It Never Gets Old

On Thursday, Linda Wiken launched her first mystery A Killer Read at the Library and Archives (the young lovers above greet you on the front steps) and it was wonderful to see Linda's complete wonder and excitement. An author's first book making it to print is a momentous and joyous occasion that can take a lifetime to achieve. Linda owned Prime Crime bookstore and has been a founding member of the Ladies Killing Circle, a small group of Ottawa women who began their writing careers together and are still going strong. Linda wrote short stories and won awards for her work, but she said that getting a book of her own published was a dream come true. Like many authors, she has three unpublished manuscripts tucked away in a drawer at home.

Alongside Linda, Vicki Delany  launched Gold Mountain (Dundurn) her third book in one of her series . Vicki has been in the writing business for some time, but she also has maintained a love for writing and tirelessly crosses the country to meet fans and gain readership.  She is quite simply an inspiration and I tip my own hat (or fascinator) to both talented women.

So this week, I started the second book in my latest audlt mystery series. Tim Wynne-Jones said that the first chapter is the engine that drives the novel and it's important to get it right. I figure I'll be working on this chapter for a while. I also have to congratulate Tim for his Arthur Ellis nomination for YA novel of the year for Blink and Caution, a book that I couldn't put down. A well deserved nomination. Well done my friend.

I'm also getting my head around what I'll be saying to a roomful of lawyers this Thusday as Dave Whellams and I give our talk and read from our work. I'll let you know next week if I manage to get out of that without any lawsuits pending.

Also this week, I was invited to my first writers' festival, but sadly, I'm going to be out of the country touring around Italy. Well, not sad about the Italy part, but sad about not to be able to make the event.

And to come full circle, having just witnessed Linda Wiken's lovely glowing face on Thursday night, below is a photo of me during the launch of my first book Running Scared at Whispers pub in 2004. How happy was I?!