Peter James: How to Make a Career Out of Murder (Writing) Event!

I seriously have to say that I love twitter.  I have gotten more opportunities to attend events through twitter than by any other means.  Last week HarperCollinsCanada sent out an invite on twitter to attend an event at their Toronto HQ.  They were having author Peter James at their office where he would be talking about How to Make a Career Out of Murder (Writing).  Let me tell you, it was so much fun!

Peter James signing copies of his latest book Dead Man's Grip

Peter James, on top of being a supremely talented author, is absolutely hilarious.  He was dynamic and engaging and had all of us listening eagerly all night long.  He really comes across as the kind of writer you would like to take out for a drink and just talk to for hours on end.

While telling us some stories about things he has gotten up to all for the sake of research for his books, one of the attendees asked why he would do some of the things he has done to conduct research for his books?  His response is something that really hit home for me.  He told us that for one of his earlier novels he wrote purely from paper research and for him he felt like he was cheating his readers.  He decided from then on that he would experience the things that he was writing about first hand, as much as he possibly could, in order to be able to write them authentically.  Wow!  That is amazing.  To me it was simply fabulous to see that he such dedication and respect not only for his craft, but also for his audience that he was willing to go to such extreme lengths to make sure he got it right.

Everyone received a copy of Peter's latest book Dead Man's Grip and he graciously took the time to sign every last copy and then some.  Kudos to the HarperCollinsCanada staff for putting on such a great event and making everyone feel so welcome.  Thanks specifically to Shannon and Corey who were on hand to organize and participate.  

Look at Shannon's handy packaging skills!

His latest book making a home on my shelf!

*Side Note* Peter is nominated over at ITV3 for a People's Bestseller Dagger Award.  Click here to go and vote for him!  While you are at it, you should check out his books.  I mean seriously, who wouldn't read a book written by someone who used to write for Polk-a-Dot Door!  Canadians will know what I am talking about :)