Advance Review: The Witch of Babylon

You know you’re in good hands with an author when, half a page into the prologue, you are bewitched to the point you forget what century you’re in. The return to the book’s current reality (2003) half a page later was a brutal but effective wrench; it assured my intense interest throughout the remaining 370 pages.

But enough about the writing.

‘The Witch of Babylon’ is at once a complex art-history mystery centered on biblical scholarship, a breath-stealing thriller set in the early months of the Iraq invasion, and an intellectual exploration of links between Mesopotamian myths and European alchemical processes. Not to mention the archaeological journeys into subterranean realms. Oh, and a personal journey of growth by a spoiled young art broker after the death of the older brother who has always shielded him from consequences.

This is a square-on hard stare at the murky world of antiquities looting and trading. Add a soupcon of travelogue flavour over the streets of New York City and various parts of the Middle East, and there is much to enjoy about this book.

‘The Witch of Babylon’ was short-listed for a Debut Dagger in 2007, and won an Arthur Ellis award for Best Unpublished Crime Novel in 2008. It is being released by Penguin Canada in Spring 2011 and (at last count) has sold rights in 15 languages around the world.

My ARC was sent by the author, D.J. McIintosh, after my bugging her for three years to be allowed to read the full manuscript. When it finally arrived I read the whole book in a sprint, with only meal breaks, and will now read it again more slowly, to savour the unfolding story.

‘Witch’ is the first book of The Babylon Trilogy.

Jayne Barnard

Arthur Ellis Award Winners

The Arthur Ellis Awards took place on May 27th at Mysterious Yours Dinner Theatre in Toronto.

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

Best Novel - Howard Shrier High Chicago

Best First Novel - Alan Bradley The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Best Non-Fiction - Terry Gould Murder Without Borders

Best Juvenile - Barbara Haworth-Attard Haunted

Best Crime Writing in French - Jean Lemieux Le mort du chemin des Arsene

Best Short Story - Dennis Richard Murphy "Prisoner in Paradise"

Best Unpublished First Crime Novel - Gloria Ferris The Corpse Flower

Congratulations to the winners! For a description of all short-listed books and short stories, visit our website

"On Being an Unhanged Arthur Finalist"

Guest Blogger Pam Gross Barnsley is a finalist for the Unhanged Arthur Award for the second time.

Now that we’re in the last, nail-biting weeks leading up to Crime Writers of Canada’s Best Unpublished Novel Award (the Unhanged Arthur), I’m trying to be all Zen about it. After all, this is my second year making it to the shortlist. Just breathe, Pam, let it go; your chances of winning are nil. Still, the odd fantasy manages to creep in when I’m supposed to be sleeping, flossing my teeth, listening to the CBC news, or earning a living. I can feel that Bony Pete statuette in my hands, count the sales to Kindle and Sony e-readers, action doll figures, movie rights, Oprah, the Giller and Guv General committees coming to their senses as they realize crime writing can be fine literature too; and I just know Bobby Hepditch will finally regret dumping me after the high school prom. Okay; being Zen ain’t easy.

But then writing a novel isn’t easy either. All of you fellow crime writers know this. The only thing harder than writing is getting published.

Contests can improve your chances of publication, and increase your sales once you are published. Just making it to the longlist is enough to get you a closer reading from agents and editors. So enter! And when you get longlisted or shortlisted, put it in the first line of your query letter.

Louise Penny entered the UK’s Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award and her unpublished novel, Still Life was shortlisted. She didn’t win, but making the shortlist garnered her attention from editors and agents and secured her an agent. Louise has gone on to write four more novels and win numerous awards. That first contest set her on her way.

Phyllis Smallman won the first ever CWC Unhanged Arthur and was published by McArthur and Co Publishers, who have just published the third novel in her Sherri Travers series. Phyllis was also shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger.

For unpublished crime writers there is also the St. Martin’s Minotaur/ Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition; again, the winner is considered for a publishing contract.

The Killer Nashville/ Claymore Dagger Award comes with a chance at publication with Avalon.

More information for each of these contests can be found on their websites. CWC and the UK’s CWA both offer valuable tips on how to give your manuscript the best chance of impressing the judges. Fees range from $35 to $50.

Last year, after my novel, This Cage of Bones, made the shortlist, I attended the CWC Awards ceremony in Ottawa, followed by the Bloody Words Conference, and I had a blast. It was wonderful to finally meet other writers whom I’d known online for years. I schmoozed like a campaigning politician, made some good connections in the writing biz, and hob-nobbed with sundry ink-stained wretches, Attila-the-Hun agents, media types and fans. I maybe should’ve been cut off after the third glass of wine when I pitched my novel to one of the waiters. But hey, he liked the idea of being an agent and said it would save him having to graduate high school, which apparently was looking kind of dodgy anyway. In the meantime he cut me a bigger percentage of the chocolate mousse.

I did pitch to a real agent at the Conference, and she asked me to send her the manuscript. I decided I’d first eviscerate my novel, so I cut two hundred pages of the most compelling, heart-wrenching, literary prose. Re-wrote the thing for the four hundred and twelfth time, slashed, wept, replenished my lost electrolytes with carrot juice and added three semi-colons.

By then I was also fifty thousand words into the next book in the series and it was time to enter the Unhanged Arthur again. Tempus fuggit, eh? A second agent saw the announcement when I was shortlisted last month and asked to have a look at it. Ultimately it wasn’t for her, but she did compliment me on my writing.

Even if I don’t win (again) this year, making the shortlist provides credibility for my career and a boost to my saggy self-esteem. Being a writer means living on an emotional roller coaster that seems to not just plummet earthward, but actually crash through the earth’s crust and take you down to where that infamous slough of despond is stashed.

If I don’t win I’ll go home and pick up the beast and carry on. I will try to improve it again; I will try to find someone who loves it. I will keep writing because I have no other choice. I will find joy in the words I craft that come alive off the page for me and keep waiting for my time to be ready.

So enter those contests, and keep on writing!

Arthur Ellis Awards Shortlist Announced

Best Crime Novel
Anthony Bidulka – Aloha, Candy Hearts (Insomniac Press)
R.J. Harlick – Arctic Blue Death (RendezVous Crime)
Lee Lamothe – The Finger’s Twist (Ravenstone)
James W. Nichol – Death Spiral (McArthur & Co.)
Howard Shrier – High Chicago (Vintage Canada/Random House)

Best First Crime Novel
Alan Bradley – The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Doubleday Canada)
Elizabeth Duncan – The Cold Light of Mourning (Minotaur Books)
C.B. Forrest – Weight of Stones (RendezVous Crime)
Eugene Meese – A Magpie’s Smile (NeWest Press)
Dennis Richard Murphy – Darkness at the Break of Dawn (Harper Collins)

Best French Crime Book
Genevieve Lefebvre – Je compte les morts (Groupe Librex)
Jean Lemieux – Le mort du chemin des Arsene (la courtee échelle)
Jean-Jacques Pelletier – La Faim de la Terre 1 & 2 (Éditions Alire Inc.)
Diane Vincent – Peaux de chagrins (Les Editions Triptyques)

Best Juvenile Crime Book
Barbara Hayworth Attard – Haunted (HarperCollins)
Vicki Grant – Not Suitable for Family Viewing (HarperCollins)
Norah McClintock – Homicide Related: a Ryan Dooley Mystery (Red Deer Press)
Arthur Slade – The Hunchback Assignments (HarperCollins)
Tim Wynne-Jones – The Uninvited (Candlewick)

Best Crime Nonfiction
Patrick Brode – The Slasher Killings (Painted Turtle Press)
Alex Caine – The Fat Mexican (Random House of Canada)
Terry Gould – Murder Without Borders (Random House of Canada)
Robert Remington and Sherri Zickefoose – Runaway Devil (McClelland)
Jon Wells – Postmortem (John Wiley & Sons)

Best Crime Short Story
Rick Mofina – Backup (Ottawa Magazine)
Dennis Richard Murphy – Prisoner in Paradise (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
James Petrin – Nothing is Easy (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine)
Twist Phelan – Time Will Tell (“The Prosecution Rests” by Little Brown)
James Powell – Clowntown Pajamas ((Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)


Best Unpublished First Crime Novel – Unhanged Arthur
Pam Barnsley – This Cage of Bones
Deryn Collier – Confined Space
Gloria Ferris – Corpse Flower
Blair Hemstock – Bait of Pleasure
Peter Kirby – Putting Them Down

the Unhanged Arthur - one month to entry deadline

The Arthur Ellis Award
for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel
(the Unhanged Arthur)


Is the Great Canadian Crime Novel tucked carefully away in a drawer or even languishing under your bed?

Well, here's your chance to pull out that manuscript and enter it for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel (the Unhanged Arthur).

The Arthur Ellis Award for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel, sponsored by McArthur & Company Publishing Ltd., was first awarded by the Crime Writers of Canada in 2007 as part of the CWC mandate to recognize and promote the careers of promising new crime writers. The competition is open to (1) Canadian citizens, no matter where they are living, and to writers, regardless of nationality, who have Permanent Resident status in Canada, and (2) who have never had a novel of any kind published commercially.

Contestants should have a completed manuscript and should submit the opening chapter(s) – no more than 5000 words – plus a 500-word synopsis of the rest of the novel. "Crime novel" is defined as crime, detective, espionage, mystery, suspense, or thriller, and can be set in any time period and crime-related sub-genre.

From these initial submissions, up to ten (10) authors will be asked by the judges to submit their completed manuscripts. A shortlist will be selected from these completed manuscripts. The winner will receive a special Arthur Ellis Award along with a cash prize from McArthur & Company. In addition, the winner’s completed manuscript will be read and critiqued by publisher Kim McArthur, who will have the right of first refusal to publish the novel.

All judges are professionals working in the Canadian publishing industry.
The award will be presented at the 2010 Arthur Ellis Awards event in Toronto in May; details will be sent to the shortlisted authors.

NOTE: Winning this award does not guarantee you will get published. It does mean, however, that your work will come to the attention of publishers and agents, both members of the CWC and others involved in Canadian crime fiction publishing.


Competition Rules

Definition of a crime novel

"Crime novel" is defined as crime, detective, espionage, mystery, suspense, or thriller, and can be set in any time period and crime-related sub-genre.


Eligibility

The contest is open to all writers who fulfill the following eligibility requirements:

1. You are a Canadian citizen, regardless of place of residence, or a writer, regardless of nationality, who has been granted Permanent Resident status in Canada.

2. You have not had a novel of any kind published commercially, whether:
* in print or electronically (i.e., e-book or published on the Internet) or self-published
* in any genre, including literary
* under your given name or a pseudonym, and/or
* written alone or jointly with another author

A novel that has an ISBN is considered to be published commercially. However, anyone published in the areas of nonfiction, short stories, poetry, or plays/screenplays is eligible to submit to the Unhanged Arthur.

3. In addition, if you currently have a contract from a publisher for your manuscript, you are ineligible to enter this contest.

You are welcome to submit the same manuscript in subsequent years, provided that it did not win an Unhanged Arthur Award and that criteria 1 to 3 are still met.

If you are uncertain whether your manuscript is eligible, contact us at info@crimewriterscanada.com. The decision of Crime Writers of Canada as to whether a manuscript is eligible for the Unhanged Arthur Award is binding.


Submission procedure

1. Entrants should submit three (3) copies of the opening 5000 words of their completed crime novel, together with three (3) copies of a 500-word synopsis describing the novel’s further development. The synopsis should be of the entire novel. The synopsis must be double-spaced. The synopsis is a crucial part of the submission; it is the only way the judges can see the plot development, so take time to write it.

2. Manuscripts and synopses must be in English, typed double-spaced on 8.5" x 11" paper or A4 paper using 12-point Times New Roman or Courier, with 1 inch margins, and unbound.

3. Each page of the manuscript must have a header in the upper left-hand corner, containing the title of the manuscript. Do not include your name as part of the slug line because the judges will be judging blind. Make sure that each page is numbered. Do not include your name on the synopsis; but do include the title of the book.

4. Each submission must be accompanied by a completed entry form and an entry fee of $25.00. Only cheques or postal money orders in Canadian funds, made out to Crime Writers of Canada can be accepted. Writers may submit any number of entries provided that each is accompanied by an entry form plus the entry fee of $25.00.

5. Each submission must be accompanied by a short biography (no more than 150 words) and a "blurb" of 100 words about the plot of your story.

6. The judges will come up with a shortlist from the initial submissions. These authors will be notified in mid-January and asked to submit three (3) copies of their complete manuscript. The winner and runners-up will be determined from this complete manuscript. The decision of the judges is final.

7. Entries must be postmarked by November 6, 2009.

Other important information

1. The Unhanged Arthur shortlist, along with the other Arthur Ellis Awards shortlists, will be announced at the end of April. The winner will be announced at the CWC Arthur Ellis Awards Ceremony in May in Toronto. All shortlisted authors will be sent details about both events.

2. The winner will receive a special Arthur Ellis Award as well as a cash prize from McArthur & Company. Kim McArthur of McArthur & Company will critique the winning manuscript within six months of the dinner. McArthur & Company will have first refusal on the work.

3. There is no commitment on McArthur's part to publish the winning entry, nor is the winner obligated to accept McArthur's offer to publish.

4. Copyright will remain at all times with the entrant.
Entries and manuscripts cannot be returned

Entries should be sent to:

Crime Writers of Canada ,
2010 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel
3007 Kingston Rd.,
Box 113,
Toronto, ON
M1M 1P1

Submissions must be postmarked by November 6, 2009.


To contact us, write to info@crimewriterscanada.com.



In case this is the first writing competition you've entered (or even if you're an old hand at the game), following is some information on how to format and present a submission and how to write a synopsis.

Crime Writers of Canada's
Arthur Ellis Award
for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel

Style Guide

This page addresses various issues to do with formatting and presentation.

There are a few official rules to do with presentation. Entries must be typed and double-spaced, and submitted on 8.5 X 11 inch paper or A4 paper. Use either 12-point Times New Roman or 12-point Courier. Ignoring these rules may disqualify the entry.

Beyond these, however, there are all sorts of presentational elements which won't disqualify you if you get them wrong, but will make it much easier for us to read and enjoy if you get them right.

Formatting and Layout

The best way to format text for fiction, used in just about every novel ever published, is as follows:
* Start new paragraphs with an indented first line.
* Don't use blank lines between consecutive paragraphs. They just break up the flow of the text.
* Do use a blank line or three asterisks to show a break between scenes or a break in the flow of the narrative.
* Use a new paragraph each time a different character starts to speak.

Make sure you include the title of the entry and the page number – but NOT your name – on each page of your submission.

Spelling

* Check your spelling meticulously. Mis-spellings break the reader's concentration; they also make your work look sloppy and amateurish. If you can't trust the author to spell properly, how can you trust the story they're telling?
* Beware malapropisms and homonyms; words can be spelled correctly and still be terribly wrong. Some examples include a particularly 'viscous murder,' a 'burlesque policeman,' and – in a supermarket – an 'isle of chips.' Do not rely solely on your computer's spell-checker.

Punctuation

Punctuation can be a bit of a minefield, and many of the rules are unclear. Three things in particular to beware of are:
* Apostrophes: It's a shame that many people can't put an apostrophe in its proper place. 'It's' is a contraction of 'it is'; 'its' shows that something belongs to 'it' (whatever 'it' may be). Apostrophes should never be used for plurals – no 'bag's of orange's.'
* Quotation marks: Always use quotation marks around speech. Standard North American usage is to use the “double quote.”
* Exclamation marks! Try not to use exclamation marks. If a sentence is witty, funny, or dramatic, the reader will notice anyway. If it's not, you won't make things better by drawing attention to it.

What to Write

Obviously we can’t tell you what to write – the whole point of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel is to find fresh and original contributions to the genre. But hopefully this page will give you a better idea of what we’re looking for in the opening chapter(s) and the synopsis.

A successful first chapter should draw one in, introduce one to the main characters and subject matter, locate one in a chosen world, intrigue, and surprise. The synopsis should indicate the proposed narrative arc, and the judge should feel that the author will be equal to the task ahead. The synopsis shows you’ve got a story worth telling, and the excerpt shows that you know how to tell it.

Hoard your characters

Characters are the key to the story: if the reader doesn’t care who people are, he won't care what they're doing. Try to give each character a solid introduction, and don't overload the reader with too many characters at once. As the author, you've probably spent months or even years with your characters and you know exactly who they all are, but the reader doesn't have that advantage. This is particularly true for this Arthur Ellis Award, where the judges are having to meet whole new casts of characters at bewildering speed.

Build tension

Many of the entries that work best grip the reader with a genuine sense of tension. This isn't just about overt danger or violence: it's amazing how dull a gruesome murder can be made to seem if it's written badly. Effective tension comes from a sense of menace and anticipation, built up with mood, little clues and tell-tale
signs.

Avoid clichés

There are any number of clichés associated with crime fiction – grizzled cops, hard-boiled PI’s, sexy dames and psychopathic villains, to name but a few. Part of the fun of working in the genre is being able to play with these stereotypes, but you’ve got to do something new with them. One year an editor made the plaintive - or pointed - observation: 'Why are all innocent female victims invariably blond and beautiful?'

The warning against clichés applies equally (or even more) to language. Unless you're writing for a tabloid, avoid really common terms: 'emotional rollercoaster'; 'heart-stopping surprise'; or, a pet hate, 'feisty'.

The WOW factor

For any chapter to count in a competition like this, the reader must put the material down thinking ‘Wow!’ and then, ‘I need to read more’. It's not enough for the reader to want to read more, he or she must put the excerpt down feeling they need to know what happens next.

The Synopsis – Don't Sweat It

For many entrants, writing the required synopsis may be more daunting and difficult than writing the initial 10,000 words of their novel. You are not alone! Experienced and published writers balk in exactly the same way when faced with writing one. Feel better? You should.

Why is a synopsis necessary?

It shows:
1. that you are professional enough to know what you are doing.
2. that you can tell a well-constructed story.
3. that you have the technical and imaginative skill to produce an interesting and marketable book, with well-rounded characters and a logical and believable plot.

What makes a synopsis stand out?

1. The synopsis should be of the entire book.
2. Use the same narrative style that you use in the book; if the book is 'chatty' don't change to formal in the synopsis.
3. Be clear. Show plot movements in order, introduce new characters as they appear, if they are major characters show us the 'why' of their actions as well as the 'what'.
4. Never offer meaningless sentences such as: “Something dreadful was about to happen.” or “What happened next would devastate him.”
5. Show how sub-plots interlink with the main plot and its characters.
6. Do not include physical descriptions unless it is absolutely essential.
7. Always use present tense, never past.


These pages incorporate material written by Michael Jecks, Kay Mitchell, and Edwin Thomas, members of the CWA who have coordinated the Debut Dagger Awards.

We thank Margaret Murphy and the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain for their generosity in allowing us to adapt material from their Debut Dagger Award Website in describing the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel.

And thank you to Louise Penny and Michael Whiteside for adapting the CWA rules to use for the Unhanged Arthur and to McArthur & Company for their generous support for the Unhanged Arthur.


And, lastly, thanks from this reluctant blog shepherd go to Liz Brady, Executive Director of the Crime Writers of Canada, for sending out this information.