March is coming in like a wild lion with several reading events featuring the Mesdames!
March 19th, Toronto Public Library, Jones Branch, 118 Jones Ave, Toronto, 6:30 PM:
Mesdames Rosemary Aubert, M. H. Callway, Rosemary McCracken and D. J. McIntosh will discuss the challenges for women authors in today’s publishing world.
Rosemary Aubert will be reading from her new book, Don’t Forget You Love Me, the long-awaited follow-up to her award-winning Ellis Portal mystery series. M. H. Callway will read from her newly published debut novel, Windigo Fire, which received a very positive review in the Globe and Mail.
Rosemary McCracken will read from Black Water, the second book in her popular Pat Tierney mystery series and D. J. McIntosh may give readers a taste of her upcoming novel, The Angel of Eden, to be published by Penguin in May.
March 24th, The National Council of Jewish Women has invited Mesdames D. J. McIntosh, Sylvia Maultash-Warsh and Joan O’Callaghan to be the guest presenters their book club. (This is a private event.)
March 25th, SIGNS Restaurant, 558 Yonge Street, Toronto, 6:30 PM:
Mesdames M. H. Callway, Lisa De Nikolits, Rosemary McCracken and Lynne Murphy will have a unique opportunity to connect with deaf and hearing readers at a special event hosted by SIGNS. They will be working with an interpreter while they discuss women in mystery and read from their novels and stories.
This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!
March 30th, Niagara Falls Public Library, 4848 Victoria Ave, Niagara Falls, 2:00 PM:
Mesdames Rosemary Aubert, Melodie Campbell and M. H. Callway are thrilled to be the guest presenters at the event, Tea and Mystery. It will be a delight to meet and answer questions from mystery fans in the Niagara Region and to share readings from their latest crime fiction novels.
March 1 is here at last! With it comes the anxiously awaited Derringer Awards short-list announcement.
We are delighted to learn that two of our very own Mesdames, founder M.H. Callway and author Vicki Delany, are honoured as finalists for these prestigious Short Mystery Fiction Society Awards!
Kudos to Mme M.H. Callway, for her original and highly-unique tale “The Ultimate Mystery”, which was featured in the 2014 anthology World Enough And Crime (Carrick Publishing).
Hats off also to our talented and diverse Mme Vicki Delany for her international mystery Juba Good, honoured in the category for Best Novelette!
by Mme Joan O’Callaghan. Photos by Donna Carrick.
The snow piled up outside, but Madame Rosemary Aubert’s many fans and readers braved the elements to come to Sleuth Bookstore on Millwood Avenue in Toronto, to celebrate the release of her new Ellis Portal novel, Don’t Forget You Love Me.
On hand to share in the celebration were Alex and Donna Carrick of Carrick Publishing, which published Don’t Forget You Love Me. Visitors were treated to real English tea, party sandwiches, fruit, cheese and crackers, and cookies made to look like policemen! Sir Percival, the store’s resident poodle , sporting a new haircut, was also on hand to greet visitors in hopes of scoring a piece of cheese.
Visitors were able to chat with Rosemary, buy the books and get them signed and browse in the wonderful ambience of the mystery bookstore.
We’re thrilled that Rosemary has added another Ellis Portal mystery to the series. Dare we hope for more??
Last Tuesday, February 10th, Mme Vicki Delany launched her new cozy mystery series in her hometown of Picton, Ontario. The temperatures were frigid outside, but Mme M. H. Callway and friend and author, Gail Hamilton, joined the warm crowd at the Picton Public Library to celebrate with her.
Mme Vicki took a departure from her Molly Smith police procedurals and her darker, stand-alone novels to pen By Book or By Crook, the first book in the series set in a lighthouse library on the Outer Banks, North Carolina. The book’s hero librarian, Lucy, has fled her stuffy Boston blue-blood family to find adventure and she certainly does when the odious chairman of her library board is murdered. She sets out to clear her friend’s name and to recover the priceless first edition of a Jane Austen novel, while juggling the attentions of the town’s handsome mayor and the hot detective on the case. And of course she is ably assisted by her clever cat, Charles Dickens!
While we munched down Vicki’s delicious carrot cake, she outlined for us how these cozies are written in a way similar to Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys mysteries. Penguin Obsidian supplied the basic plot, setting and characters, but Vicki as the author had considerable freedom in writing the book. She could even change the identity of the murderer if it made more sense to the plot.
The books are under Vicki’s pen name of Eva Gates. While Penguin Obsidian retains the copyright, Vicki receives royalties as the author.
By Book or by Crook is receiving very positive reviews and is one of Marian’s Picks in the Sleuth of Baker Street newsletter. Mme Mad and Gail cannot wait to read the second book in the Lighthouse Library Series, Booked for Trouble, which comes out this September!
For more reviews and info about the series, check out the webpage: http://www.lighthouselibrarymysteries.com/ . By Book or by Crook is the first of the four – yes, four! – books Vicki will publish this year. It is her seventeenth novel! She heads south again to continue promoting the Eva Gates series later this month. For a complete listing of Vicki’s travels, visit her website: http://vickidelany.blogspot.ca/
This February, Mmes Joan O’Callaghan and M. H. Callway will be representing the Mesdames and their books at West End Studio Theatre’s production of The Mumberley Inheritance. Do join us for a fun evening out at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts!
Here is the blurb from West End Studio: http://www.the-west.ca/
“The traditional melodrama themes are re-worked in a fast paced entertainment romp through the trials and tribulations of Mumberley Manor. England in 1900 – Brother Jack is in Canada trying to find the secret of the Mumberley fortune – father’s gambling debts are in the hands of villainous Marmaduke Mayhem – so what can poor daughter Daphne do but marry Mayhem, leaving Rodney Stoutheart and his stiff upper lip at the vestry door? Rodney disguises himself as Jack – returned from Canada – at the same moment as Jack actually returns. Thus the villain’s attempts to dispose of Jack invariably lead to unfortunate experiences for Rodney. All ends well once the villain has played his death scene (with encores).
PS – Great show to bring children to – there is audience participation booing, hissing and cheering!!”
On February 3rd, Mme Vicki Delany launched the first book in her new cozy series, By Book or By Crook. Set in the Outer Banks of Northern Carolina, in a charming lighthouse library on Bodie Island, our heroine Lucy must recover the priceless first edition of a Jane Austen novel. And solve the murder of the chairman of the library board with the help of her clever cat, Charles Dickens.
Mme Vicki has taken a turn to light side with this her seventeenth novel, writing under the pen name of Eva Gates to distinguish the new series from her police procedurals, Klondike adventure series and gothic thrillers. This is the first of the four – yes, four! – books she will publish this year.
By Book or by Crook, published by Penguin Obsidian, is already getting very positive reviews. It is one of Marian’s Picks in the Sleuth of Baker Street newsletter and Krista Davis, bestselling author of the Domestic Diva Mysteries, praised it in the New York Times, calling Lucy “a delightful and engaging sleuth surrounded by a cast of intriguing characters in an original and unique setting.”
For more reviews and info about the series, do check out the webpage: http://www.lighthouselibrarymysteries.com/
Today Mme Vicki set off on a whirlwind tour of the U.S.A. to promote the series. She will be back in Canada for a reading on Tuesday, February 10th, 7 pm at the Picton Public Library. (Snow date Feb 12th!) For a complete listing of Vicki’s travels, check her website: http://vickidelany.blogspot.ca/
Booked for Trouble, the second book in the Lighthouse Library Series, will be released this coming September.
When I tell people I’m a mystery writer, they picture my life as glamorous and exciting, filled with an endless round of power lunches and research trips to exotic locales. What they forget is that ninety percent of my time is spent hunched in front of the computer, wrestling my characters and plots into submission. A writer’s life can be a surprisingly solitary one.
And that’s where my cats come in. I have eight rescued cats and they bring enormous joy to my life. They spend much of the day with me (when they’re not snoozing or just chilling on the glassed-in sun porch) and their quiet presence is comforting.
You’re never alone when you have a houseful of cats; there’s always someone who needs a pat on the head, a belly rub or a quick snuggle. My cats have very different personalities and I enjoy them all.
Oliver is an aristocratic cat and I could picture him at Downton Abbey, chatting with Lord Grantham in another life. Always dignified, Oliver is keenly intelligent with a somewhat demanding meow. Oliver is a cat who knows what he wants in life (food, attention) and he doesn’t hesitate to let his wishes be known. After all, we mere mortals are here to serve him!
Henry is “my little sociopath.” Henry was a neighborhood cat. People fed him, but never adopted him. When I rescued him, I could see why. I called him “Gladiator Cat,” because he would run into the house for dinner, terrorize my cats and then go racing out the door. It took a great deal of time to tame him. How did I do it? I set the buzzer for twenty minutes every day and devoted that time to Henry. I took him on the porch and brushed him, pet him, played with him and made him feel special. All the while, the other cats were watching through the glass door, wondering why “the evil cat” was getting so much attention. It paid off. Henry’s behavior has improved dramatically.
Eliza and Clyde are resilient cats. Clyde, a beat-up Tom cat, refused to come inside, but brought his pregnant girl friend, a cute little tuxedo cat, for dinner one night. It was bitterly cold and he stood by and guarded her while she ate. I managed to lure her onto the sun porch and she gave birth to five kittens two days later!! Meanwhile, Clyde continued to be on the prowl, but I eventually trapped him and now he is a happy house cat.
Fur-Face, an adorable calico, is one of their kittens—she’s playful and intelligent, first in line at dinner time.
Calpurnia is Eliza’s daughter from a previous litter. She’s a lovely cat with a shy personality. Since she was four months old when I managed to rescue her, she’s semi-feral and I am the only one who can pet her.
I found Oscar outside a neighbor’s house in the pouring rain. The neighbors were away and Oscar was too terrified to let me pick him up. I went back to feed him three days in a row and finally managed to catch him in a beach towel. He loves attention, adores cuddling and seems grateful for his home.
Shadow was curled up in the rain, weak and emaciated, under a bush in the garden. He was starving, missing half his fur and wolfed down two cans of cat food. He looks quite handsome with his lion cut for summer and has such a sweet personality.
All my cats have taught me so much; how to be resilient and get through hard times, how to enjoy simple pleasures like a warm breeze on a sunny day and how to offer unconditional love. And best of all, I never have to spend a lonely hour at the computer, I now have plenty of friendly cats to offer me companionship.
I included two fictional cats, Barney and Scout, in Nightmares Can Be Murder. I thought about giving them magic powers or making them psychic, and then I decided to make them “loveable housecats,” just like my pets.
Mary Kennedy is a licensed psychologist in private practice and the author of The Dream Club Mysteries and the Talk Radio Mysteries. She lives on the East Coast with her husband and eight neurotic cats. Both husband and cats have resisted all her attempts to psychoanalyze them, but she remains optimistic. You can learn more at http://www.marykennedy.net or http://www.cozychicksblog.com where she blogs every Saturday.
Mesdames of Mayhem 