Your next visit with Meg

I'm thrilled to let you know that another visit with Meg is in the offing. Dundurn will be publishing A Cold White Fear late 2015 or early 2016. I've had a lot of fun writing this 7th book in the Meg Harris mystery series and am now deep into the revisions. I always enjoy this part of the writing process. I get to know the story and my characters so much better. In fact I usually hate to part with them, when I finally have to say good-bye to the manuscript and send it into my publisher.

This time I am trying something different. I have put Meg in a threatening situation. I wanted to push Meg, get her outside her comfort zone and see what she would do to get out of it alive. I've also brought back her young friend, Adjidamo, or Jid as most of us know him, Sergei's buddy, the boy with the impish grin.

Here's the teaser....

It is five days before Christmas and night is approaching. A major blizzard has cut off access to Meg’s isolated wilderness home, Three Deer Point. She is alone with her young friend, Adjidamo, preparing for the big event, when a knock suddenly echoes through the house... 

And so it begins. 

The fun of a book tour

I had a fabulous time on my western Canada book tour. When Words Collide was a world wind of panels and author discussions and I particularly liked the multi-genre aspect of the Calgary conference. Usually the conferences I attend are devoted solely to crime fiction, so it was a nice change to meet science fiction and romance writers. If you are looking for another writers/writing conference to attend, you couldn't go wrong with When Words Collide, usually held in August.

And of course I couldn't go to Calgary without a trip into the mountains. I spent a delightful day hiking along the shore of Lake Louise and paddling on Emerald Lake with my niece, who was working in Field B.C. for the summer. Her brother who happened to be out West at the same time joined us for dinner the night before, so we had a bit of a family reunion. It was great fun. It was also a trip down memory lane. When I was in high school I spent a summer working at Lake Louise. I won't say how long ago it was, but let's just say the hotel Chateau Lake Louise has changed a bit in the intervening years, but they still grow the Icelandic poppies in the gardens.

Vancouver was spectacular. I returned to the hotel I stayed in for my research trip for Silver Totem of Shame. And followed Meg's footsteps along False Creek, walked past the houseboats on Granville Island where she and Eric could've stayed and saw the carving studio that served as the model for the murder scene.

But the best part was meeting readers and fans at three Vancouver Public Library branches and the store signings at Black Bond Books/Book Warehouse. Living in such a large country, I don't expect to find fans in places that are several thousands of kilometres from where I live, so I was thrilled to discover people who not only knew my name but had read all my books and were dying to meet me. I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real.

Heading West in August

I am very excited about my western book tour to Alberta and British Columbia. First I'll be in Calgary doing a store signing and attending When Words Collide. I've heard lots of good things about this multi-genre conference, so am looking forward to having a fabulous time.

And then onto B.C. Although I would've loved to have gone to Victoria and Haida Gwaii, it turned out not possible, so I will be spending close to a week in Vancouver doing a number of library and store events.  It would be fabulous to see you, so please drop by and say hello.

Calgary

Thursday Aug. 7 - Chapters McLeod Trail, I'll be signing Silver Totem of Shame and my backlist from 6:00 pm to 9:00.

Aug. 8-10 - When Words Collide - I'm involved in a number of events including a book social on the Friday, Aug. 8 at 5:00 pm, when I will be sharing Meg's adventures with Alberta fans.

Vancouver

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 7:00 to 8:00 pm at the West Point Grey Library. I'll be reading from Silver Totem of Shame and discussing the Meg Harris mystery series

Wednesday, Aug. 13, 7:00 to 8:30 pm at the Kitsilano Library - I have a family connection to Kitsilano, so am quite excited to be introducing Meg to the patrons of this library.

Thursday, Aug. 14, 12:00 pm to 3:00 - I'll be signing at Black Bond Books, 632 W. Broadway Ave.

Saturday, Aug. 16, 2:00 pm to 3:30 at the Dunbar Library for another reading from Silver Totem of Shame and a discussion on the Meg Harris mystery series

Saturday, Aug. 16, 7:00 pm to 9:00 at the Book Warehouse on Main Street, 4118 Main St.  I'll be reading and discussing my books. I am thrilled to have two Vancouver authors join me, E.R. Brown and Sam Wiebe. This promises to be a fun evening of murder and mayhem.

The photo was taken during my research trip to Vancouver for Silver Totem of Shame. I am very much looking forward to returning to this fair city that has so many ties to me and my family.

Next stop in the Writing Process Blog Tour

I’ve been invited by children’s author, Rie Charles to participate in a unique blog tour on writing. Rie, and I practiced yoga together for a number of years before either of us got involved in the writing world. And now Rie is set to have her third children's book, A Hole in My Heart, published by Dundurn in the fall. Visit her website http://riecharles.com to learn about her writing process and to learn more about her and her books. You can also visit other authors on this tour by following the different links in each of the blogs. Enjoy.

And so to continue the tour, I will answer the four questions

What are you working on?

I’m trying something different with the next and 7^th Meg Harris mystery.  I’m putting Meg in a precarious, thriller situation.

After her adventures in B.C. in Silver Totem of Shame, she is back home in Quebec at Three Deer Point, the Victorian cottage she inherited from her Great Aunt Agatha. It’s less than a week before Christmas, Eric is away in Regina on Grand Council of First Nations business and a major blizzard has trapped her inside her house. So much snow has fallen that the roads are almost impassable, her own driveway clogged with two feet of the white stuff. Jid, the boy she rescued in Red Ice for a Shroud, is helping her get ready for Christmas. She is balancing unsteadily on a ladder trying to hang some mistletoe when a loud knock echoes through the house from the front door. On her way to answer it, the power goes off and she’s plunged into darkness….

Well….since I am about half way through in its writing, I am waiting to find out what happens to Meg too.

How does your work differ from others of its genre?

I write distinctly Canadian mysteries with distinctly Canadian stories. Because I love the Great Canadian Outdoors I want to bring this alive to my readers, so I have chosen wilderness settings, which tend to be less common in the mystery genre. While Meg lives on a remote property in the wilds of Quebec, she does travel to other wildernesses, as she did in my recent book Silver Totem of Shame, in which she travelled to Haida Gwaii in search of a killer of a young Haida carver.  Meg lives next door to an Algonquin First Nations Reserve, so I interweave their stories into the mystery series. I find writing mysteries is a terrific way to explore social issues. So in each of my books I explore issues related to Natives, issues, like missing native women, police prejudice against Natives, controversary between the archeologists and Natives over ancient human remains and so on.

Why do you write what you do?

I grew up on a diet of Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and host of other mainly British mystery writers. I’ve been gorging on mystery books ever since. When I finally made the big decision to try my hand at fiction writing, it seemed only natural that I write a mystery.  Since the mysteries I enjoyed the most involved series characters, I decided to write a series. Thus Meg Harris was born. I named her Meg, short for Margaret, after my grandmother and Harris after the street I grew up on in Toronto. Like me, she too comes from Toronto, but apart from our mutual love of the Great Canadian outdoors that is about the only thing we have in common.

How does your writing process work?

I suppose the writing process I use can best be described as ‘writing by the seat of my pants’. I have tried outlining, but invariably found Meg sending the story in a totally different direction, so I don’t bother with an outline any more. I start with a setting, a time of year, an overarching theme, a general idea of what the story will be about and the opening scene. Since it is a series, I already know what Meg thinks and feels as well as the secondary characters. I generally pick up on Meg’s life where it left off in the previous book.

Once I have the story down in the first draft, I go through two-three revisions before sending the manuscript to my publisher. Part of the revision process includes having two to three critiquers help me see the ‘forest for the trees’. I find this a very invaluable step and invariably make key changes as a result of their observations.

I should not forget where I write. I find my writing muse at my cottage, where I can look out on the natural world that Meg also enjoys watching. The photo is of my favourite summertime writing spot inside the screened-in porch of my Quebec log cabin.

Thanks for this opportunity for me to talk a bit about my writing process. And if you would like to know more don’t hesitate to drop me a line.

Now let me introduce the next two authors on this tour, long time friend and former colleague at DMR Group, Maureen Fisher and fellow Ottawa crime writer, Mike Martin.

Maureen Fisher will be posting her writing process on June 2 on her blog http://booksbymaureen.com/my-blog/ 

Maureen is a terrific writer with a very wry sense of humour. She writes sassy romance novels containing a slice of adventure and enough steamy love scenes to drive those who to dare read them racing for a cold shower. She enjoys taking readers into another world, a world full of romance, humor, and suspense.

Mike Martin was born in Newfoundland and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a longtime freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand. He is the author of "Change the Things You Can: Dealing with Difficult People" and has written a number of short stories that have been published in various publications including Canadian Stories and Downhome magazine.

The Walker on the Cape was his first full fiction book and the premiere of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series. The Body on the T was the second book, and Beneath the Surface is the third installment in this series. He's having a big launch at Chapters Rideau in Ottawa on May 29 in the evening. 

Like Maureen he will be posting his writing process blog on June 2 at www.beneaththesurface.co.

Be sure to put June 2nd in your schedule so you won't miss the next blogs in the Writing Process Blog Tour.

I hope you are enjoying this blog tour. Don’t forget to check out Rie Charles writing process blog and work back in time to the other blogs. You will discover new writers from many fields and revisit familiar faces.

Store signings, conferences and more

With Silver Totem of Shame now out on bookshelves, I am set to start store signings. Thus far I have Ottawa stores booked and one in Peterborough. Here's the schedule. Drop by. I would be thrilled to see you.

Ottawa

Chapters Kanata - May 23, 6:00 pm to 9:00
Barrhaven Indigo - May 24, 1:00 pm to 4:00
Chapters Rideau - May 25, 1:00 pm to 4:00
Chapters Pinecrest - May 29, 6:00 pm to 9:00
Chapters South Keys - May 31, 12:00 pm to 4:00
Chapters Gloucester - June 1, 1:00 pm to 4:00
Brittons on Bank St - June 21, 12:00 pm to 2:00

Peterborough

Chapters - June 8, 1:00 pm to 4:00

May 10, all day, I'm participating in Capital Mayhem at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library. At 11:00, I'm on a panel with those other killer dames, Mary Jane Maffini, Barbara Fradkin and Linda Wiken. This is a going to be a grand celebration of Ottawa crime writing.

May 13 is the big launch of Silver Totem of Shame. I'm joined by Vicki Delany who is launching two of her recent books. It's at the Heart and Crown Pub in the Byward Market and starts at 7:00 pm. We're going to have a great bash.

I will also be attending Bloody Words in Toronto, June 6-7. If you love mysteries, consider registering for this terrific Canadian mystery conference. Just click on this to go to the site.
Sadly this is the last year for this con, so it's your last chance to mingle with Canada's crime writers who will be coming from all across the country.

And I must not forget that I will be heading out to Calgary in August to attend When Worlds Collide, August 8 -10. Since I will be out west I am also planning on going to Vancouver and Victoria for some events and hopefully Haida Gwaii. Once these are finalized I will post them.

Take care. And enjoy Silver Totem of Shame

Silver Totem of Shame Launch!

May 13 is going to be party time in Ottawa. I'm launching the latest Meg Harris mystery, Silver Totem of Shame, and you're invited. I'll be joined by Vicki Delany, who is launching not one but two books, the latest Constable Molly Smith, Under Cold Stone and a Rapid Reads, Juba Good. So if you live in Ottawa, come join us. We'd love to see you.

Contest!! Free Book!!

I'm so sick of looking at this never ending snow piling up outside my log cabin. To top it off, it's snowing right now, when it was supposed to be a bright sunny spring day. So I'm going to hold a contest. The first person to guess the date when all this white stuff is finally gone wins a free signed copy of my upcoming book, Silver Totem of Shame. The person with the date closest to the actual date wins! What could be easier than that. Just leave your answer in the comments section.

Interview

I was thrilled to do this interview for Mystery Maven Canada, the go-to site for what's happening in the Canadian mystery scene. Enjoy.

Upcoming events

With Silver Totem of Shame coming out in June, my dance card is starting to fill up.

On Jan. 31, I will be at the Ontario Library Associations Superconference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto. At 11:00 am I will be participating in Meet the Crime Writers of Canada on stage in the exhibit hall and at 1:00 pm I will be signing books at the Dundurn booth.

Two weeks later, I will be attending the Montreal Book Fair on Feb. 18 in Montreal at the Delta Inn and a week later, the Ottawa Book Fair on Feb. 23 at the Delta Inn in Ottawa.

In March I go to Florida. Yahoo. With 3 feet of snow on the ground and -20Cs temperatures, I will be very ready for some Florida sun and fun by then. I am a guest author at the 2014 Lake County Bookfest. On Thurs. March 13, I will be at the Leesburg Public Library in Leesburg talking about the Meg Harris series from 1:00 pm to 1:45. On Fri. March 14, I will be at the W.T. Bland Public Library in Mount Dora participating in the "Across the Border" panel along with fellow Canadian writers, Vicki Delany and C.B. Forrest. It starts at 1:00 pm. Then next day, Sat. March 15, the three of us will be speaking on another panel, this one on Creating Memorable Characters at the Cooper Memorial Library in Clermont. This panel is from 10:00 am to 12:00.

In April, I will be greeting readers and selling my books at the Canadian Authors Association's First Annual Book Fest on Apr. 12, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm in the Clark Hall of the RA centre on Riverside Drive.

In May, I will be joining other Ottawa crime writers for a fun day of murderous intrigue at Capital Crime Writers Mystery Writers Conference on Sat. May 10 at the Ottawa Public Library. Once I have more details I will post the program for the day.

When Silver Totem of Shame is released in early June, I intend to do store signings at several stores in Ottawa. I'll post the dates and times once everything is finalized.

In the mean time happy reading.

Head to Facebook

I've been a terrible blogger. Here it is more than a year since my last entry. But I've not been quiet. Facebook has become my place to let fans know what is happening in the world of Meg Harris. So please go to R.J. Harlick's Meg Harris Mysteries.

Lots have been happening since the last blog. The most important, Silver Totem of Shame, the next Meg Harris mystery, will be released in June 2014. In this the 6th in the series, Meg travels to Vancouver B.C. where she comes across the crime scene of a murdered Haida carver. The young man proves to be the adopted nephew of the estranged sister of Eric Odjik.  The unexpected encounter with his sister forces Eric to confront his painful past and sends Meg and Eric to Haida Gwaii in search of the boy’s Haida family and his killer.

As the search progresses, a totem pole carver sets out to carve the ancient story of a long ago chief’s treasure and how it incited betrayal and shame.  It reaches its nasty tentacles into the present and embroils Meg and Eric in a modern day story of clan rivalry and betrayal.

Looking forward to seeing you on my R.J. Harlick's Meg Harris Mysteries Facebook page. If you love immersing yourself in Meg's world, I would appreciate if you like the page.

Free copies of A GREEN PLACE FOR DYING!

My publisher is giving away 5 copies of my latest Meg Harris mystery at the 49th Shelf website. All you need to do is become a registered member and submit your name to win. If you aren't familiar with the 49th Shelf, it is the go-to place for finding everything you need to know about Canadian books and Canadian authors.

Library week in Ottawa

Although my book tour is now over, and what a terrific tour it was, I will be busy with library events in Ottawa next week.

On Wed. April 11, from 1:30 pm to 3:00, I will be back at the Stittsville Public Library, one of my favourites, discussing and reading from my latest Meg Harris mystery, A Green Place for Dying. It's located at 1637 Stittsville Main St. in Stittsville.

The next day, April 12, the Deadly Duo at High Noon will be regaling readers at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe St from noon until 1:30 pm. You are no doubt wondering who the Deadly Duo are. Me, of course, and my good friend, Vicki Delany, who will be speaking about her latest Klondike mystery, Gold Mountain.

By the way Vicki is launching Gold Mountain the following week on April 19, 7:00 pm at Library and Archives Canada.  She will be joined by Erika Chase, who is also launching A Killer Read, the first in the Ashton Book Club mystery series.

The following day, April 13, I will be speaking to a group of librarians about the latest happenings in the Mystery genre with an emphasis on Canadian mysteries. This is a co-ordinated event that is taking place at a number of libraries in Southern Ontario by various members of Crime Writers of Canada.

Before signing off, I want to thank all those who stopped by my signing table during my book tour to chat and to buy signed copies of my Meg Harris mysteries. It was wonderful to meet you and to be reassured that people are still reading.  Lots of them, if my sales numbers are anything to go by.

Below is a photo of me with fellow writer and fan Pamela Blance at the Queensway Chapter in Toronto.

The reviews are rolling in

"Meg Harris...gets and education in evil in Harlick's absorbing fifth mystery"  Publishers Weekly


"Author R.J. Harlick's Meg Harris series shakes the boundaries with each successive novel and has reached a new plateau with A Green Place for Dying..." Hamilton Spectator


"R.J. Harlick has picked a tragically relevant focus for her latest Meg Harris crime novel..."  A Joan Barfoot review that has appeared in several Canadian papers including, London Free Press, The Whig Standard, The Examiner, The Nugget, Fort McMurray Today....


"...solid writing, strong characterization, a tight plot and a wonderful sense of place." Reviewingtheevidence.com


"Anyone who appreciates complex, realistic characters and a strong traditional mystery set in an unfamiliar environment should make an effort to look for A Green Place for Dying. You'll be shocked to discover what you've been missing." Lesa's Book Critiques


"All of the Meg Harris books are steeped in this rich culture that adds a deeper texture to the novels. The mysteries are solidly plotted and provide new challenges to Meg. And she in turn, works through her own demons and insecurities....This is a series you'll want to read from start to finish."  Mystery Mavens Canada


"Last night I opened 'A Green Place for Dying'...It's five a.m. and I'm still up. This is one seductive book." Jayne Barnard's blog

Upcoming signings

I'm heading off tomorrow, March 24, to Peterborough to sign my latest Meg Harris mystery, A Green Place for Dying. I'll be at Chapters Peterborough from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. On Sunday, March 25, I'm heading to Kingston, where I will do two store signings. In the morning from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, I'm at Kingston Indigo and then I rush up Princess Street to Kingston Chapters for another signing from 1:30 pm to 4:00. If I'm a bit late you will know why. The crowds at the Indigo wouldn't let me leave until I had signed the last book.....:)

The following weekend I travel again. This time to Toronto, where I will be signing at the Queensway Chapters in Etobicoke from 7:00 pm to 9:00 on Friday March 30. Then on Saturday March 31 I scoot over to Waterloo to sign at the Waterloo Chapters from 1:00 to 4:00. I finish up my tour with a Sunday, April Fools Day signing at in St. Catharines at the Chapters. I'll be there from 1:00 pm to 4:00.

This ends my organized book tour, but I will be doing one more signing at the end of April on Monday April 30, at a very fun event, called the Festival of Mystery, in Oakmont PA. Put on by the Mystery Lovers Bookshop, it is a fabulous event. Throngs of avid mystery fans line up at the door waiting to get in and when the doors finally open, they pounce.

I hope to set up some more signings, possibly in Montreal. I will let you know the dates once confirmed.

Upcoming Ottawa events

With the release of A Green Place for Dying fast approaching on Feb. 17, my event card is starting to fill up.

It kicks off with a bang and a wickedly fun celebration of the launch on Tues. Feb. 28 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Heart and Crown in the Market. Be sure not to miss the Ottawa book event of the year....yeah, right. I wish. But I promise it will be lots of fun.

Then on Saturday Mar. 3, from 1:00 pm to 4:00, I will be at one of my favourite Chapters, Rideau Chapters on Rideau St., where else but next to the Rideau Centre. I always have great fun at this store meeting many fabulous readers and I usually manage to sell a book or two or three or more.....:) And the staff are super there.

If you miss me on Saturday, you can catch me at Chapters South Keys, in the South Keys Shopping Centre, another great signing store. I'll be there from 1:00 pm to 4:00

The following weekend I'll be in the west end of Ottawa. On Saturday, March 10 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 at Chapters Pinecrest in the Pinecrest Mall and then on Sunday, March 11, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 at Chapters Kanata in the Kanata Centrum Mall. And I tell you I love signing at these stores too. Terrific staff, terrific clientele.

On Saturday, March 17 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm, I will be at my favourite independent bookstore in Ottawa, Books on Beechwood, who is also handling my launch sales. The store is located on Beechwood a block north of the Vanier Parkway.

I am also looking at book signings at two more Ottawa stores. When I have these finalized, I will let you know.

And when I am finished with Ottawa, I am off to other book stores in southern and eastern Ontario and Quebec. It promises to be a very busy couple of months. But hey, I love doing these signings. Gives me a chance to get to know my readers.

Book Launch!

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

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

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

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

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.