This weekend I'm pleased to welcome my good friend Janet Kellough as our special Type M guest. Janet is the
author of The Thaddeus Lewis Mystery Series. The fifth book in the series, Wishful
Seeing was short-listed for the Crime
Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Best Novel Award. The sixth “Thaddeus” book, The
Heart Balm Tort was released in July. To learn more about her books, check out her website.
She's a native-born daughter of Prince Edward County, Ontario, where the Thaddeus Lewis books are set, and she's here now to tell us about an exciting new venture she and Vicki Delany are spearheading.
If you’re a female writer, you’ve probably read the articles
and participated in the discussions – about how women’s books aren’t taken as
seriously or reviewed as often as male-authored books; about how women are more
often published in paperback than in hardcover, which impacts their incomes;
about how less frequently they are featured at literary festivals; and how so
many female authors have tried to get around the barriers by disguising their
pennames that now any author who uses initials is automatically assumed to be
female.
I’m a female writer. I get as ticked off by this stuff as
anybody else. But anyone who knows me knows that I’m always looking for
solutions. What if, I thought, we just go ahead and do our own thing? What if
we start a festival that showcases Canadian women crime writers? There’s a
niche available – both the Bloody Words Conference and the Scene of the Crime
Festival have disappeared, leaving a void that is felt by all crime writers. I
could do this. After all, I have a background in small concert production, and
writers have got to be easier to herd than fiddlers, don’t they? (We’ll see.) I
could do it on my home turf – Prince Edward County Ontario., the country’s
newest tourist mecca.
Wisely or not, fellow author Vicki Delany agreed with me, as
did the owner of The County’s independent bookstore Books & Co., graphic
designer Christine Renaud and foodie Theresa Durning. Macaulay Heritage Park
and Picton Library offered their cooperation. And two local wineries, The
Grange and Black Prince came aboard as sponsors. The Women Killing It Crime
Writers’ Festival was experiencing a remarkably easy birth.
And the writers we contacted were unbelievably enthusiastic
and supportive. New York Times bestseller Susanna Kearsley said yes. So did
Maureen Jennings of Murdoch Mystery fame. Canadian bestselling authors Barbara
Fradkin and R.J. Harlick are coming. Bony Blithe winner Elizabeth J. Duncan
will be on hand, as will Melodie Campbell and Nazneen Sheikh. Local author
Robin Timmerman is featured. And Mary Jane Maffini, aka Victoria Abbott, agreed
not only to participate, but to hold a Saturday morning (Sept. 2) workshop at the library.
And this won’t be some stodgy old literary festival. We’re
talking women here. There will be refreshments – of both the sticky and liquid variety. And fun, starting with Friday night (Sept. 1) at The Mysterious Affair “table-hopping” event, where each author has
five minutes to tell a table of readers all about her book; Saturday
afternoon’s Murder at the Vicarage,
an elegant Victorian tea in an historic home featuring the writers of lighter
fare (hats and gloves optional); and Saturday evening’s Appointment with Death (and Dessert) with the authors of grittier
stories, who will discuss life and death and sex and other fun stuff. We aim to
raise the roof.
Will the festival be successful? I’m pretty confident that
it will. Will male readers come? Because we need their support too. I hope so. Will
it turn into an annual event? Chances are good. Because we’re women. And we
know how to kill it.
The Women Killing It
Crime Writers’ Festival in Prince Edward County runs September 1st
& 2nd in Picton, Ontario. For schedule and ticket info visit our
Facebook page or go straight to the WKI page at
Eventbrite.ca
