When One Thing Leads to Another: 阁楼上的骷髅》

by | Jun 4, 2022 | One Writer's Journey, When One Thing Leads To Another | 10 comments

Back in March 2019, I attended Left Coast Crime, an annual mystery conference that travels to a different west coast city every March or April. That year, it was in Vancouver, British Columbia. I’d never been to B.C., always wanted to go, and I’d always wanted to go to LCC. A Win-Win. Since I was going to be there, I volunteered to be the Crime Writers of Canada member liaison (we had about 30 members attending), set up a table and time slots for authors, and gathered donations for a silent auction basket for charity. All of that led me to meet a number of authors I hadn’t known before, and one of those was Tymo Lin, a Taiwanese Canadian living in B.C.

Fast forward two years and Tymo approached me to see if I’d be interested in being interviewed for CRIMYSTERY, the inaugural publication of the newly formed Crime Writers of Taiwan, with Tymo doing the translation. It sounded like fun, and so I said yes. The publication soon hit #1 in Taiwan’s main bookseller (their equivalent to Amazon) and my interview came to the attention of Taiwan’s Sharp Point Press. There was a lot of back and forth, but the bottom line is that last week I signed a contract with Sharp Point Press for the worldwide Chinese (including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, but excluding China) trade paperback and ebook rights to Skeletons in the Attic —  阁楼上的骷髅》–  is expected in 2023.

None of this would have happened without Left Coast Crime and meeting Tymo Lin, who was instrumental in making this deal happen. Life really does work in mysterious ways.

10 Comments

  1. Rose Kerr
    Rose Kerr on June 5, 2022 at 8:08 am

    Congratulations, Judy! Love to read how you’re volunteering led to the connection with Tymo! Wishing you continued success!

    • Judy Penz Sheluk
      Judy Penz Sheluk on June 5, 2022 at 9:19 am

      Thanks Rose. I do believe that we create much of our own luck. It’s the old saying, “the harder I work, the luckier I get.” LCC Liaison was a ton of work, but it was such a great experience and I met so many wonderful authors while there.

  3. M. E. Bakos
    M. E. Bakos on June 4, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    Wonderful news! Congratulations, Judy!

  4. C. J. Papoutsis
    C. J. Papoutsis on June 4, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    Wow! That’s so cool. Like my Mum used to say, “ if it’s meant to be, it will.” Congratulations Judy!!

    • Judy Penz Sheluk
      Judy Penz Sheluk on June 4, 2022 at 3:05 pm

      Thanks C.J. and I believe as your mom!

  5. Karen Neary
    Karen Neary on June 4, 2022 at 12:23 pm

    Wow! Congratulations, Judy!