stillpoint

musings from Canadian author Cheryl Cooke Harrington ... home of The Write Spot

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

The Write Spot: Vicki Delany, Eva Gates



The most difficult thing about hosting The Write Spot is trying to keep my inner fangirl under control when meeting authors who've given me so much reading pleasure. This week, my fangirl is having double the trouble as I welcome "one woman crime wave" Vicki Delany, aka Eva Gates. Vicki is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and the current President of Crime Writers of Canada.

As Eva Gates, she's the author of the Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin Obsidian, set in a historic lighthouse on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, featuring Boston-transplant librarian, and highly reluctant sleuth, Lucy Richardson. By Book or By Crook, the first in the series, was released in February of last year and followed by Booked for Trouble in September. The third book in the series, Reading up a Storm, will be released on April 5, 2016. (And I, for one, can hardly wait to see what Lucy is up to now.)

Vicki Delany began her writing career as a Sunday writer: a single mother of three high-spirited daughters with a full-time job as a computer programmer. Sunday afternoon was often the only time she had to spend all by herself, with a single candle on her desk for a bit of atmosphere, a Bruce Springsteen tape in the tape deck, and a nice cup of tea or perhaps a glass of wine at her elbow.

The years passed and her three grown daughters left home, allowing Vicki more time to devote to her writing.  She completed three novels of suspense, set in Ontario, two of which, Scare the Light Away and Burden of Memory (Delany) were published to critical acclaim by Poisoned Pen Press.

In 2007, Vicki took early retirement from her job as a systems analyst with a major bank and sold her house in Oakville, Ontario.  It was then that In the Shadow of the Glacier (Delany), the first book in the Smith and Winters police procedural series set in the British Columbia Interior was published. After travelling around North America for a year with her dog, Shenzi, Vicki bought a home in bucolic, rural Prince Edward County, Ontario, where she rarely wears a watch and can write whenever she feels like it.

Since settling in Prince Edward County, Vicki has continued with her writing career, publishing books in several different sub-genres as well as a book for adults with low literacy skills. 

Her new series of Year Round Christmas Mysteries (Delany) from Penguin Random House launched in November 2015 with Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen. Book two in this fun, cozy series is coming later this year.

Welcome, Vicki/Eva to the eighteenth edition of The Write Spot, a bi-weekly author series spotlighting the many and varied places where writers write.

Please tell us a bit about your own Write Spot.

Several years ago, I read an article on how bad for you sitting all day is.  And so I decided to give standing up at the computer a try.  And I haven't sat down since.


What makes this spot perfect is the height of the counter. A standing up 'desk' has to be perfect. Too low and you'll strain your back; too high and you'll strain your shoulders.

Not only do I now write standing up for my health, but I also believe it really helps with the creative process. If I need a minute to think, I walk around the living room or stand at the window.

I'll also mention that this is a totally dedicated laptop. I write novels on it, and nothing else. I don't even write blog posts, and I never access the internet or my e-mail from it. That way, I keep my writing separate from all other computer tasks.


Sounds like a great way to avoid distraction. Other than your laptop, what's the one thing you couldn't be without in your Write Spot?

My iPad and Bose Speakers. I play Mozart on the iPad when I write. And a mug of coffee, of course.

Of course! What are you working on now?

The first book in the new Sherlock Homes Bookstore and Emporium series, Elementary She Read (tentative title, but I hope we keep it) for Crooked Lane Books. The book will be out Spring 2017.

Oooh, Sherlock! Picture me rubbing my hands together with glee. (Love the title, too.)

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

My web page for both Eva Gates and Vicki Delaney is vickidelany.com. Readers can also connect with me on social media:

Facebook: Vicki Delany and Eva Gates (evagatesauthor)



Books by Eva Gates / Vicki Delany:

The national bestselling author of Booked for Trouble returns with another charming mystery set in the most literary lighthouse in North Carolina's Outer Banks. Order now for April 5, 2016 release!
 
Misfortune blows into North Carolina's Outer Banks when a dead body in a boat on the shore leaves local librarian Lucy Richardson racing to solve a strange new mystery....
 
After a successful party at Bodie Island's Lighthouse Library, librarian Lucy Richardson is ready to curl up with her cat, Charles, and a good book. But her R and R is cut short when she notices some mysterious lights leading a small boat to crash into the coast. 
 
The two shipwrecked seafarers survive the ordeal – but one of them shows up dead ashore a few days later. Lucy finds herself again roped into a murder investigation and navigating a sea of suspects, all of whom had motives to deep-six the deceased. And this time, she has a sinking feeling that finding the real killer won’t be so easy...



What would it be like to return to your hometown after twenty-five years in prison for a crime you have maintained you did not commit? And why would you?

Walter Desmond is back in Trafalgar, British Columbia, having been officially exonerated when new evidence showed corruption at worst, incompetence at best, by the Trafalgar City Police conducting the investigation. His pitbull attorney is seeking five million in damages from the provincial government. But Walt has not returned to Trafalgar to pursue money or revenge. He just wants to know the why of it.

The family of the murdered girl, Sophia D'Angelo, is bitterly determined to see Walt returned to prison 
 or dead. But for Trafalgar's police, including Sergeant John Winters and Constable Molly Smith, the reality is: if Walter didn't kill Sophia, someone else did. 

So, case reopened. It lands on Winters' desk. The records are moldering. One investigating officer is dead, the other is retired 
 and not talking. The police are instructed to treat Walt as if he'd never been arrested or convicted. Someone else apparently killed Sophia, someone still walking free.

But too many minds remain closed. It's good luck for Walt that a group of women in town for the dragon boat race are staying in the B and B where he's booked, women with no local prejudices. But then a townswoman, then a boat woman, are attacked by a rapist, the media gets active, and tempers dangerously flare. 



Coming in November 2016:

A grinch is spoiling the holiday cheer and causing fear in the latest from the author of Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen...

It's Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn. 

But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods. 

When Gord is found stabbed to death, there's an entire town of potential suspects 
– and it's up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays...






About The Write Spot:
I've always been fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes. Whether it's backstage photos from my favourite play, a peek into the kitchen where a chef is working her culinary magic, or simply a glimpse through an uncurtained window into a stranger's private world, there's an undeniable thrill of discovery, a sense of secrets shared. It's no surprise, then, that I'm immensely curious about where other writers do their work. I've blogged about it before in this post about my own 'write spot' and so enjoyed the comments, I was inspired to launch a regular feature here at stillpoint. Watch for The Write Spot every other Wednesday and join me as I discover the many and varied places where writers write.


stillpoint is the blog of Canadian author Cheryl Cooke Harrington
  

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Wednesday, March 23, 2016

a cat's tale...


Sam the Cat takes over the blog this week with a frank and uncensored look at a day in his busy life. (I suspect he is secretly writing a memoir. Not surprising. He's always been a bit bookish.)






* * *

In my youth, I roamed all night. Now that I am an elder cat, I prefer to sleep until sunrise. For some reason, this makes Ma'am happy. Hmm. I may need to re-think. There is much to be said for rising by moonlight.

Wake yourself, Ma'am, for I am hungry and require my morning kibble.

It is impolite to speak with one's mouth full.

I prefer my water cold and inconveniently located. 

At last, I have the bed all to myself.

Ma'am sits on this machine to huff and puff. (Humans are weird.) I prefer my quiet perch behind the curtains, my own private window on the world.

Curtains are also useful for playing hide and seek, a game at which I excel. Sometimes, just to keep her happy, I let Ma'am find me.

Time for another nap. Ma'am thinks this is her chair. Ma'am is wrong.

Ma'am puts my toys away in a basket, then runs machine-that-roars back and forth over the carpet. Afterwards, I help by putting all my toys back where they belong. Always considerate. It is just my nature.

Dinner time means wet food. Today's menu is turkey, my favourite. Next, a thorough clean-up, first the floor, then my paws and whiskers. A wise cat is never too busy to keep himself well groomed. 

Lap time with massage. Oh ... oh, yes. That's the spot.

At last, my busy day is done. Time for a few stretches before bed and then ... 

... lights out. Say good night, ma'am.

Goodnight, Sam.



Permalink: a cat's tale

This week, stillpoint is the blog of Sam the Cat 
courtesy of Canadian author Cheryl Cooke Harrington

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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The Write Spot: Doreen Pendgracs




Welcome to the seventeenth edition of The Write Spot, a bi-weekly author series spotlighting the many and varied places where writers write. My guest this week is Canadian author Doreen Pendgracs, aka 'Doreen the Chocolate Queen' – and, fellow chocolate lovers, if that didn't grab your attention, I don't know what will!

Doreen Pendgracs has been a freelance writer and author since 1993. She has written dozens of articles for numerous periodicals and websites on topics ranging from travel and lifestyle to entrepreneurship, and more. She has co-authored two books: the 1st edition of Frommer's Newfoundland and Labrador, and The Manitoba Book of Everything, a 2008 Canadian bestseller. In 2010, Doreen released her first solo effort: Before You Say Yes … a Guide to the Pleasures and Pitfalls of Volunteer Boards, published by Dundurn Press.

Following the release of her latest title, Chocolatour: A Quest for the World's Best Chocolate – an award-winning chocolate travel book that guides readers to the finest chocolate and chocolate experiences of the world – she became known as 'Doreen the Chocolate Queen'. A tasty title, and one Doreen she says she loves having.

As part of the Chocolatour project, Doreen is forging the new niche of "chocolate travel" or as she like to call it, Chocolatourism. She has travelled around the world in search of remarkable chocolate and chocolate experiences. She loves sharing her research (chocolate samples) with friends and family as focus groups.

Have you ever been slathered in molten chocolate? Doreen has. And she says it’s an incredibly sensual experience that every chocolate lover should take time to enjoy.



When she's not off questing for chocolate, Doreen makes her home in Manitoba with her husband and her writing assistant, Jimmy the cat, who takes far too many sleep breaks.



Welcome, Doreen. Please tell us about your Write Spot.

Because I am a travel writer, I think my writing process is quite different than someone who writes fiction or other types of writing.

My writing usually begins on the road in the form of brief notes I take in mini notebooks that I always have along with me. I take lots of pictures to augment the notes I've taken.



Those notes will eventually turn into blog posts, and then when I'm writing the next volume of my book, the blog posts will be imported and expanded to become chapters or profiles. So, when it comes to writing, it can start halfway around the world, and evolve through different stages until I sit down at my desktop iMac and polish it into pages for the book. (This is a photo of my loft office/writing space in its perfect tidiness, which is not the usual. PC now replaced with a Mac.)



Other than your computer or laptop, what's the one thing you couldn't be without in your Write Spot?

Chocolate, of course!

Of course! (You may be the luckiest writer ever!) 

What are you working on now?

Right now, I am continuing to research volume II of Chocolatour. The working title for that is Chocolatour: A Quest for the World's Best Chocolate Adventures. I learned after blogging and writing the first volume of Chocolatour: A Quest for the World's Best Chocolate, that my readers are most interested in my exotic adventures and not so much in the chocolate. There are several other chocolate bloggers who focus strictly on the chocolate. My focus is on experiential chocolate travel, and my goal is to encourage readers to travel the world for chocolate ecstasy, whether that be in the form of chocolate events, chocolate spas, to indulge in cocoa cuisine, or to eat some of the freshest and most exotic chocolate that you can't get at home because fresh chocolate doesn't travel well.

I hope to have volume II of Chocolatour published by the end of this year, but it may not be until early 2017 as I still have a fair amount of travel ahead to complete the task of showcasing the best of the Americas and the Caribbean.

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

My website can be found at chocolatour.net. I'm pretty proud of it, as I just had it professionally designed and relaunched last fall. We combined blog posts from three different sites I'd had over the previous six years: my writer's blog, my travel blog, and my newish Chocolatour site which I'd been using for chocolate events and updates about my book. It had become unmanageable to have 3 different sites and keep them all fresh. I used to have an old static website as well, but have since abandoned that as upkeep was expensive due to the old HTML coding. Now, I work exclusively with WordPress and it's easy to change and update myself—with the help of a terrific web manager whom I've been working with over the past few years.

Because I am continually trying to expand my reach, I am active on many platforms. You'll find me at:

Facebook Author Page: Doreen Pendgracs, Author 
Facebook Page for Volunteerism: Before You Say Yes 
Twitter: @wizardofwords
Instagram: chocolatour
Pinterest: chocolatour
LinkedIn: Doreen Pendgracs
Tumblr: dpendgracs
Goodreads: Doreen Pendgracs 


Thanks for visiting, Doreen. I'm craving a chocolate break – right now! You've got me dreaming of a bit of Chocolatouring, too. That chocolate wrap sounds so very, very decadent! 

For all you chocolate connoisseurs, here are the delectable details:

Chocolatour takes you around the world, in search of the most beautiful, innovative, and delectable chocolate and noteworthy chocolate events.

In this first volume of Chocolatour, author Doreen Pendgracs introduces you to chocolate masters in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and Holland, as well as the UK. She also takes you to cacao growing regions in Peru, Ecuador, and St. Lucia and includes a fascinating chapter on the health benefits of chocolate. Plus a global A-Z Chocolate Lovers' Guide for the chocolate journey of your life.


Buy the book: Chocolatour | Amazon.com 






About The Write Spot:
I've always been fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes. Whether it's backstage photos from my favourite play, a peek into the kitchen where a chef is working her culinary magic, or simply a glimpse through an uncurtained window into a stranger's private world, there's an undeniable thrill of discovery, a sense of secrets shared. It's no surprise, then, that I'm immensely curious about where other writers do their work. I've blogged about it before in this post about my own 'write spot' and so enjoyed the comments, I was inspired to launch a regular feature here at stillpoint. Watch for The Write Spot every other Wednesday and join me as I discover the many and varied places where writers write.



stillpoint is the blog of Canadian author Cheryl Cooke Harrington

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Wednesday, March 09, 2016

dear little friend of mine...



A few weeks ago, while searching for something interesting to post for Throwback Thursday, I unearthed this smile-inducing photo of my Dad with our dog, Cookie. A rescue from the Toronto Humane Society, Cookie came home in a big cardboard box in the summer of 1957. I'd been quarantined at Grandma's house with a miserable case of mumps and the puppy was intended as a cheer-up present from Mom and Dad. It worked!

Cookie was a sturdy mixed breed, fluffy and white with brown ears and a feathery, perpetually wagging tail. She quickly became my best friend. In fact, much more than a friend, Cookie was the sister this only child had always wanted. Naming her Cookie was a no-brainer – our family name is Cooke – but the moniker suited her. Cookie was a real sweetie and, as far as I'm concerned, she will always be the Best Dog Ever.

This photo of us from September '57 is the only one I've been able to find of Cookie as a puppy. I'm sure there were lots more but since Dad was infamous for leaving his photo subjects completely or partially headless, this one with 'just a little off the top' might be the best of the lot anyway. (Sorry, Dad, but you know it's true.) Cookie was mid growth spurt when this picture was taken. She had doubled in size since the day her tiny puppy-self emerged from that box in Grandma's kitchen.

One afternoon, when she was still just a wee thing, we were playing with a ball in the backyard. At the time, the fence between our neighbour's yard and ours was a rusty metal grid of 4x4 inch squares. When next door's spaniel ran into their yard, Cookie was so excited to see another dog, she raced to the fence and stuck her little head right through one of the openings. Doggy kisses were exchanged, tails were wagged, and the older, wiser neighbour dog wandered off to do her business. That's when Cookie realized she was well and truly stuck. Her head and ears fit neatly going in but, once through, those pretty ears of hers perked up and prevented retreat. I'll never forget her terrified howls – hard to believe such a tiny pup could make such a big noise! Dad and the neighbour eventually had to take a hacksaw to the fence to release her. Mom was apoplectic. I wish I could say Cookie learned her lesson that day but, well, let's just say it wasn't long before the old fence was replaced with a new, puppy safe model.

Cookie's misadventures continued inside the house, too. Mom's prized Singer sewing machine soon had permanent gnaw marks on all four legs, as did my piano. Even the heirloom sideboard in the dining room wasn't spared. And speaking of gnawing on wood…

Our sofa sat in front of the living room window. Whenever we were out, Cookie would climb up onto its back where she could sit comfortably and watch for her people to return. Mom usually remembered to leave the venetian blinds pulled halfway up so Cookie's view would be unobstructed. One day, probably running late for work, Mom left the blinds down. The slats were in the open position, so a curious dog could see through. But a teething puppy, presented with lovely, thick wooden slats, did what any teething puppy would do in the circumstances: she chewed. She watched and she waited and she chewed. And when the first delicious slat was gnawed all the way through, she started on the second. Etc., etc., etc. Baaaad puppy! I wish I could say Cookie learned her lesson that day but, well, let's just say it wasn't long before the venetian blinds were replaced with new, puppy approved curtains.

Years later, a fully-grown Cookie was once again implicated in a domestic disaster: the Terrible Coffee Table Incident. She and I were home alone one afternoon, having convinced Mom and Dad that we were perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves while they went grocery shopping. We read for a while, played ball in the yard, shared a glass of milk, and then went to the living room to watch TV. 'Somebody' decided to sit on the coffee table. It was all good fun until the glass top made a loud cracking noise and shattered in a spectacular starburst. Luckily, 'somebody' jumped off in time and wasn't injured by the shards of broken glass.

I looked at Cookie. Cookie looked at me. There may have been tears.

I did all the talking when Mom and Dad got home. "It wasn't Cookie's fault," I said, trying hard not to cry. "We were playing and she jumped up on the table. She didn't mean to. It was an accident!"

Cookie stayed by my side the whole time, looking hangdog sorry and thoroughly ashamed. We were both sent to our room. The coffee table top was eventually replaced – at considerable expense (being a custom cut oval piece of glass in a mahogany frame) – and the incident wasn't mentioned again until, finally, I couldn't stand the guilt and confessed the truth to my parents.

I was the one who'd thought it might be fun to sit on the table. Cookie was innocent. It was my fault. All mine! Mom and Dad listened and nodded. I'd been expecting an angry reaction and suitable punishment, but all they said was, "We're glad you finally told us." They'd known who the culprit was all along. And they'd understood just how badly I'd feel after making poor Cookie take the blame. My angst was far worse than any punishment they could have doled out. I was the worst sister ever. And the Best Dog Ever loved me anyway.

Aside from her family, Cookie had three great joys in her life: rides in the car, cows, and ice cream cones.

The Nash Rambler
Like most dogs, she loved going for drives with her people – all that lovely wind ruffling her ears and so many strange smells in the air! On summer Sundays we'd often swing by the house after church, pick up Cookie, and head out in Dad's metallic green Nash Rambler for an afternoon drive in the country. Cookie would begin the trip full of excitement, eager to see every sight and sniff every single scent on every single breeze. But eventually the rumble of wheels and hum of the engine would lull her to sleep on the back seat.

In those days, there were still lots of dairy farms in the countryside around Toronto and Cookie was positively fascinated by cows. We always knew when to expect cows in the next field because Cookie would twitch awake and head for the window, ears perked and tongue lolling in a happy grin. On the rare occasion when her cow early-warning system didn't work, all I had to do was whisper a quiet, "moo," and she'd spring to attention, nose at the ready. She never knew the thrill of a face-to-face encounter with a cow in its field – Mom was afraid the dog would get herself trampled, cause a stampede, or (more likely) enjoy a good roll in the cow pats. But Cookie didn't mind. She relished every molecule of cow essence her nose ever encountered. Mom was probably right about the patty rolling thing.

Cows in their field. Photo by Bernie Janssen

Another favourite Sunday destination was the soft-serve ice cream stand on Kingston Road in Scarborough. Dad would order three medium cones for the humans and a baby-sized cone for Cookie. We'd sit at a shaded picnic table to enjoy our treats and Cookie usually drew a crowd of onlookers. Everyone loved watching her eat her cone. She'd lick politely until the twist of ice cream was gone. Then, with Mom holding the cone, pup would nibble dainty circles around the wafer, revealing more of the good stuff deep inside the cone. Lick and nibble, lick and nibble, all the way to the bottom. Then she'd chomp the final morsel of cone, give her chops a clean-up swipe with her tongue, and settle onto her haunches to stare hopefully at anyone not clever enough to have finished before she did. Thanks to those dewy brown eyes of hers, Cookie could usually score a second or third 'last morsel' – sweets for the sweet.


Cookie Cooke - 1957 to 1968

Sweet Cookie was my sister, my friend, and my faithful companion for nearly eleven years. She left us far too soon but she'd lived a good life, her dog days filled with love and smiles and tail-wagging happy times. I've loved other dogs since, but there will never be another like Cookie, my one and only Best Dog Ever.



Wondering where you've heard that before? The title of this post is a quote from Verse For A Certain Dog, a poem by Dorothy Parker:

Such glorious faith as fills your limpid eyes,
Dear little friend of mine, I never knew.
All-innocent are you, and yet all-wise.
(For Heaven's sake, stop worrying that shoe!)




stillpoint is the blog of Canadian author Cheryl Cooke Harrington



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Wednesday, March 02, 2016

The Write Spot: Brenda Chapman



Welcome to The Write Spot, a bi-weekly author series spotlighting the many and varied places where writers write.My guest for this sixteenth edition is Canadian author, Brenda Chapman.

Brenda has had an eclectic writing career, writing for young adults, teens, and adults, mainly in the  mystery genre.

Her first published series was the Jennifer Bannon mysteries for young adults. the Canadian Library Association shortlisted Hiding in Hawk's Creek, the second in the series, for the 2006 Book of the Year for Children award.

Her first mystery for adults called In Winter's Grip was released in 2010. The Globe and Mail called it "a fine debut for a talented writer."

Brenda currently has two adult series in the works:

The Anna Sweet novellas for adult literacy are published by Grass Roots Press in Edmonton. Three of the four books in the series were nominated for major awards, including an Arthur Ellis.

Cold Mourning, shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis award for crime novel of the year in 2014, is the first in the Stonechild and Rouleau police procedurals series. Butterfly Kills was released last year to critical acclaim and Tumbled Graves is hot off the press this month. All are published by Dundurn Press.

A former teacher, Brenda lives in Ottawa where she now works as a senior communications advisor with the federal government.

Brenda Chapman's Write Spot

Welcome, Brenda! Tell us what makes this 'The Write Spot' for you.

Years ago, when I first began writing short stories and a mystery series for young adults, I didn't have a space of my own. I wrote at a desk in the living room where my kids also hung out watching television. In some ways, this was a good training ground for keeping me focused even with noise and interruptions. A few years later, we decided to put an addition on the house and my husband Ted suggested that we include an office for me. 



Our carpenter friend made the desk where I work and Ted built bookcases on either side of the gas fireplace. Ted also built the table that sits between the two leather chairs that I bought when I sold my first book. These chairs are where Ted and I sit at the end of our workdays to catch up and where I've spent many hours reading crime fiction or editing manuscripts. I love the view of our pine trees in the front yard that I see when I'm writing at my computer. I also like the door into the backyard where I take my laptop to write on hot summer days.



Other than your computer or laptop, what's the one thing you couldn't be without in your Write Spot?

I have a radio in my writing space that I would sorely miss. I like to listen to music while I write, finding this relaxing or motivating as the case may be. I particularly enjoy writing late into the evening on Saturday while listening to music programs on CBC.

What are you working on now?

I've been writing two mystery series for the past few years. Grass Roots Press, which is an adult literacy publisher out of Edmonton, asked me to write a series of novellas and I recently submitted the fifth. I'm awaiting the editor's changes, which should arrive any day. The second series is the Stonechild and Rouleau police procedurals set in Kingston, Ontario with forays into surrounding towns and cities. I've submitted the fourth manuscript to Dundurn and while I wait for the editing process to begin on this one, I've recently started work on book five. I should add that Tumbled Graves, the third in the series, was released at the end of February 2016, resulting in more publicity and marketing work in addition to the writing projects.

Just got my copy of Tumbled Graves and can't wait to dive in! Where can readers find out more about you and your books? 

My books are available from most bookstores and major booksellers or directly from the publishers.


Brenda's Website: brendachapman.ca

Brenda's Blog: brendachapman.blogspot.ca

Social:  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads

Tumbled Graves by Brenda Chapman is available now from your favourite bookseller. Publisher's Weekly says: "Richly drawn characters enhance this well-constructed, thoroughly enjoyable whodunit that will leave readers eager for the next installment."

A missing child. A dead mother. Kala Stonechild is about to discover what one betrayal can lead to.

When Adele Delaney and her daughter, Violet, go missing, Jacques Rouleau is called upon to investigate. However, struggling with the impending death of his ill ex-wife, he sends Kala Stonechild and Paul Gundersund instead. Stonechild has been trying to adapt to life as her young cousin Dawn’s guardian, and even though Gundersund has offered support, Stonechild is at risk of losing custody.

On the second day of the investigation, Adele’s body turns up, dumped on the shoulder of the highway with no sign of her daughter. Her husband, Ivo, denies any involvement with either his wife’s death or their child’s disappearance, but not everyone is convinced. As the investigation unfolds, Stonechild learns that Adele was once entangled with a Montreal biker gang and heads to Quebec to investigate further.

As Stonechild and Gundersund juggle personal troubles and a complicated, dangerous case, they find themselves piecing together a chain of disasters leading back to a single betrayal.




About The Write Spot:
I've always been fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes. Whether it's backstage photos from my favourite play, a peek into the kitchen where a chef is working her culinary magic, or simply a glimpse through an uncurtained window into a stranger's private world, there's an undeniable thrill of discovery, a sense of secrets shared. It's no surprise, then, that I'm immensely curious about where other writers do their work. I've blogged about it before in this post about my own 'write spot' and so enjoyed the comments, I was inspired to launch a regular feature here at stillpoint. Watch for The Write Spot every other Wednesday and join me as I discover the many and varied places where writers write.


stillpoint is the blog of Canadian author Cheryl Cooke Harrington

  

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