3 new books: Corpse Flower by Gloria Ferris, and Case 666 by Bob McCarthy

Hi, Brian.

I wanted to let you know that my second mystery novel, Corpse Flower, will be released in Canada on Dec 14 (Internationally Jan 7) by Dundurn Press. I think I’ve attended most of your workshops in Guelph (one in Georgetown) over the past five years, some of them twice! As you know, I’m sure, writers need regular infusions of enthusiasm and energy to keep them going, and you’ve supply this in spades during your workshops. I thank you for that.

I’ll be at “How to Write a Bestseller” at Harcourt Church on Saturday, Nov 30. I think this is the third time I’ve signed up for this particular workshop, but who can resist learning how to become a bestselling author from Kelley Armstrong! I can’t promise it will be the last time you see me at this workshop, either.

See you Saturday.

Gloria

www.gloriaferris.com

Note: The workshop with Kelley on Nov 30 in Guelph went splendidly. We’re having another Saturday, February 15, in Oakville. Details here.

Gloria (and Yorick?)

Corpse Flower, A Cornwall and Redfern mystery

From country club to trailer park …

Swindled out of a fair divorce settlement, former socialite Bliss Moonbeam Cornwall works a number of part-time jobs to pay the rent on a rundown trailer and keep her motorcycle on the road. But Bliss still can't save enough money for another day in court. So when her cousin offers her a generous fee to find a pollinating mate for his giant jungle plant, she agrees to help. How hard can it be?

That's when she discovers that her neighbours, her employers, and even her cousin are involved in a string of illegal activities — including grow-ops and suspicious deaths. Police Chief Neil Redfern's persistent scrutiny is interfering with her goal, and Bliss suspects he may be up to his badge in the crimes he's supposed to be investigating. With no one to back her up, Bliss must make a decision. She can give up on her dream, or she can start fighting dirty. Either way, she risks becoming another murder victim.

Before it was published, Corpse Flower won the Unhanged Arthur Ellis Award in 2010, and her first published novel, Cheat the Hangman (2011), won the 2012 Bony Blithe Award. Gloria lives in Guelph, Ontario.

Corpse Flower is available for sale here.  Cheat the Hangman here.

For information about the Unhanged Arthur Ellis Award for best unpublished crime novel, see here.

For information about submitting to Dundurn Press, see here.

Brian,

I have self-published Case 666, a book about Elizabeth Workman, the only woman ever convicted and executed under Canadian law after a trial where the jury strongly recommended mercy.

Following her sentencing in March 1873, petitions requesting commutation of the death penalty were signed by nearly 1,500 local citizens, including the entire Lambton County Council, the jury pool and Alexander Mackenzie, who would later that year become Canada’s Prime Minister.

But their pleas were in vain. She was hanged.

During the first part of August, this story, a virtually unknown piece of Canadian history, will be placed in public libraries and bibliothèques in all parts of Canada and in the hands of each federal Member of Parliament, Canadian Senator and our Governor-General.

This book has been written in both of Canada's official languages, with three objectives in mind

<1> to tell the story of what was in 1873 referred to by the local newspaper as a "Travesty of justice."

<2> to make more Canadians aware of this case

<3> to bring about posthumous commutation of the sentence from death by hanging to time served prior to death, thereby vindicating the efforts in 1873 on behalf of this woman by so many residents of Sarnia-Lambton

I would appreciate it if you could share this with other interested writers and/or advocates on behalf of battered women.

Bob McCarthy

For more information or to order a copy of Case 666, see here.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Algoma, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.