM BONY BLITHE!
The Bony Blithe Mini-Con is back for 2025! They’ll again be at the High Park Club (100 Indian Road, Toronto), home to their last four mini-cons. For 2025, good news: They’re back on the first floor of the club, a fully accessible space.
The event is on Friday, May 9, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Registration is $85, which includes a full day of fun programming, along with lunch plus morning and afternoon nibblies. They also have some surprises in mind for this year’s event, so stay tuned for more info.
They’ll be opening registration later this month. However, if you have any questions or suggestions for panels, drop them a line at info@bonyblithe.ca .
DON’T MISS
Submissions to The Derringer Awards are open from January 1st to 31st. Be sure to read the guidelines carefully. To enter a story, you must have joined the Short Mystery Fiction Society by December 31st. Here is the link: derringerawards.2025@gmail.com
YEAR END REVIEW 2024
Watch out for our Year End Review for 2024 coming in early January! The Mesdames and Messieurs had another stellar year in 2024 and look forward to many more writerly adventures, new publications and conferences in 2025.
Mesdames of Mayhem 