Getting away with murder

The chilling headline almost passed unnoticed, coming as it did late Friday before the long Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

Oh, my goodness, I gasped. They're going to get away with murder!


That was my fear when I was writing FATAL ERROR, the second novel in my BackTracker series, centred around the murder trial of members of The Traz biker gang. There was a technical issue, a slight slip of protocol, a withholding of some minor evidence. Enough, though, that the bikers launch an appeal of their convictions and the Supreme Court of Canada agrees to hear their complaints.

The BackTracker Series

Could it be that after undercover agents Shrug and Chad risked their lives and their souls infiltrating the gang in order to bring it down that their efforts are going to be for naught?



Could it possibly be that even though young Katrina finally breaks down and agrees to testify against these violent, powerful men, they are going to be set free? Could it be that no one would ever pay for young Lukas' senseless, violent death?

Young Katrina testified in FATAL ERROR

Could it be that the millions of dollars in taxpayers money spent on the Operation, the investigation, the trials would be spent in vain?

Would it be, after all that, the Traz bikers will walk free, take back the streets, sell their drugs, recruit vulnerable children, kill again...and again?


That scenario was scary enough in a novel, but for me to face it in real life...


Yes, I know the power of gangs so when late last Friday, the start of a long weekend, a judge quietly dismissed the murder charges against a group of Hells Angels, I shuddered.


I had looked forward to following what was being billed a 'mega trial'. A dozen or more Hells were being brought up on all kinds of charges, included many murder charges. This after many more charges had been dismissed because a judge ruled justice was taking too long. A special court house was designed...for everyone's safety.  Then some of those charged pleaded guilty, some died, some walked free and the 'mega trial' turned out to be for five Hells Angels only.


I was to be further disappointed when I discovered there was very little media coverage of the trial. None in English. I had to search with several engines and translate from French to find out what was going on in that special Montreal courtroom. That one of the crown's star witnesses was an ex-Hells Angel surprised me. Bikers don't turn on each other, at least in my BackTracker series they didn't.


Then came the grand slam of disappointments...the trial is dismissed because that ex-biker's testimony contradicted evidence the police had gathered but had not been shared with the defence...for reasons we do not know.


The power of gangs.


In my BackTracker series, members of biker gangs use threats, bribes, drugs, money, blackmail, flattery, romance and bullets to silence the media, to bypass justice, to get their way. They use high-powered lawyers, well-placed allies, and political friends. They use computer hackers to corrupt evidence and lies and conniving to avoid paying for their crimes.


So...what did they use in real life? I have a feeling I will never know.


Here's the link to that chilling Friday headline:

Judge orders end of SharQC Hells Angels trial over Crown's handling of evidence

Getting away with murder is brought to you by:

FATAL ERROR

"Courage and insight make for a compelling read" 

“...a worthy sequel to the explosive ‘THE TRAZ’.”

“Wise, haunting, deeply moving…unforgettable!”

 “The very best in today's motorcycle gang stories just got a little better.”

Get DIVINE INTERVENTION free!

Free October 10-12 on Amazon - http://getBook.at/DivineIntervention

CFBI agent Jasmine McLellan leads a psychically gifted team in the hunt for a serial arsonist--a murderer who has already taken the lives of three people. 

Jasi and her team members--Psychometric Empath and profiler Ben Roberst and Victim Empath Natassia Prushenko--are joined by Brandon Walsh, the handsome but skeptical Chief of Arson Investigations. In a manhunt that takes them from Vancouver to Kelowna, Penticton and Victoria, they are led down a twisting path of sinister secrets. 

Free October 10-12 on Amazon - http://getBook.at/DivineIntervention

And pick up DIVINE JUSTICE, book 2 in the trilogy for $0.99 during the same dates via Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

You Write This Great Book, and Then...

...you have to let people know about it.
Honestly? Yuck.
I'd rather people see the title (A LETHAL TIME AND PLACE--now, isn't that compelling?) and say to themselves, "The '60s? Murder? Plot twists? I have to own that book!"
But no. There are thousands of books and authors out there, clamoring for readers' attention.
So authors do stuff--promotion stuff.
*We do pre-release buzz: Little blurbs all over the place that say, "Hey, this book is cool and unique and you've heard of this woman if you're a mystery fan. She's gotten awards. She's gotten great reviews from all the big guys."
*We do specials. Amazon has a new thing: Kindle Countdown, and A Lethal Time and Place is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 3rd. The idea is that you get the book for 99 cents for the first few days of the sale, then the price starts to slide upward to its original amount. I guess the message is "HURRY! BUY IT NOW!"
*We do more. Announcements. Blogs. We beg for reviews (Please, just 20 words! You can do that!). We Facebook, Tweet, Goodreads, and onward. We get our name out there. We get our book's name out there.
But honestly? Yuck. I'd rather be working on the sequel.

How Much to Tell the Reader

A book has an intriguing subplot. It's cool. It's satisfying. It's unique.
So how much do you tell the reader?
When I introduced my Dead Detective Series, I thought it was essential to keep the fact that the main character was dead a secret until the reader got to know her a little. Not so the reviewers, who started with that, thrilled with the idea of dead people investigating crimes in order to provide answers for victims. The book got EPIC's Best Novel of 2012, despite the fact I thought the reviews spoiled the surprise for readers.

I'm about to send my next project into the world, A LETHAL TIME AND PLACE (December). It, too, has surprises, though they have nothing to do with the Afterlife. The lead characters have secrets, and it's obvious from the first they're desperate to protect them. That becomes difficult when they witness a murder and take in a young orphan. Murder will out, as they say, and secrets are hard to keep with a teenager around.

I'm having a little difficulty writing the promo copy. How do I get across how enjoyable the process of finding out about these people is without giving away the very things the reader will want to read the book for? I guess it's a good problem to have--so much mystery in the mystery!

I'm looking for reviewers who'd like a free e-copy, so contact me if you're the reviewing sort and this book sounds like something you'd enjoy.
 www.pegherring.com or find me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pegs-News/108697482481217?ref=hl#

Goodnight, Tweetheart by Cheryl Kaye Tardif is featured at the Twitter Fiction Festival

Yesterday, I participated in the inaugural Twitter Fiction Festival. I tweeted a short story I wrote live during the evening of this event. You can read the tweets by going to #goodnighttweetheart on Twitter, or you can read the short short below.

GOODNIGHT, TWEETHEART

A Myrtle Murphy Mystery by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

One tweet. That's all it took to send my life spiralling out of control. One goddamn little tweet on that magic social network pipeline. If I had only known it would lead to murder, maybe I wouldn't have tweeted it.

My tweet: Anyone out there live near the Starbucks in SE Edmonton?

The result: Six replies. Two from jokesters who lived in Edmonton, Kentucky. I'm in Canada. The other four I wasn't too sure about. Could be weirdos; could be lonely people. There are a lot of crackpots out there—and I've met a few of them online. Haven't we all?

I mean, I've had the "twalker" (tweet stalker) who has followed me, RTd my tweets…and then hit me up for a "favor," only to get all pissy because I wouldn't give them my first born. I've had the bashers who haven't liked my tweets. Aw, gee, too damned bad. It's a free tweet world!

But on that day last week, I had 4 tweeps. 2 turned into creeps. One ended up in Zimbabwe or some such country. The other…well, there was my mistake. The other convinced me to meet him at that Starbucks I'd tweeted about.

You ever get those weird fuzzy feelings? You know, when you know something's not quite right? Well, I did. I had all sorts of "warnings." But I was too stupid to listen to them.

I met him at Starbucks and my first reaction was: Holy ****! What a hunk! We went back to his place. "For a drink," he told me. But I had other plans.

I tried to reign in my urges, but as soon as he took off his jacket, my palms grew sweaty. I wanted him. Hell, did I want him! I imagined him naked, on the bed, wrists and ankles bound. 50 Shades of Grey, my ass. I'd give him a hundred, and he'd enjoy each one.

Before I tell you what happened next, you have to promise me you won't tell a soul. This is just between you and me—our little secret. And if you tell, I guess I'd have to kill you.

Now where was I? Oh yes…the hunk on the bed, naked, tied up. Sadly it didn't go quite as planned. The drug I slipped into his wine took too long to work and I grew impatient. Patience never has been one of my virtues. Just ask my husband. Oh wait, he's dead. Okay, ask my mother-in-law. Oh wait. She's dead too. Here's another secret: I killed them both.

And on that night, after a delicious chai tea latte date, I slowly undressed that hunk of a man, watched as he stretched out on the bed, his mind trying to comprehend.

"I thought you were just a sweet old lady looking for someone to talk to," he said.

I smiled. "I know, dear. I do look like the grandmotherly type, don't I?"

He didn't fight as I tied him to the bed. He couldn't. His drug-glazed eyes pleaded with me.

I held up my knife, its sleek blade glimmering in the dim light. "I have something for you."

Actually, it was more for me than him. I had missed my old friend Death. It had been too long.

Like Dexter, I have my own "dark passenger" that I just can't shake. Don't know if I want to. Some call me a monster. Others call me a serial killer. But most people call me Myrtle—Myrtle Murphy.

Want to get together for a coffee some day?

~ * ~

If you enjoyed this short Myrtle Murphy Mystery, you'll find longer stories featuring the serial killer you'll hate to love in SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET & OTHER CREEPY STORIES, available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle, and on B&N, Apple, Kobo Books and more.

Murder's Not as Easy as It Looks

Vicarious murder, I mean. Not sure how difficult the real kind is, and I really don't want to know.

For a mystery writer, though, murder becomes problematical. First, it has to be entertaining for the reader. Some writers go for gory detail, but that isn't my cup of poison, so I have to be creative. And when you've got a few books out, you start to realize that all the murders can't be the same kind. The victim can't always be shot or pushed down the stairs. Readers notice these things.

To make matters worse, a crime must have repercussions. If the police know a murder's been committed, there will be an investigation. If that happens, likely suspects will be examined for motive, means, and opportunity. Everyone who's ever seen Perry Mason re-runs knows it, so the writer must help his killer remain undetected, at least for 200 pages or so.

Does he make the murder seem accidental? Good idea, but how? When you actually try to set up a convenient accident, you'll find it isn't as simple as it might seem. What if someone sees the killer at the victim's house? How does he get the person to cooperate in his own demise? What about all those CSI people who'll be looking at every shred of evidence?

Does the killer try to blame someone else? Possible, but he (or she) will have to assure that the person hasn't got an alibi. He'll have to lead the police to his choice of suspect and away from himself.

And what about the method? Face-to-face methods are quick but require either sangfroid or the opposite (would that be sangchaud?) More removed methods call for careful planning. Many a murder mystery has been ruined for me because the killer could not have known he'd get the right victim and might just as easily killed someone else entirely (of course, that could be part of the plot...)

Right now I'm planning my next plot (or is that plotting my next plan?), and I want the victim to die of poison. Fine. Now which poison will provide what I want: a quick death that looks like suicide that can be administered by an unknowing third party by a manipulative killer several thousand miles away?

I don't ask for much, really. I just want an entertaining (vicarious) death.

Crime children

The age of the 13-year old female protagonist in my novel, THE TRAZ, has raised the eyebrows of some readers unfamiliar with street life. It seems people hear in the news about child prostitution, child porn, run-aways, and juvenile crime but don't connect those news items to real children. It's easy to close our eyes to such things and pretend such events are happening in an alternate universe or, at the very least, in foreign countries an ocean away.

However, the kids in those headlines are quite real. Youngsters do get involved in street life for various reasons, not the least of which is often the lack of parental guidance. It was not long ago that the body of a young lad was found in a burnt out stolen vehicle not far from where I live. It took police a long time to identify the 14-year old victim because no one reported him missing for several weeks.  That is sad...and real.

It isn't only children with questionable parenting that are at risk. Problems common to all teens can cause some to seek out a life of crime. Some teens simply like the rush they get from engaging in illegalities. Others are depressed, trying to escape bullying, seeking to belong. Most have no idea of what they are getting into.

It is best to understand the dangers kids face, engage them in alternate activities to fullfil their needs, and get them medication and or counselling if they have mental health issues. Sometimes youngsters won't listen to our warnings about the dangers of a lifestyle they find alluring. That's where a good book like THE TRAZ can come in handy.

It's about the year young Katrina spends with THE TRAZ, a criminal biker gang. It's not preachy. It just tells her story. Bluntly. Complete with the coarse language of the street. It tells how a brilliant, beautiful and wealthy child gets sucked in by nefarious adults...and how it becomes impossible for her to escape. It tells of drugs, and weapons, and a murder. By book's end, the chrome on those exciting Harleys is a lot duller than when Katrina first clamoured on one.
************************

Download THE TRAZ from Amazon.com:

Download THE TRAZ from Amazon.co.uk:

Did I Tell You About My New Book?

Writers are worse than grandparents sometimes at extolling the virtues of their newest addition. I am often surprised at how many authors NEED to tell me the plot of their book, from page one to the end. Um, why should I buy the book when you just told me the WHOLE THING???? Anyway.

I have a new suspense novel out this month called SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD. Here's what you need to know about it:

While touring Britain, Mercedes Maxwell finds a handwritten notebook that claims William Shakespeare had a brother named John who was an agent for James I of England. Captured by outlaws, John died rather than reveal the location of a trove of Spanish gold. When someone is willing to kill for the notebook, Mercedes realizes that the story might be true.
In a reign of terror, those who know about the notebook are murdered and left posed as characters from Shakespearean tragedy. Solving the book’s clues is the only way to stop the killing, but although Mercedes can call on several people for help, she fears that none of them can be trusted where treasure is concerned.
The unraveling of the clues becomes even more critical as the killer turns his sights on Mercedes. The message from the man who called himself John Shakespeare leads her across Britain in a terrifying race to find the treasure, to stay alive, and to learn the secrets of Shakespeare’s blood.
You can buy it for Kindle now. Nook, although slower, is working on it.

Intrigued? Oh, I hope so. Here's the buy link to Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeares-Blood-ebook/dp/B0053GCTLE/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1307965956&sr=1-6#sfmsg_-7890@@

SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD Is Here!

Waaaaay back in 2007, we were driving in the hills of West Virginia, two innocent tourists, when my phone rang. "Your book, SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD, has been chosen as a finalist in Amazon's Breakout Novel Contest," someone informed me. Well, that changed the tenor of conversation in that car, as you can well imagine.
But nothing happened. The book did not ultimately win Amazon's contest. The agency that took it on was not successful in selling it, although editors who looked at it said nice things. And in the meantime, my historical series took off. I was too busy to deal with Mr. Shakespeare and his blood.
It happens. Authors have stuff that could be published--should be published, but finite limits of time and energy just don't allow them to do everything they would like to do. But opportunity knocked last fall, and suddenly SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD was on the front burner again. (I have to admit, I've got more front burners now than I once had!) June first, 2011 was the target date for e-book publication, and darned if it hasn't come about. Softcover? Maybe soon. It's a matter of all those burners staying operational.
The book is classified as mystery/suspense, and it concerns a tourist in the UK caught up in a search for gold and the truth about an English spy and his connection to William Shakespeare. I had a lot of fun with the whole "Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare?" idea, and it's pretty clear at the end that I believe he did. What I aimed for was an exciting chase story with lots of clever clues and intriguing details for those who like Shakespeare.
SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD is available from Amazon, B&N, and other e-reader sites:
You can read more about it on my website: http://pegherring.com

The bodies at Gilgo...

Detectives were looking for a young woman that had disappeared... like so many others. She was pretty once, someone's little girl, but drugs and prostitution ravaged her... and now she was missing. Cops searched a lonely stretch of beach in Long Island, a place of gray sands and wretched tufts of grass and weeds. There is no laughter here, no smell of suntan lotion or picnic lunches. Even the ocean, as gray as the sand and sky, seems to refuse to lend its song to the greasy waves that roll onto the shore and then recede... as if ashamed.

The cops haven't found that young lady, but they did find the bodies of ten others very much like her... all wrapped in burlap, and all discarded along this mostly wild and untidy finger of sand and surf. Who they are, thanks to the marvels of forensic medicine, was fairly easy to determine. Who put them there and why is another matter altogether. The NYPD and the FBI have teamed up to investigate the work of yet another serial killer, they have even stretched their dragnet overseas and have enlisted the aid of Interpol.

It is all so sobering, and yet so scary and fascinating at the same time. That initial young lady lost, in a quiet and most profound way, led to the discovery of ten more young women who might otherwise have never been found. In their search for her, those detectives unearthed the works of a monster... and now the hunt grows in scope and in urgency. They want to stop this killer before he kills again. I hope they succeed.

Bad Words

As a teacher, I used to get a lot of interest when I told my classes that we would be discussing swearwords. In the first place, I don't think the students thought I knew any. In the second place, most kids don't think much about where such words come from.
Swearing is ancient. It's addressed in the Ten Commandments. (In case you weren't paying attention, it's frowned upon.) People have apparently always had an urge to call other people something really, really bad when they're mad at them. What's interesting is what we consider bad.
Using terms for the Creator "in vain" was and still is to many people the worst sort of language. Oddly, some Christian cultures see it differently: the German "Mein Gott" and the French "Mon Dieu" are seen as expressions, not swearing. We've gone a long way in that direction. Even those nice game shows on TV don't bother to bleep the "Oh, my God" repetitions from joyful contestants anymore.
In addition to terms concerning the Deity, there are lots of other "bad" words, including words that demean another person. In an earlier post, I mentioned that some words did not start out to be insults, like "wench" and "villain". They were terms for the lower class and, since there were only two classes, the upper class took offense when those terms were applied to them.
Different cultures insult each other in different ways. European and Asian insults often liken a person to an animal, like calling someone a "goat" or a "buffalo". The Japanese tend to insult a person by implying that he does not act logically, and they also drag vegetables into it, perhaps calling someone an "irrational carrot". An interesting Jewish insult seems like a compliment on the surface. If a traditional Jew says "may a child be named after you", don't get all warm and fuzzy. In their tradition, children are not named after living people. So he's wishing...well, you get it.
American insults tend to be sexual, which probably stems from our Puritan roots, i.e., sex is bad, so people are insulted by referring to their sexual behavior. Generally, we insult a woman by saying that she sleeps around. Oddly enough, you really can't insult a man that way: “gigolo” just doesn’t have the hurting power of “whore”. You can, however, insult a man’s MOTHER’s sexuality, and the circumstances of his birth. Those are usually fighting words.
Terms that indicate sexual perversion are favorites for insults among males. They come and go rapidly, creating confusion for the uninitiated. I worked with a teacher who went ballistic if students used the word “bugger”. Her background was English, and to her it was a very nasty word. The kids would come to me in genuine confusion to ask why she got so upset. To them, and to most speakers of American English, it was a pretty innocuous word.
Research in some tribal areas in the South Seas found that our worst sexually-based insults seemed humorous to the people living there. The idea that a man would sleep with his mother brought laughter, since it was so far out of their experience. Conversely, a terrible insult in the Maori culture is something like "cooked head", which we don't get at all. (Maybe we don’t want to consider whence that one came!)
It's interesting to note that when so-called "swear words" are over-used, they lose their original potency and even their meaning. Used as adjectives to modify any noun, even nouns the speaker has nothing against, they become brain stutters, fillers thrown into some people’s speech without insult or even intent. The speakers seem unaware of them, but they might insult listeners who object either to the word choice or to the constant repetition. There are frequent arguments among readers and writers about how much swearing is enough or too much in books. For me, language helps to establish characters, and I don’t mind swearing that does that. Craig Johnson’s Moretti, for example, is real to me because she is the perfect example of the unconscious swearer. Foul-mouthed, yes. A bad person? Hardly.
I suppose it comes down to what a person has been taught is insulting.
The Prizes-Weekly prizes (your choice of THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY in e- or print format) drawn from the names of those who comment on the blogs as we go. Comment once/day, but the first commenter each day gets entered twice in Saturday’s drawing!

The Pathway: The final entry in the February Blog Crawl will be Monday, Feb. 28, at Stacy Juba’s blog at http://www.stacyjuba.com/blog. This is your last chance to comment and enter the drawing for a copy of THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY in either paperback or e-book.
The Pitch: THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY, First in The Dead Detective Mysteries, paranormal mystery. Tori Van Camp wakes in a stateroom on a cruise ship with no memory of booking a cruise, but she does have a vivid recollection of being shot in the chest. Determined to find out what happened and why, Tori enlists the help of an odd detective named Seamus. Together they embark on an investigation like nothing she’s ever experienced. Death is all around her, and unless they act quickly, two people she cares about are prime candidates for murder. Read more about this book and the author at http://pegherring.com or buy the book at http://www.ll-publications.com/deaddetectiveagency.html.
The Perpetrator: Peg Herring writes historical and contemporary mysteries. She loves everything about publishing, even editing (most days). Peg’s historical series, The Simon and Elizabeth Mysteries, debuted in 2010 to great reviews. The second in the series will be available in November from Five Star.

Weather and Murder

Weather has really been in the news lately. Blizzards in a lot of the country and here where I live, it keeps raining and raining.

When you hear about people being trapped on a train for hours with no heat or food (and they didn't mention it, but what about toilet facilities?)you can bet murder was on the minds of a few. Once I was on a train that hit a car, fatal to the driver, and did damage to the train. We were stuck for several hours though we did have food, lights and the weather was fine, and they generously gave out free drinks. The only drawback was the toilets didn't work. I chose not to drink anything.

Here the rain is causing havoc. We have a river that runs behind our house and it is raging. We're up high enough not to worry, but there are plenty who are having to use sandbags to keep water out of their house. Ponds are overflowing causing more problems.

Approaches to the bridges are being closed because water and debris are coming over the top of the bridges, stranding some people in their homes.

All of these conditions are great possibilities to include in mysteries.

How are you faring in this unusual weather? Are you contemplating using any of it in a mystery?

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Guest blog: Using True Crime as Inspiration

I’m author Victoria Roder and I’m thrilled to be visiting on Criminal Minds at Work. As an author, the world around me is an endless opportunity for writing material. Everything I see, touch, taste, hear, and observe is ripe for the picking. I find the news to be a great source for storyline ideas. You can’t make up some of the crazy things people do. I wanted to share with you some unusual headlines from reputable newspapers I came across in my research.

• Police Seek Drag-dressing Car Thief
• Man in Superman Cape Stole Truck
• Three Charged in Bridal Shower Brawl
• Murder, Adultery, Witchcraft! Buffalo’s Shocking ‘Scandal of the Century!’
• Teenager Guilty of ‘Vampire’ Murder
• Dead Body Mistaken by Neighbors as a Halloween Display
• US woman found guilty of killing her husband by squashing him

The woman actually sat on her husband and suffocated him! If I wrote that in my novel readers might think the plot line was too far fetched, but it is actual news. I find human behavior fascinating and I am addicted to true crime shows. Did this woman suffocate her husband to death in a moment of irrationality or was something more sinister boiling under the surface of her personality for a long time? What made this wife murder her husband when the woman next door is capable of choosing divorce over suffocation, stabbing, or shooting her husband? True crime is crazier than fiction.

Feeding into my fascination of studying why people commit crimes, writing my suspense murder mystery novel, Bolt Action was thrilling. Secrets of the past, murder, mystery, revenge, deception, sexual tension, and the “State Quarter Killer”; Bolt Action from Champagne Books offers it all. Check out the book video at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqcYL_G7h7s. The buy link is http://www.omnilit.com/product-boltaction-426568-152.html

Victoria Roder lives in Central Wisconsin with her husband and house full of pets. She enjoys riding motorcycle, camping, hiking, shooting bow, and snow shoeing in the winter. Victoria Roder is also the author of paranormal romance The Dream House Visions and Nightmares, Asylett Press 2009. Her first picture book, What if a Zebra had Triangles? will be released soon from Vintage Reflections Publishing. She can be contacted through her website www.victoriaroder.com.

Mystery E-books: for Writers and E-readers

For some time it has bothered me that there seems to be no site online where a person can read about ONLY mysteries published as e-books. With some trepidation and a lot of help, I’ve decided to attempt to change that. A friend has established a blog that will be dedicated solely to mysteries that are e-published. The submission process is somewhat experimental right now, but the plan is that authors will tell us about their books, following the template found on the site. Please be careful to do exactly as asked, or your book will not be listed. We will not list self-pubbed books, and mystery—the solution of a crime--must be the dominant theme.
If you’d like to submit a book for consideration, go to the site : http://mysterebooks.blogspot.com. There you will find the template and a sample submission. Submit the completed post to mysterebooks@yahoo.com, and we’ll let you know the date of its appearance on MysterEbooks. We’ll also promote the site so that readers learn where they can go to find e-mysteries.
If you are a reader of mysteries on electronic devices, visit us often to read about new options for e-reading!

Cheryl & Cherish talk murder and romance over at I Love Canadian Authors

Please join me and my alter-ego Cherish D'Angelo as we discuss murder and romance, and answer questions from readers over at I Love Canadian Authors on Goodreads.com.

I'll be popping by the group throughout today, so be sure to leave me a question or two and I'll do my best to answer them. :-)

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/21249.I_Love_Canadian_Authors

And be sure to sign up on my website for FREeBOOK FRIDAY. I'll be giving away an ebook sometime on Friday. To enter, sign up for Divine News (top right corner) at http://www.cherylktardif.com/

Serial killers, child murderers, the Canadian Armed Forces and book deals

If you haven't heard recent news, let me say that it's one of the most shocking murder cases in Canadian history--especially in military history. Colonel Russell Williams, a Canadian military man who has commanded thousands and piloted presidents, has been accused in the brutal murders of two Ontario women. Charges of forcible confinement, sexual assault and break and enter of two other Ontario women have also been filed against Williams.

Random House Canada announced that they've signed a book deal with Timothy Appleby, a reporter for the Globe and Mail, just days after charges were laid. The book will detail the court case and presumably the accused will be interviewed, as in most true crime books. Will it give readers insights into the mind of a killer? Or sensationalize what is a terrible and horrifying tragedy for the victims and their families?

The book will be titled: Betrayal in Uniform: The Secret Life of Colonel Russell Williams

On a personal note:
I was recently contacted by the survivor of 2 murder victims, someone I've come to care for as a friend and admire for her strength. She asked me if I'd consider writing a book based on the trial, conviction and horror that was done to her loved ones. As her friend, it was very hard to say no. As someone wanting to see justice, that decision was even more difficult. As an author, I'll admit that too made it difficult. It's a horrific but compelling story.

Why did I decide not to write a book about a murderer and his victims? I don't believe I'm the kind of writer who could report only the facts, although I once was a reporter for a small BC newspaper. Facts don't appeal to me as much as emotion. And I cannot imagine being the one to rip the proverbial bandage off my friend's heart and expose her to more torture.

Did I make the right decision? I honestly don't know.

I don't judge any writer for jumping on an opportunity, but being that the Colonel Williams case is so fresh, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this book deal. I only hope that the truth comes out in court and that the victims' families find a sense of justice and peace afterwards. But I know from personal experience that being a survivor of a murder victim can be a grueling journey.

Colonel Russell Williams will be joining Steve and Lorelei Turner, formerly stationed at Canadian Forces Base in Chatham, NB. The Turners were convicted of torturing, starving and murdering their three-year-old son John. They were both sentenced to 16 years but have been paroled--early. According to the Canadian Press, "The boy had not eaten for weeks and may have refused food. In the final days of his life at Canadian Forces Base Chatham, N.B., John was restrained by a harness and gagged with a sock to muffle his cries. He died on May 29, 1994."

I had the misfortune of knowing Lorelei and Steve Turner. My husband and I were stationed at the same base. My baby and baby John played on a blanket in their living room. I can't even begin to tell you how it makes me feel to know I was in the home of brutal murderers. I wish I'd known and stopped them.

Links of interest:

Book deal signed for story of Colonel Russ Williams

Random House Canada signs Globe and Mail crime reporter Timothy Appleby to write a book on Colonel Russell Williams

Colonel Russ Williams's biography

Profile: Colonel Russ Williams charged with murders of Jessica Lloyd, Marie Comeau

"Ontario woman convicted of son's starvation death granted full parole"

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling suspense author
http://www.cherylktardif.com