Prepping for Bouchercon

For more information about Susan Calder's books, or to purchase visit her Books We Love Author Page.

I'm gearing up for Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Toronto. This October the annual mystery writing and reading event will take place in Canada for the first time since 2004. With a new mystery novel in hand, I decided it was time for me to tackle the huge happening, which will bring together 1800 readers, writers, publishers, editors, agents, booksellers, librarians and other lovers of crime fiction.  

Another reason for me to go is the involvement of Toronto-based Crime Writers of Canada, a group I've belonged to for six years. I also served on the CWC board for two years and this winter volunteered for their Bouchercon planning committee to get a foothold on the convention's activities.

Once committed, my next step was to send a query to the Toronto Public Library offering to do presentations to promote my novel Ten Days in Summer. One library branch responded. So Friday evening Oct 13th I'll take a break from Bouchercon to talk to members of the library community about "How Hoarding Inspired My Murder Mystery Novel," a subject I blogged about on the BWL site last spring. 

Grandma's living room

Bouchercon offers attending authors promotional opportunities, although demand is so high that I was lucky to get a panel moderator assignment. The topic, "Urban Noir: city settings, where, despite the light pollution, there is darkness ..." isn't quite my genre. I suspect, I got in because not everyone wants the moderator's role, which is arguably harder than being a panelist. The organizers sent me tips on moderating a great panel, which include researching the five author-panelists and couching their introductions with a question specific to each writer to avoid boring introductory exposition. I've started my research, find all the authors interesting, and agree this is a great approach to moderating.  

For other promotion, I missed out on Author Speed Dating, but was given a 20 minute spot to speak to an audience of up to 50 people about the backdrop for Ten Days in Summer, The Calgary Stampede. 

Through Crime Writers of Canada, I'll get two hours in the popular Refreshment Room, to display my novel, talk about my writing and hand out materials. I'll get more chances to promote Ten Days in Summer during my shifts at the CWC information table. 

The second thing I did after registering was enter a short story in the Bouchercon Passport to Murder anthology contest. I wrote the story while on holiday in Mexico and used the holiday settings for this tale of a woman who makes a devil's deal to escape an abusive marriage. To my delight, "Zona Romantica" was one of 22 stories selected for the anthology. It will be on sale at the convention with the proceeds going to the literary charity Frontier College. Saturday evening at Bouchercon will feature a signing for Passport to Murder.  

In between these promotional activities, I'll take in some panels, attend the opening, closing and awards ceremonies and catch interviews with Guest of Honour authors, who include Louise Penny, 2017 recipient of the Order of Canada. 

And there will be time for fun, liking dancing to big-band music on Saturday night, maybe dressed in the flapper-style outfit I wore to this August's When Words Collide Festival for Readers and Writers - but this time without the feather boa. 

Most of all, at Bouchercon I hope to meet a bunch of new mystery writers and readers from across Canada, the United States and the rest of the world. Who knows where these connections and varied experiences will lead me next? It's a mystery.   

    

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow? by Karla Stover

bwlauthors.blogspot.com

I love the feeling of fresh air on my face and the wind blowing through my hair. Evel Knievel

Lady Godiva hid her naked body with flowing locks of hair. Anne (of Green Gables) Shirley died her red hair green. Jo March cut hers off. Since time immemorial, women have been doing things with their hair.

In ancient Greece, (unless you were a slave) the only time women didn't have long hair was when they were in mourning. Most of the time, they let their tresses fall over their shoulders and down their back, sometimes restraining it with a headband or diadem. Over the ensuing years, buns, headbands, scarves, and hair covers came into play.

Meanwhile, Roman women were constantly changing their hair styles. Fashionable, elaborate dos were how they showed "worth and social standing." And in Egypt, while both boys and girls had their hair "cut short  or shaved off, except for a long lock--the lock of youth-- on  the side of the head, women liked a "smooth, close coiffure, a natural wave, and a long curl."

In Europe, the years passed by until the Renaissance came along. Women still preferred long hair, but they also wanted to expose their foreheads. To achieve this, they created coils above their ears through braiding (think Princess Leia). They then covered these coils with hoods and wimples, or with hairnets and snoods decorated these with gold, pearls or semi-precious stones.

When red hair became popular, thanks, in part to Elizabeth I, men and women used borax, saltpeter, saffron, and sulphur to achieve the desired red color. The combination made them sick ,but that's never been a deterrent to beauty. One wonders if Anne Shirley ever knew how popular the color was..


Which brings us back to Jo March. Thanks to the Civil War, and that Monarch  of Melancholy, Queen Victoria, the Victorian era was extremely sentimental. And for some reason, this inspired women to make a variety of ornaments out of human hair. It was used to make bracelets (when your sweetheart is going to war, what says, I love you more than a bracelet made from your hair?) When family members have died, what better way to remember them than earrings made from their hair? Or if you have a  lot of  time and a  lot of deceased relatives, how about a framed hair wreath?

Human hair artifacts were first made by the Norwegians. Then the French perfected the craft. Soon, companies were manufacturing gold mountings for jewelry, and selling the tools needed--bobbins, thread, a stand and counterbalance, and molds--and Godey's Lady's Magazine was printing instructions.

And if women weren't doing arts and crafts with hair, they were "carefully pulling the broken and spent strands from their hair brushes, and storing them away in a pretty hair receiver." When they had enough hair they "either put it in a hairnet or rolled it into a sausage-like shape" and use it to help create those "fabulous victory rolls that we see in old photos." These clumps of hair were called rats, and the practice continued until "well into the 20th century" As a very young girl, I saw my grandmother's rat and thought it was a bit creepy.

Through out history, women have used henna, indigo, senna, turmeric, black walnut hulls, red ochre, leeks, and whatever else nature provided to dye their hair black, gold, green, red, yellow, and white. Though why white is a puzzle since most women were trying to hide white hair. According to The Art of Hair Work, both extreme fright and excessive grief can turn hair white. When my neighbor's mother died, her (the neighbor, not the deceased mother) dark hair turned white over night.

And both sexes have worn so many wigs for so long. that's a blog of its own.

Cocoa Chanel once said, "A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life." There are a few celebrities who I wish would do something with their hair. Angie Dickinson has the same style she wore in her Police Woman days, and Marie Osmond could add five pounds to her weight loss ad if she cut hers.

With age, a woman 's face begins to sag. Hair hanging down the side of the face accents this.  From what I see on Nexflix, British woman are smarter about this than American  women are.






Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow? by Karla Stover

bwlauthorsblogspot.karlastover


I love the feeling of the fresh air on my face and the wind blowing through my air. Evel Knievel


                                                                
Lady Godiva hid her nakedness with hers. Little Women's Jo March cut hers off. Anne (of Green Gables) Shirley died hers green. Evel Knievel aside, Coco Chanel said "A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life." The thing is--these days, it's hard to find a woman with short hair. And we're not very original. Our contemporary hairstyles go way back--as far back as 4th century B.C., when women "used combs and hairpins in their tresses . . . believed thick hair was best and used hair extensions and wigs made of real hair or sheep's wool. They even dyed their hair and wigs a variety of colors, with blues, greens, blondes and golds being their favored choices." In ancient Greece, women pulled their hair into chignons, which they sometimes dyed red, and, if they could afford it, then sprinkled with  gold powder. Roman women often made wigs and ringlets from the hair of their slaves.

From the 16th to the 19th century, European women began wearing smaller hair coverings, or ornaments such as jewels, feathers, ribbons and flowers, or "small crafted objects such as replicas of ships and windmills." Bound hair was pious, and who hasn't seen or read the sexually-symbolic gesture of pulling of a woman pulling out her hair pins and letting her locks fall with abandon?



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During the Renaissance, women often lightened their hair and then French braided it with jewels and ribbons. In the time  of Elizabeth I, red hair was popular. And all over Europe, Women were wearing snoods or balzos or decorated cauls made from a variety of things.


In a style called the hurluberlu coiffure women actually cut their hair and styled it "in a mop of downward-pointing curls which were arranged thickly at the back of the head and neck." However, short hairstyles didn't last. Updos and buns, curls and swirls came back and apparently are here to stay. Stylebistro.com has "Haute Hairstyles for Women over 50" and there it is, all that hair hanging down, accentuating what nature is already doing to the mature face.





But, getting back to Jo March, the Victorian era, thanks to the American Civil War and Queen Victoria (called the Monarch of Mourning by Nationalgeographic.com) was a period of extreme sentimentality, and one result of that was the idea of making watch fobs, jewelry, corsages, and wreaths from human hair. What could be more romantic than sending your sweetheart off to war with a bracelet made from your hair, or to weave locks from deceased family members into earrings, necklaces, or wreaths to hang on the wall?


According to the book, The Art of Hair Work, the Norwegians were among the first to come up with the idea of jewelry made from human hair, and then the French perfected it. Between  1859 and 1860, the United States imported somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 pounds. The same source also mentions people whose hair turned white overnight from grief. (It happened to a neighbor of mine.) Or changed color from fright.


My heartfelt pleas go to many mature women who are still in the limelight: Kathy Lee Gifford, for example, and Angie Dickinson (who hasn't changed her hairstyle since her days on Police Woman )and especially Marie Osmond ( she could loose another five pounds if she chopped off that mop).

                                         Please cut your hair.

 

                                                                           
 

Getting to Know Me

Heather Greenis' author page at Books We Love

​Canadian, born and raised in Ontario, I'm a humanitarian, and an environmentalist. Refuse! Reduce! Re-use! I'm proud of the fact we have solar panels on our home. We aren't off the grid, but we are putting clean energy into the grid.
​We have a 20 pound fluff-ball who runs the house. The humans simply pay the bills and ensure she gets fed at least twice a day. She is rather insistent upon the treats as well. My sister calls her the 'princess'. Our dog isn't spoiled at all.
 
My husband is an avid reader who gets the first read on my manuscripts. If he likes the plot, he does some editing and gives me advice and suggestions. I'm always open for those, even when I grumble and argue about it. If he doesn't like my latest attempt, I sulk in the corner like a kid. Not really, just in my mind.  But that manuscript gets placed on the back-burner until I decide what to do with it. Delete is aways an option.

My goal as an author is to entertain, but I develop plots with the hope of making my readers think. And maybe, just maybe, together, we can make this world a better place.

Blurb

The Natasha Saga  -  a four part continuing family saga

Empowerment shatters traditions and lives. Greed and pride have devastating consequences. Sacrifices must be made. Written on multiple levels, the saga deals with hope, relationships, and giving, set against a background of conflicting values. 

Through a series of dreams, modern day couple Keeghan and William follow the triumphs and tragedies of multiple generations of the Donovan family. A chance encounter changes Natasha’s life, forever. In her diary, Natasha writes of her dream, and her hope to escape a horrid dictated future.

Will Natasha's legacy survive an uncertain future?

Natasha's Dream, Natasha's Diary, Natasha's Hope, and the conclusion, Natasha's Legacy

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Glacier fed Waterfalls and Lakes

If you've been following my blog, you'll know we celebrated Canada's 150th birthday in the scenic mountains of Alberta. Canmore is a stone's throw from the provincial boundary so we packed another picnic lunch and headed for B.C. 

During our travels in Alberta, we had seen a number of wildlife overpasses. Months ago, hubby and I watched a documentary on these structures being built in Alberta. I know, I know, you're thinking, seriously? But these bridges/overpasses have a special purpose. Wire fences line the highway and lead to lush grass and tree covered bridges. 

This allows an enticing and safe crossing over the busy highways for wildlife. What a fantastic idea. A safe haven for the animals, and prevents automobiles from swerving to avoid a collision. We did not see a single fatality by the side of the road. Nor did we experience a road closure for an accident. That's a win win. 

Road construction slowed our progress shortly after we crossed into the province. As we got closer to the road crew we realized B.C. had an animal overpass in process. Congrats. Hint hint, we need more of them, Canada. Protect our wildlife.

Our journey west continued toward Kicking Horse Pass National Historic Site. We parked at the spiral tunnel lookout. An engineer had designed a route for a drop in elevation that zigged and zagged railway tracks through the mountains and around a thick forest of trees. A train had just passed when we arrived.

Continuing along, into Yoho National Park, we began steering the car up along a sometimes steep, narrow road through the mountains into the heavens. At least I thought we were heading towards heaven. The view of snow capped mountains had my jaw hanging. Spectacular doesn't begin to describe the scenery. Hubby steered up and up and up, pulling to the side when able and giving way to the odd oncoming vehicle. "There it is." I pointed. My voice rose with the excitement of a three year old, getting my first glimpse of the narrow but high falls. 

We parked our car in one of the three almost filled to capacity lots. 

A young med student from the southern USA joined us for lunch and a great conversation. With our full bellies, we hiked toward the cascade.  

Even from a distance, the heavenly mist damped my face and body. A welcome relief on a warm day. As we trekked closer, the overwhelming force of the waterfall created a powerful wind as it plunged to the river below. A small person alert. The wind caught the tip of my baseball hat, sending it airborne. Thankfully, my husband caught it.

Check out this picture. The climbers. The mountain rock is sandstone. Sand cemented into rock. It can crumble. Not the best for this sport. 

Leaving B.C, we gave Lake Louise one last chance. I wanted to cheer with delight when we were guided to a parking spot. Following the signs, we strolled through a small forest and saw the hotel. Not as grand or stately as the Banff Springs Hotel, we veered to the left and spotted the lake, nestled discretely behind. 





We stepped onto the boardwalk and stood in awe at yet another glacier fed turquoise lake. Seeing the sunlight glisten on the glassy surface, time stood still as we took it in. 

Out came the cameras. My bucket list received another tick mark. 

Next month, our vacation continues as we headed east. 






Heather Greenis