The March 12th Probus Club of Western Ottawa gathering promises attendees will be drawn to the process of mystery writing and getting a novel published. Peggy Blair, a local author who has penned five suspense novels since 2012 is the guest speaker. She will be sharing her personal experience of the twists and turns in writing and getting a novel published.
As well as being an author, Peggy worked as a lawyer for over thirty decades and considered an expert in Indigenous law. She was also a Crown prosecutor and criminal defence lawyer and a former member of the Canadian Rights Tribunal.
Peggy has traveled, going to Old Havana for a Christmas. There she would people-watch, went to the bars favored by Hemingway, and discovered how to make a great mojito. She has been named in the Canadian Who’s Who.
Blair shared with Stittsville Central some of the subjects she will touch on for her proposed talk. “I’m going to be talking about my roller coaster journey from being rejected 156 times by agents, to having my unpublished manuscript shortlisted for The Debut Dagger in the UK; meeting Ian Rankin in a Harrogate bar during the festivities and ending up represented by his agent. I was then published in Canada and and internationally (by Penguin Canada and Simon and Schuster Canada with foreign rights in the US, Norway, Germany, Holland, Czech Republic and Israel) and a critically-acclaimed series, but am on what I call a reverse trajectory now, with SHADOW PLAY published through my own imprint, ReBound Press.”
Blair has written five mystery novels. The Beggar’s Opera was published in 2012 by Penguin Canada as well internationally. It was shortlisted for the UK Debut Dagger Award and won the Giller Prize Reader’s Choice Award. It was followed by The Poisoned Pawn, then Hungry Ghosts, and Umbrella Man which were published by Simon and Schuster Canada and which she has recently put back in print. Her latest novel, Shadow Play, is set in Ottawa around an LRT scandal and can be ordered at www.reboundpress.com.
The Probus Club of Western Ottawa is part of the international organization of Probus Clubs designed to serve retired and semi-retired professional and business and like-minded people. Our club meets on the second Tuesday of each month.
The morning begins at 10:00 am with coffee and a time for socialization followed by a guest speaker. Topics are varied, interesting and stimulating. Special social events occur throughout the year.
Western Ottawa Probus meets at the Kanata Baptist Church, 465 Hazeldean Road (west of Farm Boy plaza). Visitors are welcome. Website: www.probuswesternottawa.ca.
