All posts by David Koren

Pizza Night & Book Exchange

NOTE: THE MEETING WILL BE IN THE BILLINGS ROOM (NEXT TO THE HONEYWELL)

The Wednesday May 8, 2019 meeting is also Pizza night.  The executive serves pizza, drinks & dessert.  The event starts at 6:30.  

If you are coming for pizza please email Micheal Murphy at m.murphy345@hotmail.com so that we order enough pizza .  RSVP BY 5 P.M. ON MONDAY MAY 6, 2019.

Our book exchange also takes place at the Wednesday May 8, 2019 meeting.  Bring a book you have read, leave it on the table and take a book someone else has left on the table.  Discover a new author.

 

April Meeting – Rescheduled from February

When writing a fight scene, it is useful to know what works and what doesn’t. Sonia is an author, martial arts instructor and self-proclaimed oddball born in Quito, Ecuador. When she isn’t brutally killing your favourite character, she teaches martial arts, live streams video games, and cuddles her cats. In other words, she teaches others to kill, streams her digital kills, and cuddles furry murderers. For more information about the speaker, please see her website: www.smcarriere.com

March Meeting

David Tremain, author and intelligence historian, will discuss the historiography of espionage. David is a retired paper conservator and museum security specialist. He has contributed book reviews to the Canadian Association for Security & Intelligence Studies (CASIS), published articles on conservation for the museum and conservation professions, and taught workshops on emergency preparedness and museum security nationally and internationally. Born in Britain, he now lives in Ottawa, Canada. He is the author of Double Agent Victoire: Mathilde Carré and the Interallié Network, (The History Press, 2018) and  Rough Justice: The True Story of Agent Dronkers, the Enemy Spy Captured by the British (2016). His most recent book is The Beautiful Spy. The Life and Crimes of Vera Eriksen. 

Click here for a list of Spy Fiction References.

January Meeting

“HOW TO SOLVE A CRIME WITH BUTTONS – AND OTHER PIECES OF CLOTHING”

Retired Ottawa Police Detective Mark Cartwright, began his extensive career as the youngest detective in the force in the UK.  Later he was a detective in Bermuda.  In Ottawa, he worked in various departments including sexual assault, break and enter, and undercover in narcotics.  Drawing on his experiences in Bermuda he was instrumental in changing the way drug raids are carried out here.  He also helped start the Ottawa police bike patrol.

CCW Festive Dinner

Join fellow writers,  mystery fiction readers and your CCW friends for the Festive Get together.  

DATE:      Wednesday December 12, 2018

TIME:       6:30 p.m.

VENUE:   Tony Capone’s,   2369 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON

Our after dinner speakers are Mary Jane Maffini and Victoria Maffini, the writers behind the Victoria Abbott mysteries.  Books will be available for purchase.

They will speak on the experience of writing as a team.PLEASE EMAIL m.murphy345@hotmail.com if you wish to reserve seats for the event. Seating is limited. Please include your name and the number of guests in your party. THE DEADLINE FOR RESERVATIONS IS SUNDAY DECEMBER 9, 2018 AT 5 P.M.

Victoria Abbott Mysteries
So who is Victoria Abbott?
Victoria Abbott is a collaboration between the always very funny and creative artist, photographer and short story author, Victoria Maffini and her mother, Mary Jane Maffini, award-winning author of three mystery series and two dozen short stories.

November Meeting

Sergeant Chris O’Brien of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) graduated from Carleton University in 2000. Currently, he is a member of the Major Crime Unit, conducting homicide investigations and handling other major cases assigned. He also has experience as a patrol officer and as a detective in the Guns and Gangs Unit. His time with OPS includes a four-year, joint-forces stint as a detective in the Ontario Provincial Police’s Weapons Enforcement Unit.

Writing Workshop on Critique Groups

Join us this Wednesday, September 12 at 7 pm at City Hall in the Billings Boardroom (2nd floor, next to the Honeywell room) for our first meeting of the year.

Writing is a solitary job. The author spends hours, days and sometimes years creating characters that live and breath, commit crimes or solve them. Every scene is meticulously crafted and flows to an awe inspiring conclusion.

Is that what the reader sees? Or do they see two-dimensional characters and so many plot holes that they almost overshadow the predictable ending.

That’s where the invaluable advice of a critique group, with fresh eyes that aren’t emotionally invested, can help.

Join Madona Skaff in a discussion that covers: where to find a critique group in your area or on-line; starting a group yourself and the pros and cons of these groups.

Madona Skaff is a long time member of CCW. She has published several SF as well as mystery short stories and is the author of the mystery novel, Journey of a Thousand Steps.

2018 Short Story Contest Winners

The winners of the 2018 Audrey Jessup Short Story Contest were announced on Wednesday June 13, 2018. Members of Capital Crime Writers and several friends were at The Foolish Chicken Restaurant to hear the results.

1st Place – Carolyn Inch for “Three Sides to the Story”
2nd Place – Andrew Kohut for “Frank’s Wife”
3rd Place – Wynn Quon for “Bronwyn”
Honourable Mention – Adrienne Stevenson for “Naomi Wise”
Honourable Mention – Jennifer Jorgensen for “A King by Any Other Name”

 

Award Winners (L – R): Madona Skaff (Contest Co-ordinator), Andrew Kohut (2nd Place), Wynn Quon (3rd Place), Jennifer Jorgensen (Honourable Mention), Carolyn Inch (1st Place), Elizabeth Hosang (President CCW). Absent: Adrienne Stevenson (Honourable Mention).

The Winners of the 2018 Arthur Ellis Awards for Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing

BEST CRIME NOVEL
Sleeping in the Ground, by Peter Robinson, publisher McClelland & Stewart
 
BEST FIRST CRIME NOVEL
Full Curl, by Dave Butler, publisher Dundurn Press
 
BEST CRIME NOVELLA – The Lou Allin Memorial Award
How Lon Pruitt Was Found Murdered in an Open Field with No Footprints Around,by Mike Culpepper, published in “Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine”, by Dell
 
BEST CRIME SHORT STORY
The Outlier, by Catherine Astolfo, published in “13 Claws”, by Carrick Publishing
 
BEST NONFICTION CRIME BOOK
The Whisky King, by Trevor Cole, publisher HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
 
BEST JUVENILE/YOUNG ADULT CRIME BOOK
Chase – Get Ready to Run, by Linwood Barclay, publisher Penguin Random House Puffin Canada
 
BEST CRIME BOOK IN FRENCH
Les tricoteuses, by Marie Saur, publisher Héliotrope Noir
 
BEST UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT sponsored by Dundurn Press
Destruction in Paradise by Dianne Scott
 
For more information go to www.crimewriterscanada.com