Ever visited a Santa’s village as a kid? What if the Santa was up to no good? What if his fish camp was a front for a grow-op and other dark things?
Meet my favorite villain in Windigo Fire, now available in e-book on Amazon!
And for a Christmas treat, do check out the new stories by the Mesdames of Mayhem in 13 O’clock, which also features my suspense novella, Glow Grass.
Malice Domestic, the world’s leading cozy mystery conference, has published 17 anthologies. My friend, author Rosemary McCracken, whose story appeared in Mystery Most Edible, persuaded me to send in my story, “Wisteria Cottage”, to Mystery Most Traditional. But COVID intervened and the anthology was delayed. I’d forgotten about my story. until I received their happy acceptance email.
I only occasionally write cozies and “Wisteria Cottage” proved to be hard work. My inspiration came from my friend, TO Poet, an avid gardener, who warned me about the wisteria vine’s toxicity.
Alison is house-sharing Wisteria Cottage with her sister-in-law, Verna, while she gets over her husband’s death. Verna has an annoying habit of spying on her neighbour, a middle-aged cyclist with an eye for young women. This leads to trouble and hidden secrets…
Gone, An Anthology of Crime Stories, (Red Dog Press), Stephen J. Golds, ed. November, 2022
Thirty stories appear in this first-rate UK noir anthology – including my first British publication, my dark comedy, “Must Love Dogs – or You’re Gone”. I’m super-honored that my story made the cut out of the hundreds submitted!. It was inspired my dog-lover friend’s tale about a dog who would eat anything.
Frieda’s ex-husband, Rudy, is walking their dog, Flea, one frigid January morning when a hit-and-run driver knocks him off Leaside Bridge. Viktor, a mysterious Russian, visits Frieda for ‘a little chat’. Turns out that Rudy lost $1 million of Viktor’s money in bad Bitcoin trades. To pay off Rudy’s debt, Frieda goes to work for Viktor’s niece’s at her dog grooming service. But where is Flea? He’s the key to this life-threatening mess!
Mystery Magazine, November 2022 Issue
This is my first short story featuring Danny Bluestone, the protagonist of my novel, Windigo Fire. And it was a personal first, too. I was thrilled that Mystery Magazine accepted it and even better, it was the cover story on the November issue! The artist, Robin Grenville Evans, captured Danny’s brutal winter battle beautifully.
Danny’s friend, Corazon, runs the Arctic Ranger battalion in Red Dog Lake. She and Danny are down in Fort Francis overseeing a pilot Ranger project when their sponsor asks them to check out the damage to his ice fishing hut. To keep him happy, Danny heads out into the winter cold with an eager Ranger wannabe. but she proves to be a deceitful liar…
In the Spirit of 13 (Carrick Publishing) Donna Carrick, ed., October 2022
This is the Mesdames of Mayhem’s fifth anthology, published in October, 2022. A collection of 23 fantastical crime stories by 22 authors: they are tales for dark times about spirits of all kinds: ghosts, debunking of same, demons, demon rum – even rum running! I’m happy that it includes “Amdur’s Ghost”, my second story featuring , Dr. Ben Amdur, the dedicated civil servant struggling to best his newly elected, right wing political masters.
When Dr. Ben Amdur takes over the Dunlop Health Unit, the most obscure and poorly funded health department in Ontario, his new boss, the Minister of Health, pressures him to find her missing ex-husband. Along the trail, he consults an eccentric medium in an abandoned trailer park – and fights off a rabid coyote.
Moonlight and Misadventure (Superior Shores Press), Judy P. Sheluk, ed., June 2021
Delighted 
to have my story, “The Moon God of Broadmoor”, included in this collection of 22 stories. It’s based on a news story I read many years ago about an unusual man in NYC. He dressed and acted like a superhero long before The Avengers series of movies, fan expos and coz play became popular.
Liz, a junior health inspector, is thrown no-win job by her scheming boss. Someone has turned the courtyard of the Broadmoor Apartments into an outdoor toilet. There she encounters Stanley aka Thoth, the self-proclaimed moon god of Broadmoor.
A Grave Diagnosis: 35 Stories of Murder and Malaise (Carrick Publishing), Fall 2020.
Murder with a medical theme, featuring 35 scary tales by crime fiction authors from around the world. My story, “The Eternal Bakery of the Fractal Mind” is a speculative fiction crossover crime story.
Francis, a grieving widower, returns to Vancouver for his 50th university reunion. Lonely and guilt-ridden, he finds his favorite bakery exactly as it was during his undergraduate days. Its mysterious new owner, a retired physicist, ushers him into another world.
In the Key of 13 by The Mesdames of Mayhem (Carrick Publishing)
The Mesdames of Mayhem’s fourth anthology, published October, 2019, has the theme of music, mayhem and murder. The book contains 18 stories and one satirical poem by established Canadian crime writers and one talented newcomer.
My story, “Brainworm”, explores the dark side of families. The tune, “Le Pont d’Avignon”, is the earworm slowly driving the protagonist mad.
Fiona has been forced to look after her elderly stepmother, a retired French teacher who despised her. A fight looms between her and her half-brother over the Singer – is it the worthless sewing machine in her late father’s study or something more valuable?
In 2018, I had two stories published. The first, “The Cry”, appeared in the April issue of Mystery Weekly Magazine, a new Canadian publication.
I based this story on a story my running buddy told me. Her father was hiking through Sunnybrook Park in North Toronto when he heard a cry of terror. He tried to find the person in trouble, but he never did. The experience haunted him.
“The Cry” takes place in the large memorial park in Hiroshima, which we visited in 2012.
An elderly assassin, on the cusp of dementia, hears a scream of terror. At the risk of his own life, he tries to save the victim to atone for his life’s business.
The second story, “The Seeker”, is part of The Dame was Trouble, an exciting anthology of noir fiction published by up and coming Coffinhop Press. The book features noir tales with female protagonists – all by leading Canadian women crime writers.
“The Seeker” is one of my personal favorites. The hero, Terry Snow, is a tough, 62 year old professional woman driver.
On a lonely highway in New Mexico, a young man runs out in front of Terry’s car. He’s on the run and wounded. They hole up in a lonely gas station on the outskirts of Espanola with Moe, the Afghan manager. Only Terry’s gun and Moe’s shotgun stand between them and certain death at the hands of four murderous gangsters.
13 Claws by The Mesdames of Mayhem (Carrick Publishing)
The Mesdames’ third anthology contains 17 twisted tales (ha!ha!) of crime starring our animal friends. Angels or demons? Includes stories by 12 established crime writers as well as three newcomers to the genre.
I indulged my love of noir to create my thriller novelette, “Snake Oil“. Strangely, many readers get freaked by the snakes in this story, even tough noir male authors who don’t bat an eye writing about splatter murders and disembowelments. Go figure. “Snake Oil” is based on an actual experience a friend of a friend (yes, really) when she was a young real estate agent. Unbeknownst to her, the house she was viewing was inhabited by serious reptile fanciers. Definitely an odd subculture, aspects of which appear in the story.
“Snake Oil”, too, a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Best Novella award.
Bella Bates is in desperate financial straights. Making it as a real estate agent is her only way back to her preferred lifestyle. Her son-in-law warned her about weirdos hidden behind closed doors, but so what? She’s tough, she’s got what it takes. Or does she?
13 O’clock by The Mesdames of Mayhem (Carrick Publishing)
Warped tales of time and crime! Fourteen authors contributed to 13 O’clock, the second anthology by the Mesdames of Mayhem (Carrick Publishing).
The book contains my dark suspense novelette, “Glow Grass”, inspired by an unofficial memorial garden we stumbled upon while hiking in the woods. “Glow Grass” was a finalist for the 2016 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novella!
A young woman returns to her derelict family cottage abandoned since her father died in a mysterious accident. Is the secret cemetery in the woods meant for her?
World Enough and Crime (Carrick Publishing)
A collection of stories by some of Canada’s leading crime fiction authors, including the runner-up for the 2015 Arthur Ellis Award.
My cross-over tale, “The Ultimate Mystery“, was a finalist for the prestigious 2015 Derringer Award.
Maria questions why her world forces her and her mother into slavery. At the same time Lucy, who lives alone with her mother on an isolated prairie farm, also begins to question the rigid rules governing her life.
Thirteen by The Mesdames of Mayhem (Carrick Publishing)
Dastardly tales by thirteen of Canada’s leading crime fiction authors. Two stories were nominated for the 2014 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story and one for the 2014 Derringer prize.
My comedy thriller story, “Amdur’s Cat” introduces the hero from my learner novel. I liked Benjamin Amdur too much to leave him in the filing cabinet.
Dr. Amdur, a hard-working civil servant, sees a real lion on his way home from a boozy Christmas party. Or does he? Life isn’t easy. His new boss-from-hell resembles a former Toronto mayor…
“The Lizard” appeared in Crimespree Magazine, 2013, Issue 52 and was reprinted in Kings River Life Magazine, August 2014.
It also won the Bony Pete Award in 2012 for Best Short Story.
A desperate mother tries to save her drug-addicted daughter using the death of Mr. Kim, their beloved family cat, as leverage, but she’s way out of her depth in the criminal underworld.
More publications:
November comes across an “also-ran” month: somber Remembrance Day on Nov 11th, serious charity drives (take a bow Movember) and almost unfailingly dismal weather. A bridge of sighs between the glories of fall foliage and the sparkly explosion of Christmas.
So don’t just sit there: bloody do something!
For the last two years, my friend and fellow author, TO Poet, has encouraged me to join him and his friends who are burning up their keyboards during this 50,000 word marathon. TO Poet has ridden the NaNoWriMo tiger no less than six years running.
So I jumped in feet first with little – let’s be honest – no preparation!
What is National Novel Writing Month?
NaNoWriMo was created in San Francisco, July, 1999 by Chris Baty and 21 of his writer friends who challenged themselves by trying to write a novel in a month. The next year 140 signed up. Through the power of the internet, by 2008 more than 200,000 novelists, experienced or emerging, young or adult, had joined in. In 2015, participants span the globe in places as far away as central Russia and Micronesia.
Oh, well, I was always late into a trend.
How did y’all keep going?
TO Poet set up a Facebook page for the NaNoWriMo Misfits, our team name. He kept us inspired with daily pics, such as this one on the left. We logged on every day to report our progress: peer pressure is a compelling motivator.
And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. At a write-in at TO Poet’s home, I discovered that his coffee mugs rival goldfish bowls.
Why embark on this marathon?
Why not? As many first-published authors discover, promotion is up to you. I’d spent the past 12 months promoting Windigo Fire, through conferences, meet-ups, bookstores and libraries. On my own or with our group, The Mesdames of Mayhem, I literally did hundreds of events. I needed to do get back to doing what authors do: write!
Not that my keyboard was idle. I’d completed my suspense novelette, “Glow Grass”, for the Mesdames of Mayhem’s second anthology, 13 O’clock. But now I needed to work on the second novel in the Danny Bluestone series, Windigo Ice.
I ran across some early chapters of Danny’s second adventure that I’d written before Windigo Fire was accepted by Seraphim Editions. So much had changed after Windigo Fire was finalized, that they weren’t useable. But they inspired me to get moving!
What plan / approach to use?
As a former scientist and MBA’er, I take a quantitative view of life. I knew that an overwhelmingly large project can be managed once it’s broken down into incremental steps. That translates to approximately 1700 words over 30 days to reach the required 50,000 word count. I did a couple of test runs on a new suspense story I’m writing and found that 1700 words per day was doable. November 1st dawned and I was off and writing!
How did NaNoWriMo go? Did you make the word count?
I did indeed make the word count: 50,048 to be exact. I kept a tally of my daily word count on a trusty Excel spreadsheet. Here are the stats: I averaged 1700 words per day fairly consistently, with a range between 1600 to 2200 words. My max output happened on the last two days as I neared 50,000 words where I wrote 2200 and finally 3300 words to get done!
What worked with NaNoWriMo?
For me, NaNoWriMo was a lifesaver. I refocused on writing, which is what authors do, right? To my surprise, I found time in my daily life to do it since writing became a real priority.
Mega thanks go to TO Poet and team mates, Lizzie, Heather, October, Betty, Cathy and the Misfits for unfailing support and inspiration.
Meeting the word count meant turning off the editor in my head. I tend to be a deliberate, measured writer in terms of word-smithing, so NaNo was immensely freeing. I got to know my characters again, resolved tricky plot problems, churned out fun action sequences and created an encounter between Danny and Santa, the escaped villain from Windigo Fire, that was a joy to write. I have several ideas for the core theme(s) and a goodly chunk of words to draw on – or to store for Book 3 or 4.
What challenges remain?
A thriller usually runs between 80,000 to 100,000 words, so that means I’m halfway there. Now is the time for hard thought, ie. to put my “plotter” hat back on while surrendering my “pantser” plumage with a sigh. And the wording will be refined and re-refined: I rewrite and revise a lot. For example, I rewrote my novelette, “Glow Grass” twenty times.
Would I do it again?
Most definitely! In an ideal world, I’d have my plot meticulously laid out so I could go straight to work and have a near-ready product at the end of November. But I’m pumped about Windigo Ice, can’t wait to wrestle with its plot and finish writing Danny’s winter adventures. Thanks to NaNo, I’ve rediscovered the joy of writing and I’m planning to be back next year.
Check out the upcoming November events for me and my friends at www.mesdamesofmayhem.com!
Unusual things have happened to me all my life. Perhaps my friends are right: I possess a dark aura that attracts surreal experiences.
Last July, my son-in-law, Mitch, was in the throes of moving himself and our daughter to Montreal. Buried by boxes and worn out by the family dog, Pips, who’s mostly Jack Russell terrier, he seriously needed rescuing. The two of us escape up the street to the local Italian bakery for a much-needed café latte.
Standing by the cash register, I become aware of a mountainous presence and look up – way, way up into the kindly face of the largest man I have ever met.
Jerry Sokoloski, a true gentle giant, stands 7’8″ in his size 25 shoes. His fingers span 12 inches: he holds out his hand offering me a comparison. My size 8 hand looks like an infant’s!
Jerry is at the café to be interviewed. He sits at one of the elevated tables where ordinary mortals stand to drink their coffees. Mitch and I are struck by the difficulties Jerry faces in daily life: driving, riding the bus or streetcar, getting clothes that fit, attending a movie theatre. The list goes on and on.
Jerry trained with the NBA and recently completed filming David and Goliath. (Three guesses which role he played.) I invite you to meet this sweet and patient man in this Youtube video.
Mitch and I head back to packing. At 5’9″ I rarely feel short. Meeting unusually tall people, feels welcome, yet at the same time, somewhat overwhelming and intimidating. I tell Mitch this but he is having none of it.
“Welcome to my world,” he says. (He’s 5’6″.)
Welcome Readers!
When I was five, my mother and I drove up to Jasper on what was then a dirt road. Wild bears were plentiful and wandered about freely.
We pulled up to a spot where tourists were hand-feeding the bears candy bars. (Even as a kid, I knew this was a Bad Idea!) When Mum didn’t deliver the sugar, a bear thumped on our driver’s window with huge muddy paws. I wrote up our adventure in school and got an A+. A writer was born!
At university, I studied science, not English. Tired of academia, I grabbed my doctorate and leaped back into the real world, first working for a gold mining company and later for the government doing disease investigations. Eventually I studied business and ran my own IT consulting service, while my husband, Ed and I raised our family of one child and many, many pets.
My work was fascinating: I helped investigate a murder, toured the 3000 foot deep Falconbridge nickel mine and even met the Queen of England (though not all at the same time). Perhaps that’s why I didn’t start writing seriously until 2002.
I started out writing short crime fiction. My story, “Kill the Boss”, won first prize in the Golden Horseshoe contest held by Crime Writers of Canada. That gave me a great boost and I went on to publish several more stories in e-zines, print mags and anthologies. I was thrilled when my story, “The Lizard”, won the 2012 Bony Pete prize and when my experimental work, “The Ultimate Mystery”, was a finalist for the 2015 Derringer prize.
But my dream was to pen a novel. I wrote a “learner novel” which now rests in my filing cabinet. Encouragement from a leading literary agent and my writing critique group led me to write a second one. That manuscript was short-listed for the Debut Dagger in 2009 and later for the 2012 CWC Best Unpublished Novel award.
My odyssey to publication is a story by itself: I give regular talks about it to inspire emerging writers. Seraphim Editions published my debut novel, Windigo Fire, in September 2014. It received glowing reviews from the Globe and Mail and was one of Huffington Post Canada’s choices as a Book for Book Clubs. To be short-listed for the 2015 CWC Award for Best First Novel was my dream come true!
I would not have hung in there without the friendship and support of my two literary critique groups. In 2013, we linked up to form The Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem, an autonomous nation-wide collective of 25 emerging and established Canadian crime writers, publishers, book sellers and film makers. Carrick Publishing has released five collections of our stories, Thirteen , 13 O’clock , 13 Claws , In the Key of 13 , The Spirit of 13 and now our sixth, The 13th Letter, due out in September, 2024.
Three stories in Thirteen were finalists for the Derringer and CWC awards for best short story. And my story, Glow Grass, in 13 O’clock was nominated for the CWC Award for Best Novella. 13 Claws hit it out of the park with no less that four nominations, including the 2018 CWC winner. I was delighted to have my long story, Snake Oil, nominated for Best Novella. In 2019, one of our stories in In the Key of 13 was nominated for a Derringer award. In 2023, two of our stories in In the Spirit of 13 were finalists for a CWC Award, including my novella, Amdur’s Ghost.
In 2018, I had two short stories published: “The Cry” in Mystery Weekly Magazine and “The Seeker” in the noir anthology, The Dame Was Trouble. And in 2019, my domestic noir, “Brainworm”, appeared in the Mesdames’ latest anthology, In the Key of 13.
Despite Anno Horribilis, otherwise known as 2020, Carrick Publishing brought out A Grave Diagnosis, a crime fiction anthology with a medical slant. What prescience! My story, “The Eternal Bakery of the Fractal Mind”, is another crossover into speculative fiction. In 2021, I was honored to have my story, “The Moon God of Broadmoor”, be part of the anthology, Moonlight and Misadventure.
I had a good year as a writer in 2022 with the publication of two stories and one novella. My long story / novella in the Mesdames anthology, In the Spirit of 13, again features my beleaguered civil servant, Dr. Benjamin Amdur. In “Amdur’s Ghost”, he investigates the disappearance of the former Medical Officer of Health in the most obscure and most poorly funded health department in Ontario. A self-proclaimed medium warns him about a yellow dog and he finds out he should have listened.
At the end of 2022, I had two marvelous surprises. My comedy thriller story, “Must Love Dogs – or You’re Gone”, was published in Gone, a noir anthology by Red Dog Press, Stephen J. Golds, ed. My very first British publication! Only 30 stories out of more than 200 submitted made the cut. And my Danny Bluestone short story, “Last Island”, was featured on the cover of the November issue of Mystery Magazine!
In 2023, my cozy noir story, “Wisteria Cottage”, was accepted into Malice Domestic’s anthology, Mystery Most Traditional. “Amdur’s Ghost”, from In the Spirit of 13, was short-listed for the CWC Best Novella Award and “Must Love Dogs” for Best Short Story. What a terrific honor all round! Later in the year, thanks to Carrick Publishing, I brought out the second collection of my short stories, Snake Oil and Other Tales, with a terrific book cover by designer, Sara Carrick.
This year, I’ll once again be “story wrangler” for The 13th Letter , which is slated for publication by Carrick Publishing in September, 2024. I’m continuing to work on several projects, novels, three novellas and of course, more short fiction. I look forward to reconnecting with fellow authors at Left Coast Crime: Seattle Shakedown and at When Words Collide in 2024.
Memberships:
International Association of Crime Writers
Sisters in Crime, Toronto Chapter
Windigo Fire, Seraphim Editions, Sept, 2014.
A Canadian noir thriller.
Danny Bluestone, a young Native man, overeducated and underemployed, is drawn into an illegal bear hunt to escape his stultifying hometown of Red Dog Lake in Northern Ontario. Things quickly go violent and he must fight to survive both the killers and the wilderness.
Awards and Nominations
Finalist, Arthur Ellis Award, Best First Novel, 2015
Reviews and Recognition
Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail
Well done atmosphere and a truly chilling premise. M. H. Callway is a writer to watch.
Don Graves, Crime Fiction Reviewer
A visually powerful debut, action packed, blunt and driving, set in the grandeur & frailty of Ontario’s north compounded by the cruelty of man. The writing burst with the sudden terror of fire, the terrible potential of man’s abuse and the peace that nature offers in the midst of pain. Urgent, descriptive writing polished beyond that of a debut novel. Read it and connect with the struggle of our north.
Huffington Post Canada: A Book for Book Clubs Selection, Fall 2014
Marian Misters, Sleuth of Baker Street Bookstore
I was captivated with the story…the characters of Danny Bluestone and Rachel Forest, one of the kids from the camp where Danny works, are just terrific. ..There is a lot packed into the story and I was very impressed with the book. Good job Madeleine.
A fast pace, heart-racing novel…The writing makes the surreal setting seem so real as almost a documentary…Vivid complex characters, violent without being gory…A great read and highly recommended.
