It Takes a Community to Win an Award

by Mike Martin, @mike54martin

Darkest Before the Dawn won the 2019 Bony Blithe Award as the best light mystery of the year. Wow!!

I was more than a little surprised to win. Mostly because of the competition. Alan Bradley who writes the fabulous Flavia DeLuce series with a precocious and adorable 12-year-old female sleuth and fun-loving trouble maker. Vicki Delany who is uber-famous as the author of 34 books and is currently writing three mystery series. Elizabeth Duncan who is a two-time winner of this award and who writes the coziest of mysteries set in Wales. Plus, a brand-new crackerjack author in Auralee Wallace who is destined to win many awards before too long.

So, I was shocked and delighted to win and mumbled a few words of thanks to the organizers and an even more bungling acknowledgement to my daughter who gave me the gift of being there with me to witness this miracle. And to my partner, Joan, without whom, I can say with certainty that there be no Sgt. Windflower, let alone awards and accolades.

Since I didn’t think I was going to win I had no acceptance speech prepared. Now that I’ve had a few days to think about it I have a few more things to add. I hope you’ll bear with me.

First of all, I take no personal credit for creating Sgt. Windflower or for writing 7 books so far in the series. (New book coming this fall) Where would I come up with that character, let alone find 600,000 words or so to talk about him and whatever might happen to him and his imaginary friends? That came from what I call the creative flow. All I had to do was to tap into it. The same way that Sgt. Windflower walked out of the fog one night and started telling me his story. I just wrote down he said. I hope he doesn’t stop talking or I’m doomed.

Secondly, Joan my partner encouraged me when I felt awful and that my writing wasn’t very good and that it was too hard to be an independent writer because I had to do everything myself. Some of that was true. Especially my early writing. She said to keep going, that I would get better and that it would get a little easier along the way. Some of that was true, too. Mostly about getting easier because I worked harder and didn’t let the small things get me down.

Thirdly, writing is a solitary act but it takes a community to write a good book, let alone win an award. My community includes my siblings who have supported me through the days of dark, very dark poetry and always said they loved my stuff, even when it truly sucked. My extended and adopted family and friends who came to every event and bought my books deserve a lot of credit, too. So do my writing colleagues and friends, some of whom are beta readers from the beginning and those who toil behind the scenes in Ottawa Independent Writers and Crime Writers of Canada. Words of advice, small plugs here and there, invitations to guest blog and to co-host events, all made me believe that if they thought I was a good writer, maybe I could live up to their ideals.

In order to get here I also had help from an army of proofreaders and editors as well as book bloggers and reviewers who were willing to take a chance on an unknown quantity like me. Elizabeth Spann-Craig is one of them!! Plus, independent bookstores and store managers in some of the biggest stores in Canada took my books and let me set up that table near the front of the store. You know the one where everyone tries to avoid you on the way in and smiles at you, with pity, on the way out. It was frightening and exhilarating all at the same time. Thank you!!

Last, and always, the people who buy, borrow, and if you have no other choice, steal my books I salute you. Readers are the lifeblood, the oxygen for writers. We do not exist in our own imagination. We live in yours. Thank you more than I can ever express. My commitment to you is to try and write the best possible story that I can and I hope that I can continue to hold your interest and your trust.

One more thing. If you are new to this writing racket, stick with it. If you can’t find a publisher to take your work, don’t be afraid to step out on your own. Just make sure that you write and produce and edit and proofread your book, the baby that you will bring into the world, to the very best of your ability. Take the time you need to do it right and you will be rewarded. You may or may not win an award. But you will receive many gifts along the way. Be grateful, like me, for the opportunity and you will be a success.

Mike Martin is the author of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series.

Here’s where you can get Darkest Before the Dawn

Darkest Before the Dawn is available in many bookstores across Canada including Chapters/Indigo and many independent stores.

Amazon:

USA – UK – CA – AUS – IN

Chapters/Indigo

Follow Sgt. Windflower Mysteries:

Facebook

Twitter:

@mike54martin

Mike Martin is the author of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series which is set in small communities in Newfoundland on the eastern tip of Canada.