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How to update my registration info

As we continue to add terrific ticketed events to Bouchercon’s offerings, registrants want to get back into their registration to buy these sought-after goodies…

Or perhaps you want to update your bio, website info, add publishing info, change your badge name, register an additional person under your email address… 

We’ve got you covered!

We’ve posted an easy step-by-step guide walking you through how to make changes to your registration. There is also a downloadable PDF version, with screenshots!

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us!!

#7monthstogo!! 

Anthology Authors Announced!

To all who braved the blank page, climbed over your writer’s block, and submitted a story our upcoming anthology…

Thank You!

Due to the high quality of submissions, the judges had a tough time whittling down the selections. But now that all the acceptance and rejection letters have been sent out we can publicly announce the list of authors who will be represented in the anthology, Passport to Murder.

The anthology will be published on October 12, 2017.  The anthology will be available for pre-order in the summer of  2017. Details will be posted on Twitter/Facebook/this page with details as they become available.

 

The Passport – April 2017

The most recent issue, The Passport – April 2017 [PDF], is here and has been emailed out in PDF form.

We have news about signing up for panels, program book bio/headshot requirements (no, your web image isn’t good enough for print!), a new CWC website feature, tours, and how to get your website linked from ours… and more.

We are only six months away from the grand, fun event that is Bouchercon! As we get closer and closer we’ll be publishing updates more frequently on what we’re doing and expect to be doing as we strive to make the Toronto destination of the best World Mystery Convention a exciting time to remember!

Want to be alerted ASAP as to what’s new?

Our updates will take many forms: through our Twitter feed (@Bouchercon, @Bouchercon2017), our main Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/bouchercon/), our Facebook Event page for this year’s event, and these brief newsletters distributed by email to registrants and those who specifically expressed interest in receiving email updates.

If you want to be on the email list, submit your address on the right-side of this web page!

We have also preserved here on our blog the six earlier editions, so you can check out any you’ve missed.

 

Cathy Ace answers: “What Bouchercon has meant to me….”

To answer part of this question I need to ask another first….”Why am I a writer?” The answer to that is “Because I’ve been an avid reader of crime fiction my whole life.” As a reader, my relationship was always with the book, its characters and the world within it – not with the author; I’m not a truly fanatical “fan girl” type, I suppose. But that didn’t stop me becoming an admirer of certain authors whose work always delighted and transported me.

Bouchercon is a fan convention, and a wonderful convention to attend even if you don’t think of yourself as a “fan” but as an “admirer”. I’m delighted to meet the people who’ve created the worlds I enjoy visiting, and characters I have come to know. I attend panels where I can hear them speak about their work, spend time with them at the bar of coffee shop, and, in some happy cases, I have become truly friendly with them and have taken the chance to learn from what they can tell me about writing, and the publishing world.

Cathy Ace and Lee Child

Cathy Ace and Lee Child

There’s also another fascinating aspect to Bouchercon – I’ve met authors whose works I had never read before meeting them, have really liked the person so have read their works… and have found entire new worlds to explore, new characters to follow, and new go-to authors.

And when you’re an author yourself, Bouchercon is a wonderland of fellow authors, readers and potential readers of your work, and gives you the chance to mingle with bloggers, reviewers, publishers and agents; never underestimate the power of meeting those who can help your career face to face.

Sue Grafton and Cathy Ace

Sue Grafton and Cathy Ace

So, whether you’re an author, an unpublished writer or “merely” (and there’s no “merely” about it!) a reader, Bouchercon gives you the chance to meet people whose work you admire, from whom you can learn a great deal, or those who might be able to help you steer your career path. When Bouchercon is in Toronto in October 2017 there’ll be a great chance to meet lots of your fellow members of Crime Writers of Canada too – I hope you come and join the party J

Cathy Ace is the author of the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries and the Cait Morgan Mysteries, the fourth of which won the Bony Blithe Award for Best Canadian Light Mystery in 2015. Cathy is current Board Chair of Crime Writers of Canada.

This article first appeared in Crime Time, the members-only newsletter for Crime Writers of Canada, in February 2017, and is reproduced here with the permission of the author and Crime Writers of Canada.

Order of Canada presented to CWC member Louise Penny

The Order of Canada is, to say the least, a prestigious award. It is one of our country’s highest civilian honours. It was established in 1967, Canada’s centennial year, to recognize outstanding achievement, dedication to the community, and service to the nation.

Louise Penny with Order of Canada

Left to right: Rob, Audi, Louise, Shelagh and Lise

On November 21, 2013 the Order of Canada was awarded to a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Louise Penny, who attended her formal Investiture on February 17, 2017. The original citation reads as follows:

“For her contributions to Canadian culture as an author shining a spotlight on the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Louise Penny has captured the imaginations of readers in Canada and around the world. Following an 18-year career as a journalist and host with the CBC, she turned to her passion of writing. Her bestselling mysteries, set in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, have garnered international acclaim and have given readers a sense of this region’s unique culture. A generous mentor, she fosters the development of her fellow writers and established the Unhanged Arthur for Best Unpublished First Novel, an award for aspiring authors.”

We asked Louise to share her impressions of this momentous occasion with us, and are delighted she has done so. Louise writes:

I was amazed. It was amazing.

It had actually been given to me a few years ago, but I didn’t feel I could go to the investiture while Michael was alive. I could not leave him behind.

He, along with my friend Shelagh Rogers, worked secretly on the application, and fortunately, when the Governor General’s office called with the news, Michael was still able to understand, and to celebrate. But, by the time I was invited to the investiture, he’d drifted too far away.

So I waited until he’d gone. And then he could go. And he did. In a fun little enameled box. He was with me the whole time.

Shelagh came from Gabriola Island in BC, to be my “date”. My brother Rob and his wife Audi came from Edmonton. My Assistant Lise and her husband Del were there too.

Now, since Shelagh was my main guest, we were told to show up at Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s residence, early. But – once there – we were told that I’d have to go in without her.

Huh?

She was my security blanket. A great friend, who herself is an Officer of the Order of Canada (one up from my status) and she knows everyone. I was planning to lean on, if not cling to, her.

Then I find myself alone. Well, with the other 40 people getting the Order of Canada…but without the walking Atavan that is a friend.

We were shepherded into this splendid room at Rideau Hall, and an aide-de-camp walked us through what would happen.

We’d process in, behind the Governor General and his wife. Our seats were well marked. When our turn came, our name would be announced. We were told to get up and walk down the long aisle to where His Excellency was sitting at the front.

We were told to stop. Nod to him. Then step to his right, turn. Face the audience. The citation would be read out and at the end, they would repeat my name, so I’d know that part was over. Then I needed to step back in front of the GG, he’d get up, pin the Order of Canada on me, then we’d both turn, face the camera, then I’d walk back across the stage to sign the book.

Everyone clear? The aide-de-camp asked.

We nodded.

The truth was, he’d lost me at, ‘Everyone listening?…’

It was incredibly moving, listening to the citations. The motto for the Order of Canada is, ‘They Desire a Better Country’, and that is certainly true of everyone there. Their accomplishments, their passion, their selflessness was breath-taking and inspiring.

Then it was my turn. My hands were freezing, my knees shaking, my mind a blank.

I got up and started down the long, long, longer still aisle. And at the end the GG sat. Smiling. Encouraging. I focussed completely on him. And tried to remember, please God remember, what to do.

So far, none of the other celebrants had peed or passed out, and I did not want to be the first.

I made it through. To be honest, I tried not to think of Michael, because I didn’t want to be standing there in front of hundreds of people, crying. Though I did cry that morning when Shelagh came by my hotel room with a book she and her husband had made. Of the emails that passed between Michael and her. She called him 007, and he called her Mata Hari.

Afterward, I hugged my purse, with him in it, to me. And took him, of course, to the gala that night. Cocktail dress in place of the long gown.

What a time.

 

This article first appeared in the March edition of Crime Time, the newsletter for members of Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) and is reproduced here with the permission of both the author and CWC.

 

Pop Sherlock! Exhibit at TPL

The Toronto Reference Library (TRL) has one of the world’s foremost collections of library materials devoted to the life and work of Arthur Conan Doyle. In addition to the ticketed tour events through Bouchercon on October 11th, there will be a broader exhibit running from August 19-October 21.

Pop Sherlock! follows Sherlock Holmes as he ventures out of the classic fiction realm of this creator Arthur Conan Doyle and into the extraordinary places that his admirers have taken him. This icon of popular culture moves freely between the worlds of stage, screen, the comic arts, and much more.

This exhibit features items from the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, including books, manuscripts, music, graphic arts, TV, movie, and theatre memorabilia, advertising ephemera, and games.

Louise Penny: Winner of LCC Best Mystery Novel

We are thrilled to hear that our very own Louise Penny is the winner of the Left Coast Crime’s Lefty for Best Mystery Novel, for her book A Great Reckoning.

Left Coast Crime is an annual mystery convention sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. LCC is held during the first quarter of the year in Western North America.

cover of A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny

Anthony Ballot missing…?

If you have not received an Anthony Award nomination form via email, please have a read of this, from our Anthony Awards Chair:

More than 100 people who should have received nomination forms did not because they’ve opted out of Survey Monkey surveys. All of them. This effectively makes it impossible to send a ballot to that email address.

If you are in this group, you need to go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/optin.aspx and opt back in.

If you still don’t receive it within a few days, please message us with your email address.

Anthony Award Ballots emailed

**Important Information re Anthony Award Ballots!**

If you were registered for Bouchercon in New Orleans and/or are signed up for Toronto this year, your Anthony Award nomination ballot will be arriving in your email box on Tuesday, February 28.

The nomination form will be coming from SurveyMonkey. If you don’t see it in your inbox, please check your spam/junk folder. If it’s not there by Wednesday, March 1, please message us.

Anthony Award nomination forms are due back by April 30. As soon as all nominations are tabulated, the 2017 Anthony Award Nominees will be announced.

The Passport – February 2017

The most recent issue, The Passport – February 2017 [PDF], is here and has been emailed out in PDF form.

We have news about hotel availability, alternative hotels, roommate info, signing up for panels, tours, travel plans to Canada… and more.

We are only seven months away from the grand, fun event that is Bouchercon! As we get closer and closer we’ll be publishing updates more frequently on what we’re doing and expect to be doing as we strive to make the Toronto destination of the best World Mystery Convention a exciting time to remember!

Want to be alerted ASAP as to what’s new?

Our updates will take many forms: through our Twitter feed (@Bouchercon, @Bouchercon2017), our main Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/bouchercon/), our Facebook Event page for this year’s event, and these brief newsletters distributed by email to registrants and those who specifically expressed interest in receiving email updates.

If you want to be on the email list, submit your address on the right-side of this web page!

We have also preserved here on our blog the five earlier editions, so you can check out any you’ve missed.

Alternate Hotels

The rumours are true! There has been such a great response to Bouchercon 2017 that we will shortly run out of hotel rooms in the convention hotel.

However, until September 12th cancellations will revert to us! So, do check availability. Plus, there are still club rooms at $269 a night.

We don’t have specific alternate hotels. But don’t worry. The convention hotel is in the heart of downtown Toronto and there are dozens of hotels within easy (and flat!) walking distance [PDF]. For some, you don’t even have to walk outside!

We’ve made a list of about 40 hotels (and you can be sure we’ll have missed some) within a 20 minute walk. We excluded one star hotels, B&Bs and hostels. And if the walk was more than 20 minutes by even one minute we didn’t include it in our list. We did include a wide range of hotels, from two star to five star, and the hotels have a range of prices, too. The list is sorted by how close the hotels are to the convention hotel. At least four of the first six on the list are within eyesight of the convention hotel.

You can download our list of alternate hotels here [PDF].

Each listed hotel has the hotel name, the number of stars, the time to walk to the convention hotel, the address, nearest major intersection and web address.

But if you have any questions, or need help finding a roommate, drop our housing coordinator a line.
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