R.J. Harlick's Blog

Book Launch!

2011-12-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

Put February 28th in your calendar. I'll be launching the next Meg Harris mystery, A Green Place for Dying, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 at the Heart and Crown in the ByWard Market in Ottawa. I plan to make it a rip roaring launch!

My blog awakens

2011-12-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

As the release date for A Green Place for Dying closes in, you will be hearing more from me. Only two months to go! I'm getting very excited. Even though this will be my fifth book I still find it thrilling to hold the newly minted book in my hand.

The reviews are already starting, with last week's review in Publishers Weekly. I was ecstatic. If you like the review I would appreciate if you could 'like' it.

Now the nail biting begins in earnest as I await other reviews. You never know.... It is always an anxious time when the baby you have been nurturing for so long is finally released into the wide world. You never know how it will be received.

Drawing From Real LIfe

2011-10-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

I thought you would find my blog that was posted on Mystery Maven Canada this week intriguing, so I am reposting it on my own blog. It will give you a bit of insight on where I get some of my ideas for the Meg Harris mysteries. And if you aren't familiar with the Mystery Maven Canada blog you are definitely missing something. It is the go-to place to discover the latest happenings in Canadian crime writing.

Reposted from Mystery Maven Canada

Most fiction writers draw on their own experiences and people in their life to help create their stories and give them life. And I’m no different. While I have never intentionally based any of my characters on family or friends, except that is for Sergei, Meg Harris’s black standard poodle who is as loving and as mischievous as on my own standard poodles, I do drawn on aspects from my own life. I thought I would share some of these with you, starting with Meg herself.

Since the Meg Harris series is written in the first person point of view, readers often ask if Meg is me. Invariably I reply “No, not really”, which is indeed the case. After all she is a red head, an escapee from an abusive marriage and she struggles with a drinking problem, none of which could be used to describe me. But like me, she did grow up in Toronto and she has a cottage.

However, while both our cottages are made from logs and are set in the wilds of West Quebec, I gave Meg Three Deer Point, the cottage of my dreams; a large turn-of-the-century timber and stone building with a turret and wraparound verandah that is perched on a granite point overlooking the sometimes still and other times angry waters of Echo Lake. That is another fun aspect of writing fiction; you can give your characters belongings and experiences that you have only dreamed about.

In the first book, Death’s Golden Whisper, Meg discovers letters and postcards written by her Great-aunt Agatha to a friend during her grand tour of Europe undertaken shortly before the First World War. I borrowed this idea from my grandfather, who during a similar European trip sent his mother postcards of his travels. As I child I spent many an intriguing hour reading these postcards and imaging what it would have been like traveling to these exotic locations. In the same book Meg also finds a diary written by her Great-aunt. Instead of arbitrarily using any date for the entries, I used the month and day of the birthdates of various members of my family.

I also have fun with names. Meg herself is named after my grandmother. I wanted a name that could be shortened to a number of different nicknames and Margaret fit the requirement; besides I wanted to immortalize my favourite grandmother. In Arctic Blue Death, her mother’s cook calls her Maggie, the name my grandmother often went by. In Red Ice for a Shroud she’s called by the French version, Marguerite, which incidentally means ‘daisy’. Her last name ‘Harris’ is derived from the street I grew up on in Toronto, ‘Harrison Rd.’

In each of my books, I also make a point of naming one or two secondary characters after my various nieces and nephews. In Arctic Blue Death, I named Meg’s father and her uncle after my grandfather and great-uncle, her sister after my mother, while I gave a fictitious Arctic town the name James Lake, after my husband. And I must not forget that one of my villains uses one of my father’s names. If he were still alive I know he would be laughing uproariously.

I enjoy spending much of my time in Canada’s great outdoors and have used some of my adventures in my books. Red Ice for a Shroud starts off with Meg and Eric clearing cross-country skiing trails, something my husband and I, along with friends, do every fall in preparation for a winter of skiing. And I do love skiing, an activity Meg thoroughly enjoys too.

Canoeing is another matter. In The River Runs Orange Meg finds herself paddling madly down a whitewater river and she dumps, which pretty much mirrors my own experience with whitewater paddling. In fact Meg doesn’t like whitewater anymore than I do, although we both love slicing through the still, flat waters of a lake. And to give you a taste of what Meg endured when she dumped on the DeMontigny River, I've added some photos from my own dump that happened on the Madawaska River a few years ago. I'm the one in blue and my husband was in the stern. I bumped over every ledge of this Class III rapid known as The Staircase until I reached calm water. I was not a happy camper.

There are countless other instances in the Meg Harris books where I have drawn upon my own experiences, but I will save those for you to discover.

Gwaii Hanas

2011-06-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun sending Meg to Canada's Far North for Arctic Blue Death the fourth book in the series, that way I got to go too, that I decided to send Meg on a trip to another Canadian wilderness for the as yet untitled book 6 (I've decided silver will be in this title). Since I was going to be on the west coast for Bloody Words in Victoria, I decided Meg and I would travel to Haida Gwaii, the land of the Haida or the Queen Charlotte Islands as it is also known. As I child I would often listen to my father speak of these magical islands, his voice filled with no little amount of awe, where he had gone one summer while at university to work in one of the logging camps. So I always had a yen to visit this distant mountainous archipelago on the edge of Canada's Pacific coast.

I spent seven days with my husband, getting to know the islands and the people. Part of it was spent on a four day boat trip to the uninhabited southern part, to Gwaii Hanas National Park. I tell you, I fell in love with these wild, mystical islands and its people. And I came back full of ideas, information and photos. I can't wait to get started on this next Meg Harris mystery.

Please check Gwaii Hanas photos to view a sampling of what we experienced.

Fun time in British Columbia

2011-05-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

I shall be heading off shortly to the land of mountains and sea for some thrilling events and awe inspiring adventure with a wee celebration thrown into the mix.

In Vancouver on June 1, I'll be talking about my Meg Harris series and offering a sneak preview into the next Meg Harris mystery, A Green Place for Dying due out in Feb. 2012. The event is being held at the Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch, at 350 West Georgia St. from 7:00 pm to 8:30. I'll be joined by award winning author Barbara Fradkin, who writes the Inspector Green mystery series. If you happen to be in Vancouver that day, please drop by. We would love to see you.

And then I am off to Vancouver Island, to attend Bloody Words being held in Victoria this year from June 3 to 5. But on the way Barbara and I plan to enjoy some of the fabulous B.C. scenery by taking the ferry over to the island. On June 2, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed at the Arthur Ellis awards dinner, hoping that my favourite shortlisted authors win awards this year.

I am thrilled to be participating in 2 events at the conference. On Friday evening, June 3 at 8:30 pm, I'll be participating in an intriguing panel on Points of View: speaking from the margins. I'll be joining David Cole, Kay Stewart and George Szanto with Sylvia Warsh as our moderator. Then next day at 10:00 am, I will be doing the Mystery Cafe session, Silent Witness: landscape as character, with Stephen Legault. And of course I will be signing my books after the events.

And then the adventure begins. I fly to Haida Gwaii or Queen Charlotte Islands to do research on the next and 6th as yet unnamed Meg Harris mystery. To get a feel for these isolated mountainous islands, I will be exploring much of it from the water on a boat tour that will take me to Gwaii Hanas, the large protected southern third of the islands where totem poles of the once vibrant Haida stand as silent sentinels to the past. I will also be meeting with people from the Haida Nation.

And sometime during all this I will be celebrating a big birthday in the city of my birth and hoping at the same time to be celebrating the winning of the Stanley Cup by the Vancouver Canucks.

All in all it promises to be a very exciting trip.

On to Phoenix

2011-03-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well not exactly Phoenix, but Scottsdale, Arizona. As Left Coast Crime winds down in Santa Fe, my attention turns to my two events in Scottsdale and Glendale. On Tuesday, March 29 at 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, I will be talking about my Meg Harris series and signing books at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore with Vicki Delany and Wayne Arthurson. I must say I am very excited to be doing an event at this famed Arizona bookstore at 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd.

And then on Wednesday, March 30 at 2:00 pm to 3:30, I and Vicki Delany will be continuing our discussions about our books and signing them at the Velma Teague Library at 7017 N. 58th Street in Glendale. It should be a great afternoon.

So if you are in the area please drop by and say hello.

And before I sign out, I must say that Left Coast Crime has been a terrific conference. I've met lots of fans, hopefully introduced new fans to my books and generally had a wonderful time. Although the high altitude hasn't completely agreed with me, I am enjoying New Mexico and hope one day to return.

Santa Fe, here I come!

2011-03-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

I’m almost packed. Have bookmarks, flyers along with my secret Canadian hat for our Canadian panel on Thursday, along with mystery prizes. Have the dogs, their food, crates and toys ready to take to the kennel. And then I’m off to Santa Fe to attend Left Coast Crime. I’m getting very excited. It will be my first time visiting that part of New Mexico.

I am participating in four events, starting with Thursday’s Cuentos session on Crime Hot Spots of Canada from 2:00 pm to 2:45. Vicki Delany, Barbara Fradkin and I will take you on a tour to some of these hot spots. We’ll be having a draw for some uniquely Canadian door prizes.

On Friday from 2:45 pm to 3:30, I will be moderating the Living Diversity: mysteries with a difference panel. I’m looking forward to grilling Gar Anthony Harwood, Deborah Ledford, Neil Plakcy, Daryl Wimberley and Robert Bennett on what Living Diversity means in their mysteries.

Very early Saturday morning at 7:30, I will be speed dating, i.e. flogging my Meg Harris mystery series, at the Established Authors Breakfast. If it’s anything like the Malice-Go-Round, it should be a hoot.

Than later on Saturday from 10:15 am to 11:00, I will be participating in the panel on When Location Makes All the Difference – Settings in Mysteries. I will be joining fellow panelists, Pete Goodman, Sara Sue Hoklotubbe, Annamaria Alfieri, with Jeanne Mathews as moderator. As you well know settings is one of my favourite topics, so I am very much looking forward to this panel.

I hope to see some of you there.

Publication Delay

2011-03-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

For all of you anxiously awaiting the next Meg Harris mystery, the publication of A Green Place for Dying has been delayed almost a year to February 2012. While I am looking forward to working with my new publisher Dundurn, unfortunately their 2011 publication schedule was already set and it wasn't possible to fit my book in. If there is any change in this, I will keep you posted.

March Madness

2011-02-22T08:43:00.000-08:00

The book event season is starting to hot up. And even though the latest Meg Harris mystery, A GREEN PLACE FOR DYING, won’t yet be available for these upcoming March events, I am certainly very happy to sign the 4 earlier books.

The first event is in Kemptville, Ontario on Sunday March 6. I am very honoured to be participating in the Kemptville Literary Follies held at Leslie Hall on Clothier St. West. At 3:00 pm I will be discussing and reading from the latest Meg Harris mystery.

Then on Thursday, March 10, I will be the speaker at a Food For Thought luncheon, a program for seniors which is held bi-monthly at a local Ottawa restaurant.

Towards the end of March I fly to Santa Fe NM to attend the Left Coast Crime conference. I will be participating in 3 events. On Thursday Mar. 24, 2:00 pm – 2:45, Vicki Delany and Barbara Fradkin will be joining me to talk about the Crime Hot Spots of Canada using our respective series as the travel guide. On Friday, Mar. 25, I will be moderating the Living Diversity panel from 2:45 to 3:30 pm and on Saturday, Mar. 26, I will be participating in the panel, When Location Makes All the Difference, from 10:15 to 11:00 am. I am very much looking forward to my visit to this historic part of New Mexico and hope to see some of you there.

On Tuesday, Mar. 29 from 7:00 pm – 9:00, I will be signing my books at Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ. I’ll be joined by fellow Canadian authors Vicki Delany and Wayne Arthurson.

My last event is next day, on Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2:00 pm at the Velma Teague Library in Glendale, AZ. Vicki will be sharing the podium with me. I'll be talking about my newest book, A GREEN PLACE FOR DYING.

And I must not forget to mention that I am very excited about being a guest author at this year's Scene of the Crime Mystery Writing Festival being held Sat. August 13 on Wolf Island. I will be joining Maureen Jennings, Elizabeth Duncan, C.B. Forrest and Howard Shrier. It promises to be a terrific day. Registration is limited, so register early and get a chance to not only hear us but to enjoy the festival's renowned church supper.

Publisher Change

2011-02-18T07:38:00.000-08:00

An era in Canadian publishing ends with the buy-out of my publisher Napoleon & Co. by Dundurn Press.
Napoleon under the stewardship of Sylvia McConnell made a significant contribution in promoting Canadian stories by publishing distinctly Canadian mysteries and juvenile fiction. She and her editor Allister Thompson were wonderful to work with. Fortunately, we won't be saying good-bye. They are moving over to Dundurn to work as our editors. And rest assured that Meg Harris mysteries will continue with the spring publication of A Green Place for Dying by Dundurn.

The next Meg Harris mystery

2011-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

Whew… I’ve done it. I’ve finally sent A Green Place for Dying off to my publisher. I feel as if a tremendous weight has been lifted from my shoulders. But I tell you after living with Meg, her cast of supporting characters and her adventures for the past year and a half, I feel a bit lonely… and bored. Now what do I do? On to the next Meg Harris mystery… or should I do something else….?

I am very excited about A Green Place for Dying. In this 5^th book in the Meg Harris mystery series, Meg returns to Three Deer Point after her trip to the Arctic, only to discover that the daughter of a friend has been missing from the Migiskan Reserve for over 2 months. Treating her as a runaway, the police refuse to do little more than a nominal search and continue to stall even when the girl’s friend turns up murdered.

As the mother struggles with her daughter’s disappearance, Meg vows to do what she can to find her and in the process uncovers an underside of life she would rather not know existed. And when the search takes an unexpected turn, Meg is forced to finally face her own demons and admit to the guilt she’s been hiding since a teenager.

In this latest Meg Harris mystery not only do I explore a major issue in Canada, that of missing aboriginal women (currently over 560) with little or no attention paid to their cases by police but I also delve into guilt and the detrimental impact it can have on shaping people’s lives.

Although A Green Place for Dying won’t be in bookstores until May, it is available for pre-order on online bookstores.

Season's Greeting

2010-12-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

I wish you a joyous and wonderful Christmas. And if you are travelling to

spend it with family and friends, please drive safely.

All the best in 2012

Christmas Crime Wave

2010-12-17T13:53:00.000-08:00

Your last chance before Christmas to buy signed copies of mysteries by your favourite Ottawa crime writers. On Tuesday, Dec. 21 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 come to the Ottawa Citizen at 1101 Baxter Road in Ottawa. Barbara Fradkin, Mary Jane Maffini, Brenda Chapman, C.B. Forrest and I will be joining Randall Denley in a Christmas crime novel extravaganza. This is your chance to buy copies of their latest books that are already sold out in area stores. Hope to see you there.

What the snow reveals

2010-11-28T17:04:00.000-08:00

I’ve just come in from an invigorating walk through the season’s first snow. Even though it is a rather meager amount, just enough to obliterate November’s depressing greyness, I still get a thrill out of tramping through its pristine whiteness. If it were deeper I would be tempted to make snow angels. Sterling, our young standard poodle, found it equally thrilling, as he leapt, bounded and kicked up waves of frothy white. His muzzle was soon encased in the frosty stuff, as he discovered the benefits of eating it.

And with the first snow comes the reminder that we aren’t the only ones inhabiting this vast Quebec wilderness. The fox, who unbeknownst to us likes to include our bird feeder in his rounds, is now fully revealed by his tracks. Similarly the horseshoe hares we never see lurking under the spruce trees, except that is for the one Sterling flushed last week, suddenly become numerous as their tracks crisscross the whiteness in front of us. We only know a moose paid us an overnight visit by the tracks he left behind. Tracks in the snow can also foretell disaster, like the time I saw a wolf track along side that of a deer. Although I didn’t come across the deer carcass, I have come across them at other times, while out skiing the trails in the surrounding forest. Invariably a chill runs down my spine as I glance around to see if there are any watching eyes.

The one track that always makes me smile is that of the otter. His long sliding path through deep snow suggests he is having the time of his life as he slides down an embankment. One time I came across an intermittent sliding pattern through a fresh dusting of snow covering an iced-over lake. In between the slides were a couple of rows of paw tracks. Clearly the animal had been scampering over the ice to gather speed, then off he went sliding over its smooth surface. When he came to a stop he repeated the fun and did this for quite a few times. I would have loved to been there watching, except my presence probably would’ve ended his fun.

These photos are from past winters, but if I come across an interesting set of tracks this winter, I will post the photo.

Deer and wolf track

The Book Tour

2010-11-07T18:29:00.000-08:00

Launching a book can be a little scary and it can also be lots of fun. For months, only your eyes read your creation as you nurse it through the ups and downs to fruition. Then you pass it around to a chosen few for their first take and wait with baited breath for their verdict. After more massaging, your treasured words pass under the critical eye of your editor and publisher, who invariably come up with more improvements. Finally it is deemed fit for printing and out into the big wide world it is launched.

As an author you just can’t sit back nervously biting your nails, waiting for the reviews to come in, for readers to comment and for the sales to climb. You have to help it along. So you have a formal launch to which you invite the world and you go on a book tour.

I thought you might enjoy some pictures from the 2006 launch of the 2^nd Meg Harris mystery, Red Ice For a Shroud. That fall I joined forces with Barbara Frakin who was launching her 5^th Inspector Green mystery, Honour Among Men and Rick Blechta, who was launching When Hell Freezes Over.

Over five weekends in October and November, the three of us travelled all over Eastern and Southern Ontario, spending Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in bookstores, Chapters and independents, usually two stores per day. At times it got confusing trying to remember which town we were in, particularly when doing Chapter signings. Like any big box store, one Chapter looks like another. Although I prefer the individuality of the independent bookstore, they don’t always bring in the traffic. Sadly, two of the mystery stores we visited have since closed, one in Kingston and the other in Waterloo.

I also learned about the vagaries of book distribution to big box stores. Even though my book had been out for several weeks it still hadn’t made its way from the Chapters distribution centre to the individual stores, so for the first weekend of signings, I was forced to lug boxes of books into the stores.

One of the highlights for me was having a reader rush up with the just published Globe & Mail review of Red Ice for a Shroud in hand all excited that I was in the store to sign the book. Another highlight was Rick cooking us a scrumptious chicken cacciatore the night we spent at Barbara’s cottage.

Despite the hectic nature of the tour, mind you most tours are probably hectic, it proved very worthwhile and I believe helped expand the readership of the Meg Harris mystery series to a wider audience. I also discovered that doing a tour with other authors was a lot of fun. So for my fourth book, Arctic Blue Death I did a similar book tour, this time to the Maritimes, with Vicki Delany.

For the upcoming A Green Place for Dying, I haven’t quite decided yet what I’ll do, but since I will be out in B.C. in June for Bloody Words, I will be organizing some store signings in Vancouver and Victoria. I’ll keep you posted, when and where.

A Green Place for Dying

2010-11-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to show you the cover for the next Meg Harris mystery, A Green Place for Dying. As you can see the theme of this book is green. I even include a brief visit from a popular Ottawa detective with a similar name, star of another Canadian mystery series.

A Green Place for Dying is about a growing issue in Canada, that of missing aboriginal women. Currently there are over 580 missing and murdered women and little is being done about it. Sisters in Spirit, an organization associated with Native Women’s Association of Canada has been spear heading a movement to raise awareness of this alarmingly high number in an attempt to ignite police and other authorities into action. In my own small way, I hope by making missing native women the central theme of this book, that I too might contribute to the raising of its profile.

In A Green Place for Dying, Meg returns to Three Deer Point, her wilderness home in West Quebec, to discover that the daughter of a friend has been missing from the Migiskin Reserve for over two months. Treating her as a runaway, the police refuse to do little more than a nominal search and continue to stall even when the girl’s friend turns up murdered.

As the mother struggles with her daughter’s disappearance, Meg vows to do what she can to find her and in the process uncovers an underside of life she would rather not know existed. But the search takes a turn, which forces Meg to finally face her own demons and admit to the guilt she’s been hiding since a teenager.

A Green Place for Dying is due out next Spring and I’m looking forward to meeting you on another round of book events and store signings.

A Magical Moment

2010-10-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

I’ve been enjoying the changing parade of photos that are displayed on my computer’s desktop. Many bring back fond memories. This photo, in particular, brought back one very memorable magic moment.

Jim and I, along with several of our hiking buddies, had spent the day hiking along the high ridge of the Saguenay Fjord in Quebec. Sated after a delicious dinner at the hut where we were spending the night, the group of us had gone down to the water’s edge to admire the spectacular sunset. The night was still, the water calm. A perfect evening for absorbing the land’s tranquility.

But a sudden gasp told us we were not alone. The water rippled. A white nose poked above the surface, sent out a puff of spray and sank back into the water. Another joined it and then another. Soon there were several places where the flat, red-reflected water was breaking into rippling concentric circles.

There was only one mammal they could be; the Saguenay Fjord’s famous beluga whale. For the next long while the group of us sat transfixed as several pods of the small white whales fed in the water in front of us. We daren’t utter a word in case we disturbed them. As the red sun sank behind the distant shore, they fed. The only sound was the expulsion of their breath as they broke the surface to breath.

Only when the coolness of the night arrived did we move, while the belugas continued to feed.

It was a treasured moment, one that will always be with us.

I’ve added a few more photos from that spectacular 4 day hike along the north ridge of the Saguenay Fjord.

Upcoming fall events

2010-09-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

Summer is over and I’m back in the groove with several events in the offing. In between I will be busily finalizing the next Meg Harris mystery, A Green Place for Dying, to be published next spring.

This Saturday, September 18, I’ll be at the Lyndhurst Turkey Fair held in Lyndhurst, Ontario, north of Kingston, off hwy 15. I’ll be hanging out in the back room of the Lyndhurst Library from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm with fellow writers; Rick Blechta, Susan Gates, Violette Malan, Sue Pike, Mary Mueller and Mike Harper. If you’re in the area please drop by and say hello and even buy a book or two.

The following weekend on the Sunday, I’ll be doing something I really enjoy, attending a book club meeting at Mont Cascades, Quebec. I love meeting readers and discussing my books with them.

On Saturday, October 16, I’ll be at the Thousand Island Writers Festival being held in Brockville, Ontario. This is the second year of the 2-day festival and given the exciting line-up of authors, including Charlotte Gray, Helen Humphreys, Roy MacSkimming and of course moi ;), it promises to be a terrific event. I’ll be on from 2:00 pm to 5:00 with fellow crime writers, Janet Kellough and John Moss. Our event, called “Words and Wine II” Murder at the Courthouse is being held in the turn-of-the-century Brockville Courthouse, a rather fitting place to be discussing murder, eh?

Photos from our Thelon River canoe trip

2010-09-11T05:47:00.000-07:00

As promised in my previous post, here are the photos of our 11 day canoe trip down the Upper Thelon River in the Northwest Territories. Ten of us, including me and my husband, Jim, and our guide Alex Hall of Canoe Arctic, took off from Fort Smith in 3 float planes and flew north-east for a little over two hours to a small lake north of the tree line, where we spent our first night in The Barrens.

The Barrens is a vast, empty land of arctic tundra, mostly flat with water making up at least 50% of an area that covers thousands of square miles stretching eastward from Great Slave Lake to Hudson’s Bay and northward to the Arctic Ocean. We were easily two hundred and fifty miles from the nearest habitation and wouldn’t see another human being for the entire trip or even a suggestion that someone else was sharing the river with us.

For the next ten days, we paddled along the mostly smooth, sometimes windy and occasionally turbulent waters of this great northern river as it passed through large expansive lakes or narrowed between banks of sand, stone and tundra. We portaged five times, averaging a kilometre in length, around rapids and one dramatic falls. We camped out on the open tundra in the full glare of the northern sun. Several nights we camped amongst the stunted trees of eskers, the sandy remnants of glacial riverbeds from the last Ice Age. In total we paddled a little less than a hundred miles.

While we saw only a few animals; one caribou, some fox kits and a cow moose and calf, we saw lots of birds, including arctic terns, wimbrels, parasitic jaegers, bald eagles, Bonaparte’s gulls, Canada geese, common loons, red throated loons, a yellow billed loon, willow ptarmigan, Harris sparrows and Lapland longspurs to name a few.

I must not forget to mention the weather, after all I’m Canadian. It was fabulously hot and sunny for all but one day of rain and another windy, cold day that reminded us that we were indeed North of 60.

By the way, I must've killed a million black flies.

And if you think this canoe trip won't provide fodder for another Meg Harris murder mystery, think again... I am, after all, a crime writer. :)

You can see the photos here. And if you want to learn more about our trip, please read the previous post.

A Northern Adventure

2010-09-07T06:46:00.000-07:00

Summer has come to a sudden chilly end with a cold drenching rain. I even put a fire on last night to banish the chill from the air. But what a glorious summer it has been. Endless days of hot, lazy, sun, one for the memory banks. And I got to do what I love best, roaming the Great Canadian Outdoors.

I spent three weeks with my husband north of sixty in the Northwest Territories, a week and a half of that paddling through the Barrens on one of the great northern rivers, the Thelon. A memorable experience shared with eight other paddlers, including our guide, Alex Hall, a man who has spent more than thirty-five years paddling the Barrens intricate waterways.

It was our first time in this vast empty world of big sky, tundra, rock, sand and water with only the occasional fringe of stunted trees and we were in awe. Rising hills of golden sandy eskers shone in the sun. Arctic terns cavorted around us. Flocks of geese fled at our sight. A lone caribou watched transfixed as we silently sliced through the water towards it. Paddling through crystal clear water, over shimmering green water grasses wavering in the river’s strong current, like the tresses of some mythical mermaid.

We often came across the tracks and spore of animals that had tread before us; wolves, caribou, moose, muskoxen, fox and geese. We even found the occasional set of bleached caribou antlers. But only twice did we see evidence that man had once roamed this barren land and these were old, very old; an ancient stone caribou fence more than a thousand years old, a prehistoric stone arrow and tent poles at least a couple of hundred years old. This is not a land where man can easily survive and in years past the few that tried often starved to death. But today no one lives in the thousands of square kilometers that make up the Barrens.

It takes a long time for wood to decay in the sub-arctic, the same way that it takes a very long time for plants to grown. In the harsh climate, where winter reigns 8 months of the year, a hundred year old tree is less than 10 feet tall with its trunk only 4 inches thick and plants are only a few inches high. But they sure can produce fabulous berries. We snacked on bearberries, cloudberries, bill berries, crowberries and cranberries. It was a veritable feast.

Sadly we saw only a handful of animals. Ten years ago these lands overflowed with the 200,000 strong Beverly herd of caribou. Today it is estimated less than 2,000 survive and no one knows why. They only know that few young are being born or are surviving to adulthood. And with the decline of the caribou comes the decline of the arctic wolf. We’d also hoped to see the mythical muskoxen that have made these Barren lands their home since prehistoric times, but again we saw none. But we don’t know whether it was because their numbers are down too or they were just being shy.

We’d come prepared for chilly arctic weather and were warmed by hot southern temperatures instead. It was rather nice, except it did bring out the bugs. And if there was one aspect of the trip I didn’t like it was the bugs, relentless, ravenous, flesh eating blackflies that forced us to flee to our tent or encase ourselves in bug juice and bug jackets. They crawled over everything and flew into every orifice and cranny. They were awful. Only on the open water were we really free of them.

But the white nights were magical. At 9:00 at night, the sun was still high in the sky. By 10:30 it was setting only to return at around 3:30 a.m. It never really got dark, just a greyish twilight. Needless to say we made little use of the headlamps we’d brought.

I have loads of photos and when I finally manage to upload them to an album I will do a link. Until then enjoy one of my favourites taken at around 3:30 a.m. of a setting full moon in the pink sky of the rising sun.

Another whirlwind week

2010-05-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Toronto this coming week to attend two of the most significant crime writers events in Canada. It starts off with the annual Arthur Ellis awards dinner on Thursday night, May 27, where I shall be trying to enjoy myself without thinking too much on the culmination of the evening, the announcement for this year's winner for Best Novel! Tickets can still be bought online.

But I almost forgot, before I even get to the dinner, CBC Ottawa's All in a Day radio show will be interviewing me on my nomination for the award.

Then on Friday Bloody Words 2010, Canada's most prestigious crime writing conference, begins with a welcoming reception at 5:30, then I'm off to my panel at 8:00. Titled 'Where the Wild Things Are' we'll be discussing detecting far away from the mean streets of the urban sprawl.

At 10:00 pm is the big 10th anniversary celebration. That's right, Bloody Words is ten years old and I was there at the first one held in Toronto in 1999. Despite the sweltering heat of that first one, which was held at the un-air-conditioned Arts & Letters Club, I thoroughly enjoyed it and have attended every conference since.

Next morning if there is still room, I hope to participate in the inaugural Author Speed Dating. Mirrored on the Malice Domestic Author-Go-Round, it promises to be great fun and a chance for you to meet new authors and reacquaint yourself with ones you know and love.

And then I get to relax and enjoy the many exciting panels scheduled for the rest of the day.

I always have a terrific time at the conference, renewing my acquaintance with fans, meeting new ones and schmoozing with my fellow authors.

If you haven't already signed up, you can at the door. I hope to see you there.

Wilds of Ontario

2010-05-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

On May 20th I am heading out to the wilds of Ontario to participate in a library event. Well.. it might not be exactly wild, but the Elgin branch of the Rideau Lakes Library is in the gorgeous cottage country of the Rideau Lakes. I'll be joined by Barbara Fradkin and Violette Malan. It starts at 7:00 pm and in addition to us reading and discussing our books, Sue Pike is bringing brownies and I love brownies.... and maybe you do too.

Malice Domestic and Festival of Mystery

2010-04-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

I'm heading off to the Malice Domestic conference in Arlington Va. tomorrow with my car loaded up once again with fellow crime writers, Vicki Delany and Mary Jane Maffini and my poor suffering husband. It promises to be a whirlwind of a conference starting with the Author-Go-Round 10:00 on Friday morning. I've done this before and it's always a great hoot. Gives you a chance to spread the word about your books and to meet new readers. Then on Sunday at 11:40, I'll be participating in the panel Town and Country: how setting affects the story, a topic I particularly love. Book signings will take place afterwards. So if you are attending the conference be sure to drop by and say hello.

The three of us then drive to Oakmont PA to participate in the Festival of Mystery on Monday, May 3 from 4:00 until I don't know when, maybe when the books sell out. This event is put on annually by Mystery Lovers Bookshop. Tickets are available for $7 on online or at the door for $8. There are going to be over 40 authors, all frantically signing their books.

Arthur Ellis Award Nomination!

2010-04-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to announced that Arctic Blue Death has just been shortlisted for the 2010 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel, Canada's pre-eminent award for crime fiction. The winner will be announced in Toronto on May 27 at the annual awards dinner. Needless to say I'm absolutely overjoyed with this recognition of the many long hours spent in front of a computer creating the world of Meg Harris. And feel particularly honoured to be in the company of such great writers as Anthony Bidulka, Lee Lamonthe, James W. Nichol and Howard Shrier.

For more information check out Crime Writers of Canada

Capital Crime Wave - This Thursday!

2010-04-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

Ottawa's Arthur Ellis shortlist event is happening this Thursday, April 22 at 7:00 pm. Please note the change in time from my earlier blog. I will be joining Brenda Chapman, Tom Henighan and Brian McIllop on the hot seat as we're grilled by journalist Kate Jaimet about our penchant for killing off people, by words that is. It takes place at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library on Metcalfe St.

But of course we are only the lead up to the main event, the announcement of the shortlists for this year's Arthur Ellis Awards. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some of my favourite writers will be nominated.

The evening will end with the shortlist announcement for the Audrey Jessup Award for Best Short Story, a local award given out annually by Capital Crime Writers.

See you there.

A harsh and brutal land

2010-04-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

I've added this post from my old blog.

One of the reasons why Arctic Blue Death is set in Canada’s far north is because I’ve always wanted to go there. So when I was deciding the plot and setting for the 4^th Meg Harris mystery, I thought what better way to see it than to have Meg go there. That way I get to go too.

A couple of years ago, during the longest days of the year, I hopped on a plane and flew to Iqaluit, where I spent several intriguing days and then onto Pangnirtung for a couple of more. Although I was a little more than seven days on Baffin Island, I came away with more than enough material, impressions and plot ideas to keep Meg busy.

It’s a harsh and brutal land and it took me awhile to appreciate its underlying beauty. As Meg keeps telling herself, I had to put aside my southern sensibilities and see beyond the dirt and barren rock to what the land had to offer. And for me, that was the people. I met some very kind and wonderful people both in Iqaluit and Pangnirtung that helped give me some insight of what it is like to live in one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet.

On the longest day of the year I was in Pangnirtung where the sun doesn’t set, but runs just below the mountain ridge on the southern shore for an hour or so before popping back up again. No one seemed to sleep, including me. In fact at any hour of the ‘white night’ people, including kids, would be seen out walking or playing.

When I’d flown to Iqaluit, I’d had a vague idea for a plot. I knew it would be about Meg’s father, who’d died while traveling in the Arctic when she was a child, but I wasn’t sure how he had died. I just knew that something related to his death would prompt her to go to Baffin Island. While I was being shown the Iqaluit RCMP detachment by a young constable, she happened to mention one of her cold case files. It had to do with a plane that had gone missing over 20 years ago and was never seen again. The minute she said the words “missing plane” the light bulb went on. I knew I could do a lot with a missing plane and I have in Arctic Blue Death.

To learn more about my research trip to Baffin read the November 2009 issue of Mystery Scene Magazine in which I talk about my trip and how it influenced the shaping of Arctic Blue Death.

I also took many photos, some of which I include below. But I’ve also set up an album, so click here to access the album.

View Across the Pangnirtung Fjord at midnight on

the longest day of the year

April - May Events

2010-04-14T13:39:00.001-07:00

The busy spring season is about to begin. On Thursday, April 22, I'll be participating in Capital Crime Wave, Ottawa's Arthur Ellis short list event. I, along with Brenda Chapman, Linda Wiken and Brian McKillop will be grilled by Ottawa lawyer, Kate Jaimet. It promises to be great fun. And of course we will all be anxiously awaiting the short list for this year's Arthur Ellis nominees. It starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library.

Then a week later, I head off to Washington, D.C., well actually Arlington, Va., for Malice Domestic, which runs from Apr. 29-May 1. It will be my third visit to a conference I always enjoy. The conference also gives me a chance to meet up with old friends I haven't seen since our diplomatic days in Washington in the 1980's. I'm quite looking forward to it.

On Monday, May 3rd, I will join a host of other mystery writers at Festival of Mystery held every year by Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, Pa. I attended a couple of years ago and couldn't believe the rush of avid mystery readers intent on snatching up the latest books. It was a very busy couple of hours.

At the end of May, I will be in Toronto for Canada's own Bloody Words Conference. I've been attending since that hot, steamy weekend, when the event began with great fanfare in the illustrious halls of the Arts and Letters Club in 1999. So this year there will be much celebration. And even though the venue quickly shifted to the air conditioned comfort of hotels, it has kept its uniquely Canadian format. It takes place from May 28-30 at the downtown Hilton Hotel. Don't miss this opportunity to mingle with Canada's popular crime writers. Sign up now.

I hope to see you at one of these events.

A work in progress

2010-04-09T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've had to set up a new blog, because my old one uses an outdated format that Blogger will no longer support. Unfortunately my old entries will be lost, but anything I think would be of interest to you I will include in this new blog. If there is a particular entry that you liked let me know. The old one will exist until the end of April.

It may take me awhile to get this fully up and going as I'm trying to fit this into my busy writing schedule, so please be patient.