Uganda

I've just finished a wonderful vacation in Uganda. I just loved the country and the people. So many wonderful places.  This picture was taken at Chobe Safari Lodge in Murcheson Falls NP. Perhaps the most spectacular setting of any hotel I have stayed at.

Books, books, books

I love books.  I love paper books, I love shopping at bookstores.

But sometimes you just can't beat an e-reader.

I am soon going to Africa for five weeks.  The places I will going be don't have bookstores or libraries.  In the old days I would have had to take an extra suitcase for all the books. For a long flight I'd need three books just in my carry on luggage. Two to read, and one extra in case one of them wasn't any good.

Now,I can just load up my e-reader.

Because I worked all those years in the computer business I know all about backups and rates of failure.  Thus I own a Kindle AND a Kobo. And a new iPad.

I'm prepared for any eventuality.

In case you're interested here's the list of book I've bought to get me started.  Note that I haven't read any of them yet, so I'm not making any recommendations, just a list of what looked interesting, and varied.

The Christie Curse by Victoria Abbott
A Little History of Philosophy  - Nigel Warburton
The Impostor Bride - Nancy Richler
Human Croquet - Kate Atkinson
The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman
Dead Water - Ann Cleves
Wolfe Hall - Hilary Mantel
Half Blood Blues - Esi Edugyan
Seven Days - Deon Meyer
The Broken Shore - Peter Temple
An Inquiry into Love and Death - Simone St. James

Hum. 11 books.  34 days.  4, 8-hour plus flights.

A New Book for Rapid Reads

I was delighted to be offered a contract for a second Rapid Reads book from Orca Press.  The first one is titled A Winter Kill and is about a new police officer with the O.P.P. in Prince Edward County.

When rookie police constable Nicole Patterson discovers a body on the edge of town, she's drawn into a murder investigation that's well beyond her experience and expertise.

The Rapid Reads books are very special. They're meant for adults with low literacy skills, ESL students, or those with not a lot of time to read who are looking for a quick yet fast-paced, suspenseful book.

I myself love to have these books to take with me on the plane.  You know that horrible time when you have to turn off all your electronic devices and end up searching the well-thumbed in-flight magazine for something anything! to read until you can get back to your book?

The Rapid Reads books are perfect for that. They're very small so they tuck neatly into your carry-on bag and then into the compartment in the seat in front of you.  One book should see you through take off and landing.

My new book will be different than anything I've done before. It's called JUBA GOOD. For the first time I have a male first person POV protagonist.  Ray Robertson is an RCMP officer serving with the UN in South Sudan.

As it just so happens I'm going back to South Sudan soon, so I'll be able to refresh all the details.

Can't wait.

In the meantime, if you're looking for an exciting short read, check out the full list of Rapid Reads books, by some of your favourite crime writers. www.rapidreads.ca

If you're an educator or otherwise interested in expanding your understanding of the books, Orca has provided a reading guide.  Beware - the guides are intended for people who've finished the books, so the full plot is discussed.

Something to look forward to: Blood, Ash, and Bone

This looks like a good one! 

Blood, Ash, and Bone, the third in the Tai Randolph/Trey Seaver series. Available this March from Poisoned Pen Press.

"Whittle’s snappy prose and nonstop action revolving around these fascinatingly flawed characters combine to make this series a must." Booklist STARRED Review

“Tina Whittle’s novels are a mix of Pat Conroy writing and Dashiell Hammett storytelling, and with Blood, Ash and Bone, Whittle has established herself as one of the top mystery writers working today.”

— Robert Dugoni, NYT-Bestselling author of The Conviction

For more about the author:  http://www.tinawhittle.com

Available from your favourite independent bookstore as well as: 

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Ash-Bone-Randolph-Series/dp/1464200955/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

What I've been up to

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated this blog.  I guess life just got ahead of me.  I've been busy writing the next Smith and Winters book, signing a contract with Rapid Reads for JUBA GOOD, about an RCMP officer with the UN in South Sudan, preparing my creative writing courses and reading my students writing samples.

Plus, of course, there was Christmas. As a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some pictures of how I spent my vacation.

In Tremblant Village

On the slopes (not me!)

With my mom about to go for a wagon ride.

Chalet at Cap Tremblant

What I arrived home to.

Audio book sample

Did you know that all of my Poisoned Pen Press books are available in audio formats?  Read by the wonderful Carrington MacDuffe, they're great for people who travel long distances by car, are sight-impaired, or just like listening to a good book.  Last time I drove across Canada (Picton, Ontario to Victoria B.C. and back) I took two audio books out of the library to keep me entertained on the long boring parts.

They can be expensive, quite a bit more than a paper or e-book, so are ideal for libraries. If you're public library doesn't have copies, why not ask them.

In the meantime, the first chapter of MORE THAN SORROW has been released on YouTube so you can see if you think you'll enjoy it.  Here's it is for your listening pleasure:

Wrap it ! Read it ! Love it !

I’m taking part in this blog hop at the suggestion of Tina Whittle, author of Darker Than Any Shadow and The Dangerous Edge of Things, both from Poisoned Pen Press. (Find Tina at: http://tinawhittle.blogspot.com).

So, if you’ve come to this page because you are looking for gift suggestions, you are definitely in the write (sic) place.

I am perhaps Canada’s most varied crime writer.  I write three completely different type of crime novels, so I should have something for all tastes.

The Klondike Gold Rush Series published by Dundurn Press.  These are meant to be light and funny.  Set in 1898, they’re a mad-cap romp thought the muddy streets of Dawson City during the great Klondike Gold Rush.  There are three books in the series: Gold Digger, Gold Rush, Gold Mountain.

It’s the spring of 1898 in Dawson, Yukon Territory. The Klondike Gold Rush is in full swing and Fiona MacGillivray has crawled over the Chilkoot Pass determined to make her fortune as the owner of the Savoy dance hall. Provided, that is, if her 12-year-old son; the former Glasgow street fighter who's now her business partner; a stern, handsome NWMP constable; a love-struck, ex-boxing champion; a wild assortment of dancers, croupiers, gamblers, madams without hearts of gold, hangers-on, cheechakos and sourdoughs; and Fiona's nimble-fingered past don’t get to her first. And then there’s a dead body on centre stage.

The Constable Molly Smith series published by Poisoned Pen Press.  Police procedural novels set in British Columbia.  There are five books so far, In the Shadow of the Glacier, Valley of the Lost, Winter of Secrets, Negative Image, and In the Shadow of the Glacier.  The series has been optioned for TV by Brightlight Pictures!

Set in the small mountain town of Trafalgar, British Columbia, Vicki’s critically acclaimed series follows young Constable Molly Smith, Detective Sergeant John Winters and their families, friends, co-workers in a traditional police procedural series with a very modern twist.

Standalone novels of suspense. If you like your reading with more of a psychological edge and perhaps a hint of the paranormal, then try one of my standalones from Poisoned Pen Press: Scare the Light Away, Burden of Memory or More than Sorrow, my most recent book.  Here’s More than Sorrow:

Once, Hannah Manning was an internationally-renowned journalist and war correspondent. Today, she's a woman suffering from a traumatic brain injury. Unable to read, unable to concentrate, full of pain, lost and confused, haunted by her memories, Hannah goes to her sister's small-scale vegetable farm in Prince Edward County, Ontario to recover. As summer settles on the farm, she finds comfort in the soft rolling hills and neat fields as well as friendship in the company of Hila Popalzai, an Afghan woman also traumatized by war.

Hannah experiences visions of a woman, emerging from the icy cold mist. Is the woman real, a remnant of the Loyalist refugees who settled this land? Or the product of a severely damaged brain?

Which would be worse?

Then Hila disappears. When Hannah cannot account for her time, not even to herself, old enemies begin to circle. In this modern Gothic novel of heart-wrenching suspense, past and present merge into a terrifying threat to the only thing Hannah still holds dear - her ten-year-old niece, Lily.

The books are all available at most chain and online bookstores as well as your favourite independent (if not in stock, ask them!). Here’s a quick link if you want more details: http://www.amazon.com/Vicki-Delany/e/B001JP2AAI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Or check out my web page at www.vickidelany.com

Happy reading!