A little surprise for me this morning. Sally Cronin reviews Look the Other Way! Thank you.
Buy link: myBook.to/LTOW
Author: Kristina Stanley
Farley’s Friday: Boot Failure
Farley here,
Can someone send me a design for new boots?
Yesterday, we went snowshoeing. As usual, Kristina tucked my paws into little booties before we left the house.
But look what happened.
Snowballs everywhere. My paws are protected, but my legs and head aren’t.
You might wonder why I have so much snow on my face when I walk on my feet.
Well, I love to rub my nose in the snow.
So really I need new boots and a nose protector.
Woof Woof.
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Mystery Mondays: Madeline McEwen with Guidance, Advice, and Jokes
This week on Mystery Mondays, it’s my pleasure to host author Madeline McEwen. I “met” Madeline when she joined the Imajin Books team this year.
Her novelette, Tied Up With Strings, will be published by Imajin Qwickies on the 11th December 2017. So keep an eye out for it!
Over to Madeline…
Guidance, Advice, and Jokes
By Madeline McEwen
Thanks for the invitation, Kristina. I gave some thought about what to offer your readers: guidance, advice, jokes?
Guidance first–how about that infernal problem—procrastination. Have no fear, I have several solutions whether you suffer from writer’s block or information overload. Both prevent productivity. If you find your time frittered away on social media and frivolous distractions then I am here to help.
Don’t get me wrong, social media is a Godsend to the isolated hermits of this world—the sparks keeping us connected, grounded, and alert to change. However, just like other addictions, moderation if our watchword. Instead, get your Internet fix—your reward–after completing specific, measurable goals. Make yourself a numbered and prioritized list, such as: one hour of writing / editing or 500 words / three loads of laundry / replace the air filter / de-mat the dog.
If you find you’re still dithering, use a paper template to make a 3-D cube, throw the di, and then do it.
Advice: buff your humor muscles as frequently as possible.
Joke: I love “knock knock” jokes, but Debra Purdy Kong got there first.
Here are a couple of mine:-
Who Is Madeline McEwen:
Madeline McEwen is an ex-pat from the UK, bi-focaled and technically challenged. She and her Significant Other manage their four offspring, one major and three minors, two autistic, two neurotypical, plus a time-share with Alzheimer’s. In her free time, she walks with two dogs and chases two cats with her nose in a book and her fingers on the keyboard.
Her novelette, Tied Up With Strings, will be published by Imajin Qwickies on the 11th December 2017, the first in the new series–The Serebral Seniors–celebrating the witty sparks of a ripening generation.
You can find me here:-
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00Q41VUFI
https://www.pinterest.com/macmaddy/pins/
https://twitter.com/#!/MadMcEwen
http://www.facebook.com/madeline.mcewenasker
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9886841.Madeline_McEwen
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Farley’s Friday: The Dreaded Bath
Farley here,
Snow. I love to play in snow.
But snow loves to stick to my fur.
When I get home, my choices are a warm bath or twenty minutes of Kristina grooming me to get the snow out of my fur.
I really, really, really don’t like a bath, so I choose grooming.
The best part…If I shiver a little and pretend I’m cold, Kristina will wrap me in a towel and give me a hug.
Who would ever choose a bath over that?
Woof Woof.
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Free Video Training For First-Time Authors
If you have your first book coming out or trying to get published, check out this free video training series on building author platform by my friend Donna!
She helps you discover how to connect with your ideal-readers, understand the rookie mistakes to avoid wasting time, money, and missed opportunities PLUS learn how to present with confidence with public speaking!
https://www.yourawesomeauthorlife.com/
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Mystery Mondays: Debra Purdy Kong on Traditional to Self-Publishing
This week on Mystery Mondays we welcome Debra Purdy Kong. I first came across Debra’s writing when I read Opposite of Dark. I loved the book and reached out to Debra on LinkedIn and was very excited to hear back from her. She’s an author who is generous with her time and her advice, which you’ll get some of below.
As you can imagine, I’m happy to host Debra on Mystery Mondays again.
Debra is here to tell you what it’s like to transition from traditional publishing to self-publishing.
I’ve just preordered my copy of Knock Knock and only have to wait 2 days for it to arrive on my kindle!
Over to Debra…
Maintaining Continuity in Changing Times
They say that the only constant in life is change. This is especially true for writers. Over the years, I’ve lost count of all the magazines and publishers I’ve worked with, but who no longer exist. When the publisher for my Casey Holland series let me and several other mystery authors go in 2015, I took it in stride and decided to continue self-publishing my series.
It took time to obtain all of my rights back, but I did, and then reissued the first four books in ebook format. I’m now delighted to announce that the 5th installment in my Casey Holland mystery series, Knock Knock, will be released on Wednesday, November 8th!
The decision to keep the series going raised new issues. I no longer had access to the jacket designer and editors who’d worked on the previous four books. I needed to find professionals who would help me maintain the editing style already adopted. But even then, there were questions.
For instance, I was never partial to my editor’s decision to use American spelling in a series set in Canada with Canadian characters. But changing this in mid-series didn’t seem right either, so I sent the editor I hired a detailed list of editing needs.
I also sent the new jacket designer images of the earlier novels. She did a beautiful job of capturing the essence of the series while providing a fresh look that I’m thrilled with.
Change isn’t always easy and sometimes continuity can be a challenge, but when you’re writing a series readers appreciate it, which makes everything worth the effort.
Who Is Debra Purdy Kong
Debra Purdy Kong’s volunteer experiences, criminology diploma, and various jobs, inspired her to write mysteries set in BC’s Lower Mainland. Her employment as a campus security patrol and communications officer provide the background for Casey Holland and Evan Dunstan mysteries.
Debra has published short stories in a variety of genres as well as personal essays, and articles for publications such as Chicken Soup for the Bride’s Soul, B.C. Parent Magazine, and The Vancouver Sun. She assists as a facilitator for the Creative Writing Program through Port Moody Recreation, and has presented workshops and talks for organizations that include Mensa and Beta Sigma Phi. She is a long-time member of Crime Writers of Canada.
Look for her blog at https://debrapurdykong.wordpress.com/ More information about Debra and her books is at www.debrapurdykong.com You can also find her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DebraPurdyKong & Facebook: www.facebook.com/debra.purdykong
Where to find out more:
Amazon: myBook.to/KnockKnock
Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/y6wejnls
Apple: http://tinyurl.com/y96xscpv
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Writing a Stellar Book Blurb
I thought this was very helpful for anyone trying to write a book blurb.
I don’t know about you, but writing the novel is the easy part, compared to writing the book blurb. How do you take a 100+ page book and condense it to fit on the back cover of a book? And how do you make it intriguing enough to get people to want to read it? Writing a book blurb has always been challenging for me, but I recently took several classes on this topic and learned a few things that you might find helpful.
The blurb on the back of your book is all about the journey. Who is your protagonist? What is his or her goal? What problems are they up against? Readers want to discover this journey on their own. Give them a glimpse inside your book that draws them into the character’s world.
There are three main elements to a good book blurb.
- The setup. This…
View original post 319 more words
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Take Your Story up Several Levels by Editor Jodie Renner – Fictionary
Today it is our pleasure to welcome editor & author Jodie Renner to share expert editing advice. Jodie is generously sharing her wisdom on how to improve your story before you share it with others. Jodie is an editor and award-winning author of three Editor’s Guides to Writing Compelling Fiction: Writing a Killer Thriller Fire up Your Fiction Captivate Your Readers Jodie’s […]
Source: Take Your Story up Several Levels by Editor Jodie Renner – Fictionary
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Farley’s Friday: Are boots worth the hassle?
Farley here,
Winter has arrived, and with that my fashion has changed.
Kristina makes me wear boots. We meet in the front hall, and she puts on her coat and boots. I wait until she turns to me with the dreaded boots.
I resist the boots by stretching my toes, so it makes it hard for Kristina to get the boots on tight. I’m thinking, “Maybe I can lose the boots in the snow.”
No such luck at first.
But then we hit deep snow. First I lose one…then another…then the third.
That back one just won’t fall off. I think I’ve gotten away with this until my pads start to hurt. I flatten in the snow and try to pick the ice out of my pads with my teeth.
Kristina walks towards me. Mathew has gone in search of my boots.
I roll my big brown eyes at her and wag my tail. I hope she isn’t mad at me.
She smiles, kneels in the snow, and takes off her winter mitts. She pokes in between my pads and gets the ice out. This takes a while. Her hands turn red. She’s shaking a little, so I know she’s cold, but she keeps going.
Then she wraps her hands around my paws, one by one, and warms them up.
Mathew returns with my boots, and puts them back on. This time I’ll try to keep them on.
My humans are the best.
Woof Woof
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Mystery Mondays: An Inside Look at Anthologies by Medames of Mayhem
When M.H Callway approached me about hosting Medames of Mayhems on Mystery Mondays, I was thrilled! As a Canadian, showcasing a collection of Canadian mystery authors makes me proud of the writers in our little country.
The newly released Anthology is a must read for mystery lovers. You’ll get exposed to a variety of styles and stories, so why not check it out.
Now over to the Medames…
13 CLAWS BY THE MESDAMES OF MAYHEM
What is 13 Claws?
13 Claws is the third anthology by the Mesdames of Mayhem. It’s a collection of 17 crime fiction stories by 15 authors, three of whom are newcomers to the genre.
We are all animal lovers so it’s natural we’d pen tales centred on our non-human friends. Caro Soles rescues dachshunds from puppy mills and Melodie Campbell’s “Frankenpoodle” works as a therapy dog. All of us own – or have owned – a cat or a dog and like Jane Burfield, several of each at the same time. Cheryl Freedman though favours much more exotic pets: ferrets!
Few cozies in our book though. Perhaps it’s the influence of our troubled times, but our writing has taken a decidedly darker turn.
Who are the Mesdames of Mayhem?
We are 15 established Canadian crime fiction authors. Most of us have won or been nominated for major awards like the Arthur Ellis, Edgar, Derringer, Debut Dagger, Bony Pete and Ippy.
Back in 2013, I had the idea that my two literary critique groups should join forces on social media. Donna Carrick designed our website, set up our Facebook and Twitter accounts – and the Mesdames of Mayhem were born.
Our goal is to promote Canadian crime fiction. Many readers here at home don’t realize that their favorite crime writers may be Canadian. And of course, many American readers never hear about Canadian titles.
We work to promote women crime writers and many of us are longstanding members of Sisters in Crime. It might surprise readers that Sisters in Crime has Brother members, men who promote equity for women authors. I’m happy to say that the Mesdames have a Monsieur of Mayhem, Ed Piwowarczyk.
All of us are published short story writers and most of us are novelists. Several of us are also proficient in other forms of fiction: Lisa De Nikolits and Sylvia Warsh are literary authors; Melodie Campbell and Caro Soles have written books in fantasy and speculative fiction; and Rosemary Aubert is a respected poet. Catherine Dunphy is a biographer and she and Madonna Skaff write for young adults.
For details, do check out our website.
Why create three anthologies?
13 Claws is our third anthology. When we first got together, we thought that an 
anthology would be a great way readers could get to know the work of many different writers. We do write from comedy to noir. Even better, our readers could go on to read more books and stories by the writers they enjoyed.
To our delight, Thirteen, did really well and the stories by Donna Carrick and Sylvia Warsh were nominated for the Arthur Ellis Short Story award. That encouraged us to issue our second anthology, 13 O’clock with crime stories focused on time. And later, our third collection, 13 Claws.
Why “Thirteen” in the titles?
When we put together our first anthology, 13 of us contributed stories. So I thought: why not simply call our collection Thirteen?
And 13 has proved to be our lucky number! Promoting our anthologies has led to numerous public readings, warm partnerships with our public libraries and community theatres, participation in literary festivals like Word on The Street, radio interviews, you name it – more publicity than we ever anticipated or imagined.
13 Claws features three newcomers? How did that happen?
We love to teach. Several of us teach or have taught creative writing: Catherine Astolfo, Rosemary Aubert, Mel Campbell, Cathy Dunphy, Lynne Murphy, Rosemary McCracken, Caro Soles and Sylvia Warsh.
For 13 Claws, we ran a contest for writers who had never published a crime fiction story. Our winner, Mary Patterson, has a delightful story about a cat detective though she’s actually a dog lover. Our finalist, Roz Place wrote a chilling suspense tale about a disappearance revealed by a cat. And in our other runner-up, Marilyn Kay’s police procedural, a stray cat is at the heart of dark crime.
What do reviewers say about 13 Claws?
Our previous anthologies have been warmly reviewed but we were especially delighted to be singled out by Jack Batten, the crime fiction reviewer at the Toronto Star, who had this to say about 13 Claws:
In one especially clever story by Catherine Dunphy, we get a plot built around boxes of animal crackers.
But just because the contributors to the collection write out of an affection for animals doesn’t mean readers need similar feelings to appreciate the stories. There’s enough suspense and intellectual fascination built into the plots of the majority of stories to satisfy even the most ferociously cynophobic reader. Catherine Astolfo’s story involving a pig offers an intriguing way of giving Paul Bernardo himself a case of the chills. And M. H. Callway’s tale mixes snakes and the real estate business in a way that will make readers run a mile from both.
Maureen Jennings, creator of the famous Murdoch series, writes:
A great mix of shuddery dark and tongue-in-cheek funny. What devious minds all these nice women have.
And Vanessa Westermann, reviewer for Sleuth of Baker Street newsletters, writes:
I can only recommend it. There’s something here for everyone. The stories, ranging from cozy mysteries to thrillers, feature cats, dogs, dragons and snakes – some of which are quite mischievous. As stated on the Mesdames’ website, the writers all share one mission: to thrill readers with their passion for Crime Fiction.
WHO IS M. H. CALLWAY?
M.H. Callway is the pen name of Madeleine Harris-Callway, the founding member of the Mesdames of Mayhem. Her debut thriller, Windigo Fire, was short-listed for the Arthur Ellis Best First Novel award.
Her award-winning short crime fiction stories and novellas have been published in several anthologies and mystery magazines and are available in the book, Glow Grass and Other Tales.
Where to Find Out More
