Being a talented writer with a good book is never enough. The hard part for many writers is managing the next steps of publishing and distribution, marketing and sales. The book business is a particular challenge for writers without prior business experience and without an entrepreneurial mindset. In this webinar presentation, Del Chatterson, CWC member and author of the Dale Hunter Series of crime thrillers, will share his storytelling journey and the lessons learned from the perspective of an experienced entrepreneur, business advisor, and writer for entrepreneurs. He will address the common criteria for success in entrepreneurship and in creative writing and how telling a good story is so important to both.
Bio
Delvin Chatterson is the internationally acclaimed author of the Dale Hunter Thriller Series, an explosive mix of crime and corruption in the computer business of the 1980s. Dale Hunter and his buddy, Frank the Fixer, were introduced in 2018 with NO EASY MONEY, followed by SIMPLY THE BEST, and MERGER MANIAC. Del is continuing the Dale Hunter series with three more novels coming soon – BAD BOYS IN BOSTON, CRASH LANDING, and WHATEVER IT TAKES. He is also working on another novel and writing collections of short stories.
As a former entrepreneur, business advisor, and cheerleader for enlightened entrepreneurship, Del has written extensively on business topics for decades and continues to write on entrepreneurship under the pen name of Your Uncle Ralph. Originally from the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Del has lived and worked for most of the last fifty years in the fascinating French-Canadian city of Montreal.
Course description:
Cozy crime is on the rise. Or maybe it's never really gone. Modern writers like Richard Osman and Janice Hallett have breathed new life into the genre pioneered by the likes of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. This webinar will look at the fundamentals of what makes a cozy mystery different from other mystery fiction, and how to put a more comforting face on your fictional cops and killers.
Bio:
Jonathan Whitelaw is an award-winning author, journalist and broadcaster. After working on the frontline of Scottish politics, he moved into journalism, covering everything from sports to music to radioactive waste – and everything in between. He moved to Alberta from the UK in 2022 and his latest book - The Concert Hall Killer - is released in July.
Characters of colour, of other genders or differing sexual orientations is necessary work that, to (greatly) paraphrase Toni Morrison, 'permits intimacy with the Other'. But how does a writer achieve this in our current landscape, where action and reaction to some works representing these characters, particularly when published by white writers, can quickly become incendiary. By focusing on the three parties who are critical to the act of reading: the writer, the reader and the characters themselves, Colleen will shed some light on how to tread down this road when creating Black characters specifically, by offering both insights and actions that writers keen to do this well, may consider.
Bio
Colleen van Niekerk is the South African-Canadian author of 'A Conspiracy of Mothers'. This debut literary novel is set in South Africa in 1994 at the brink of democracy for that country. It grapples with the fallout of apartheid as an exiled woman tries to find her way back to her home and family. Colleen's second novel - still in pre-publication - deals with the question of what it means to be Black for a mixed-race family in a modern North American context. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, she lives in Vancouver, BC.
Find her at www.colleenvanniekerk.com
With mountains of information on writing and publishing, where do you start? How do you make sure you're not falling for a scam and using a reputable service? N.L. Blandford will discuss how, as a member of Crime Writers of Canada, you have tools at your disposal with the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) to not only protect you, but to skill up your writing.
Bio
N.L. (Natasha) Blandford is the author of four published novels. Three dark psychological thrillers that captivate readers and play on their emotions (The Perilous Road To Her (2021), The Perilous Road To Freedom (2021), The Perilous Road To Him (2022)). Her newest release, The Great Bloody North (2023) is a light-hearted comedy thriller inspired by the iconic Canadian characters, Bob & Doug McKenzie. N.L. Blandford is the Canadian Ambassador for The Alliance of Independent Authors, where she advocates to dismantle the stigma of self publishing. N.L. Blandford resides in Nova Scotia where she is building a life of dream exploration with her husband, mild mannered dog, Watson, and two mischievous kittens Loki and Lulu.