Category Archives: Meetings

CCW contest pub night and great writing news-RESCHEDULED

UPDATE: The pub night has been RESCHEDULED to June 22, 2016 and relocated to the Foolish Chicken due to the sinkhole situation on Rideau Street.

The winners of the 2016 CCW short story contest  will be announced on Wednesday June 22, 2016 .  Come and hear readings from the winners.  Anyone else who wishes to read their work is also welcome. Want to see who made the short list? See this post.

When and where

When: Wednesday June 22, 2016, 6:30 p.m. – last to leave.
Where: Foolish Chicken, 79 Holland Ave, Ottawa, ON

Publishing and awards news about members

CCW member Patricia Filteau to launch new book
Patricia Filteau is launching her new book, Vantage Point: A Kate Roarty, P.I. novel on Monday May 30, 2016, at 7:30. The launch is at 3 Sisters Bakeshop & Café, located at 2211 Arch Street. That pastries there are divine.

Peggy Blair short story
CCW friend Peggy Blair has released an eight-episode podcast of a Inspector Ramirez short story prequel (to Umbrella Man) narrated by Selma Farmer.  The launch of Umbrella Man, the fourth Inspector Ramirez mystery is on Thursday June 9, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. It takes place at Holland’s Cake and Shake, 229
Armstrong St, Ottawa.

CCW member Adrienne Stevenson clinches 3rd place
Adrienne Stevenson has won third place in the 2016 National Capital Writing Contest. The award is sponsored by the Canadian Authors Association: National Capital Region. Her story is entitled “Leveller.” Congratulations.

CCW ELECTIONS: 2016-2017
The elections for the CCW executive (2016-2017) were held on May 11th. I am pleased to announce the 2016-2017 executive:

PRESIDENT: Michael Murphy
VICE PRESIDENT: Pat Filteau
PAST PRESIDENT: Katherine Hobbs
PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Joe Italiano & Mary Fernando
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Jeff Ross & Patti Murphy
SECRETARY/MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR/TREASURER & FINANCE: Elizabeth Hosang

Thanks to the members of the 2015-2016 executive:
PRESIDENT: Katherine Hobbs
VICE PRESIDENT: Darlene Cole
PAST PRESIDENT: Michael Murphy
PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Michael Murphy & Joe Italiano
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Jeff Ross & Patti Murphy
SECRETARY/MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR/TREASURER & FINANCE: Elizabeth Hosang

CCW election, mystery exchange, and pizza!

It’s CCW election time, and much more: pizza, a mystery novel exchange, and an invitation to read your short-story submission.

After the election of the new CCW executive there will be a round table discussion of what you have enjoyed reading recently and why. Lastly, anyone who was not shortlisted for the 2016 Audrey Jessup short story contest can bring their writing to read to the group.

When and where

When: Wedesnday, May 11, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Ottawa City Hall (Honeywell Room, second floor)
RSVP: pastpresident@capitalcrimewriters.com (IMPORTANT: We need to know how much pizza to order)

Executive positions

Note: A strong interest in the elections is needed, otherwise CCW is at risk of folding.

THe CCW Executive is composed of the following positions:
PRESIDENT: oversees the Executive; builds consensus at Executive meetings; oversees the implementation of Association plans & programs; ensures Association operates in accordance with its By- Laws; calls Executive meetings; organizes agenda & chairs Executive meetings.

VICE-PRESIDENT: carries out duties & responsibilities of the President when the President is unavailable; runs the Audrey Jessup short story contest.

PAST-PRESIDENT: serves in advisory capacity to Executive to facilitate the continuity of information from one Executive to the next

PROGRAM DIRECTOR: responsible for the content of the regular monthly meetings(speakers & workshops) & the December dinner.  Reserves the meeting rooms for the monthly meetings.

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: responsible for implementing & maintaining communications, including an Internet presence.

SECRETARY/MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: maintains membership records; solicits membership renewals; drafts summary minutes of Executive meetings.

TREASURER: maintains a bank account in the name of ‘Capital Crime Writers’; receives  fees & reimburses expenses; prepares an annual financial summary
For the past year the SECRETARY-MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR & TREASURER positions have been filled by one person
The Program Director is normally assisted by  two members from the Association.  The Communications Director is normally assisted by one member from the Association.

Members who have served on the Executive have generally served for a number of terms.  This has given the Executive a degree of continuity.  However, few new members have joined in recent years.  The Organization’s  strength lies in its members.  An executive needs and benefits greatly from an infusion of new Executive members.  New members build on past strengths, bring new ideas and help the Association face new  challenges.  In short, the Executive remains relevant to its members and carries the organization forward.

Any member of CCW can put their name forward for any position on the Executive.  A number of current Executive members have agreed to stay on the Executive.  However,  the Program Director &  the Vice-President,  will become vacant and must be filled at the May  election.  In addition, the Presidency may become vacant.

The Executive meets about four times a year.  The meetings usually take place in a library or a pub.  Having vacant  Executive positions places more work on fewer members.  Our Executive needs new blood.

If you are interested in putting your name forward for any of the Executive positions outlined above, or if you have any questions, please contact the President Katherine Hobbs (president@capitalcrimewriters.com) or Michael Murphy (pastpresident@capitalcrimewriters.com ).

Learn about the Ottawa Police Services Tactical Unit

Members of the Ottawa Police Services Tactical Unit will be speaking about the functions of this highly-trained unit and its capabilities at the next CCW meeting.

The unit handles incidents such as high-risk takedowns, hostage situations, sniper tactics, dealing with explosives, executing warrants, and accessing barricaded persons. Its members are often frontline at embassies, consulates and the airport.

Our next speaker will be from the Ottawa Police Services Tactical Unit. Further details to follow.

When and where

When: Wedesnday, April 13, 2016 at 7 p.m.
Where: Ottawa City Hall (Honeywell Room, second floor)

The rules of writing: Ignore at your peril

Melanie Fogel will speak on the rules of writing, their purpose, pitfalls and the  perils of ignoring them at the next CCW meeting on March 9, 2016 at 7 p.m.

Melanie Fogel is the editor of Triptych Tales, and the former editor of  Storyteller, Canada’s Short Story Magazine.

She has given lectures and workshops at the Bloody Words and Surrey Writers conferences, taught creative writing for the Ottawa-Carleton School Board’s Continuing Education program, and served as a judge for the Audrey and Arthur Ellis prizes.

An Arthur Ellis-nominated writer, her work has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies. She is also the author of The Storyteller Fiction Writer’s Workbook

When and where

When: March 9, 2016 at 7 p.m.
Where: Ottawa City Hall (Honeywell Room, second floor)

Get the insider scoop on news reporting in 2016

Ian MacLeod
Ian MacLeod

The Feb. 10 meeting topic and speaker are mysteries no more.

Ian MacLeod, long-time and much-awarded Ottawa Citizen reporter and editor, will be discussing what it takes to uncover and write the news in the age of Twitter and a dying newspaper industry.

MacLeod began at the Ottawa Citizen in 1978 as copy boy. He soon moved to the police desk and later spent more than a decade as the paper’s senior crime reporter stationed at Ottawa police headquarters.

He subsequently served as the paper’s assignment editor and deputy city editor, elections editor, feature writer, senior investigative reporter, national security correspondent and nuclear and aviation affairs writer. He now works at the Postmedia Parliamentary Bureau covering national security and justice issues, the Supreme Court of Canada and the NDP.
Over his 38-year career, MacLeod has covered many major national and international news events. He was one of the few mainstream journalists to report on the 1990 Oka Crisis from behind Mohawk Warrior lines. Months later from aboard the Canadian Navy battleship “HMCS Athabaska” and other locales in the Middle East, he covered the build-up to the 1991 Persian Gulf War. In 1998, he filed the initial breaking coverage from the scene of the downing of Swiss Air Flight 111 off the Nova Scotia coast.

On Sept. 11, 2001, he was one of the first Canadian journalists to reach ground-zero in Lower Manhattan.

From Washington, he provided extensive coverage of the 2002 drive-by snipers terrorizing the capital and, in 2003, on the opening strikes of the Iraq War, with coverage from the White House, Pentagon and State Department.

His investigative reporting led him to the 2005 discovery and repatriation from Belgium of Canada’s long-lost, first official Maple Leaf flag, now enshrined at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

The same year, he covered the transit suicide bombings in London and, later, the high-profile Old Bailey trial of seven jihadi terrorists who plotted to bomb the British capital. He was the leading reporter on the landmark Ottawa case and trial of Momin Khawaja, Canada’s first post-9/11 terrorism conviction.

MacLeod, 55, has won numerous journalism awards, including as the three-time winner of Canada’s top journalism prize for science writing for his stories on genomics, artificial intelligence and neurology. He has been nominated for three National Newspaper Awards, Canada’s highest journalism honour, and for investigative reporting by the Canadian Association of Journalists. Most recently, the association named MacLeod as a 2012 finalist for a national investigative reporting award for his revelations about the enormous stockpiles of radioactive waste hidden around Canada.

He lives in Ottawa with his journalist wife, their two children and the family dog and cat.

Awards and honors

  • Association of Journalists, national investigative reporting finalist, 2004, for “The Quiet Epidemic.”
  • National Newspaper Award finalist, 2002, for an in-depth narrative detailing how Canada’s air-traffic controllers cleared the skies of hundreds of U.S-bound jets on Sept. 11, 2001.
  • Heath Care Public Relations Society of Canada, Hollobon Award for outstanding medical reporting, 2002, for “Bracing for Germ Warfare,” a feature-length look at Canada’s preparations for a global influenza pandemic.
  • Council for Advancement and Support of Education, health and science media fellowship, 2002, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario.
  • Canadian Science Writers’ Association, Society in Science Award, 2001, “Searching for HAL,” about the evolution of artificial intelligence.
  • Canadian Science Writers’ Association, Technology and Innovation Award, 2000, for “Genesis Inc.” about the commercialization of the human genome.
  • Canadian Association of Journalists, national investigative reporting award finalist, 2000, “Genesis Inc.”
  • Health Care Public Relations Society of Canada, Hollobon Award for outstanding medical reporting, 2000, “Genesis Inc.”
  • Ottawa Life Sciences Council, reporting award, 1999, “Genesis Inc.”
  • Gloucester Police Service civilian citation, 1993, for investigative reporting that led to a re-opening and conviction in the unsolved 1981 Janice Schaefler murder case.
  • Southam President’s Prize, 1992, for outstanding coverage of the 1990 Oka Crisis.
    Crime Stoppers (North America) top crime-writing awards, 1987, 1986.

Recap:

  • Speaker: Ian MacLeod
  • Topic: News reporting in 2016: What it takes to uncover and write the news in the age of Twitter and a dying newspaper industry
  • Wednesday, Feb 10, 2016
  • 7 p.m.
  • Honeywell Room (second floor) at Ottawa City Hall
  • 110 Laurier Avenue West

Mystery speaker for Feb. 10 meeting

There is no January 2016 meeting of CCW.  The next meeting is on Wednesday. February 10, 2016 at 7 p.m.  Arrangements for the speaker are being finalized. Stay tuned for updates.

When and where

  • Wednesday, Feb 10, 2016
  • 7 p.m.
  • Honeywell Room (second floor) at Ottawa City Hall
  • 110 Laurier Avenue West

Crime beat: CCW meeting and festive dinner details

Homegrown terrorism

The focus of this November’s Capital Crime Writers meeting is homegrown terrorism. Homegrown terrorism has been an issue for years.  It includes criminal actions by white supremacists, radical Islamists, skinheads and perpetrators of hate crimes.  The speaker has studied the issues and possesses a broad knowledge of the topic.

When and where

When: Wednesday, November 11, 2015, 7 p.m.
Where: Ottawa City Hall, Honeywell Room (2nd floor)

Festive dinner

The CCW festive get together features Barbara Fradkin, CCW member and author of the Inspector Green mysteries. Books will be available for sale.

Seating is limited (about 35). To reserve your seats, email pastpresident@capitalcrimewriters.com. Include your name, the number of guests in your party and a phone number

When: Wednesday, December 9, 2015, 6 p.m.
Where: Capones Italian Grill, 2369 Carling Avenue, Ottawa

Meeting: Author of Inspector Ramirez series kicks off CCW season

Ottawa author Peggy Blair
Ottawa author Peggy Blair

Peggy Blair, author of the Inspector Ramirez series, kicks off the 2015/16 season of the Capital Crime Writers on Wednesday Sept. 9, 2015.

The worlds of Havana and a northern First Nation reserve converge in Peggy’s third book in the series, Hungry Ghosts. Inspector Ramirez and First Nations Detective Charlie Pike join forces to stop an international serial killer.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Honeywell Room (second floor) at Ottawa City Hall at 110 Laurier Avenue West.

The dues for 2015-2016 are $40.00.  Elizabeth (our Treasurer) will be accepting cash or cheques at the meeting and will issue receipts.

CCW April 2015 Meeting: Elections & PIZZA!

Got a taste for blood (and pizza)? Feeling bloody-minded? Then why not join us!

Our next meeting is on Wednesday April 8, 2015 in the Honeywell Room at Ottawa City Hall.  It begins at 6:45.  Pizza will be served.  The 2015-2016 election for the CCW Executive will then take place.  PLEASE COME TO THIS MEETING IF YOU ARE FREE.  If you are interested in putting your name forward for any of the executive positions, please email Michael Murphy president@capitalcrimewriters.com.   The CCW executive needs new blood.  We welcome fresh blood to the executive.

Our yearly book exchange also takes place.  Bring a couple of mysteries you have read to the meeting, leave them on the table and go home with something new to read.

Time permitting, we will have a round the table discussion of what we are currently reading.  Go home with suggestions from CCW members of what to read next, from Ottawa’s most discerning mystery readers

IF YOU ARE COMING TO THIS MEETING, PLEASE REPLY TO Michael Murphy
president@capitalcrimewriters.com  so he knows how much pizza to bring.

FINAL REMINDER: Entries for the “Audrey” short story contest close on April 1st. No fooling.