Category Archives: Local Authors

Author Interview with Mystery Maven, Maggie Wheeler

Welcome Mystery Maven, Maggie Wheeler

I’m pleased to welcome local author, Maggie Wheeler to Celtic Connexions! Sit down, make yourself comfortable and we’ll get started.  I’ve got water here on the side table so if you feel the need, say the word. I know I tend to get dry when I do a lot of talking so I assume you do, too.

For the benefit of those who don’t know you, could you share a bit about yourself (50 or so words) before we get started?

It’s always hard for writers to write about themselves! I’m a native of Central Ontario but Eastern Ontario has been my home for most of my life. I have three wonderful daughters and a beagle named Bagel. I currently call Brockville, the River City, my home on the St. Lawrence River.

How long have you been writing?

Personally, my whole life. Professionally, about 20 years including 15 with mystery fiction.

What got you interested in writing, and what inspired you to write your first book?

An early love of reading translated into a childhood dream of being a writer. I loved Composition in public school, and was always dreaming up stories of my own. The first book materialized when I was running a corporate communications business in the 1990s. I had everything I needed in my home office to work on the book and had been thinking of doing it for years. I was and am a great fan of mystery fiction, so I started work on a mystery novel of my own.

Which comes first for you – characters or plot?

Plot. Absolutely. With mystery fiction, I’m a traditionalist—weaned on the likes of Christie, Sayers and Conan Doyle. The mystery is the point, so I begin with what I call my plot formula: X + Y = Z. This person kills this person for this reason. Once I have that, everything else must work to support it and help the reader figure it out—or take them on a wild goose chase, legitimately, of course!

Names are important. How did you decide on your characters’ names?

Many of the names in my first novel A Violent End come from my family. For example, Farran’s father’s name (Hal Leonard) is a composite of my father’s and paternal grandfather’s first names (Harold and Leonard). Others I have taken from books on hand in my personal library.

How long did it take you to write your first novel?

About 2½ years. I did research around the needs of my young family and my business for two years. When I finally sat down to write out the story, it took three months for the first draft.

Did it require lots of research and did you have difficulty finding the information you needed?

Yes, I did a lot of research. The story was going to showcase a painful time in my community’s history so I had to get it right. I started with interviews with people from the Lost Villages, followed by book research and lots of time on the Cornwall Public Library microfilm with the back issues of the Cornwall Standard Freeholder. The Lost Villages Historical Society was also very helpful. It wasn’t difficult more than time-consuming. It had been 40 years at that point since the completion of the Seaway construction, and people seemed ready to talk about it.

There are currently four books in the Farran MacKenzie Lost Villages Mysteries series. Will there be more?

Yes. This fall, I am beginning Book Five in the series that will bring back all the regular characters and also work in the amazing history of the British Home Children through Farran’s family tree.

Any humorous moments/incidents during your research you can share? (I’m thinking of the one you mentioned at Writer’s Ink when you went to the police detachment talking murder)

There were many memorable moments for me over the years, especially doing the research for the first book. You learn as you go! Two that come to mind involve the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and Upper Canada Village.

One afternoon, my ex-husband was going to be home so I left the children with him and scooted off to Long Sault, to the OPP detachment that Jerry Strauss works out of in the books. I had a police procedural scene in the second chapter concerning where the body is found. I felt more comfortable than average with the Long Sault detachment as that was where my father had worked years before. With no advance call, I walked into the OPP station and asked to see an officer for information about homicide procedure. Still don’t know why they didn’t arrest me…A young constable took me to the interrogation room and tried to interrogate me/answer my questions. After a few unproductive minutes, a sergeant came to the door and escorted me down the main hall to another room where I asked all the same questions to the sergeant and another officer. Finally, it dawned on me that perhaps I looked suspicious. I took out a newspaper clipping with the announcement of my project and told them I was harmless, just an author. The sergeant smiled and said he was running my licence plates through the system as we spoke and would shortly find out just how harmless I really was! At that point, I was grateful for having a police officer for a father, because he’s made me toe the line growing up and my record was clean! I got to go home!

Another time at Upper Canada Village, I was “casing” the saw mill where the first murder in the present day takes place. Eventually, all the other tourists were gone and the village interpreter came up to see if I needed help or if he could answer any questions. Standing beside the great gears churning in the water, I asked him this: If you were standing here with someone and threw them into the gears to kill them, would it stop the gears? I can still see the look on his face…but he answered (after moving away a bit) and said what is in the book. “The river runs it. You’d have to stop the river.” I’m sure they still talk about that in the staff room, under most amazing questions asked!

Thanks so much for agreeing to this interview. It’s been wonderful hosting you here today. I do have one final question for you though.

What book are you reading now?

A Shadow in the Past…have you heard of it??

Maggie’s Books

A Violent End

mystery mavenFollowing the death of her mother, university history professor Farran Mackenzie begins searching for her parents’ past in the Lost Villages of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Her arrival surprises the old-timers, and stirs up memories amongst the former villagers, many of whom were already rattled by the recent reappearance of Farran’s father ─ from beneath the waters of the St. Lawrence where his body had unknowingly lain since the flooding, forty years before. Then, when a friend of her parents dies in a suspicious accident soon after her arrival, Farran is forced to put her research skills to new use, before her father’s murderer finds her.

The Brother of Sleep

mystery mavenFarran Mackenzie couldn’t have been more surprised when Alison Perry walked into her University of Waterloo office. It had been thirty years since she had last seen her best friend in high school, and thirty years since her best friend’s father, a police officer, had been killed in the line of duty. And now Alison was asking for help in discovering who had really killed her father.

Farran has doubts about helping her long-lost friend. A lifetime has passed since Alison walked out of her life with no explanation but doubt fades when a car bomb results in the death of Sergeant Perry’s old partner, nearly killing Alison and Farran, as well. Someone obviously doesn’t want them to dig up old skeletons, so Farran takes them to the only place she feels save ─ the St. Lawrence Seaway. But the past keeps catching up with them there, too. A fated meeting in the local cemetery with Paul Vaughn, a police officer from Newfoundland, has Farran revisiting the origins of the St. Lawrence Seaway, a journey that turned her own life upside down only a year ago, and threatens to do so again. She feels a strange attraction to Paul, whose life seems to mirror her own, but what about Jerry Strauss, the OPP inspector to whom she owes so much? Too many police officers in her life, both past and present, and too many coincidences. Farran’s heart if playing havoc with her instincts, which could prove dangerous, if not deadly. Whom can she trust? And is the truth worth the price of knowing?

All Mortall Things

mystery mavenInspector Jerry Strauss does not believe in ghosts.

As commander of the Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry detachment for the Ontario Provincial Police, he deals with facts, not fancies. But he and Sterling House, now a B&B in Ingleside, have a long history, going back to his childhood when the house was a private home in the Lost Villages of Wales. As a boy, things weren’t quite so black and white, and both the home and the village had an unearthly air that last summer before the flooding of the St. Lawrence Seaway caused the house to be moved and the village to disappear forever. Death came to the house then, and now death has returned, nearly fifty years later. Jerry Strauss soon discovers he’s connected to both. If she were there, Farran Mackenzie would tell him to listed to the house. Inspector Strauss isn’t sure he wants to hear what it has to say.

On a Darkling Plain

mystery mavenSo much for a summer of light emotional entertainment. In the month marking fifty years since the inundation of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the remains of a young man gone missing during the Project days surface near Old Iroquois and stir up a hornet’s nest on both sides of the river. While dodging a cold-blooded killer, her approaching fiftieth birthday, and emotional commitment to Inspector Jerry Strauss, Farran Mackenzie faces reconnecting with the daughter she gave up twenty-six years before ─ and the dark secret that drove them apart in the first place.

Paperback versions of these books can be bought directly from the author at maggiewheeler.com.

E-books will be available soon.

About Maggie Wheeler

mystery maven

As author and historian, Maggie Wheeler has spent over a decade showcasing the social, cultural and psychological impact of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project on Canadians affected. She is the author of the regionally best-selling “Lost Villages” historical murder mysteries, which have garnered a nomination for the Ontario Premier’s Awards for the Arts, an Ontario Provincial Hansard, and the “people’s choice” Seeker’s Award for Literary Artist of the Year 2013. The series has been used to teach English and history from intermediate to post-secondary levels in Eastern Ontario and Upper State New York. Since 2001, her work with the Seaway history has kept Maggie on the public speaking circuit and in the media at local, regional, national and academic levels. Her most recent contribution is the “Lost Villages” article for Historica Canada’s The Canadian Encyclopedia—the official national online resource for all things Canadiana.

Find out more at www.maggiewheeler.com.

It’s getting closer – Maggie Wheeler’s guest appearance here

Maggie Wheeler coming soon to Celtic Connexions!

Website Countdowns

Mark your calendar! Maggie Wheeler, author of the Farran Mackenzie Mystery series will be in the ‘hot seat’ so to speak on September 19th!

Maggie WheelerI hope you’ll stop by on Sept 19th to find out what we’ll be talking about.

So don’t forget… Sept 19th!

 

Christmas Craft Show~November 29, 2014

Christmas Craft Show

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Join me and numerous other vendors in the village of Merrickville, Ontario for the 19th Annual Christmas Craft and Concession Show.

I’ll be there signing copies of A Shadow in the Past and The Consequences Collection. In addition, I’ll have my 2015 A Shadow in the Past companion calendar showing various locations throughout Scotland used in the book.  And who doesn’t need a calendar to keep track of appointments and such?

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I hope to see you there!

 

merrybookmas

Friends of the Brockville Public Library presented their first merrybookmas at the 1000 Islands Mall, 2399 Parkedale Avenue, Brockville – 14th December, 2013.

I always take a photograph of my table once I get it set up but as luck would have it, my phone didn’t have enough oomph left to take a photo. Tried hubby’s, his automatically shut down the battery was so low. However, all was not lost. I took my iPad with me (fully charged) which does have a camera in it.

This was the first event where I had to provide my own table. OH picked up a folding 4′ long one back in early to mid November so that I’d have it. It worked beautifully! Doesn’t my set up look great?

merrbookmas table

merrybookmas tableAlso, the handcart he picked up was a dream to load everything on to wheel my table and boxes of books and other accoutrements in and out of the mall. We didn’t have to provide chairs, but we took our own anyway and I’m glad we did.

This was a first for, not just the Friends of the Brockville Public Library, but for me, too. This was the first time at any event that The Consequences Collection out sold A Shadow in the Past. I even had one couple who couldn’t decide which book to buy so they bought one of each – his and hers.

We didn’t stay stuck out here in the middle of the mall all day. We moved over in front of one of the closed storefronts so people could only walk by in front of us. I had visions of the table getting jostled and my display toppled or people trying to walk behind us to look at the store’s sale display would be bumping us all day. I don’t know if that was a good thing or not, but I felt more comfortable knowing people couldn’t walk behind me.

The final sales tally … 7 copies of The Consequences Collection and 3 copies of A Shadow in the Past.

I think it was a very successful day, don’t you?

 

The Wedgewood Author Series

The Wedgewood Author Series

Yup, they’re having me back. Go figure, eh? This time, I’m there launching the print version of my short story anthology – The Consequences Collection.

consequences coverIsn’t this a fantastic cover? I have to thank Madliz Coles for allowing me to use her photograph for my anthology. I don’t think I could have found a more perfect image.

Blurb: 

The Consequences Collection is an eclectic compilation of twelve stories ranging from non-fiction through creative non-fiction to pure fiction, in prose and poetry.

The story of a Scottish Home Child is based on fact and told from the child’s point of view; The Mystery Woman of Kinettles is a non-fiction article on the appearance and subsequent disappearance of a woman’s body near the Wellington County House of Industry (Poor House) in 1879 Southwestern Ontario.

Sound intriguing? Well, come out to the Wedgewood Retirement Resort (that is if you live ‘local’ to Brockville), 15 Market Street East, at 2:00 p.m. today. I’ll be talking about the story behind the anthology and the stories contained within the covers as well as reading from one. Afterwards, you’ll have the opportunity to purchase a signed copy.


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I hope to see you there!

And remember… “If you could see the consequences – would you?”

 

Yesterday’s Craft Sale in Mallorytown

Mallorytown Legion Craft Sale

Yesterday’s Craft Sale at the Mallorytown Legion was well attended but not as busy as the one I took part in last November. Still, it was a good turnout to say there were quite a few other things going on in the village competing for attention.

Mallorytown_June 22

I sold and signed three copies of A Shadow in the Past within the first hour and a half. Afterwards things died down but even though I didn’t sell anymore copies directly, the prospect of a sale from the bookstore in Kingston, A Novel Idea, where I have copies for sale, exists.

The idea that my book was now available as an e-book appealed to a number of people. One woman, who knew her daughter would love my book said she would let her know. Her daughter lives in Australia…

a shadow in the past cover 500x773Blurb:

When a contemporary teen is transported back through time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages; powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

If you would prefer to buy A Shadow in the Past in e-book format, you can order it from amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobobooks and the iBookstore.

Do you prefer e-books or physical books?

Craft Sale in Mallorytown on June 22, 2013

Mallorytown Legion Craft Sale

Today at the Mallorytown Legion from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, there will be a craft sale. Loads of vendors and goodies to choose from. So, if you’re close by to the village, drop by. The legion is on the east side of Quabbin Road opposite Peryl Road.

I’ll be there selling and signing copies of my debut novel, A Shadow in the Past.

a shadow in the past cover 500x773Blurb:

When a contemporary teen is transported back through time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages; powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

If you would prefer an e-book to a paperback, you can order A Shadow in the Past in that format from amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobobooks and the iBookstore.

Do you prefer e-books or physical books?

Leeds County Books signing – recap and photos

My book signing for A Shadow in the Past at Leeds County Books on Saturday, Feb 9th didn’t come to be until earlier last week. I was forewarned that Saturdays in the winter in the downtown are dead but I was determined to do it. Sometimes, I’m too stubborn for my own good but in this case it paid off.

I publicized it on my Facebook pages, in the groups I belong to on Facebook, set up an event there (as did the bookstore), followed by an email campaign to catch the people I know that aren’t on social media. But I didn’t stop there, I posted the event on my blog, Snap Brockville, BNTVNews (with the help of Dale Elliott), TV Cogeco, and Courtney, owner of Leeds County Books, got my signing up at Recorder.ca (our local newspaper’s online presence). I even did up posters and had them put up in a few locations around town.

Until I became a published author, I never really thought of myself as the entrepreneurial type. But, when needs must, we do what we have to do. My marketing strategy was take advantage of Valentine’s Day coming up. Romance and intrigue set in Scotland? Who could resist?

leeds-county-books-feb-9-2013
My table set-up in the bookstore.

You’ll see one of my laminated posters on the table. My novel’s cover image, blurb, and quotes from readers are there for everyone to see. And a coffee cup with a big red heart filled with Hershey’s Kisses. There were even some A Shadow in the Past bookmarks and postcards! How about that tartan table cover? What better accent for a book set in Scotland than tartan?

leeds-county-books-feb-9-2013-2
Decked out in red as part of the Valentine’s Day look, looking very pleased with myself when I was down to the last book.

In the end, I sold three copies of my novel, A Shadow in the Past, leaving the bookstore down to their last copy. However, I had taken a box of books with me (as a contingency plan) so I left a further ten copies with them.

The icing on the cake was when I was leaving the grocery store with my hubby and we stopped at the floral department (he bought me roses) and during the course of the conversation with the gal (I’ve known her for years), I sold another copy of my book!

How was that for an unexpected result?

Today is Read in the Bathtub Day!

And what better way to celebrate it than to pop in to my book signing and get your own copy of A Shadow in the Past at Leeds County Books, 73 King Street West, Brockville, ON.

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By Bruno Cordioli from Milano, Italy [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
a shadow in the past cover 500x773A Shadow in the Past…

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages; powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

So why not buy yourself a book (preferably mine), run a bubble bath and pour yourself a glass of wine (or your tipple of choice) and escape for some self-indulgence.

Do you read in the bathtub?