Good Karma!

Richard Chartrand, on the right, is the author of Bad Karma and Bad Karma II. Photo by Del Chatterson.

SPENT THE WEEKEND at the Toronto International Festival of Authors’ MOTIVE event at lovely Victoria College. Our book tables were outdoors, and the weather co-operated.

My table mate was Richard Chartrand, a crime writer whom I had never met before. After we introduced ourselves, I asked him about his two novels, Bad Karma, and its sequel, Bad Karma II, which were displayed on the table in front of him. He told me the novels revolve around a vigilante group that targets corrupt executives who cheat the system and defraud their innocent victims.

The story sounded familiar. I asked Richard more questions.

Then I remembered that four years ago, I’d taken part in Crime Writers of Canada’s mentorship program. I was paired with an unpublished author to critique the first 30 or so pages of his novel-in-progress. I read the pages I was given, the opening of a high-action novel, wrote a critique and sent it off to the CWC organizers, who then sent it off to the writer. The partnership was anonymous; neither of us knew who the other person was.

I realized I was sitting beside that anonymous author. Richard Chartrand was now a published author of two novels, with a third coming out soon. My husband, Ed, visited the table, heard our story, and bought a copy of Bad Karma.

Richard told me that he’d appreciated my critique. Although I liked the premise and his characters, I’d found too much backstory—details of protagonist Malcolm Jennings’ earlier life—in the opening pages, breaking the story’s momentum. I suggested that Richard weave these details throughout the book, perhaps saving an important detail for a special moment later in the novel. Perhaps omitting some details that were more important to him as an author than to the reader. Backstory, as the word implies, belongs farther back in the book.

Richard said he subsequently rewrote the opening chapters, paring down the backstory and focusing on the action.

It was a real thrill to discover that a book I’d played a tiny part in shaping was now out in print, fully launched, and with a sequel!