Arthur Ellis Awards Double Finalist!

Honoured and grateful to see my name listed twice on the CBC website, as a double finalist for the 
ARTHUR ELLIS AWARDS for Excellence in Crime Writing!

Many thanks to my publishers:
The B-Team (Novella) Orca Book Publishers
A Ship Called Pandora (Short story) Mystery Weekly Magazine

See Books page for Amazon link

MURDER AT THE CRIME WRITING AWARDS

In honour of the Arthur Ellis Awards for Excellence in Crime Writing, held last Thursday:  This post, from a few years ago.

By Melodie Campbell

Okay, I haven’t done it yet.  But I may soon.

I’m the Executive Director of a well-known crime writing association.  This means I am also responsible for the Arthur Ellis Awards, Canada’s annual crime writing awards night, and the resulting banquet.

I’ve planned hundreds of special events in my career as a marketing professional.  I’ve managed conferences with 1000 people attending, scarfing down three meals a day.  Usually, we offer a few choices, and people choose what they want.  They’re pretty good about that.  People sit where they want.  Simple.

Granted, most of my events have been with lab techs, doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals. 

It is not the same with authors.  Nothing is simple with authors. 

THE SEATING ARRANGEMENT

A can’t sit with B, because A is in competition with B for Best Novel.  C can’t sit with D because C is currently outselling D.  E can’t sit with F because they had an affair (which nobody knows about.  Except they do.  At least, the seven people who contacted me to warn me about this knew.) G can’t sit with H because G’s former agent is at that table and they might kill each other.  And everyone wants to sit with J.

THE MENU

The damned meal is chicken.  This is because we are allowed two choices and we have to provide for the vegetarians.  We can’t have the specialty of the house, lamb, because not everyone eats lamb.  We can’t have salmon as the vegetarian choice, because some vegetarians won’t eat fish.

So we’re stuck with bloody chicken again.

P writes that her daughter is lactose intolerant.  Can she have a different dessert?

K writes that she is vegetarian, but can’t eat peppers.  Every damned vegetarian choice has green or red pepper in it.

L writes that she wants the chicken, but is allergic to onion and garlic.  Can we make hers without?

M writes that her daughter is a vegan, so no egg or cheese, thanks.  Not a single vegetarian choice comes that way.

I am quickly moving to the “you’re getting chicken if I have to shove it down your freaking throat” phase.

Chef is currently threatening the catering manager with a butcher’s knife.  I am already slugging back the cooking wine.  And by the time people get here, this may be a Murder Mystery dinner.

Postscript:

Nobody got murdered, but a few got hammered. 

ISWG Wed! MURDER AT THE CRIME WRITING AWARDS

Welcome, IWSGers!  Think it's nerve-wracking being a finalist for a big award?  Try running the awards gala itself!  The Arthur Ellis Awards are Canada's Crime Writing Awards, which took place last week on May 28 at the Arts and Letters club in Toronto.   I'll let the post speak for itself.

MURDER AT THE CRIME WRITING AWARDS

By Melodie Campbell

Okay, I haven’t done it yet.  But I may soon.

I’m the Executive Director of a well-known crime writing association.  This means I am also responsible for the Arthur Ellis Awards, Canada’s annual crime writing awards night, and the resulting banquet.

I’ve planned hundreds of special events in my career as a marketing professional.  I’ve managed conferences with 1000 people attending, scarfing down three meals a day.  Usually, we offer a few choices, and people choose what they want.  They’re pretty good about that.  People sit where they want.  Simple.

Granted, most of my events have been with lab techs, doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals.

It is not the same with authors.  Nothing is simple with authors.

THE SEATING ARRANGEMENT

A can’t sit with B, because A is in competition with B for Best Novel.  C can’t sit with D because C is currently outselling D.  E can’t sit with F because they had an affair (which nobody knows about.  Except they do.  At least, the seven people who contacted me to warn me about this knew.) G can’t sit with H because G’s former agent is at that table and they might kill each other.  And everyone wants to sit with J.

THE MENU

The damned meal is chicken.  This is because we are allowed two choices and we have to provide for the vegetarians.  We can’t have the specialty of the house, lamb, because not everyone eats lamb.  We can’t have salmon as the vegetarian choice, because some vegetarians won’t eat fish.

So we’re stuck with bloody chicken again.

P writes that her daughter is lactose intolerant.  Can she have a different dessert?

K writes that she is vegetarian, but can’t eat peppers.  Every damned vegetarian choice has green or red pepper in it.

L writes that she wants the chicken, but is allergic to onion and garlic.  Can we make hers without?

M writes that her daughter is a vegan, so no egg or cheese, thanks.  Not a single vegetarian choice comes that way.

I am quickly moving to the “you’re getting chicken if I have to shove it down your freaking throat” phase.

Chef is currently threatening the catering manager with a butcher’s knife.  I am already slugging back the cooking wine.  And by the time people get here, this may be a Murder Mystery dinner.

Postscript:

Nobody got murdered, but a few got hammered.

Check out the other IWSG blogs today at
http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html
 
FLASH NEWS:  The Arthur Ellis Awards for Crime Writing in Canada were held last Thursday night, and Margaret Atwood (not Melodie Campbell, alas) won the Arthur for the Short Story category.  It was an honour to be shortlisted with her.

THE ARTFUL GODDAUGHTER - Now Available in Paperback!

THE ARTFUL GODDAUGHTER  - Now Available in Paperback!

 

The third novel in a hilarious series featuring Gina Gallo, who is having a hard time leaving the family business.

BUY ME on AMAZON
                on CHAPTERS/INDIGO
And in all major bookstores, including Chapters and Barnes & Noble!
(ebook to follow)

First Industry Review: 

The Artful Goddaughter is a novella with legs and laughter. International award winning author, Melodie Campbell’s  third Goddaughter mystery is the best of a winning trio of stories. The second one, The Goddaughter’s Revenge recently took home Canada’s Arthur Elllis award for best novella and America’s Derringer award. 

Strong plot, great zingers and imagery that draws you in and just doesn’t let go. Gina Gallo, the leggy beauty, about to wed inherits a stash of cash from her deceased uncle that comes with a condition…reverse an old crime with a new one and get him to his final reward. And she’s off with her crew of relatives anyone would love to hide. The scam is delightful, the plot, setting and dialogue move with page turning intensity which makes the Artful Author’s third crime ride a blast and a laugh. 

Reviewed by: Don Graves. Canadian Mystery Reviews.

MURDER AT THE CRIME WRITING AWARDS

For those who missed it on Sleuthsayers (where I have a regular gig) here it is:

MURDER AT THE CRIME WRITING AWARDS

By Melodie Campbell

Okay, I haven’t done it yet.  But I may soon.

I’m the Executive Director of a well-known crime writing association.  This means I am also responsible for the Arthur Ellis Awards, Canada’s annual crime writing awards night, and the resulting banquet.

I’ve planned hundreds of special events in my career as a marketing professional.  I’ve managed conferences with 1000 people attending, scarfing down three meals a day.  Usually, we offer a few choices, and people choose what they want.  They’re pretty good about that.  People sit where they want.  Simple.

Granted, most of my events have been with lab techs, doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals.

It is not the same with authors.  Nothing is simple with authors.

THE SEATING ARRANGEMENT

A can’t sit with B, because A is in competition with B for Best Novel.  C can’t sit with D because C is currently outselling D.  E can’t sit with F because they had an affair (which nobody knows about.  Except they do.  At least, the seven people who contacted me to warn me about this knew.) G can’t sit with H because G’s former agent is at that table and they might kill each other.  And everyone wants to sit with J.

THE MENU

The damned meal is chicken.  This is because we are allowed two choices and we have to provide for the vegetarians.  We can’t have the specialty of the house, lamb, because not everyone eats lamb.  We can’t have salmon as the vegetarian choice, because some vegetarians won’t eat fish.

So we’re stuck with bloody chicken again.

P writes that her daughter is lactose intolerant.  Can she have a different dessert?

K writes that she is vegetarian, but can’t eat peppers.  Every damned vegetarian choice has green or red pepper in it.

L writes that she wants the chicken, but is allergic to onion and garlic.  Can we make hers without?

M writes that her daughter is a vegan, so no egg or cheese, thanks.  Not a single vegetarian choice comes that way.

I am quickly moving to the “you’re getting chicken if I have to shove it down your freaking throat” phase.

Chef is currently threatening the catering manager with a butcher’s knife.  I am already slugging back the cooking wine.  And by the time people get here, this may be a Murder Mystery dinner.

Postscript:

Nobody got murdered, but a few got hammered.

BLAME IT ON AGATHA! The tantalizing chess game of the classic Whodunit

Okay, I admit it.  Along with coffee, dark chocolate, and foreign men named Raoul, I have an addiction.

I’m a sucker for the “You won’t guess the ending” Whodunit.

I blame Agatha Christie for this addiction.  She is also to blame for a lot of eleven-year-old sleepless nights, as well as my father’s near heart attack in 1970 when I announced at the dinner table “I know thirteen ways to poison people and not get caught.”

Christie was indeed the Queen of Plot.  After an appetizer of Nancy Drew, I whipped through Poirot, Marple, and Tommy and Tuppence in less than two years. Then I moved on to Sayers, Allingham, Marsh and any traditional mysteries I could get my hands on.

Why?  It’s the chess game.  The sheer bliss of pitting my mind against the author’s to see if I can guess the killer before the story’s detective.

To this day, I relish a book that plays fair, leaves me the clues, and stumps me at the end.

So it’s no surprise that my second published book, co-written with good friend Cynthia St-Pierre, is a traditional whodunit.

Happy Birthday, A PURSE TO DIE FOR! 

Yes, it’s been one year since our publisher launched this fun whodunit, and that little book has travelled through the Amazon best-seller lists faster and higher than we dared anticipate. 

It appears we are not alone in loving that killer surprise ending.

My favorite line from the 61 reviews posted thus far?

“You’ll be certain you know the killer. Twice. But you’ll be wrong.”

THAT is what we set out to do.  THAT is the kind of book that makes me smile and gives me chills.

Like a classic “You won’t guess the ending” whodunit?  See if you can guess the killer in A PURSE TO DIE FOR.

In the UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Purse-Die-For-ebook/dp/B008IKA022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357247150&sr=8-1

In Germany

http://www.amazon.de/A-Purse-Die-For-ebook/dp/B008IKA022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357246964&sr=8-1 …

In the US

http://amzn.to/PysT2C

Melodie Campbell is an award-winning author of 40 short stories and 5 novels, including A Purse to Die For, co-written with Cynthia St-Pierre.  Melodie has won 6 awards for fiction, and is the Executive Director of Crime Writers of Canada.

A Jury of Her Peers - the sweetest kind of honour

I never thought anything could compare to the high you get when your first child is born.  So it rather shocked me when – Alex and Natalie stop reading now – I experienced something akin to that high again last Thursday night at the Arthur Ellis Awards short list event in Toronto.  I had actually made the short list!  And dang, wasn’t that a kick.

But also alarming.  I raced home to dig out my ‘bucket list’ written 23 years ago, written in 1989 when I won my first writing award (Canadian Living Magazine).  Damn straight, I’ve been kicking around a long time, decades longer than most of my colleagues realize. 

This list of What-I-must-accomplish-before-I-die also included such items as “Learn to dance Flamenco,” and “Fly a plane.”  Flamenco got a tick in 1996 (damn hard on your feet) and so did plane (except I ran out of money during the whole pilot training thingy and had to metaphorically bail). That list also included a few other items, one of which was rather hot (I invite people to comment by guessing what THAT was.  If you’ve read Rowena Through the Wall, you may come close.) 

One by one, I had crossed all these items off my list.  Except one. 

Back in my home office with the lovely arched window and the rickety desk, I opened the old claret journal (paper journal, of course – no smart-phones back then.)  There it was, page marked with a post-it tab:  “Bucket list.”  And the only remaining uncrossed item: “Be a finalist for a major writing award.”

Not the winner, you note.  Nope – my goal back then was to be in good company.  And dammit, Thursday night put me in the best.

I’ve won six awards for fiction before.  This year I was a finalist for the Derringer.  But in no way did that begin to reach the thrill of being shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for short stories, at our Crime Writers of Canada event, with so many of my author friends in attendance and cheering me on.

Bless them.  Writers are the best people in the world.  They are the smartest people I know, always using their minds.  And they have big hearts.  They know the true joy that comes from being assessed by a jury of your peers, and found worthy.

For on Thursday night last week, I discovered that “A Jury of Her Peers” is the highest court.  The title of that celebrated short story by Susan Glaspell rings in my head and heart.  And I am supremely grateful.

Finalist for the Arthur Ellis Awards!

I got lucky.  The story that finaled for the Derringer Awards is also a finalist for the 2012 Arthur Ellis Awards!

Here are the Arthur Ellis finalists for all categories:


CBC

or

http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/

The Arthur Ellis Awards will be held on May 31 at the Toronto Hilton, immediately before the Bloody Words Conference.