Canadian Authors-Alberta: Crafting Crime Fiction – 3 Separate Yet Intertwined Approaches

9:30 – 10:00 Introductions and expectations 

10:00 to 11:30 Research with E.C. Bell

Learn how to weave in your research without weighing down pacing; what to exclude/include in your narrative; how to lay down the trail to the central secret; and more. Exercises will include real world research for setting.
Questions about research.

11:30 to 12:00 Lunch

12:00 to 1:30 Plotting with S.G. Wong: 
Explore how strong characterization leads to compelling plots that keep the reader intrigued and guessing until the all-important reveal—and then some. Exercises will focus on reverse engineering plot points and the basic building blocks of character.
Questions about plotting.

1:30 to 1:45 Refreshment break

1:45 to 3:15 Narrative Voice with J.E. Barnard: 

Delve into elements including narrator selection, elements of voice, simple obfuscation, and the risky option of the unreliable narrator. Exercises will focus on shifting points of view and narrator sketches.
Questions about narrative voice.

AUTHOR BIOS

J.E. BARNARD

Calgary author Jayne Barnard is best known for the award-winning Maddie Hatter Adventures (Tyche Books), a lighthearted and fantastical YA crime series whose most recent title is Maddie Hatter and the Singapore Sting. Her first contemporary mystery novel, When the Flood Falls, debuts The Falls Mysteries (new in 2018 from Dundurn Press). Her fiction accolades include the Unhanged Arthur and Bony Pete awards for crime fiction, and nominations for the UK Debut Dagger, the Book Publishing in Alberta Award, the Prix Aurora, and three Great Canadian Story prizes. She lives in a cottage at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, keeping cats and secrets.

E.C. BELL

E.C. Bell likes to play between genres. She is the author of the paranormal Marie Jenner Mystery series and has had speculative fiction published in On Spec and various anthologies. She edits both fiction and nonfiction. Seeing the Light (2014), the first in her series, won the Alberta Book Publishing Award and was shortlisted for the Bony Blithe award for light fiction. Her speculative fiction won double Auroras in 2009. Dying on Second (2018), the fourth in her series, was shortlisted for the Bony Blithe award. Shiny! She is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.

S.G. WONG

Arthur Ellis Awards finalist, Whistler Independent Book Awards nominee, and indie author S.G. Wong writes the Lola Starke series and Crescent City short stories: hard-boiled detective tales set in an alternate-history 1930s-era “Chinese L.A.” replete with ghosts and magic. A member of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, she is also Past President of Sisters in Crime-Canada West chapter. As an acclaimed moderator and creator, she has presented on panels and workshops in diverse venues including ChiSeries Winnipeg, Bouchercon (Toronto), the Vancouver Public Library, and LitFest Alberta. She is based in Edmonton where she can often be found staring out the window in between frenzied bouts of typing.