Do You Have A Day to Kill?

Well, Ted is off again this morning for his 'last' golf game of the season, leaving me free to catch up on my various writing projects.

I'm preparing for a writing panel this coming Saturday for the Ottawa Public Library / Capital Crime Writers' event, 'A Day to Kill'. My panel is with fellow authors C.B. Forrest, Nadine Doolittle and Barbara Fradkin and hosted by John Holt who writes comedy and hosts a local morning radio show. Our panel will be a game show kind of format - think Jeopardy meets the Debaters. I'm going head to head with Nadine and will be defending the need for awards and competitions in the writing world. I promise to be irreverant and ribald. Our panel follows the opening kick off with Ottawa City Councillor Jan Harder at 9:30, after everyone has had some free coffee and homemade baking . . . If you would like some free lunch, you should pre-register at www.capitalcrimewriters.com

As well, a local celebrity will be reading from In Winter's Grip although I'm not sure yet who this will be. I have word though that Alan Neal from CBC Radio will be doing one of the five readings.

Other than this event, I'm merrily editing away on my latest manuscript and it's coming along. Still a ways to go though before this book sees the light of day.

If you are like me, you are not happy unless you have a book or two that you're reading at any given moment. I went on a Michael Connelly kick (Lincoln Lawyer, Harry Bosch) and have now run through most of them. Good reads if you've never tried Connelly. I also just finished reading two Liza Marklund books: Red Wolf and Exposed. She's a Swedish author and her books are also good. I'm presently reading another Swede, Henning Mankell and his book Faceless Killers Not sure it's my cup of tea although he appears to be one of the big Swedish crime writers. He has a cop Wallander - could be the translation, but I find the writing choppy and the characters aren't nuanced.

Hope to see everyone out next Saturday at the Main Branch of the OPL and 'A Day to Kill'. It should be entertaining and you'll get to meet some of the top Ottawa crime writers including Mary Jane Maffini and Rick Mofina. (You'll also get to fill up on Margaret Dunlop's homemade cooking.) As the beautiful fall weather takes a down turn, this could be just the way to liven up a dreary Saturday.