Looking Ahead in May

April was a quiet month, blog-wise, but May will be very busy, indeed, as I will try to keep you posted on appearances and activities that get underway this month and extend into June.

On May 7 I'll be joining the Beer Drinkers and Book Readers Club in Ottawa to chat about crime fiction writing, independent publishing and much more.

On May 9 I will stop in at the studios of Live 88.5 FM radio to record an interview on the publication of Marcie's Murder and my upcoming trip to Scotland. My son is impressed (finally!) because this is his favorite radio station.

On May 12 I will fly out of Ottawa International Airport on my way to Rothes, Scotland, for a six-day adventure at The Glenrothes distillery in the Speyside region. If all goes well, I will post an update each day to give you a glimpse of the wonders of single malt whisky distilling at its finest.

On May 20 I'll join Rabbi Bulka on his Sunday evening radio hour on Ottawa radio station CFRA 580 AM to discuss single malt, crime fiction, and independent publishing.

On May 25 I'll appear live on the television program Daytime Ottawa on the Ottawa Rogers Cable network.

On May 26 I'll be appearing at Chapters Pinecrest in Ottawa between 12:00 noon and 4:00 PM to sign copies of Blood Passage and Marcie's Murder.

June promises to be almost as busy. It's a good thing this is my day job, or I'd have to quit to find time for all this stuff!

Chapters Kanata Book Signing

This afternoon I appeared at the Chapters book store in Kanata to sign copies of Blood Passage. It was a very busy day with everyone getting a head start on their Christmas shopping, and I was happy to be able to chat with many very interesting people. As you can see, I was right at the front of the store next to an island featuring the new book on Stephen Jobs, which drew a lot of interest.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and bought a book, and a special thanks to Fred Lemay, a former Canada Customs colleague whom I hadn't seen in quite a few years. Fred, you're always a pleasure to talk to! Special thanks also to William and Roberta Sherman of the Pen and Paper group for sharing part of their afternoon with me. Much appreciated.

In addition, thanks to Kevan and Shelley of Chapters Kanata for their help, their kindness and their infinite patience.

Book Signing Weekend

Although today is Friday, I've decided to skip the usual Follow Friday blog hop in order to concentrate on preparations for this weekend's book signing events.

Just a reminder that I will be appearing tomorrow, Saturday, November 19, 2011 at the Chapters Kanata in Ottawa, Kanata Centrum, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to sign copies of Blood Passage.

On Sunday, November 20, 2011 I will be appearing along with my fellow Ottawa Independent Writers at the annual Ottawa Authors and Artisans Fair from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room 203 of the Jack Purcell Community Centre in Ottawa, located just off Elgin Street. For more information on this event, click here.

Next week things should settle down, my nerves will be less jangly and I can get back to regular blogging, tweeting and, oh yeah, writing!

Reminder: Chapters Kanata This Saturday

Here's an early reminder to readers in eastern Ontario that I will be appearing at the Chapters Kanata this Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to sign copies of Blood Passage.

This is a golden opportunity for you to get a head start on your Christmas shopping and pick up a special gift for the avid reader on your list!

The Chapters Kanata store is located at Kanata Centrum, 400 Earl Grey Drive. See you there!

Chapters - Kanata

A quick note to readers in eastern Ontario that Blood Passage is now on the shelves in the Chapters - Kanata store located at Kanata Centrum, 400 Earl Grey Drive.

Please be aware that the book is not included in their database at this point but is located in the Local Authors section in both Kanata and Pinecrest stores, which means if you try to find it in the in-store computers it won't show up, except for a couple of "Used and Rare" copies available from the UK at a very expensive price. I have no idea why these copies are showing up, and the manager I spoke to couldn't explain them either. To make a long story short, if you go into a Chapters store to look for Blood Passage, you'll find it on the shelf in the Local Authors section.

By the way, I will be appearing in the Chapters - Kanata store to sign copies of Blood Passage on November 19, 2011 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. More on that at a later date.

Blood Passage Book Signing at Chapters Pinecrest

Yesterday I was pleased to be at Chapters Pinecrest in Ottawa, ON for a book signing event for Blood Passage. As you can see, they set me up on the center aisle tucked in with the cook books. It was great! By the way, Chef Michael Smith has a new cook book out that looks incredible. I'm not kidding! (Nancy, I hope you get it for your birthday!)

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, including Jean, Nancy and Jenifer. I enjoyed meeting you all. Thanks as well to Danielle and Serge, former Customs colleagues of mine who looked in to make sure I'm staying out of trouble. Your support was very much appreciated, and thanks to Serge for the photo. You tried your best, but that's as good as it gets!

Many thanks to Chapters manager Sarah and store manager Kevin, as well as the entire Chapters Pinecrest staff, for your assistance, good humor and encouragement. It was greatly appreciated.

Ottawa Poster Collar Campaign: Phase Two

Phase Two of the Ottawa poster collar campaign took place today as I drove downtown, jack sack loaded, and tackled Ottawa's telephone poles with a fresh set of posters.

This time I forgot to take my camera with me, so the best I can do is include thumbs of the two posters I papered the town with today. One, as you can see, was aimed at promotion of the upcoming book signing at the Chapters - Pinecrest book store, while the other stayed with the cryptic teaser approach to promote The Plaid Raccoon Press. Puzzle them, and they will come.


I've always believed it's very important to be a lifetime learner. I've always said there's stuff you can learn from every situation you encounter in life, and this particular endeavor was no exception. During my previous poster plastering trip, I happened to come along just after the powers that be had cleared most of the poster collars of the old material that had been hanging around for god knows how long. So there was some bare space on the collars here and there where I could mount my poster. I carefully positioned each one so I wasn't obscuring anyone else's poster. After all, there must be some kind of poster ethics, right? Don't cover the other guy's ad? Help him out with a little bit of extra tape if his poster's corner has worked free, next to yours?

I'm so naive.

I visited each of the poles I'd visited last week because the plan was to follow up the first cryptic teaser poster with the book signing promo poster. Just put the new one right on top of the old one. Passersby would be used to looking at the cryptic one, and now there'd be the very specific one. "Aha!! That's what the 'fresh new voice in crime fiction' stuff was all about!!" I've seen bus ad campaigns like that which worked well.

I'm so naive.

I was dismayed to find that on every pole my first poster was completely buried beneath several layers of paper. In particular those @#&$^es slapping up big honking posters for concerts just papered the entire collar, completely disregarding everyone else's efforts, in clear violation of the city regulations, which I happened to have read beforehand, not only with respect to size of poster but also the limit of one poster per collar.

Is there no decency in poster plastering? Are there no ethics anymore?

It didn't take me long to adapt. By the third or fourth pole I was taping my l'il ole 8.5 x 11 on top of whatever the hell I felt like putting it on top of. Tough cheese, fella. Eat tape.

But it was a beautiful day today in downtown Ottawa and I really enjoyed it. It was busy in the Byward Market and I took my time at each pole. I chatted with another guy who was putting up a poster on the other side of the pole from me next to the Beaver Tails vendor on George Street just down from the television station. I watched a busker entertain a big crowd, and put up a poster on the pole right next to them.

Now the plan is for tonight's crowd going down to the Market for dinner and drinks will see the posters before they get plastered over by the next round of concert promos in a day or two. One learns to adjust one's expectations, doesn't one?

And the best part? I discovered that parking in Ottawa is free on Saturdays, so this time I didn't get a ticket!

Book Signing Scheduled for September 17, 2011

Just a heads up for folks in eastern Ontario that Blood Passage is now on the shelves in the Chapters Pinecrest store in Ottawa at 2735 Iris, the Pinecrest Shopping Centre. I'll be appearing there on Saturday, September 17 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm to sign copies and yak with everyone.

Watch for Blood Passage to appear in other Ottawa bookstores in the near future, and those of you in Ottawa should keep your eyes peeled for the downtown poster collar campaign that will gear up in about a week.