With great sadness we announce that Deanna Raybourn is no longer able to attend this year's festival. We hope to see her in a future year. All is not lost, however. In her place will be appearing authors Tasha Alexander and Andrew Grant. Tasha Alexander is best known for her Lady Emily series of historical mysteries. Andrew Grant writes thrillers.

Jennifer Estep (Twitter-@Jennifer_Estep) is a self-described "rockstar" in Germany. Download our latest podcast and spend an hour (more or less) with the 2017 festival guest as she discussing pantsing vs. plotting, Hallmark movies, the business of writing, the death of urban fantasy and so much more.
Listen to the podcast

It's true! Even if you don't have a WWC pass, come in and browse our Merchants Corner.

The June planning meeting will be held at the
Brentwood Co-op
4122 Brentwood Road NW
on the 10th at 10 AM until noon.

This is just south of 40th Ave on the east side of Crowchild Trail just north of the University of Calgary. To find the meeting room: after entering the store, turn right toward the deli. Just before the deli there is a glass door to the right (just in front of the olive bar) that accesses stairs that go down to the meeting room.

Do you or don't you? How fast over the course of a series? For example, Kinsey Milhone has only aged six years since she was introduced in the the '80s while Janice MacDonald's Randy Craig has aged pretty much year-for-year since the first book was published in the mid-90s. Does aging the sleuth make him/her more believable? And what is the optimum age of your protagonist? At one time, every single femal sleuth, PI or amateur seemed to be a thirty-something. Has this changed? Jennifer Estep, Hayden Trenholm, Susan Calder and S.G. Wong discuss.

The May planning meeting will be held at the
Brentwood Co-op
4122 Brentwood Road NW
on the 6th (NOT THE 13TH!) at 10 AM until noon.

This is just south of 40th Ave on the east side of Crowchild Trail just north of the University of Calgary. To find the meeting room: after entering the store, turn right toward the deli. Just before the deli there is a glass door to the right (just in front of the olive bar) that accesses stairs that go down to the meeting room.

What goes into crafting a new world for fiction? How much research is enough? David B. Coe, Kristene Perron, Roxanne Barbour and Timothy Gwyn discuss the challenges and rewards of playing God.

http://whenwordscollide.libsyn.com/2017-13-world-building

The April planning meeting will be held at the
Brentwood Co-op
4122 Brentwood Road NW
on the 8th at 10 AM until noon.

This is just south of 40th Ave on the east side of Crowchild Trail just north of the University of Calgary. To find the meeting room: after entering the store, turn right toward the deli. Just before the deli there is a glass door to the right (just in front of the olive bar) that accesses stairs that go down to the meeting room.

The March planning meeting will be held at the
Brentwood Co-op
4122 Brentwood Road NW
on the 11th at 10 AM until noon.

This is just south of 40th Ave on the east side of Crowchild Trail just north of the University of Calgary. To find the meeting room: after entering the store, turn right toward the deli. Just before the deli there is a glass door to the right (just in front of the olive bar) that accesses stairs that go down to the meeting room.

The World Fantasy Convention comes to Canada for the first time ever, just as a then-new novelist is about to debut his first book. What an opportunity! Or is it? Learn more in the podcast of Guy Gavriel Kay's The Reading That Never Was from When Words Collide 2017.

Has paranormal romance had its day? Jennifer Estep, Axel Howerton, Ellie Lynn and Jessica L. Jackson discuss the genre, the label and writing to the market.
Podcast

The February planning meeting will be held at the
Brentwood Co-op
4122 Brentwood Road NW
on the 11th at 10 AM until noon.

This is just south of 40th Ave on the east side of Crowchild Trail just north of the University of Calgary. To find the meeting room: after entering the store, turn right toward the deli. Just before the deli there is a glass door to the right (just in front of the olive bar) that accesses stairs that go down to the meeting room.

The January planning meeting will be held at the
Brentwood Co-op
4122 Brentwood Road NW

This is just south of 40th Ave on the east side of Crowchild Trail just north of the University of Calgary. To find the meeting room: after entering the store, turn right toward the deli. Just before the deli there is a glass door to the right (just in front of the olive bar) that accesses stairs that go down to the meeting room.

How authors push the boundaries in the publishing industry with Mark Leslie Susan Calder Elaine Moran & Sheri-D Wilson.

Canada's national dance? Translating for Japanese visitors to Green Gables? Travel writer and novelist Will Ferguson dispenses advice based on his own career.

This is the latest podcast from WWC2017. Authors anonymously submit first pages of works in progress which are read aloud for a panel of editors. The editors then comment on the work. Does it sound like a bloodsport? There's one author they want to talk to afterward! Hear it here: http://whenwordscollide.libsyn.com/live-action-slush-early-bird-edition

Privacy, networking and the author/reader relationship. 2017 Guest of Honour speech from Guy Gavriel Kay. Part 2/2 Trick or Treat podcast pack. http://whenwordscollide.libsyn.com/2017-005-goh-speech-guy-gavriel-kay

Where does the magic come from? 2017 Guest of Honour speech from writer, bookseller and Director of Self Publishing & Author Relations for Kobo, Mark Leslie. Part 1/2 Trick or Treat podcast pack. http://whenwordscollide.libsyn.com/2017-004-goh-speech-mark-leslie

The Rights Factory Inc. president Sam Hiyate recounts how he launched his career as a literary agent in his 2017 Guest of Honour speech. http://whenwordscollide.libsyn.com/2017-003-goh-speech-sam-hiyate

We are currently looking for excited people to help us plan and deliver When Words Collide 2018. If you would like to help, please let us know or attend our next meeting December 10 in the Community Room of the MacLeod Trail Co-op (8818 MacLeod Trail South) from 10 AM - 12 PM.

The 2017 Guest of Honour speech by C.C. Humphreys in which he channels The Bard: http://whenwordscollide.libsyn.com/2017-002-goh-cc-humphreys?tdest_id=115581

You call a winter hat a what, again...?
http://whenwordscollide.libsyn.com/2017-goh-speech-jennifer-estep