Fires Burning

Woke up to sunshine this morning and it feels as if spring has arrived. Only five days ago, the ice /snow/hail storm tied up the city and an event I was to attend with Mary Jane Maffini, Linda Wiken and Barbara Fradkin was postponed. Such odd April weather. I have put away my winter boots in a reckless leap of faith ...

The Arthur Ellis shortlist events went on across the country, however, on Wednesday evening. The Ottawa event was at Chapters Rideau and I made my way there with Barbara Fradkin and Alex Brett after we stopped for supper at a bistro across the street. Mary Jane Maffini MC'd with about eight local crime fiction authors speaking about their books and most doing a two-minute reading, myself included. This was the first time I read from the upcoming Bleeding Darkness with the Canadian release now less than three weeks away. Congratulations to all those on the shortlists and especially to Gail Bowen who will receive the Grand Master award for her body of work. So well deserved.

Presenting Bleeding Darkness

With the release of Bleeding Darkness so close, my publicist Michelle Melski has been pulling together a few appearances in addition to ones I've organized. Here's a list of confirmed dates:

Wednesday, May 23 - guest on Rogers Cable 22 - The Author's Journey - live beginning at 1:00 p.m. with repeat shows at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. the same day.

Sunday, June 3 - launch at the Cross, 360 Elgin Street Ottawa, 2:00-4:00 p.m. with special musical guest Green Floyd. Perfect Books will be on hand with books for purchase.

Monday, May 28 - guest speaker in the Topical Talks series at Abbotsford House, Glebe Centre.

Saturday, June 9 - signing at Coles Carlingwood, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

I'll add more to the list as they're finalized and hope we can meet up along the way.

Writing progressed well this week. I reached my target 20,000 words for April and now feel like this is a bonus week coming up. I'm aiming for 10,000 words a month, allowing for editing work next month on the sixth Stonechild manuscript Turning Secrets. The cover is being designed now - I sent in my ideas Monday.

So, lots of little fires burning behind the scenes as this feels like the calm before the storm. I'm excited for you to finally be able to give Bleeding Darkness a read in a few weeks. Booklist highly recommends this one and calls it "a complex and suspenseful mystery". Rather a nice advance endorsement :-)

Good weekend everyone.