Globe & Mail cancels print edition of Crime Fiction Review

The Globe & Mail has decided to stop including Margaret Cannon's wonderful Crime Fiction review column in its print edition. Instead they will only publish it online. We believe this will have a detrimental impact on the mystery fiction readership and in particular Canadian crime fiction, since Margaret is one of the few reviewers that does review Canadian works. We believe most people would only read Margaret's column as part of their Saturday perusal of the printed version of the newspaper and would not take that extra step of reading it online. Moreover many readers of mysteries are in their senior years and aren't necessarily nimble with computers and the internet.

If you are a fan of Margaret Cannon's column and don't see yourself taking that extra step, we're asking that you let the Globe & Mail know. You can show your support by joining the facebook group Don't Let the Globe & Mail Bury Canadian Crime Fiction http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=263995427820 and by sending e-mails to the editors, John Stackhouse, jstackhouse@globeandmail.com and Erika Lang, elang@globeandmail.com. Hopefully if enough people let them know they want her column back in the print edition, they will pay attention.

Vertigo Theatre Forensic Friday

Vertigo Theatre's upcoming production: The Woman In Black

Forensic Friday is an engaging post-show discussion with Vertigo Theatre's Artistic Director Mark Bellamy. Accompanied by a member of the Calgary Police Service, the audience is taken through the forensic "truths" found in each production.

 Next Forensic Friday is February 12, 2010.

Ink does not have a block of seats booked but anyone wishing to book along with other Inksters can make their interest known in the comments section of this blog.

Debut Dagger Deadline fast approaching!

Go on, take a stab at it, send us the opening chapter(s) – up to 3000 words – and a short synopsis of your proposed crime novel, and you could be a published crime writer.


Debut Dagger Deadline is February 6th, 2010

AWCS Killer Thriller

SEATS STILL AVAILABLE

Weekend Writing Intensives 

January 29-31, 2010

How to Write a Killer Thriller with Mike Harrison

This course covers the A to Z of writing a first-class mystery. All great stories take you on a journey and this course shows how to build yours to a shattering climax. It teaches character development from a unique perspective and shows how to keep your story entertaining. It also deals with the pitfalls of over-plotting and answers the writer's nagging questions about descriptive narrative: how much is enough and how much is too much. It's great fun, interactive and you'll learn more than you ever thought possible.

FreeFall 20th Anniversary Prose & Poetry Chapbook Contest

Get your work published here in Calgary

(click on underlined words for live links to the original websites)

FYI - January Speaker's contact info

The speaker at our January meeting was Cpl. Lloyd Schoepp, in the Commercial Crime Section of the RCMP. He is attached to the International Anti-Corruption Unit. He said he would be willing to field questions from INK members. If you're working on a plot that includes an element of commercial crime--he's the expert you're looking for!

For obvious reasons we don't want to post his phone number or email address out in public. If Ink members want his contact information, email  info@mysterywritersink.com and we'll send it out to you.

New England Crime Bake Short Fiction Contest

The Al Blanchard Awards Committee of the New England Crime Bake is currently accepting submissions for the 2010 contest.

Your entry should be a crime story by a New England author or with a New England setting, previously unpublished (in print or electronically), no more than 5,000 words in length, and may include the following genres: mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, and horror (no torture or killing of children or animals.) We will accept two submissions per author, and are willing to look at a previous submission, provided we have only read it once before. For New England authors, it´s fine to submit the same story to both the contest and the current Level Best Books´ anthology.

The prize includes: a $100 cash award, publication in Level Best Books´ Crime Fiction anthology for 2010, admission to the Crime Bake contest, and a handsome plaque. The award is presented at the Crime Bake conference in November, but the winner is not required to attend the conference.

There is no entry free, and the deadline for submission is April 30, 2010. For details on how to submit, visit the crime bake website:

www.crimebake.org