FINALLY--WRITING ABOUT A SEASON, IN-SEASON!

Winter Solstice, 2019 (c) Michael J. McCann

It generally takes about a year for me to produce a new book, from original idea to printed page. As a result, I often find myself working away during the winter months on a manuscript set in the summer, or vice versa. 

Not a problem for an experienced writer who spends the vast majority of his time exploring the inner landscapes of his own mind, of course. Warm sunshine on a bare forearm or a cold wind that whips away one's breath are never far away.

This year, however, I'm fortunate that fiction and fact are working in harmony as I write the first draft of my next manuscript, aptly titled A DEATH IN WINTER. The fifth March and Walker Crime Novel, which will hopefully be released in September, it follows Detective Inspector Ellie March and Detective Constable Kevin Walker as they investigate a murder in the village of Westport while snowbound in the middle of a mid-winter blizzard.

While I was outlining the story last October, I envisioned a three-day snowfall that would hamper driving, make streets and sidewalks almost impossible, and close rural roads at the most inopportune times.

How delightful that while I was working on the story last month, we actually did experience a 30+ cm blizzard that inflicted all those nasty things on us in Leeds-Grenville. All I had to do was step outside for inspiration and a reminder of what winter REALLY feels like.

Will this immediate, frost-laden experience translate into better storytelling? We shall see!

PERSISTENT GUILT NOW IN PRODUCTION

I'm very pleased to be able to announce that PERSISTENT GUILT, the third installment in the March and Walker Crime Novel series, is now in production. The scheduled release date is August 3, 2018.

PERSISTENT GUILT is a police procedural featuring homicide investigators of the Ontario Provincial Police. The series is set in Leeds County, Ontario, which is located on the St. Lawrence Seaway corridor between Toronto and Montreal.

On a cold morning in late April, a man and his dog discover the nude body of a young woman in the ditch alongside the picturesque Thousand Islands Parkway in Leeds County. The woman was stabbed repeatedly before being dumped.

Detective Constable Kevin Walker of the Ontario Provincial Police discovers that the victim worked for a high school acquaintance of his. Kyle Baldwin now runs a charity that raises funds for mobile medical clinics in Kenya, but he had a brief affair with the victim several years ago that ended badly.

At the same time, Detective Inspector Ellie March is investigating the mayor of the nearby city of Brockville for alleged criminal wrongdoing. With two cases to manage, she and Kevin Walker must determine if the mayor is somehow connected to a wider circle of crime or if Kevin's acquaintance murdered his ex-lover in a fit of jealous rage.

Write it down in your notebook, folks. Ellie March and Kevin Walker are back!

SORROW LAKE - The Video Teaser

The Plaid Raccoon Press is pleased to present the official video teaser for Sorrow Lake, the first March and Walker Crime Novel.

Video sequences were shot in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, giving it a local look and feel. The novel is set in Leeds County, and I live in neighboring Grenville County.

Additional photography is licensed courtesy of Thinkstock Images, and the music, "Atmospherics Peds," by Themusicase, is provided by CyberLink. The teaser was produced using Cyberlink's PowerDirector 13.

Enough chatter! Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz3uySAROcI