Clare Vengel Undercover Novels - A fun, edgy mystery series for the new generation

New Canadian Authors Set for Lower Mainland Crime Spree

Published on May 17, 2012 by Robin in book tour

We’re calling it The Crime Tour: Three Hip Chicks & One Old Fart – a chance for Vancouver and Lower Mainland mystery lovers to talk crime fiction with four up and coming Canadian authors this June.

The Chicks are Hilary Davidson, Deryn Collier and Robin Spano (that’s me). The Fart is Ian Hamilton. Needless to say, Ian came up with the name.

We take our rage out on the page – which is likely why we’re so friendly in real life. Whether you’re an aspiring writer looking for inspiration or you love books and are intrigued by what goes into their creation, we hope you’ll come away from these events having learned something. We also plan to make each event a load of fun.

The authors will all be staying in my home for the duration of the tour, which we think is going to add to the events. We’re already friends, but we’re going to get to know each other even better. We won’t have cameras in the house though – we’re not ready for reality TV. Well, maybe once the wine starts flowing…

Crime Tour events are booked in venues from Burnaby to Squamish. They are:

Real Vancouver Crime

Sunday, June 17^th from 2-5 p.m., W2 Woodwards

Join Sean Cranbury of Books on the Radio as he hosts The Crime Tour for an afternoon of readings in a funky underground space on Vancouver’s Lower East Side.

This event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale on site.

Murder in the Woods

Monday, June 18^th from 6:30-8:00 p.m., Squamish Public Library

The Crime Tour travels up the Sunshine Coast for an evening of chatting mystery and writing in the wooded beauty of the Sea-to-Sky highway. This event is free and open to the public. Books will be for sale on site by Armchair Books.

Meet and Greet at Chapters

Tuesday, June 19th from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Chapters (Robson & Howe)

Come down to Chapters on Robson & Howe to meet and visit with The Crime Tour authors and get your books signed. Books will be available for sale/signing.

A Mystery Evening to Die For
Tuesday June 19^th from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Richmond Public Library Brighouse (Main) Branch.

Join up with The Crime Tour for a full evening of author readings, a panel discussion on the writing process and a lengthy Q&A. Books will be available for sale on site from Dead Write Books.

Triple Threat: Chicks Who Solve Crime!

Thursday June 21 7:00-8:30 p.m., Burnaby Public Library, McGill Branch

Join The Crime Tour chicks for a fun, all-female night of mystery readings and discussion in Burnaby. Books will be available for sale on site from Dead Write Books.

The Authors:

Hilary Davidson’s debut, The Damage Done, won the 2011 Anthony Award for Best First Novel. It also earned a Crimespree Award and was a finalist for an Arthur Ellis and a Macavity award. The sequel, The Next One to Fall, was released in early 2012. Says the Los Angeles Review of Books: “Her voice is a fresh and welcome addition to the noir landscape.” www.hilarydavidson.com

Ian Hamilton’s first novel in the Ava Lee series, The Water Rat of Wanchai, was chosen by Quill and Quire as one of the top five novels of 2011 and was nominated for a CBC bookie award for best crime/mystery of the year. It is currently in the running for an Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel. The fourth book in the series, The Red Pole of Macau, will be published this fall. Says The Toronto Star: “Ava Lee is unbeatable at just about everything…She’s perfect. She’s fast.” www.ianhamiltonbooks.com

Robin Spano’s undercover protagonist Clare Vengel has been described as a “slightly slutty grown up Nancy Drew.” Spano has been dubbed one of Canada’s Hot New Crime Writers by Crime Fiction Lover. She has fast developed a loyal following with her “smart, stylish and sharp” writing in Dead Politician Society and Death Plays Poker. www.robinspano.com

Deryn Collier is the newcomer in this group. Her just-released first novel, Confined Space, was nominated for an Arthur Ellis award for best unpublished crime novel. Set in rural BC, Confined Space has been called “superbly written, densely layered, and marvelously suspenseful” by New York Times bestselling author Julia Spencer-Fleming. www.deryncollier.com

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How To Get Blog Reviews

Published on April 13, 2012 by Robin in blog reviews, guest blogging, Interviews

A few writers have asked me recently for advice about how to get their books reviewed on blogs. I’ve found myself copying and pasting the same advice from email to email, so I thought it might be helpful to post it here, for more new writers to see.

Step One: Figuring out which blogs you should approach

I use the following criteria:

1. The blogger’s voice/style. If I like the way they write – if it makes me think the two of us would get along well over coffee, that we’d have lots to say to each other and have great conversations – I’ll approach them. You can tell this by reading their reviews – especially of books you’ve read too.

2. How many comments does each post receive? If the posts get few comments, the readership/engagement is likely to be low. If each post gets over 10 comments, my interest is more piqued. Over 30, I’m hitting it for sure.

3. Number of registered followers. Not all blogs have this, but on some you can see how many people are networking with the blogger. Over 300 is good. Over 1000 is great. Similarly, you can follow the blogger’s link to their Twitter account and see how big their following is. Over 1000 is good. Over 10,000 is phenomenal.

4. Awards on their page. These awards are passed from blogger to blogger, and basically they don’t mean anything about quality. But they mean that the blogger is a good networker. Often, one great blog review will lead to a few more if other bloggers’ interest is piqued.

5. Review policy. Most book bloggers have this – it’s a page on their site where they say what kind of books they like to read. You want to make sure yours is a good fit.

*Note: You don’t need the blog to meet all these criteria. Personally, I find #1 & #5 the most important. But I do look at the rest.

Step Two: The Approach

Once you’ve decided you’d like to approach a blog, I find a simple formula works. Send an informal email where you:

(a) compliment the blog

(b) suggest your book for their review

The compliment should be sincere (you’re approaching blogs you like, after all) and specific. Basically, you’re letting the blogger know that this isn’t a form request, that you’re querying them specifically.

Step Three: The Follow-Up

Stay in touch with the blogger. Connect on Facebook and Twitter. Value your relationship with them – consider them an amiable colleague. These people are the publicity of the future.

*To learn more, I recommend hooking up with Dani Greer at Blog Book Tours. I took an online course from her two years ago when I had no clue what a blog was, and it really helped me think about the web differently.

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Now in Audiobooks

Published on April 9, 2012 by Robin in audiobooks

It’s a funny thing, hearing your words read aloud by someone else. Kind of like hearing your own voice on tape, but a little less freaky.

I’m stoked to announce that both Dead Politician Society and Death Plays Poker are now available as audiobooks from Audible.com.

I got really lucky with the reader. In fact, listening to Erin Moon’s renditions of the Clare novels is giving me tips for when I next have to do an author reading.

These books are not easy to read from. They’re written mainly in dialogue, so basically a reader has to perform a one-man play. I often default to the prologue of Death Plays Poker – which has no dialogue – when I’m in a situation that calls for me to read. (Either that or I butcher the dialogue and laugh at myself a lot.)

Erin Moon, however, is a master of the one-woman radio play. She does Mickey Mills’ South Boston accent like a pro, she nails T-Bone’s Texas drawl, she gets Cloutier’s deep grunting voice down just like I imagine it.

She also gets Clare. She understands her sarcasm, her insecurity, her take on life. She reads the words the way I meant them.

I don’t often listen to audiobooks – my attention span is way too short; I’d get lost and have to press rewind all the time – but I’m excited that these are so well-made.

Here are some links to the books on Audible. If you’d like to listen to a sample for free, press the green arrow under the book cover.

Death Plays Poker

Dead Politician Society

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Free Friday at Nook

Published on March 23, 2012 by Robin in ebooks, giveaway

So stoked that Nook chose Dead Politician Society to feature in its Free Friday promotion.

The deal: If you have a Nook (or a phone, tablet, or computer with the Nook app), you can download Dead Politician Society free for the next two weeks.

Why am I so happy to be giving away a book I slaved over?

1. Because it’s the 1st in a series, and I think like a crack dealer. I want people to meet Clare and be curious enough about her next adventure that they simply must get their hands on Death Plays Poker.

2. Because of the buzz. This morning, more people are talking about the book – some have already read and reviewed it. The best way to sell books is through word of mouth – a friend tells a friend about a book they enjoyed. So the more people talking, the better. (Even the person who gave it a 1 star review because of the foul language is a conversation starter and fine by me.)

3. Because I’m honored that Nook chose mine from the pile. They feature one book a week, and I’m thrilled for Clare to have piqued the right person’s interest. I love their mini-review, where they say, among other things, “readers will root for Clare as she finds an idiosyncratic way to track down the killers.”

They also asked me to recommend a book I liked. It was hard to narrow it down – I’ve read some great crime fiction lately from Ian Hamilton, Hilary Davidson, Chevy Stevens, Sandra Brannan, Nora McFarland and more. In the end, I chose Lisa Brackmann’s Rock Paper Tiger because her protagonist reminds me a bit of Clare, so I figured it made a good “recommend” on the same page that featured DPS. The book is quirky and original, and I learned from it as a writer.

To download Dead Politician Society free, here’s the Nook page.

Also, just found out it’s free at iTunes also. Not sure why or for how long, but cool with me.

Happy reading!

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Romance and Beyond

Published on March 2, 2012 by Robin in giveaway, guest blogging, Interviews

Today is all about romance.

A few months ago, I read this quirky review of Death Plays Poker that made me curious to know more about the reviewer. So I looked up Sherry Isaac and found this groovy writer chick who lives in my hometown (Toronto) where I no longer live. I contacted her and said thanks for the review, and we engaged in some email banter.

The following month, I invited Sherry to the launch of Death Plays Poker at Ben McNally Books in Toronto. We had a thirty-second conversation (the downside of a good turnout) and she gave me a copy of her book, Storyteller. I’ve read the first story and love it – it’s quietly eccentric, just like Sherry, and very well-written.

Then she invited me to participate in her romance writing blog. She asked for a guest post and some answers to some of the most hilarious interview questions I have ever been asked (like who’s sexier, a mechanic or a Mountie?). Here are those posts:

Interview – posted Feb. 28

Guest Post (about Clare and her lovers) – posted today

The guest post is also a GIVEAWAY – so feel free to leave a comment on Romance and Beyond if you’d like to be entered to win a copy of Death Plays Poker. Thanks so much to ECW Press for generously donating this copy.

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Amazon vs. IPG – What are these mystery terms?

Published on February 23, 2012 by Robin in ebooks

If you go looking for my books on Kindle today, I’m sad to say you won’t see them. Or any other ECW Press book. Or any of the 4, 443 other books from publishers served by IPG.

IPG – one of North America’s largest distributors for independent publishers – is at a deadlock with Amazon Kindle. All IPG titles have been pulled from Kindle because IPG will not agree to new terms proposed by Amazon.

I think this is cool. It’s the small fighting the big, digging their (our) heels in and saying no thanks to terms we can’t live with. While Amazon is the leading seller of ebooks, it’s never worth bending over for a bully. Better to bite the initial cost and look for creative ways around the problem. My gut says this is a good fight.

Amazon has been a great innovator in a lot of ways, and I agree with a lot of the points in J.A. Konrath’s recent post dispelling the evils of Amazon. But in recent months, I’ve heard more and more people complain about Amazon’s corporate bullying. Is Amazon growing too big and evil to continue to be a positive force for the book industry?

To answer that (or to arrive at an informed opinion), I’d like to know: What are these terms keeping IPG books off of Kindle? This New York Times article gives the most information I’ve seen. Yet it still doesn’t answer the question.

Amazon is asking for something relating to ebooks. Is it a higher margin? Are they insisting on lower prices? Maybe both?

IPG says that these new terms are unsustainable for publishers. Which I sympathize with. Publishers are closing all over the place – it’s not the time to punch them in the gut with more financial pressure. It’s great that independent presses have a company like IPG who can fight on their behalf, with their survival interests at heart.

But is IPG right that these new terms will harm publishers?

Mathematically, I see lower ebook prices as more profitable for publishers. This experiment helps confirm that for me. So if Amazon is asking to sell ebooks for lower prices while keeping publishers’ profit margins intact, I’m okay with that. (Though I admit that in IPG’s shoes, I’d still want to fight for the right to price books however the publishers want to.)

If, however, Amazon is pulling a Walmart – squeezing a higher and higher percentage from publishers until the people who make the books are effectively Amazon employees – then I’d like to know that too, so I can climb on my horse and fight alongside IPG and all the other people who have been feeling bullied by Amazon.

I support IPG for not yielding to the bully here. They clearly have a strong conviction, I feel like their motives are pure (whether I agree with their math or not), and I’m happy for my books to be included in their leverage.

But in order to really get behind this cause – to fight for the underdog like I’d so love to do – I have this burning question:

What does Amazon want?

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Money and Murder and Colleen Cross

Published on February 17, 2012 by Robin in guest blogging

Good thing I have a blog, huh? I’m averaging one post for every two I write for other people’s blogs…

Today I’m over at my friend Colleen Cross’s blog, talking about what money reveals about someone’s character, both in life and in fiction. Here’s the link.

It’s also Colleen’s book launch tonight, for her debut crime novel, Exit Strategy. (6-9 p.m., Heritage Grill in New Westminster – 447 Columbia St., near Columbia Skytrain). It’s a fun read, blood diamonds and international intrigue. Everyone is welcome.

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Sweater Curse

Published on February 10, 2012 by Robin in Interviews

I’m being interviewed by fellow crime writer Leanne Dyck today – over at her blog The Sweater Curse. Stop in and say hi.

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Have Your Book & E-Read It Too

Published on January 20, 2012 by Robin in ebooks

A kick-ass move from ECW Press helps independent bookstores get into the ebook game – at least for ECW titles.

Buy any book from their Spring 2012 list – and many, many backlist titles – and get the ebook free.

Says ECW co-publisher David Caron: “When readers pay top price for one of our books, we feel they should be able to read it in the way that fits best with their life: a printed book in a comfy chair, an eBook on their phone on the bus, whatever. We also wanted to find a way to include bookstores that don’t sell eBooks, so that both the store’s customers and the bookseller feel that they are getting good value from an ECW Press book.”

How it works:

1. Buy the book anywhere.
2. Email ECW Press with your sales details (receipt number, where you bought it).
3. They’ll email you back with your free ebook attached.

They’re also honoring the deal for a large number of backlist titles – including Death Plays Poker & Dead Politician Society, to my delight – on sales going forward.

ECW is a quirky Canadian independent press. They publish over 50 books a year from an eclectic range of excellent authors – like John McFetridge (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere is one of the best and grittiest crime novels I’ve ever read), Douglas Gibson (whose recent book Stories About Storytellers is a fun memoir of his life in publishing, Catherine Gildiner (whose memoir Too Close to the Falls is so fast and funny I thought I was reading fiction), and many, many more.

To find out if your ECW title qualifies you for a free ebook, shoot them an email to find out.

Just one more reason I am stoked to be working with this groundbreaking, word-loving publisher.

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New Canadian Authors Set for Lower Mainland Crime Spree

How To Get Blog Reviews

Now in Audiobooks

Free Friday at Nook

Romance and Beyond

Amazon vs. IPG – What are these mystery terms?

Money and Murder and Colleen Cross

Sweater Curse

Have Your Book & E-Read It Too

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