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Dana Bowman from Beyond Blood takes over

18 Dec
Sharon reads from her Beyond book series

Sharon reads from her Beyond book series

Listen to Sharon talk about writing Beyond Blood including characters and plot at

Sharon A. Crawford

Dana: Okay, Ms Creator, I have a big question for you…

Sharon: Hey, wait a minute, you are supposed to be talking about yourself. So, I’m going to ask you to do the same as I asked your brother – talk about your feelings about what happens in Beyond Blood, particularly your son’s kidnapping and well, just being Dana.
Dana: Oh all right. But I’m watching carefully what you are writing in our next mystery novel.
Being Dana, as you put it, is fun and exasperating. I’m not sure how much of me is you. We both feel things very deeply, especially where our sons are concerned. I know your son is in his mid-thirties but he was once six like David. Losing David from kidnapping broke my heart but there was no way I was going to do nothing. So I had to get out there and look. It meant talking to my ex-husband Ron even though I never wanted to see him again. But circumstances, thanks to Ron’s actions and Fielding’s follow-up (see, I’m not giving it away) put me in a position where I had no choice.
And before you ask about Fielding. Yes, we were attracted but after Ron I did not want to get involved with another man. Ron hurt me too much. Fielding can be a pain. He is protective but he pulls that “police business” card and that just makes me want to investigate more. I think he thought he was God and he was the only one who could find David and find Debbie’s killer. No spoilers here – like Bast said this info is on the back cover of Beyond Blood.
Having close friends, like Debbie, get killed is a terrible blow and handling it badly with her mother and my best friend Madge, I don’t think I can ever forgive myself for that. But some of that blame has to go to Great Aunt Doris.
That woman – Doris is really Ron’s aunt but I hate her habit of just dropping in on us when she feels like it. She stays and stays and interferes with everything. At least she helps Madge. But Doris thinks I’m a bad mother and in Beyond Blood I wonder if she isn’t right. What good mother would “let” her son be kidnapped almost from right under her nose. I should have stopped it. Maybe if I had let him stay for our Attic Investigative Agency open house as he wanted to, he would never have been kidnapped.
And I know what you are thinking here, Sharon A. Then there would be no story, or not as much of a story. And it might not tear at readers’ hearts. Mothers and their children – kids or adults – feature a lot in Beyond Blood.
I guess I am glad you created me –for whatever reasons – and let me have my say and way. If you want to hear Sharon talk about us and Beyond Blood, listen to her in this radio interview at http://bluedenimpress.com/authors/sharon-a-crawford/

Dana, Bast and Sharon A. Crawford: Merry Christmas to all.
See Sharon’s website http://www.samcraw.com for more info on Beyond Blood and other writing, editing and workshops. And visit Sharon at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharon-A-Crawford/412730865439394
For last-minute Christmas shoppers: see below and click on book covers for online purchase of Beyond Blood e-copies from the publisher Blue Denim Pess (e-pub and Kindle). For print copies go to http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/contributor/author/sharon-a-crawford/?langtype=4105 Or go to any bricks and mortar bookstore and ask to have the book ordered in.

Cheers.
Sharon A. Crawford
Dana Bowman
Bast Overture

 
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Posted by on December 18, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Blue Denim Press, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Writing

 

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Beyond Blood character takes over blog post

11 Dec
Sharon reads from her Beyond book series

Sharon reads from her Beyond book series

Last week I mentioned that the fraternal twins from Beyond Blood would be posting here for the next couple of weeks. Today, Bast Overture will write this post. He was given one criteria – he had to discuss his feelings about his actions, etc. in Beyond Blood – without giving away the plot. Bast…

Bast Overture here and I have my recorder turned on. I know, bad habit of a former crime writing journalist.

Sharon A. has given me a difficult task. Talking about my feelings is not my big point. My twin, Dana, however, wears her emotions on her sleeve. But we are connected as only twins are, even though we’re fraternal twins.

When Dana’s six-year-old son (and my nephew) David is kidnapped … and Sharon this is NOT a spoiler as this info is on the back cover of Beyond Blood … I was almost as devastated as Dana. I say “almost” because Dana is David’s mother. As Dana had to cope as both a mother and private investigator, I tried to keep cool, tried to keep an even keel with some humor in our talks – but never anything insulting about what had happened. When Dana hit her down side I tried to comfort her, tried to help her. But I felt so helpless. So I did what I do best – dug in like the crime writer I used to be and helped Dana interview some of the people we had to talk to.

In hindsight I probably should have interviewed them all. But Dana being Dana had to do some of it herself. That’s the way she is. She won’t let herself sit still and do nothing.

I was the one who found Debbie’s body (not a spoiler, as it’s also on Beyond Blood’s back cover), I was sickened and could barely stagger back to tell Dana who had just found out David had been kidnapped. That surprised and infuriated me – I’m supposed to offer support and comfort to my twin, even though she is 43 minutes older than me. And she makes sure I know that. In all the crime stories, some with gruesome details, I’ve written, I had never seen a murdered dead body until Debbie. But I used some of these crime stories to help Dana get to the truth. I even passed along some information to Detective Sergeant Fielding.

However, I’m sorry I encouraged Fielding and Dana to go on a date on his sailboat. Well, maybe not entirely or maybe the story would have ended differently. Maybe…

Dana: maybe what little brother? You’re not supposed to give the plot away.

Bast: What? I didn’t see you come in. And I’m not giving away the plot. Why are you here? Your turn isn’t until next week.

Dana: Well, I had to hear what you were saying about me.

Bast: And do you approve?

Dana: Yes, except for Fielding.

Bast: So there is something going on between the two of you.

Dana (shaking her fist): That’s none of your business unless I make it so. After all, as you said, I’m 43 minutes older than you.

Bast: But I’m 15 inches taller than you.

Dana: Oh for Christ’s sake, Bast, grow up.

Bast (shrugging): Fine. You’ll have your say in next week’s post. So, now together let’s say it.

Bast and Dana: Read Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford. See below and click on book covers for online purchase of Beyond Blood e-copies from the publisher Blue Denim Pess (e-pub and Kindle). For print copies go to http://sleuthofbakerstreet.ca/ . Or go into a bricks and mortar bookstore and ask to have the book ordered in.

Cheers.

Bast and Dana

and Sharon A. Crawford

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press. Click for link to purchase e-copies

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press. Click for link to purchase e-copies

 
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Posted by on December 11, 2014 in Author Reading, Beyond Blood, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Why do writers write?

27 Nov
Sharon reads from her Beyond book series

Sharon reads from her Beyond book series

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

 

  • Tennessee Williams

 

I was hit with this question and connected it to my crime fiction Beyond Blood and Beyond the Tripping Point.

The trigger was listening to best-selling author Linden MacIntyre being interviewed this morning by Mike Duncan on Classic 93.6 FM radio station. MacIntyre was talking about his new novel Punishment and its theme of vengeance versus justice. And he is also a former journalist, albeit a high profile broadcast journalist lately host of CBC’s investigative TV show The Fifth Estate. (More information on MacIntyre in this Toronto Star story http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2014/11/21/linden_macintyre_on_community_vengeance_and_punishment.html

 

What is it about journalists turning to writing fiction, often crime fiction?

I’m beginning to think it is our sense of justice, justice not really being meted out today to those who commit crimes, especially heinous crimes. And as journalists we certainly see our share of that in the true stories we write, as well as in what we read in the newspapers and magazines, whether in print or online. (For the record – now that is a journalistic phrase – I read both print and online.)

With me, this sense of justice is something I have carried from my childhood. Blame it on my Catholic background. As an ex-Catholic I can no longer stand by some of those beliefs. Although I have to admit that my sense of justice comes more from the “eye for an eye” of the Old Testament.

That may be where the vengeance factor fits in.

In all my short stories in Beyond the Tripping Point, no one who commits a crime gets away with it. Not all the baddies get arrested but they get their just desserts. For example, in “Unfinished Business” a woman who was sexually assaulted as a child gets her chance to get back at the guilty party when he becomes a threat to her 12-year-old daughter.

Then there are the four-linked stories featuring the fraternal twin PIs Dana Bowman and Bast Overture. Here all the baddies do get arrested. Dana and Bast both have a great sense of justice. Bast was a former crime reporter so he’s seen a lot of bad things and talked to a lot of bad people. As a journalist he had to try to sit on the observation side. As a PI, especially in my new novel Beyond Blood, he can do more.

But it is Dana who drives this search for justice. Especially after her son David is kidnapped. Then it becomes more personal. Nothing like motherly love to motivate someone.

Maybe that has something to do with my sense of justice – at least adds fuel to the fire. My son is in his mid-thirties now and was never kidnapped but there have been instances over the years where I went to bat for him, even if just the normal growing-up incidents that happen.

Of course, there are other reasons why I write and why crime fiction. I’ll cover them in future blog posts.

For now, I would like to know

Why do you write?

Please comment.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

This Saturday, Nov. 29, 11 a.m. to  4 p.m. I will be selling copies of Beyond Blood and Beyond the Tripping Point at the Toronto Heliconian Club Fine Arts and Gift Sale, 35 Hazelton Ave. (Yorkville area), Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For more info about the Toronto Heliconian Club and this sale (open to the public), see http://heliconianclub.org/ Scroll down a bit – it is there.

For those not in the Toronto, Canada area, you can click on my book covers below – they will lead you to my publisher Blue Denim Press’s website. Scroll down and you can see where Beyond Blood is currently available, including at www.bluedenimpress.com.

And check my website www.samcraw.com – click on Beyond Blood. I constantly update my gigs on that site.

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press. Click for link to purchase e-copies

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press. Click for link to publisher’s website

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection. Click on it for publisher's website

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection. Click on it for link to publisher’s website

 
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Posted by on November 27, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Fiction Characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing, Writing to solve real life problems

 

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Tales from the book promo trenches

20 Nov
Sharon reads from her Beyond book series

Sharon reads from her Beyond book series

I loved words. I love to sing them and speak them and even now, I must admit, I have fallen into the joy of writing them. – Ann Rice

If anyone thinks you can make money from your published books without a lot of work, get your head out of the sand. It IS a lot of work. It can be fun too but also harrowing. In the last week here’s what’s been going on with my Beyond series books.

Weekend of November 14 to 16 – Inspire Book Fair Toronto Metro Convention Centre

Friday, 6 p.m. My one-hour to sell book copies at the Sisters in Crime Toronto booth. The book fair was a dead zone although groups of school kids were in earlier running around the room. But at 6 p.m there were more exhibitors than people attending the book fair. Still I managed to sell one copy of Beyond Blood to a big mystery reader

Saturday, people buying tickets, going up on the escalator and wandering around in the convention room. Yay!

4.40 p.m. Read from and talked about Beyond Blood and Beyond the Tripping Point on a smaller stage. I used my loud outside voice and the editor at my publishers (Blue Denim Press) said he could hear me from their booth. Afterwards I returned to their booth, sold and signed one book.

Before that I wandered around talking to people – mostly those I knew, but some I hadn’t seen for years. Yes, some of them bought copies of my books at the Blue Denim Press booth, but it was also a chance to talk about writing and doing PR

Sunday, I returned to Inspire with my friend Kathy. We hung around my publisher’s booth for a bit and sat in the audience when another Blue Denim Press author read. Kathy bought a copy of Beyond Blood and one of the other author’s books.

All in all it was a good experience but could have been better for book buying, especially as it is Christmas shopping time and my publisher, at least, had the books on sale. I can’t believe everyone is just buying e-copies (My books are available in the usual e-pub and Kindle versions from the usual places as well as from my publisher. Click on the Beyond Blood book at the bottom for the link.) My publisher said Inspire was more of a networking experience and yes, they connected with a lot of potential organizations for book distribution and other book promo.

Wednesday, November 20, part of Crime Writers of Canada’s Murder and Mayhem reading series – at the Beaches library branch in Toronto. And we had a full house, a captivated audience who asked a lot of questions of the four of us reading and talking about our books. The whole time was creative magic and connections between authors and readers.

The downside? The bloody weather – Toronto’s first somewhat big snowstorm – more blowing around and of course the timing of the storm couldn’t be worse. It took me over an hour and a half to get to the library from my place – a trip that should take only 30 to 40 minutes maximum. The first bus arrived on time but it was a slow journey to the subway station. But I could have still arrived at the library on time. Except the other bus wasn’t showing up. Some of us waited over half an hour. I finally phoned the library and told the librarian about the situation and that if a bus came I would try to get there for 7 p.m. (6.30 p.m. was starting time). The first bus got too packed and I couldn’t get on. The second one came maybe 10 minutes later and didn’t take long to go its route and get me to my destination. Then came the 10-minute walk to the library. But I made it and after my co-host Nate introduced me, I told everyone “I got derailed by the weather.” (Only a railway brat like me would use that term).

Despite the good session, no books of mine sold. I think one author sold one book.

So, you see it is all uphill. Yes I do the social media bit. No, I won’t give up. I love meeting my readers and talking about my books, reading from them, and giving writing advice.

I’m also very stubborn and persistent.

Just ask those who know me.

 

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

For those not in the Toronto, Canada area, you can click on my book covers below – they will lead you to my publisher Blue Denim Press’s website. Scroll down and you can see where Beyond Blood is currently available, including at www.bluedenimpress.com.

And check my website www.samcraw.com – click on Beyond Blood. I constantly update the gigs etc. on that page.

 

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

 
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Posted by on November 20, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Uncategorized, Writing

 

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Sharon A. Crawford appears at Inspire Book Fair

13 Nov

Sharon_A_Crawford_Book_LaunchReading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.

  • Joyce Carol Oates

The first Inspire: the Toronto International Book Fair gets underway this evening. And I’m going to be doing double duty in appearances there – signing and selling books and reading from Beyond Blood. More on that shortly. But first a personal perspective about how an author prepares for these events.

My books – Beyond Blood and Beyond the Tripping Point are key and I don’t just mean to sell. That’s important too but so is engaging with my readers. Just sitting there with a bunch of books does not connect me with my readers. I need to talk to them. And I don’t just do a book promo speech. I ask them if they write and what they write. Do they read mystery fiction? Conversation is a two-way street.

When I actually do read I don’t just stand there and drone on from my book(s). First I give a little background about my story and the main characters. Then I read. I’m told my reading is like audio, like I’m right in my story. True. I channel each character who speaks, particularly six-year-old David Bowman, Dana Bowman’s son. I love talking like a child. Not sure what that says about me.

I also get right into the actions going on. Haven’t stabbed or shot anyone yet. (FYI the only gun I have is a small water gun and carrying around knives would be considered carrying a concealed weapon). But I’ll shake my manuscript when Dana is shaking her sketch pad at her brother Bast.

Yes, I said manuscript. Because here’s my deep dark secret. I have terrible eyesight (the bane of getting old), and although the font is large enough in my books, sometimes the lights are not bright enough. So I have a few pages of pumped-up font printed out and read from that.

You really wouldn’t want me to use a magnifying glass, would you? Although I do carry one of those around and it would be appropriate for crime fiction.

Back to the books – the big question is: how many do I bring? Which gets translated into: how many can I carry? I travel on public transit and many Toronto subway stations don’t have elevators or down escalators. If I get a ride it helps – if there is a parking lot nearby.

You also sometimes need to create an attractive display in a small space, i.e. prop up one copy of each book, have some bookmarks and other info, but not too much. You don’t want to overwhelm your readers.

So, while I prepare for this weekend at Inspire, the Toronto International Book Fair at Metro Toronto Convention Centre North Building, 255 Front Street West, http://www.torontobookfair.ca/

here are the details about my appearances:

Friday, November 14, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Selling and signing copies of Beyond Blood and Beyond the Tripping Point at the Toronto Sisters in Crime Booth No. 1120 in the Marketplace Section.

Saturday, November 15, 4 p.m.

Reading from Beyond Blood at my publisher Blue Denim Press’s booth No. 1326 in the Marketplace. Afterward I’ll be there to talk to my readers and sign books.

Note: my publishers will be at that booth for the duration of the book fair.

Please join me there and engage in the conversation about your writing and/or reading.

And of course Beyond Blood and Beyond the Tripping Point.

And pass this info on – tweet about it, link to your blog, Facebook, etc.

Cheers.

 

Sharon A. Crawford

For those not in the Toronto, Canada area, you can click on my book covers below – they will lead you to my publisher Blue Denim Press’s website. Scroll down and you can see where Beyond Blood is currently available, including at www.bluedenimpress.com.

And check my website www.samcraw.com – click on Beyond Blood. I constantly update the gigs etc. on that page.

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

 
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Posted by on November 13, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Plot and Characters, Short Story Collection, Writing Critique Groups

 

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Beyond Blood character puts Sharon A. Crawford in hot seat

06 Nov
Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.

 

  • Anais Nin

 

The other fraternal twin in Beyond Blood – Bast Overture is now going at me with the third degree. At least his journalistic techniques appear familiar to me – he has a recorder running and is also taking notes by hand to back it up in case of technological difficulties.

Bast: Okay, Sharon A., I’ll try not to cover exactly what my sister did last week, but I may want to add to it.

Me: Okay. Fire away.

Bast: First, I’d like to know more about your journalism career. You mentioned you did some crime stories but not a lot. As that is my forte, I wonder if you could tell me what stories you did write and why you wrote them.

Me: Sometimes the story was about a crime that I had first-hand experience with. I see you looked perplexed. No, I didn’t do the crime but it was done against me. For example, when I lived in Aurora, Ontario, my house was broken into. So I wrote a humorous personal essay on that. It was published in Wordscape Seven: Mystery & Suspense Anthology, MTB Press, 2001. I also wrote a story for a community newspaper about protecting your home from invasion.

Bast: What about other stories?

Me: I wrote a story about fraud against seniors in their homes, particularly about home renovations and repairs – this was before Identity theft, although I did write a story on that too. But as I told your sister Dana, I believe that if you do the crime you do the time – one way or the other. So, one of the ways I get back, if you will, is to write about prevention, so people don’t become victims of crime. I talked to seniors as well as police and a unique hardware store then in Aurora – the owners recommended legitimate and trustworthy tradespeople for this. I even found a handyman for me, although I didn’t interview him as that might be considered not at arms length – you know too close to the writer.

Bast: Hmm. You mentioned writing a story on Identity Theft. Can you tell me a bit about that? Did you pitch that story to a magazine or was it assigned?

Me: A little of both. I pitched it to the now defunct Homemakers magazine and the editor there was interested and added more scope to the story so that besides police and identity theft protection experts, I interviewed a couple of people who had their identify stolen – one by getting his regular mail redirected so he had to replace all his credit cards and other ID. The other one was the victim of mortgage fraud – someone put a mortgage, in her name, on her house without her knowledge.

Bast: I gather fraud is something you are interested in and you have that as one of the many crimes in Beyond Blood. How did that come about?

Me: Well, without giving the plot away beyond what is on the back book cover, the fraud in there comes from or maybe I should say is related to some of the other crimes. And I’m not saying any more except that some of the plot events are peculiar to that time (1998) and not completely relevant today.

Bast: That’s a bit obtuse. Care to elaborate.

Me: All right. Without giving it all away (and this is on the back cover) abortions, or rather illegal abortions are part of the story in Beyond Blood. And you know, abortions are in the news again with all the anti-abortion movements in the States and even some press in Canada. But the interesting thing here is not that so much as that one thing related to abortions which was illegal in Canada in 1998 is still illegal in Canada today.

Bast: Let the record show that Sharon A. is not talking about Canadian law regarding abortion itself. Abortions are legal in Canada. Sharon A. is referring to…

Me: Stop. Don’t give the plot away. Let’s just say it all is part of the plot and you and Dana figure it out, but will you do so in time to save Dana’s son and your nephew David?

Bast: Right. But maybe you could include that plot blurb on the back of Beyond Blood. That book cover photo at the top of this post shows the front page only.

Me. Okay. Here it is.

In Beyond Blood (Blue Denim Press, fall 2014), Dana Bowman has misgivings about starting the home-based Attic Investigative Agency with her fraternal twin, Bast Overture. Especially when the agency’s launch is preceded by a break and enter downstairs and a kidnapping at the Mini-Mall involving her son David’s babysitter, Debbie Sangwell. Especially when David is kidnapped and Debbie is murdered during the agency’s opening ceremonies. Hovering in the background is the mysterious “Him.”

Further digging reveals more kidnappings, murders, fraud, and abortion. The twins’ investigation also leads to run-ins with police detective Donald Fielding and CKNT TV reporter Charles Haas, the latter who has the “dirt” on Bast. A colourful cast of characters dot the pages, including Dana’s ex-husband Ronald, Great Aunt Doris, Mini-Mall merchants Lois and Ray Chalmers, and various nosy neighbours. Hovering in the background is the mysterious “Him.”

Dana is pushed beyond blood ties trying to avoid an emotional meltdown as a mother and focus on finding her son. The twin detectives discover that everything seems to be connected. Which connection will lead them to David, and to Debbie’s murderer? Will they be too late for David?

Click on my book cover above – it will lead you to my publisher Blue Denim Press’s website. Scroll down and you can see where Beyond Blood is currently available, including at www.bluedenimpress.com.

And check my website www.samcraw.com – click on Beyond Blood. I constantly update the gigs etc. on that page.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Fictional Characters Interviewing Authors, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Dana Bowman interviews author Sharon A Crawford

30 Oct
Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

I suppose all fictional characters, especially in adventure or heroic fiction, at the end of the day are our dreams about ourselves. And sometimes they can be really revealing.

  • Alan Moore

Dana Bowman sits before me, sketch pad and charcoal in hand. She is going to give me the third-degree interview.

Dana: I understand you and my brother Bast share a career background.

Me: Journalistic, yes. I am a former journalist for 30 years, so a bit longer than your twin. I did write a few crime-related articles but my beats were the arts, health, seniors, and profiles of all kinds of people.

Dana: How and why did you switch from journalism to mystery fiction?

Me: That’s really two questions. First, the journalism one – it wasn’t really a switch. I just got tired of all the work for newspaper and magazine stories for little pay. Guess I ran out of steam but I am still interested in people and writing their stories, so profiles aren’t off the table completely.

Dana: But why mystery fiction?

Me: Because that’s what I like to read and watch on TV. I grew up with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and from age 12, Agatha Christie. And my late mom and I used to watch the Perry Mason TV series – the original one in black and white. From all that I got hooked on the puzzle – why people do what they do, why it brings them to murder and who the heck is the guilty party. I also have a sense of justice – people who do the crime should do the time – in one way or another. That doesn’t seem to be happening anymore in real life, even back in your days in the late 1990s.

Dana: As Bast would say, let the record show, that Sharon is referring to the timelines in Beyond Blood and Beyond the Tripping Point. So, Sharon, can you tell us how you, well created Bast and I? Are you and I similar in any way?

Me: That’s two questions again. I see that’s how you operate.

Dana: You started it all.

Me: Right.

Dana: How are we similar? Especially with our height.

Me: Yes, you and I are shorties, but I have a couple of inches on you.

Dana: Why did you make me 4’11”? Couldn’t you have brought me up to 5 feet at least?

Me: Too close to me. Actually the idea of both yours and Bast’s height came from an aunt and uncle on my dad’s side. Aunt Marguerite was 4’ll” and Uncle Miles was 6’2” But I did give Bast an inch. But I gave you some qualities and traits I don’t have. You own and drive a car. I couldn’t drive a car to save my life.

Dana: Would you want to?

Me: Very occasionally but seldom. I know I would be guilty of roadkill, so it’s safer if I’m never behind the wheel of a car. Also you have a cell phone and I don’t. Sure, it would come in handy in emergencies but cell phone technology is a whole lot more complicated in 2014 than in the late 1990s. And I gave you the gift of being able to draw because I can’t draw a straight line even with a ruler.

Dana: A little jealousy here?

Me. Maybe, but I wanted you different than I. And you and your brother evolved over 15 or 16 years of on and off writing, now definitely in the on stage.

Dana: And Bast? Why did you make him gay?

Me: Because when I first started writing Beyond Blood back in the late 1990s, gay people were just coming out more. The annual Pride parade was just starting up in Toronto. And I wanted a character that was different than what was being published. I know there are now gay (male and female) mystery characters, but how many of them are a fraternal twin?

Dana: True. What about my son David? Where did he come from?

Me: Well, I do have a son, who is now in his mid-thirties and I too was a single parent, so I suppose some of that originated there. And I had issues with being a working mom and wanted to bring that out in the stories.

Dana: Okay. Now, moving along. You mentioned that you want justice done in this world. Is there anything in your background, particularly when growing up, that made you feel this way?

Me: Several things. I was bullied as a child by both one of my best friends and also by a nun in grade school. Never beaten up – it was more verbal. Also I read a lot in the newspapers about 11 and 12-year-old girls getting murdered and that really upset me. I was the same age then. You have to remember this was around 1960 when things were supposedly stricter. Well, they were at school and church – I grew up a Catholic and so there was this belief in the bad being punished for their bad deeds, even an eye for an eye. So, if you killed someone, you deserved to die. But Canadian justice seemed to be getting too liberal. Many convicted murderers were getting their executions (hanging in Canada back then) stayed. I remember in grade 11 at high school class discussion on capital punishment – it was around the time that the government was considering dropping the hanging sentence. I was one of the few in the class who wanted Canada to keep the death penalty. We all know that didn’t happen and a lot of the criminal law got too much in favour of the criminals since then. Sure, some harsh sentences remain, but the convicted killers get jail credit for time spent in prison leading up to and during the trial. The bottom line is I don’t think justice for the victim is being given. But in a mystery novel you can have this happen – one way or the other – even with any lenient laws.

Dana: Wow. That sounds familiar. That’s me; that’s how I feel. And now understand better why I do what I do.

Me: Well, remember I may have created you, but you go out on your own in my stories.

Dana: Oh, so you give me enough rope to hang…. sorry, bad choice of words.

Me: Right. We don’t want you getting killed. It would kill the stories.

Dana: Of course. And I thought it was because you like me.

Me: I do.

Dana: Okay, that’s it for this time. Bast wants to interview you next week.

Meantime click on my book cover above – it will lead you to my publisher Blue Denim Press’s website. Scroll down and you can see where Beyond Blood is currently available, including at www.bluedenimpress.com.

And check my website www.samcraw.com – click on Beyond Blood. I constantly update the gigs etc. on that page.

 

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 

 

 
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Posted by on October 30, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Fictional Characters Interviewing Authors, Sharon A. Crawford

 

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Book Launch Beyond Blood Musings

23 Oct
Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

This country’s crazy in terms of fame and what people think it means. They expect a writer to be something between a Hollywood starlet and the village idiot.

  • Kent Haruf

Beyond Blood and Dead Wrong received a big send-off last Sunday October 19 at our mutual book launch at Paintbox Bistro in Toronto, Canada. It was a lot of work – for my publisher Blue Denim Press to set it all up and for my author colleague Klaus Jakelski and I to invite (and persuade) people to show up. The two guest authors reading – Rosemary McCracken (author of the Pat Tierney mysteries http://rosemarymccracken.wordpress.com/ and Nate Hendley (true crime author who writes about the baddies and Stephen Truscott http://www.natehendley.com/books.html also were a draw. See the Blue Denim Press website www.bluedenimpress.com for photos.

But there are stories behind a book launch – the before, during and after and maybe some lessons to be learned, especially as this was my second book launch.

Not everyone invited will come. I emailed out around 200 invitations but didn’t expect that many to attend – they would have been out on the street if they had. One thing that bugged me at my first launch two years ago and again this go-round is people not letting you know if they can attend or not, but more so if they say they are coming and then don’t show up – unless they have emailed at the last minute that they can’t because of whatever. The last is acceptable. Things happen.

The upside is people invited showing up unexpectedly.

This time round none of my cousins could make it, but my son, Martin and his girlfriend, Juni (bless them) did. I was thrilled when they walked in and Martin handed me a big bouquet of flowers. I was determined to keep it close and when I left it at the restaurant where we ate after the launch, I got off the bus (one stop after boarding) and raced back to the restaurant to collect it. If I hadn’t have done that I would be so upset. How did I miss grabbing it? I guess my mind and hands couldn’t take in more than a big shoulder bag, purse and doggie bag of leftover dinner. I also had stood the bouquet up on the wall behind where I sat to keep it safe. Safe from whom? Me?

I had also tried to get plenty of sleep the nights before so I could avoid being in a daze like the previous book launch. The enough sleep part didn’t work out but no daze. My wits were in place and I made a point of moving around, jumping up from where I was sitting to talk to everyone who came to the launch.

The readings went well, although I stumbled up the stairs and Sarah the publisher had to grab me. Note: I was not drunk. Hadn’t had anything stronger than water to drink. But my very short intro to Beyond Blood and the short excerpt I read went very well. One of my writing colleagues says I read like audio. True, I channel my characters as I read and got the chance to do that at the end of the launch presentations when Klaus and I did a short humorous skit where my main character PI Dana Bowman interviews his main character Dr. Peter Martins. Klaus was lucky as he could appear in his dress suit. I had to alter my appearance. I have long brown-grey hair and wear glasses. Dana has short black hair and doesn’t wear glasses. At least we are both short in height.

I pulled my hair into a ponytail and shoved it under a cap. The glasses went and I buttoned up my sweater and made it look like a sweat shirt – one of Dana’s wardrobe items. I kept my black slacks and black shoes but carried that big shoulder bag mentioned earlier and a sketch pad. Dana sketches while interviewing people. I can’t draw to save my life.

But I could see without the glasses and didn’t trip going up or down the stage stairs this time.

Afterwards the spontaneous dinner arrangements got a little hectic. Paintbox Bistro was closing for the day, so we decided on a Thai restaurant nearby. Shane and Sarah from Blue Denim Press were packing up everything and going to drive to meet us there. Another couple of friends, Sheila and Rod drove. My friend Bob, Martin, Juni and I walked there.

The restaurant was closed on Sundays. We made another choice. But couldn’t text Shane or Sarah to let them know because I didn’t bring their cell phone numbers with me. So the frantic activity began with Martin rushing back to Paintbox and texting Juni back that it was closed and no one was there. Meantime Sheila and Rob had arrived. So when Martin returned we devised a plan. Sheila and Rob would drive to the other restaurant; Bob wanted to walk, and Martin, Juni and I would wait outside the closed restaurant for Shane and Sarah. We waited and waited. Then Juni and I walked to the new restaurant and Martin waited.

Bob, Sheila and Rob were seated in the restaurant when we arrived. A couple of minutes later the other three walked in.

Really, my organization skills are better than this. They have to be because the book launch is only a part of promoting your book.

And more on that in future posts. Meantime click on my book cover above – it will lead you to my publisher Blue Denim Press’s website. Scroll down and you can see where Beyond Blood is currently available, including at www.bluedenimpress.com.

And check my website www.samcraw.com – click on Beyond Blood. I constantly update the gigs etc. on that page.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on October 23, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Blue Denim Press, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Writing

 

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Come to Sharon A Crawford’s Book Launch Sunday Oct.19

16 Oct
Sharon A Crawford author of the short story collection Beyond Blood published by Blue Denim Press

Sharon A Crawford author of Beyond Blood published by Blue Denim Press

Fiction is about stuff that’s screwed up.
– Nancy Kress

 

Dana is scurrying around The Attic Agency Office when Bast walks into the room.

Bast: What are you doing?

Dana: Getting ready for the big launch.

Bast: Our agency opening reception. I thought all was…

Dana: No, no, not that. Sharon A. Crawford’s book launch. You know the author who created us?

Bast: Of course. That is coming up already?

Dana: Yes, this Sunday. October 19. We have to get the word out Bast about her book Beyond Blood.

Bast: You mean before our agency opening?

Dana: Yes, and Sharon’s book launch has to happen first so that Beyond Blood can happen.

Bast: You mean our actual launch, the kidn…

Dana: Sh. Bast, don’t give it all away. People have to come to the book launch and buy a copy of Beyond Blood to find out what happens.

Bast: Right. And we should also mention what else is happening at the Book Launch.

Dana: Yes. The book launch is also for another first time mystery novelist, Klaus Jakelski’s book Dead Wrong. It’s a medical mystery.

Bast: Yes. And Klaus is a medical doctor in Sudbury, Ontario.

Dana: And Sharon, like you is a former journalist, although she covered health as well as some crime stories.

Bast: Sharon is also short like you. In fact, she has a couple of inches on you.

Dana: Bast. Leave my height out of it.

Bast (chuckling): Okay, if you wish.

Dana: What I wish is to find that poster that Blue Denim Press, Sharon’s and Klaus’s publisher, had printed. Have you seen it?

Bast: Yes, right here on my desk.

Dana and Bast grab the poster, hold it up and together announce:

Blue Murder with Blue Denim Press:

Join in the murderous mayhem at the launch of two debut mystery novels:

Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford

Dead Wrong by Klaus Jakelski

More mayhem provided by guest readers Rosemary McCracken and Nate Hendley

Launch presented by Blue Denim Press.

Mayhem provided by all.

Location:     Paintbox Bistro

555 Dundas Street East (at Parliament St.) Toronto (parking inside building), Ontario

http://paintboxbistro.ca/contact

Time and Date: 3 p.m., Sunday, October 19, 2014

Bring a guest or two if you wish.

There is an entrance cost of $15. per person. That entitles you to a copy of a Blue Denim Press book-. Your guest(s) can choose another book published by Blue Denim Press. No charge for children 16 and under.

See you there.

Cheers.

Dana Bowman

Bast Overture

And

Sharon A. Crawford

And check out Sharon A. Crawford’s Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharon-A-Crawford/412730865439394

Linked In profile http://ca.linkedin.com/in/sharoncrawfordwordssparkle

Sharon A. Crawford’s website www.samcraw.com and click on Beyond Blood for all the details of Sharon’s gigs.

And visit Sharon’s publisher Blue Denim Press at http://www.bluedenimpress.com to see that poster.

 

Cover of Dead Wrong by Klaus Jakelski, published by Blue Denim Press

Cover of Dead Wrong by Klaus Jakelski, published by Blue Denim Press

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

 
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Posted by on October 16, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing Critique Groups

 

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Beyond Blood’s twin PIs receive ominous phone calls

09 Oct
Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

Cover of Beyond Blood by Sharon A. Crawford, published by Blue Denim Press

Fiction is about stuff that’s screwed up.

  • Nancy Kress

 

Dana speaking into her cell: What do you want?

Voice on the other end: Hello to you too. Just want to touch base and see how you are doing.

Dana: Right, after three years. What about David?

Bast speaking into his cell: Hello. Yes. Who is this?

Muffled voice on the other end: Someone from your past to tell you I will be at your detective agency opening this coming Friday.

Bast: It is an investigative agency. We’re in Canada.

Muffled voice: I know that.

Bast: Who are you? Identify yourself.

Muffled voice: You don’t need to know now who I am. Expect me at your investigative agency opening.

Click:

Bast: He hung up.

Dana, looking over at her brother: Who was it?

Bast shrugs his shoulders: I don’t know. He disguised his voice.

Dana: Maybe it’s a she.

Bast: No, I’ll bet my interest in the business that it’s a man. Just don’t know who. And who are you talking to?

Dana, covering up her cell: Ron, my ex.

Bast: That jerk. What does he want?

Dana: Don’t know and don’t care. I’m just letting him ramble.

Bast: Is that wise?

Dana: He didn’t even ask about his son? He leaves us on our own and…wait.

Ron: … so that’s why I’m late with the support payments.

Dana: So, what’s new? You are always late – when you send them.

Ron: Now listen here.

Dana: No, you listen. I want all the support payments you owe me up to now and I want them here before the end of this month. Do you hear?

Ron: I hear but I just told you why I’m late this month. Weren’t you listening?

Dana: If it were just this month, I might listen and give you some leeway. But it is always this way, excuse after excuse.

Dana hits the off button on her cell and starts swearing.

Bast: Hold on Dana. Take a deep breath. It’s just pre-opening jitters.

Dana: Yes, but look at who has been here – in person or by phone. I don’t trust Lois or Ray Chalmers as far as the end of my desk. Debbie looks like a ghost and now we have Ron and some unknown muffled voice. Methinks the opening will not go well.

Bast: We’ll just have to hope for the best. And stay calm. Look why don’t we focus on something else.

Dana: Like what?

Bast: What about the author of our novel Beyond Blood? She has a big book launch coming up soon.

Dana: Very well. Tell me more about it.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog where Dana and Bast provide details about the Beyond Blood book launch with a unique twist.

Meantime check out my books. The book cover of Beyond Blood at the top of this blog post links to Amazon. Click on Sharon A Crawford for my profile. Be the first to review Beyond Blood.

For those of us with a Kobo, here is that link for the e-pub version. http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-blood-1 And check out my updated web page at www.samcraw.com and click on Beyond Blood. Scroll down to Sharon A’s Gigs to see where I will be appearing with Beyond Blood.

 

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on October 9, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Blue Denim Press, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters

 

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