And so it ends....

... sailing off over the wine-dark sea, or at least taking the ferry from Victoria over the deep blue Strait of Georgia

Into the sunset... (or rather away from it since the ferry is actually going east).

...back to Alberta where the sky is wider and the land flatter but the authors and publishers as expert at their craft as any in the country.

With thanks to:

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts for funding support and encouragement to give away as many books by Alberta authors and from Alberta publishers as humanly possible;

Mystery Writers Ink for sponsoring the Writing the Open Range panel;

The following publishers who donated books:

University of Calgary Press
University of Alberta Press
Folklore Publishing
Lone Pine Publishing
Cormorant Books
Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
TouchWood Editions/Brindle & Glass Publishing

And authors Garry Ryan, Sharon Wildwind, Joan Donaldson-Yarmey, Susan Calder, and Anthony Bidulka who donated books and items to the prize basket and promoted the panel, and were all-round good ambassadors for Alberta's many fine writers.

We had a wonderful time at Bloody Words 2011. Thanks for allowing us to represent Alberta authors and publishers

Sincere Best Wishes from

Jayne Barnard & Anne Jayne

And yet more delighted conference-goers taking home Alberta books!

And yet more delighted conference-goers taking home Alberta books!

 

The most horrifying author in Canada, Bloody Words 2011's Canadian Guest of Honour Michael Slade, is riding for a Deadly Fall.

Cheryl Freedman, ex-HQ of Crime Writers of Canada and nigh-permanent chair of Bloody Words (along with author Caro Soles), seized Marty Chan's Mystery of the Cyber Bully at the first opportunity.

Pam Barnsley, coordinator of Bloody Words' extremely impressive program book, carried off Gangs in Canada by Jeff Pearce, donated to the cause by Quagmire/Folklore Publishing.

Lovely Lauren, a devoted mystery reader from the dining room, couldn't wait for a Date with a Sheesha

After the Bloody Words Banquet, it was One Careless Moment

Kate Derie, better known as Cluelass, and as editor of the Deadly Directory series, got a a warm smile when presented with a copy of  One Careless Moment by Alberta author Dave Hugelschaffer, courtesy of Dave's publisher, Cormorant Books.

Later that evening, Jim Bottomley jumped on the same title, provided by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

And the following morning, there was no stopping Dave Olsen from Kamloops getting his fingers into the fire!

Cormorant donated additional copies which went to eager readers from Gibsons, Saskatoon and Victoria.

Saturday giveaways - sorry they're late!

More books into the hands of eager readers before the June 4th Bloody Words banquet:

Janet Costello and Jessica Simon, respectively, chose Sharon Wildwind's Some Welcome Home, a novel about recently returned Vietnam war soldiers who get tangled up with a dead press officer, and Last Moments: Sentenced to Death in Canada  by Dale Brawn, an examination of the more than 700 official executions in Canadian history.

 Cathy Schultz of Kelowna is fascinated by Canadian history and was delighted to receive 'The Rumrunners' by Frank Anderson.

Retired chemist Gail Nickerson was curious about Joan Donaldson-Yarmey's second Elizabeth Oliver novel, The Only Shadow on the House.

Cathy Schultz got in a second time later on Saturday, collecting Sharon Wildwind's Some Welcome Home while her tablemate, Sue Holmes-McDonald from Nanaimo, dived eagerly into Linda Kupecek's debut mystery, "Deadly Dues".

Dying By Degrees - Eileen Coughlan

Dying By Degrees

By Eileen Coughlan

Ravenstone

Emily Goodstriker and her friend Zac are working toward their masters degrees in psychology by conducting panic experiments on local street people... under the guidance of the brilliant but tyrannical Dr. Martin Mullarcant. After the annual graduate Christmas party, Emily's lab partner, Beth Wong, takes a dive out of a ten-story window. Emily is not convinced her friend committed suicide and takes it upon herself to find out what's really behind Beth's death. She continues Beth's work in Mullarcant's experiments but something is going drastically wrong.



Dying by Degrees was short-listed for an Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel in 2001.

Copies of this title were handed out at Bloody Words 2011 with funding support from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.




                                                                                                           

Illegally Dead - Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

Illegally Dead
Joan Donaldson-Yarmey
Sumach Press


This isn't the first time travel-writer Elizabeth Oliver finds herself smack in the middle of a murder investigation. Crime seems to follow her around as closely as her cockapoo companion Chevy.

Determined to focus entirely on her work this trip, she sets out to explore the length of Alberta's Crowsnest Highway to research a new travel article. But no sooner has she settled into travel-writing mode than she is flagged down at a roadside crime scene. Human bones have just been discovered in an old septic tank on a property slated to be used for a new hog barn development.

Resisting the temptation to get involved, she arrives at her B&B only to find that her hostess' mother Peggy used to own the septic tank property, and may know more about the situation than she's letting on.



Copies of this book were handed out courtesy of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Owl's Nest Books.

Fall from Grace - Wayne Arthurson

WAYNE ARTHURSON, like his protagonist Leo Desroches, is the son of Cree and French Canadian parents. He has worked as a newspaper reporter, a drummer in a rock band, and as a freelance journalist. He was born in and lives in Edmonton, Canada. Fall From Grace is his first novel.


This title was given to an interested reader at Bloody Words thanks to funding from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts