A Tribute to Lou Allin by Leanne Dyck

On Friday, July 11th, I held my friend in my arms and spoke softly, “I have bad news. Lou Allin passed away.” It was hard news to share—hard for me to say, hard for her to hear.

A few minutes later, my friend found a magazine and flipped to an article she'd written. “Without Lou's gentle nudge I won't have submitted this; without her gentle nudge I won't have been published in this magazine.”

I wonder how many authors can credit Lou's gentle nudge for helping to develop their careers? My guess: many, including the organization Crime Writers of Canada.  Including me.

How did I meet Lou?

Lou Allin was an award-winning mystery author. And so, appropriately, how I met her is a bit of a mystery.

Back in 2009, I had newly self-published a mystery. I wanted to learn more about the publishing industry and thought finding a writers' association would help. A search engine delivered me to the Mystery Writers of America website. I emailed them asking if I could join and explaining that I was Canadian. Their polite reply directed me to the Crime Writers of Canada. And I made a mental note to learn more about this association. A few months later, I received an email from Lou Allin (then membership chair) informing me that the Crime Writers of Canada was holding a free mini-conference. How she found me will remain a mystery. But I'm very glad she did.

During that first conference, I participated in a one-on-one blue-pencil session with Lou. (Learn more about how that went here.) And I invited her to visit me on Mayne Island. She accepted my offer, and we became friends. Like a good friend, Lou was always there to offer me opportunities like sitting on panels, giving me feedback on my writing, and writing articles for this blog.

Bloody Words by Lou Allin (12/28/10)

Interview with Lou Allin (8/26/11)

Lou Allin takes us to the Crime Writes of Canada award night (6/21/12)

Belle or Holly?:  The Old Order Changeth, Yielding Place to New

(7/12/13)

Lou will live on not only in her writing but also in the authors she gently nudged.

Writing tips from a writers conference notes by Leanne Dyck

A generous publisher, a knowledgeable panel and an inspiring author were the magic ingredients that made this Crime Writers of Canada (B.C. branch) mini conference a 'must attend' event.

Ruth Linka

Associate Publisher

Rapid Reads

Orca Publishing

Ruth Linka spoke candidly about a diverse list of topics--what she expects from authors, the steps after your manuscript is accepted, and what type of work her publishing house (Rapid Reads imprint of Orca Publishing) is seeking.

Here is what I heard her say (which might be slightly different from what she actually said)...

-stressed that it's important for authors to connect with their (potential) readers through social networking

-when a publisher sends you a personalized rejection letter it's because they want to see more of your work and that they hope you will continue to submit your work

-after the manuscript is accepted the contract is signed, editing starts, book cover ideas are discussed as well as how to promote the book. This usually takes about a year. Although some publishers may reduce the time to six months.

-Rapid Reads is looking for short work (15 to 20k words) and are focusing on mysteries 

-Ideally the author would have the next book in the series ready so that when the first book of the series is published the first chapter of the second book can be included at the back (Louise Penny does this)

-Ruth likes to see good writing, an interesting plot and characters--and for the protagonist to have a side kick

-most Canadian publishers take a manuscript without an agent

-search title to make sure it isn't being used

-catch the publisher's interest in the cover letter

Conference organizer Phyllis Smallman introduces the panel

Left to right:  Lou Allin, Benni Chisholm, Kay Stewart (moniator) and Stanley Evans

When writing a mystery what should the author focus on?

Lou Allin:  Is the crime going to be solved? What other problems will be encountered?

Stanley:  Think in terms of 'must' and 'cannot'--as in, the protagonist must solve the crime because... but cannot solve it because...

How do you make a book suspenseful?

Benni Chisholm:  wrote one of her books in the first person that way the reader only knows what the protagonist knows. She wrote another book in the third person and she wrote it in such a way that the reader knew who the antagonist was. This made the reader worry.

Lou Allin advised against starting chapters with the character getting up or end with the character going to bed.

Lou Allin advised sharing the same thought on every page.

Writing tips?

Stanley:  no outline--writes a detailed synopsis, instead

-all crime books begin with a murder

 -more challenging to write a novel in the lst person so he recommended that beginners write in the 3rd person

Benni:  likes to end each chapter with a cliff hanger. 

Lou:  it's okay to have an unreliable narrator, it's okay to lie to your reader. Even though, the reader has been educated to trust the narrator.

Kay:  get me on the first chapter and flow forward

Phyllis Smallman

Phyllis Smallman began her talk about how to write a best-seller by saying, in order to be a great author you need to be a great reader--learn form the masters.

She recommend that we read best-sellers and study them to determine why they are best-sellers.

Start with a great opening paragraph

Vary the length of your sentences

Recommended writing craft books:

Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass

Write Away by Elizabeth George

A Passion for Narrative by Jack Hodgins

Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose

For Writers Only by Sophy Burnham

An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton

The Describer's Dictionary by David Grambs

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown & Dave King

The Art of Fiction:  Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner

Much thanks to the organizers and presenters. (Oh, yes, and to my friend Amber and her husband for making room in their van for me.) I for one, and I know I'm not alone, was brimming over with information and inspiration. And I can't wait until next year...

Sharing my author journey...

I've been giving a lot of thought to what I want to accomplish this summer. 

Guest Post: Author Lou Allin shares writing advice

Belle or Holly? : The Old Order Changeth, 

Yielding Place to New

            “Abandoning” a series is a harsh word. It sounds like an author tucked the books into a heated drop at a foundling hospital, or a love affair petered out. Maybe sales fell into the abyss.

            I left my five-book series when I moved from the Nickel Capital in Northern Ontario to Vancouver Island in Canada’s Caribbean. Instead of using an amateur sleuth, I started a police procedural. Now three books in, I miss realtor Belle Palmer, and I don’t quite adore young RCMP Corporal Holly Martin (too callow for my sixty-seven-year-old tastes), but it’s been a good decision. Why change? Moving was only one part of the answer.

            I need to live where I write, down to the last mosquito or banana slug. “Show me the landscape in which you live, and I will tell you who you are,” said Ortega y Gasset. The bitter cold and tormenting flies defined Sudbury. My nostrils and throat knew -15C from -25 or -35.  A spastic flicking dance pounding forest paths from May to August is now as foreign as the pungent esters of Deep Woods Off. I watch the fog roll in and out like Reddi-Whip, smell the brine and rotting kelp, and plunge my geocaching hand into a dark cleft in a cedar trunk (no poisonous snakes here) .

            Second, my sleuth needed to lose a few decades. Starting out, I made her my own age.  Forty-five. Mellow and wise, but still in shape. When my first review mentioned “middle-aged Belle,” I said, “No way!” Later, while she was heading toward fifty, I felt sadistic putting her through the hellish perils of the final chase scenes, paddling a canoe, riding a snowmobile, and dodging bullets.

            Third, challenges are stimulating. Anything which shakes an author out of ruts is good canon fodder. I had already welcomed two contracts for Orca’s Rapid Read books, 20K gems in simpler language with linear plots. Write normally, then hit the Hemingway key. Instant transposition. Some people have believed that joke, just like they ask where to buy a “bush poodle.” A fresh series would stretch my writing muscles.

            With a few orphan standalones, I was also peeved at agents who scoffed at amateur sleuths. I was pitching a Utah book where a reporter found a body in a cave. “But why should she care?” the agent asked, barely old enough to vote. “Where’s the motivation?”

             “And if I made the victim the sister of the reporter?” My eyes narrowed.

            “That would be better.”

            No such worries in a police procedural. Death knocks early, and it gets investigated. No sly inveigling of the amateur sleuth tootling around on her own, notebook tucked in pocket, boyfriend- or father-connection to the police for inside information.

            Even before I left Ontario, armed with a few maps, I started my Holly Martin series. Holly would be a staff sergeant….in a outlier detachment of three. Intimate. No pesky bureaucracy. Then I arrived at the island and learned the facts. Holly needed a staff of at least fourteen! Without even a single act, my new girl was demoted to Corporal. Worse yet, she wouldn’t get to investigate murders. Inspectors would be called in from the city, shoving her aside.

            But authors love to find “a way around.” Holly could discover “suspicious” deaths that looked like accidents or root around in cold cases. A key suspect, a friend perhaps, might be innocent. And she could continue to follow the ongoing hunt for her mother, who disappeared without a trace ten years earlier.

            As a bonus, I’m having fun with titles, leaving the “are Murder” list behind. After Northern Winters, Blackflies, Bush Poodles, and Memories, I was running out of ideas. My spooky new titles come from Victorian poems: And on the Surface Die, She Felt No Pain, and the latest, Twilight is Not Good for Maidens. The last comes from a children’s poem called “Goblin Market,” with little girls trading their golden curls for the forbidden fruit of forest homunculi. A vampire tease? No more than “BUSH” poodles attracted Republicans in 2003.

            Holly will have to grow on me. I was thirty two once, short on experience but long on strength and willingness to learn. That readers like her is the first step. And as for Belle Palmer, she’s alive and well in a parallel universe, along with my beloved German shepherd Freya and my father born in 1910.

Lou Allin kissing a chiton

Web site

Lou Allin's latest book...

Buy link

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Crime Writers of Canada mini writing conference report by Leanne Dyck

The morning of Saturday, May 25^th I woke before my alarm. By 6:30 a.m., I was in the truck headed for the ferry. I was excited—but not nervous. This surprised me. I’m used to talking to one or two people at a time, in a few hours I would be talking to a room full. But the day wasn’t all about me—there were other panels, other panellists.

Here’s what I heard…

Panel 1:  Moving from Idea to Draft

E.R. Brown, Benni Chisholm, Ken Merkley, Kay Stewart(moderator)

-When conducting research, experts (such as police officers) are helpful—especially if you send them an introductory letter stating what information you want to collect.

An attendee asked:  If your story is based on a true event, how do you avoid being legible?

Answer:  Mask the facts and consult with a lawyer.

There was discussion about plotter or panster. Most present did some type of outlining before writing.

Advice:  -Write the first draft then fix it.

There was discussion about how to make the outlining process easier.

-mind mapping

-mind mapping using Post-it notes

-mind mapping using a whiteboard

-mind mapping using the computer program Scribner

Editors have said that…

-readers want to be in a place

-readers want to learn something

While researching, the Internet provides only a broad overview; therefore, consider purchasing books and consulting experts.

An attendee asked:  Should an author be able to play with the facts?

Answer:  The author should ask herself, “Could this happen?”

If the answer is yes—go for it.

-In writing scenes, instead of trying to account for every minute only write the important scenes.

-You should start the scene with one set of feelings and end it with a different set.

-Beware of sagging middles.

-Each scene should move the story forward.

Food for thought:  An eight-year-old said, “I like this book. I just think the author told too much of it.”

Panel 2:  Handling Common Problems in Plot, Character, and Style

Chris Bullock (moderator), Joan Donaldson-Yarmey, Debra Purdy Kong, Lou Allin

-Beware of using local places as the setting for negative events.

-If you’re becoming bored with the story bring in a bad boy or girl.

-Read (lots of) books like an author. When you encounter characters ask yourself why you like/dislike them.

-Feel free to build a character that is a composite of real people.

When building a character start by asking yourself:

What do they look like?

How do they act?

Where do they work?

Then go deeper…

What are their hopes, dreams, fears…

-Once you understand your character outside and in you can bring them to life on the page.

-When you’re working on a series develop a character bible for each character—main and minor.

When building a character

-avoid making them too quirky—you want believable characters

-avoid making them too stereotypical

-be careful how you age your character

-ensure that there is continuity

-secondary characters shouldn't overshadow—if they begin to reign them in.

-don’t have too many characters. Ensure that each has a purpose.

-find your own style

-your words should flow naturally

-use your own voice

-aim for rhythm in your writing

-as the writer matures so does her writing

-don’t let your setting take over

(much thanks to Kay Stewart for taking this photo)

Panel 3:  Marketing Your Work

Leanne Dyck, Robin Spano, Phyllis Smallman (moderator)

I sat down feeling confident. I looked out at the attendees and immediately felt nervous. All those old stories about how I couldn’t read began attacking me. I was tired so I tripped and fell over some words. This made me feel embarrassed. Still, I knew I wanted to be there; I wanted to be a panellist. This is an important part of building my author career. It’s just hard for me—that’s all. But it’s been my experience that the more I challenge myself the easier things become.

I plan to share my speech with you—in a future post, so watch for that.

Robin Spano spoke eloquently about Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. She said that Twitter allows participants to interact with one another and, for this reason, Twitter serves as an excellent tool for networking. 

She explained that Goodreads has a blog and is an excellent way to promote the books that you've enjoyed reading.

Since Robin spoke I’ve had an opportunity to become more involved with Facebook. I like it because through it I feel like a member of a community.

Twitter and Facebook are more immediate—brief messages sent quickly—than blogging. But what works best for me is having an opportunity to think before I write. I also like having a home base where I draw readers while engaging with them online. Blogging also helps escape the "time-suck" that other forms of social networking create. Basically, I used my panel time to promote the virtues of blogging.

One of the marketing ideas Phyllis Smallman recommended, which I hope to eventually use, is Skype. Imagine being able to do an interactive presentation to a global audience.

Award winning author, Phyllis Smallman, lives on Salt Spring Island, B.C. but spends the winter months in Florida where her books are set. Her fifth book, Highball Exit, comes out in the fall of 2012.
"Smallman...is at the top of her game in this fast-paced tale."  Globe and Mail

Phyllis Smallman writes...

Marketing Creativity

It doesn’t matter if you paint, knit or write books like I do; you need to be able to sell your product the same as Kraft needs to sell their cheese. How do we go about that? Here are some quick tips that may help you.

    1.You need to be able to speak about your work so go to Toastmasters and learn to be a great public speaker.  You’ll have fun and it’s the quickest way to put yourself at ease in front of an audience. More than that, they will become part of your marketing platform.

      2. Have a good talk with yourself and decide what type of marketing you are most comfortable doing.  For me that means not hand selling books at fairs, festivals or signings, but I’m happy to hand out bookmarks.

    3. Build a platform with a community of like minded people.  Join guilds, art groups and associations to increase your fan base and provide new ideas and marketing opportunities. I belong to Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America and Florida Writers Assoc.

     4. Give stuff away.  In my case, I put up free short stories where e-books are sold.  When you download a short story of mine there is a few chapters of one of my books attached at the end. Bitty And The Naked Ladies has been downloaded about 30,000 times. Write articles about the work you do and offer them to on-line magazines. This is a way to get your name out there and gain authenticity.  If you give people information, you create fans and followers. My articles have appeared in Omni magazine and in Spinetingler.

     I send out a newsletter once a year, when I have a new book out, to update readers on what’s happening and to remind them that I’m still writing. I include any new publishing events, awards or books. For instance, I won a bronze medal from Independent Publishers this spring.  That will go in my fall newsletter to announce my new book, Long Gone Man, coming out in Sept from Touch Wood. To receive newsletters, which you can use as a template, go to www.phyllissmallman.com and I’ll add you to the list.

     This is the most important point.  You want people to like you. Don’t annoy them. Don’t over-send things to them, don’t over-invite them to events, don’t over social media them and most importantly, don’t always make it about you. Be nice.

Mystery Mini Chats followed the panel discussions. It was an opportunity for readers and authors to engage in dialogue about books. 

Blue Pencil Critique (short story) by Leanne Dyck

Inspired by...
Conquer Your Writing Weaknesses
http://theworldofmyimagination.blogspot.ca/2012/09/conquer-your-writing-weaknesses.html?showComment=1348761161464#c8466110190768853176
I wrote...

Blue Pencil Critique

I eagerly signed up for my first blue pencil critique. We were instructed to email our short story to our critique partner a few weeks before the writing workshop. And I dreamed about an actual author reading my words.

On the day of the writing workshop, I arrived early at the library and was directed to room 202-A. The room was empty—just me and mystery author Lou Allin. She'd been published more than once. 

“Do you have two copies of your submission?” 

I handed her the pages, and my excitement was gone—replaced by a red face and hand-trembling nerves. I waited for her to belt me in and flip the switch.

I'm not a writer. I don't know how to write. Why am I here? Why am I wasting her time?

I felt her eyes on my words, and my stomach flipped.

“I know my writing needs a lot of help.” 

“Really? Actually, I thought it was—."

“I have dyslexia,” I blurted.

“Rather good.” She grinned. "Oh, that explains the creative spelling.”

She placed the pages on the desk. “This is good. In fact, it’s one of the best submissions I’ve received.”

All I saw was a trail of red ink snaking down the page.

“It’s best to avoid… This piece could be a lot stronger if you… I think it would help if you…,” she said, dancing through the pages. Then she hit on something tender.

“Actually,” I began tentatively. “There was… That is to say…” I gulped. “May I do more than listen? I mean, can I explain?”

Her eyes lifted from the paper and rested softly on my face. “Of course, Leanne." She smiled. "These are your words. You know the story better than I do. You know why you wrote it the way you did. Hold on to your vision. I’m only here to help.”

***

Guest Post: Lou Allin at the Crime Writers of Canada award night

(Lou Allin receives the Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to the Crime Writers of Canada.)

Crime Writers of Canada

I found myself both honoured and terrified to be asked to be the emcee at this year’s Arthur Ellis Awards  for Canada’s best crime writing.

Ellis was the nom de plume of Canada’s last hangman, and the little wooden hanging man statue is a unique, hand-made prize. When the string is pulled, Arthur jumps up and down.

At the Hilton Toronto on Richmond Street on May 31, a near record crowd of about 140 had gathered in the ballroom. One glitch was that due to the special dessert “event,” the evening wouldn’t begin until 8:00 pm, so when introductions were made by our president Garry Ryan , I told the group that they would be served their salad and entrée first. The huge laugh disconcerted me for a moment. When you’re not trying to be funny…

Forty minutes later, it was on to my commentary, which included a “rally the troops” beginning, citing our origins in 1982 when a few founders hoisted drinks to a new organization. The awards were begun shortly after with a few categories, including best first novel, best short story, and best novel. As the years passed, the group moved forward with a website, the catalogue, Cool Canadian Crime, Word on the Street and other events to celebrate National Canadian Crime-Writing Month, the mentorship program, the Unhanged Arthur Sponsorship as well as recent initiatives with the CBC, Zoomer magazine, and the National Post. Our membership has reached 340! These are amazing numbers for a small country.

But since I was asked to speak for twelve minutes, I decided to offer a few suggestions for the future. Not long before, I had read an Icelandic book and came across this sentence: “Before going downstairs, he telephoned Sigurdur Oli and told him to go with Elinborg to Hafnarfjordur to take Gudlaugur’s sister in for questioning. I found myself staring at the sentence and repeating it as if I had entered a new country. I had invested in this book, and not merely because of its constant mention of needing to boil smoked lamb for the upcoming Christmas holidays. A month later at Left Coast Crime, a conference in Sacramento, I heard Helene Turstan, a prominent Swedish crime writer, asked what made the Scandinavian mysteries so popular. She replied, “Ve are exotic.” Now I had my topic. Canada needs to capitalize on its differences, not its similarities, especially to our elephant neighbour down south.

And we have the tools to be exotic.

Let’s start with names. Colin and Siobhan have always flummoxed me.

Geography is even better. Moving from Dildo to Conception Bay and jumping to Climax, SK. There are also Quispamsis, Ecum Secum, St. Louis de Ha Ha, Buzwah, Wawa, Pickle Lake, Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw, and Spuzzum. No need to set the book in these places. Just drop a name now and then. “Got to call Mom in Buzwah. It’s her birthday.”

As for foods, we can do as well as that boiled smoked lamb. How about cod tongues, jellied moose nose, scrunchins, or candied salmon?

We’re not much on guns, but Off insect repellent and Bobex deer repellent could turn back a villain or a neighbour. Icicles can do damage, too.

Exotic history? The Diefenbaby, Prime Minister King’s dog, mother, and séances, and the Pig War in the San Juans.

International plots? Suppose the REAL Jesuit Relations were discovered in a revelation that could bring down the Papacy? A plot to kidnap Justin Bieber could expand the audience to tens of millions of pre-pubescent girls.

Then as stomachs rumbled and wine flowed, the awards took center stage.

 Don Graves and Catherine Astolfo received the Derrick Murdoch Award for their incomparable contributions to the CWC.

The Best Unpublished First Novel went to Sam Wiebe for Last of the Independents.

Astolfo also won the Best Crime Short Story for “What Kelly Did,” a double night for her.

Best Crime Non-Fiction went to Hot Art: Chasing Thieves and Detectives Through the Secret World of Stolen Art by Joshua Knelman.

Best Juvenile went to Tim Wynne-Jones for Blink & Caution.

Best Crime Book in French found La Chorale de Diable by Martin Michaud.

 Best First Novel named Ian Hamilton for The Water Rat of Wanchai.

Peter Robinson took home the Arthur once again for Best Novel, Before the Poison.

At last the special dessert event was ready, created by the Sugarstars from the Food Channel. They ushered us into an autopsy room filled with sweet temptations. A covered body lay on the gurney, and all around were jars and plates and cupboards of organs. Eyeball lollipops, pounds of brains being weighed, platters of kidneys, vials of blood and other amazing creations. Everyone dug in as directed. The event was being filmed and will air in August. So be sure to tune in!

Although I was too nervous to eat the dinner, and left early during the “autopsy,” I got praise for my Icelandic pronunciation. Turns out there was someone at the dinner who spoke the language after all.

Guest Post: Interviewing author Lou Allin

How/why did you start to write?

At five, I handed my mother a folded note reading "No." She must have wondered what she'd gotten herself into after trying for seven years to get pregnant.

Shortly after, I started writing poems about my white mice. "Whose teeth are gone and have to live/on Maypo 'cause he's sensitive?"  Most of them were named for classic film stars like Errol Flynn and Bette Davis. Did I mention that my father was a film booker? Not a bookie, like some thought.

About nine with a printing set, I started my own newspaper: The Nine Year Old. Next year, The Ten Year Old. Kind of a pattern.

In love with the Hardy boys from ages nine to thirteen, I wrote in a blue book a little mystery "novel" called The Mystery of the Secret Passageway. Mid-point, my handwriting changes from print to cursive. It was illustrated with side-burned, pompadoured young men seen from the side, proving why I am no good at art. A stick man's my limit.

Then some lugubrious poems in high school. "Misery, companion mine, to my depths you do entwine and crush my soul, a torch of wine."

But when I got to university in 1963 and majored in English, I gave up all hope of writing my own work until I got an electric typewriter in the late Seventies. I published 60 poems, moved into short stories with a computer in 1985, and into novels in the Nineties.

How did you become an author?

My first two mysteries were taken by RendezVous Press in 1998, and Northern Winters are Murder was published in 2000, Blackflies are Murder following in 2002. Blackflies was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel. It was also my shortest novel. Perhaps the judges were telling me something because I haven't been shortlisted after nine books in total.

What was your first published piece?

I had a rash of poems taken and was even paid twenty-five US bucks by the National Enquirer for four lines about toothpaste, but I'll name "A Literary Vampire," which was taken by The Vampire Journal. If I'd stuck with vampires in my novels, I'd be rich now. Who could have known back in 1980?

What did you do before embarking on your writing career? Was it an asset to your writing? How?

I made the big mistake of getting way too much education, a PhD in English literature at a time when the universities had hired everyone they'd need for the next twenty-five years! That's what many of 800 rejection letters said. After banging my head against the wall teaching high school one year down by the Ohio River and then working full-time as a slave-labour adjunct at two universities ninety mile apart, I found out I still had Canadian citizenship (I'd spent 30 years in Ohio) and found a job at Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario. It was dead boring, but they paid me well and didn't work me too hard. I was lucky to be able to build a house on a gigantic meteor-crater lake and stay in the area until I retired in 2005.

 What inspires you?

Living on that breathtaking lake eight miles across and having hundreds of miles of Crown land in my backyard inspired me to write the Belle Palmer series set in the Nickel Capital. I had my own private trails tramped one footstep at a time over twenty years. With my German shepherds, I hiked in the summer and snowshoed in the winter. I also took my snowmobile right off the front lawn across the frozen lake, where I could drive for hours in three directions. Five wolves walked by one cold night. Moose and bear were everywhere. In the woods were my altars and my demi-gods, the trees, lakes, rivers, and bogs. You know you're in the north when your host wants to show you his favourite swamp!

Please share one of you successful marketing techniques

The Tourist Centre at the edge of Sudbury has all my books. I ship them from Toronto, and they sell them and send the cheques to BC. On good summer days, they get three hundred visitors.

 (Lou accepting the Murdoch award.
'The Derrick Murdoch is a special achievement award for contribution to the crime genre.' -- from the Crime Writers of Canada website )

Parting words

An author needs tools, talent, and tenacity. The first you can learn, the second you can hone, and the third is open to anyone who keeps at it. Check out Alan Bradley and his successful series about Flavia if you don't believe me. An "overnight" success at over seventy.

One of the best fiction-writing books on the market is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne. Recently Chevy Stevens hired Browne to edit her book, Still Missing. Chevy got an agent and a six-figure contract as well as selling many foreign rights. Her second book's just out. Is there a movie in the works?

SHE FELT NO PAIN

Blurb:

Summer on Vancouver Island gets off to a rough start when the body of a homeless man is discovered in the bush. RCMP Corporal Holly Martin notices drug paraphernalia nearby, and the autopsy reveals death from a combination of heroin and a synthetic oplate. She is soon led to believe that there is something of value hidden at the site of his death. As Holly struggles to connect the dots, a record drought heats up the vacation paradise, and one match could send Canada's Caribbean into flames.

Excerpt:

He snugged the rubber tubing around his arm, laughing as his body cooperated with a bulging vein. Born to shoot. A crust from a sore on one elbow was still pin, but he read no warning of infection. Soft beds and softer woman on the way. The skags he'd met on the road were all bones and dry. Then he filled the syringe, tipped up and tapped to get the air out, plunged into the vein and pulled back with blood. Then back again until gone. Warm fire, like being in a hot tub. Cold water the first time taught a rough lesson. He breathed deeply. As he closed his eyes, he could still hear that other stupid song:  "Stronger than Spain and France." Talk about a brain fart. What did it all mean, anyways, and who the hell gave a shit? He gasped, dimly aware that he wasn't getting enough oxygen. His nostrils were stuffed from the humidity. He tried short, shallow breaths. But everything was slowing down, like a wind-up clock. He dropped the syringe and clutched at his throat. Before he could telegraph his brain one last time, the bellows in his skinny chest hung limp, and his head lolled. An adventurous ant climbed aboard his hand and headed for a tasty piece of dried skin.

THAT DOG WON'T HUNT

Blurb:

Cowboy drifter Rick Cooper is on the run when he meets Gladys Ryan, an eccentric widow who offers him a ride in her classic 1970 Mustang. Before long she convinces him to help run her late husband's hunting lodge. With the promise of a share of the season's profits, Rick is happy to go along. But when Gladys fails to keep her promises at season's end, everything goes sideways.

Excerpt:

This mirage was made to order. A cherry-red Mustang Mach. One sat by the side of the road in the Mojave Desert. Waves of heat rolled off the asphalt like x-rays. Its hood was up.
My eyes were sore from squinting. One said of my throat was tickling the other. I took the last swig from a plastic gallon I'd brought at Twenty nine Palms. Scored a three-pointer against a saguaro. The jug rolled like a tumbleweed. I had been hitching on I-10 east from LA. They might be looking for me on the interstate, so I took this back road through the Sheep Hole Mountains toward Vegas. Not one damn car in an hour.
Cowboy boots hate asphalt and sand. Fact is, they're not big on walking period. I hoisted my duffel over my shoulder and headed for the car. The sun beat down like honey. Too dry in the desert for sweat to even bead. Thank God it was April, not July.
"Damn it to hell!" a rough voice yelled. The rear plate read Ontario. My mirage was near perfect. Canucks are helpful, and they'll swallow hard-luck stories. Then the hood slammed down.
A wiry woman barely five feet with a wide straw hat and sunglasses puffed on a cigarillo. Female. Three for three. Leading with my "trust me" grin, I approached.

More:

Animal mystery author and blogger Sheila Boneham is hosts Lou Allin on her blog. They talk about the importance Lou's dogs played in her writing life.

Here's the link.

The Sweater Curse reviewed by Lou Allin

The Sweater Curse: A Modern Edda

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Leanne Dyck has crafted a tale as exotic and existential as Danish author Isak Dinesen's. Her novella begins in a Ship-of-Fools fashion, with a bitter voice in some mysterious waiting room beyond the grave. The speaker, Gwen Bjarnson, returns us to her childhood years in Bloudous, a small town in northern Manitoba with a major Icelandic population. Her sweet and easy-going father is a simple farmer, but her mother is an ambitious doctor bent on pursuing her career.

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Gwen finds solace in the love and care of her Auntie Oli, who shows her the art of crafts. "Knitting wove us together." But dark forces will take the family from their safe haven to Vancouver, where her storyteller dad falls quickly into alcoholism. Stubborn but vulnerable Gwen is torn between two worlds, the tradition of her common-sense, hardworking forebears and the demands of the modern life with its soul-crushing and superficial definition of success. To marry? To go to university? To become a fashion designer and master of wools, colours, and patterns? Or to drown one's sorrows with liquor and the "sweet breath of Mary Jane"? In the creative atmosphere of Kitsilano, where "anything goes", love may come to Gwen, but is she ready to receive it? Temptations come at a price.

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Overhanging this brooding and complex story is the time-honoured tale of the Sweater Curse. Knitting a sweater for a man who is not yet a husband will bring tragedy. Creating modern characters against the fateful background of the sagas, Dyck gives them free will to choose their own destinies. This book defies genre definitions as it finds its unique place on the fiction shelves. Here's hoping Leanne Dyck returns many times to the intriguing roots of her family's past.

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Lou Allin

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www.louallin.com

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She Felt No Pain (RendezVous Press, Oct. 2010)

That Dog Won't Hunt (Orca, Oct 2010)

On Kindle: A Little Learning and Man Corn Murders

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Tracie Bell wrote an interesting blog about Symbolism in Fiction, read it here

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Work on work in progress

Word count: 27, 569 words

A new sentence added: My face fell; she picked it up and we went for a walk.

Bloody Words by Lou Allin

Bloody Words is Canada's oldest and largest mystery conference. This year for the first time it will be held in British Columbia's capital city of Victoria on June 3-5 though the Arthur Ellis Awards for Canada's best crime writing will be presented on the 2nd at the same venue. Guests of honour include BC's own William Deverell, Michael Slade, and international bestseller Tess Gerritsen. 

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The Hotel Grand Pacific, on the scenic Inner Harbour, has been named Canada's finest hotel by Conde Nast. Agents will be on hand for interviews, there will be a short story contest, and applicants may submit thirty pages of their work for critiques. In addition to a reception and award presentation to Deverell, Michael Slade will present his celebrated Shock Theatre, followed by a ghost walk in search of old Victoria's specters such as the elusive Amor de Cosmos. Panel discussions (literary, publishing, and forensic) will cap the programs, and a banquet Saturday night is included in the cost of the registration at $190. 

June is the City of Gardens' most spectacular time of year. With its colonial, low-rise downtown, many fine Victoria reminiscent of many European cities. Visit North America's oldest China Town, have tea on the veranda at the Empress Hotel overlooking the harbor where high tea has been served for over 100 years, see the fabulous First Nations exhibits at the Royal BC Museum, or stroll through the gardens and beaches of Beacon Hill Park, all within easy walking distance of our hotel. Or take a day trip to nearby, world-famous Butchart Gardens, Glendale Gardens, or Abkhazi Garden. Downtown is a shopping mecca, but Johnson St. is where you'll find Victoria's homegrown boutique industry and of course, there are restaurants too numerous to mention serving local fare from our coastal waters. Saving the best for last, whales abound in the waters around the capital and you have a good chance of seeing greys or even orcas on the trips that leave many times daily from the inner harbour. Only in Victoria do new whale calves make the front page.

Come and see for yourself.