Annual Christmas dinner – Dec. 11

Toronto author Howard Shrier
Toronto author Howard Shrier

Put Dec. 11 on your calendar! The CCW annual Christmas Dinner features special guest Howard Shrier.

Where: Grillman Fresh Eatery, 111 Colonnade Rd.

When:  Wednesday, December 11, 2013th

Time:   Mingling begins at 5:30 p.m.

This year’s December guest speaker – Howard Shrier is a two-time Arthur Ellis Award winner. The first Ellis was for Best First Novel for Buffalo Jump, which introduced Toronto investigator Jonah Geller, and the second for his sequel High Chicago. Last May saw the release of his fourth novel in the Geller series, Miss Montreal. The Geller books have been optioned for television.

Books will be available for purchase.

Nov. 13 – Editors: Your gateway to publication

Editors are the unsung heroes of the publishing world, often making the difference between a manuscript that gets tossed or one that wins an award. Editors are also the gatekeepers of the publishing world, the first ones who read a manuscript and determine whether it deserves being passed up the chain.

dead_fred_cropped

Allister Thompson has more than 15 years of experience as an editor for publishing houses, having guided some of the country’s top award-winning crime writers. He is now a freelance editor and consultant. Allister knows what it takes to move your manuscript from the slush pile to the bookstore.

CB Forrest is the author of the critically-acclaimed Charlie McKelvey mystery series, a discovery of Allister’s back in 2008. Forrest will moderate an engaging session as Allister shares with the Capital Crime Writers his years of experience, tips to help make your manuscript stand out, mistakes to avoid, and his views on the future of publishing.

The moderated session will provide ample opportunity for questions and feedback, but individual appointments can be booked with Allister prior to the event. He can be contacted via his website at www.allisterthompson.com.

Also, here’s an interesting Q & A with Allister from July: Five Questions and Answers with editor Allister Thompson

Next meeting: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013

Time and place: 7 p.m., Honeywell Room, City Hall

Oct. 9 meeting – The cyber arm of the law

cyber_crime

Greg Bembridge will discuss basic techniques of computer forensics and the reasons for using them, and tell stories on how they have led to convictions. He is a certified computer examiner, a civilian member of the RCMP and a senior computer forensic instructor at the Canadian Police College.

Greg is a graduate of the Technical University of Nova Scotia and has been declared an expert witness in the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia court systems.

Currently, as a member of the Technological Crime Learning Institute team, he develops and teaches computer forensic examination techniques to Canadian and international law enforcement agencies. Prior to this, Greg was a forensic analyst with the RCMP’s Technological Crime Unit in Halifax where he was involved in the seizure and examination of electronic storage devices. He has conducted a number of lectures on computer forensic techniques.

Next meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013

Time and place: 7 p.m., Honeywell Room, City Hall

Sept. 17 – Senator Vern White explores past policing experiences

Vern_WhiteSenator Vern White will be our speaker Tuesday, September 17. Most of us are familiar with his role as Chief of the Ottawa Police Service from 2005 to 2012. He also worked with the RCMP as Assistant Commissioner, and served in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and three northern territories, as well as Ontario.

He will be speaking about his experience in those provinces and territories.

The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Honeywell Room, second floor, at Ottawa City Hall.

June 12th, year end meeting

SHORT STORY CONTEST  ANNOUNCEMENT

The winners of the CCW short story contest will be announced on Wednesday June 12 at the Clock Tower brew pub, located at 418 Richmond road (in Westboro).    The event begins at 6:00 for people wishing to order dinner.  The contest winners will read their submissions.  Other members are invited to read from their work.

In keeping with past practice, book donations for the library at the Ottawa Boys and Girls  club will be accepted.  The library serves youth from
6-17.

May 8th meeting

Join us May 8th for a fascinating look at the use of number-crunching in sleuthing.

In “Crime Intelligence Analysis Unit; Discovering and exploring the details”, Kevin Mason, head of the Unit, will give us a behind-the-scenes look at what his team does, how data can be used to catch criminals, the analyst’s mindset and how his work ties in to the broader picture of law-enforcement.

The Crime Intelligence Analysis Unit of the Ottawa Police Service provides tactical and strategic support to operational, investigative and Executive teams ranging from tracking crime patterns and trends to geographic profiling of incidents and the identification of repeat offenders. The unit also monitors performance and changes in the areas of crime reporting, solvency, arrests and victimization.

*copies of the presentation unfortunately cannot be provided.

 

Before the meeting, CCW will be holding its annual pizza bash and elections.

The meeting starts at 6:30 pm.  Please note we will be at Ottawa City Hall,

Colonel By Room.

 

KEVIN MASON

Manager – Crime Intelligence Analysis Unit

Office of the Chief Directorate, Ottawa Police Services

Kevin is in his 23rd year as a member of the Ottawa Police Service and is the Vice President of the National Capital Region Chapter of the International Association of Law Enforcement Analysts as well as being certified as a Geographic Profiling Analyst. He sits on the Chief’s Advisory Committee and has been active within academic advisory boards related to programs in Public Safety and Behavioural Sciences.

Prior to embracing the profession of finding and tracking bad guys/girls, Kevin spent over a decade in the area of managing prisoner movement and incarceration within the court system and Correction Canada.

 

Audrey Jessup Short List

On Thursday, April 18, CCW announced the five shortlisted stories.
In alphabetical order (so no indication of final position), with an initial “A”, “An” or “The” not counting, these are the five stories on the shortlist.
·        Amends   by   Jeff Ross
·        Bus 66 to Nowhere   by   Jennifer Jorgensen
·        An Improbable Meeting   by   Cynthia Syme
·        The Outsider   by   Wynn Quon
·        Trifecta   by   R.L. Brennan
Congratulations to those shortlisted.
The final rankings and the prizes will be presented on June 12 at the Clocktower Brew Pub (and restaurant) on Richmond Road (in the Westboro district of Ottawa). The evening will commence at 6:00 for those wishing to buy dinner. The awards ceremony will follow. Each person on our shortlist is given an opportunity to read part of his or her submission. Later, generally everyone who wishes to do so is given the chance to read from their own work.
Best of luck to those shortlisted.

Murder Mystery Dinner

“MURDER ON THE CANADIAN PRINCESS”

A Murder Mystery Dinner Play

by

Maggie Taylor

Playwright/Director

 

Three Preformances $25.00 per person 

The Play and Meal start at 6:00 p.m.

 

Saturday, April 27, 2013

St Andrew’s United Church

2585 County Rd 29 [Main Street]
Pakenham, ON

For Tickets Call

613-624-5400

FRIDAY, May 3rd and SATURDAY, May 4th, 2013

 Britannia United Church

985 Pinecrest Road

For Tickets Contact

Church Office 613-828-6018                    Verne or Marilyn Bruce 613-828-0704

Email: brituc.office@magma.ca             Email: verne.bruce@sympatico.ca

For More Information Visit our website

www.britanniaunitedchurch.ca

 

Writing Workshops at OPL – Publishing, fiction writing

The Ottawa Public Library is holding a series of writing workshops in April, May and June.  Workshops include sessions led by Denise Chong and Alan Cumyn.  Mystery author Vicki Delaney is also holding a seminar on mystery fiction writing.  All sessions are free (although some are meant for ages 50+) For a complete list of workshops:

http://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/program?branch=255&type=All&audience=All&keyword=writer

One seminar in particular is being held in partnership with Ottawa Romance Writers, here are the details.

Publishing your Book

While several traditional publishers and bookstores have closed their doors, you have new opportunities to publish your book in print and digital formats. Successful traditionally- and self-published authors will describe the pros and cons of getting your book published by a traditional publisher versus using self-publishing platforms offered by Amazon Kindle Direct, Kobo, Smashwords, and now big New York-based publishers. As well, new players such as Amazon Publishing and agents offering publishing services will be discussed.
 
The Ottawa Romance Writers Association is partnering with the Ottawa Public Library to present this workshop twice as part of the OPL May 2013 Author Month schedule. The panelists are multi-published romance authors; however, the workshop content is targeted to all writers of book-length fiction and non-fiction. Note that the author line-ups on the two panels differ but the workshop content is the same.   Register via the Ottawa Public Library website http://biblioottawalibrary.ca  for one of the following:
 
 – Monday, May 13, 6:30- 8:30 p.m. at the OPL Greenboro Branch, with authors Sharon Page, Teresa Morgan and Brenda Gayle.
 
-Saturday, May 18, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at the OPL Main Branch, with authors Opal Carew, Maureen Fisher, Teresa Morgan and Coreene Callahan

If you do not have a library card, please register via an email to Madeline McBride at madelinem AT rogers DOT com, and indicate which date you plan to attend.