September 11^th is a somber day in our nation’s history, but it felt good to spend time with eight other chapter members at our monthly meeting.

Not surprisingly, we talked a lot about spreading the word about our chapter. One of the big takeaways from our retreat was the need to increase our publicity efforts and social media presence. All I can say is that our new publicist, Lynda Rees, with able assistance from Susan Bell and Miki Reilly-Howe, has been hard at work and done an amazing job! Press releases about our new Speakers Bureau have gone out to multiple outlets, and Lynda has created a chapter brochure set to arrive at my house later this week, in plenty of time to take to the Flemingsburg County Library Book Fair on October 2.   We now have bookmarks, a banner, and brochures—all featuring the gorgeous new logo created by Miki Reilly-Howe’s colleague, Doug Sovonick.

You can also now find out what we’re up to on social media. We’d love for you to like us and follow us!

	Twitter: derbyrottenscoundrels.com
	Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derbyrottenscoundrels
	Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsAFuiQ13WwstSUHT082iA

 

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In other news, our newly formed online critique group, which includes Susan Bell, Elaine Munsch, Lorena Peter, Jeanette Pope, and Miki Reilly-Howe, reports they had a great first meeting. Lorena Peter submitted an excerpt from her new novel, Inexplicable Dread, and Elaine Munsch submitted another chapter From her new Dash Hammond novel, Maude (Working title).

 

 

Meantime, our chair of programming, Elaine Munsch, has lined up some exciting speakers for the coming year. For our next meeting on October 9^th, Shay McAlister, WHAS-11 investigative reporter, will talk about her career and the ongoing interest in cold cases. The public is invited to attend! For the Zoom link, please contact Susan Bell at: susancbell@yahoo.com. Read more here: Shay McAlister – Investigative Reporter for WHAS: Working with LMPD Cold Case Squad

 

 

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Member News

Beth Henderson’s second book in the Whichur-Wolfe Detection series, WHEN CURTSEY KNIFED SAMMY, (paranormal, cozy mystery, comedy, with a touch of romance) went live on September 15^th. Lots is happening in Book Two, including a second murder! Beth is delighted with the five star reviews she’s received for the first book in the series, WHEN HARRY KILLED SALLY.

Jeanette Pope will celebrate her newly released DESPERATE ANGLES and sign books on September 18^th at Mike Linnig’s Restaurant- 9308 Cane Run road, Louisville KY  340258 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

Carol Preflatish submitted book number three, WITCH HUNT, in her Nathan Perry Mystery Series to her publisher. It should be released by Christmas.

Lynn Slaughter’s article, “The Three Best Pieces of Writing Advice I’ve Ever Received,” appeared in the creativity issue of Teen Ink: https://www.teenink.com/TipsFromAnAuthor-LynnSlaughter

Lynn was also recently interviewed for Hasty Book List:
https://www.hastybooklist.com/home/author-interview-lynn-slaughter

Our chapter will be well represented at the upcoming Book Fair on October 2nd at the Flemingsburg County Library: https://virginiasmith.org/event/fleming-county-library-book-fair/

Gloria Casale, Elaine Munsch, Lynda Rees, and Lynn Slaughter will be participating authors.

 

That’s it for now! Please stay safe. We hope to see you at our October 9^th chapter meeting!

We are excited to announce that our crime anthology, Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon, has been selected for the 40th annual Kentucky Book Festival (formerly Kentucky Book Fair) on November 6 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington.

Read about the festival here: Kentucky Book Festival

 

 

Read more about the anthology and our authors here:  Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon

Despite the Heat, We’re Working to Spread the Word about Our Chapter!

Although we were disappointed (but very understanding) about the cancellation of the 10^th Annual Kentuckiana Independent Authors Fair on August 14^th, it did give us an opportunity to hold our August chapter meeting on our usual second Saturday of the month. Ten of us gathered on Zoom, and much of our lively discussion centered on our publicity efforts.

We’re thrilled with our new logo designed by Miki Reilly-Howe’s colleague, Doug Sovonick. And thanks to Susan Bell and Lynda Rees, we now have bookmarks and a banner featuring our new logo to take to book fairs, conferences, and book signings. Speaking of book fairs, we’re still brimming with excitement that the anthology co-edited by Susan Bell and Elaine Munsch, Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon, has been selected for the Kentucky Book Festival which will take place on November 6^th at Joseph-Book Booksellers in Lexington.

 

Meantime, our new publicist, Lynda Rees, is about to start work on a brochure about the chapter, as well as a PR campaign. Miki Reilly-Howe volunteered to assist with strategizing. Lynda will also set up a Facebook page for the chapter and work on enlarging our presence on social media.  

We’re delighted to report that our Speaker’s Bureau is up and running, and Elaine Munsch has her first booking! She will speak on the history of women crime writers at the Owensboro public library.

Starting up in September is our new online critique group which plans to meet twice monthly and includes: Susan Bell, Elaine Munsch, Lorena Peter, Jeanette Pope, and Miki Reilly-Howe.  We’re excited that chapter members will have more opportunities for regular feedback on their works-in-progress.

Following our business meeting, we discussed the first chapter of Janet Burroway’s classic Writing Fiction, A Guide to Narrative Craft, 10^th edition. My favorite part of our discussion was the sharing we did about childhood memories that might spark ideas for stories. Interestingly, several of us had stories about angry parents! We plan to tackle Chapter Two of Burroway’s book at our September 11th meeting. Jeanette Pope will lead our discussion.

Member News

 

Lynda Rees’s historical romance, Gold Lust Conspiracy, was published in audiobook by Audible and Amazon: https:adbl.co/3rLu450 The response has been so positive that she’s already working on the sequel!

In addition, Lynda recently launched a children’s picture book, NO FEAR, available on Amazon. https://amzn.to/2V6rf2m.

 

Beth Henderson has launched the Witchur-Wolfe Detection series, which she describes as a “paranormal comedic cozy mystery series with a touch of romance.” The first of the four-book series, When Harry Killed Sally, is now up for pre-sale on Kindle: http://getbook.at/HarrySally

When investigative reporter Emmalyst Whichur teams up with Conor Wolf to prove Harry’s innocence in the murder of Sally, they hope to spring Harry before the Full Moon arrives: “After all, in Killaman Falls, if a witch and a werewolf walk into the same bar, things really can’t be the same ever again.”

 

Jeanette Pope’s book signing for her newly released Desperate Angles will take place on September 18^th at Mike Linnig’s Restaurant- 9308 Cane Run Rd. Louisville, KY  40258 between 11 and 2 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

Lynda Rees and Lynn Slaughter will be participating authors at the Lexington Book Bash from 10-4 PM on August 28 at Double Tree Suites by Hilton Hotel, 2601 Richmond Road in Lexington. They both plan to have information about the chapter handy at their tables.

Lynn Slaughter contributed an article, “The Three Best Pieces of Writing Advice I Ever Received” to Teen Ink which is scheduled to come out this month. She will also be a guest on George Cramer’s blog on August 30^th to talk about her recently released Leisha’s Song: https://gdcramer.com

 

 

 

We hope everyone is staying cool and safe, and we look forward to seeing folks at our next chapter meeting on September 11^th!

 

The 10th Annual Kentuckiana Independent Authors Fair, originally scheduled for August 14, 2021, has been rescheduled to next year: SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 2022 AT 10 AM EDT – 4 PM EDT

July has been an Exciting Month

July has been an exciting month for our chapter, especially our acceptance to the 2021 Kentucky Book Festival. Here are some highlights:

Kentucky Book Festival

Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon, edited by Susan Bell and Elaine Munsch, has been selected for inclusion in the Kentucky Book Festival to be held on November 6^th at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington. Although the anthology is not an official Sisters in Crime publication, several of our chapter members have works in the anthology, so we are thrilled to celebrate our talented Derby Rotten Scoundrel authors and editors!

The anthology includes the following authors:

Deborah Alvord ** Edmund August ** Susan Bell ** Barbara Blackburn ** Karen Quinn Block ** Mike Bradford ** Virginia ‘Din’ Dulworth ** M. E. Gaskins ** Sarah E. Glenn ** Debi Huff ** Shirley Jump ** Gwen Mayo ** Elaine Munsch ** Lorena R. Peter (Lorena Reith, Jr.) ** Debby Schenk ** Tamera Shaw ** Sheila Shumate ** Cheryl Stuck ** Milton C. Toby ** Jo Tucker ** Heidi Walker

Read more here: Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon

New Logo

Chapter member Miki Reilly-Howe arranged for a fabulous graphic designer to design a new logo for our chapter. We are thrilled and now await the approval of national (We’re pretty confident they’ll like it as much as we do!)

Speaker’s Bureau

Plans are underway for our new project, a Speaker’s Bureau, which would offer presentations to libraries and other groups in Kentucky and Indiana. The amazing Elaine Munsch is putting together a brochure to advertise our services. We are offering eleven presentations:

• A Brief History of Women Crime Writers
• The History of Young Adult Literature
• Writing Contemporary Young Adult Fiction
• Getting That First Book Written and Published
• Authors Share Their Stories
• Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas
• Writing Mysteries with a Kentucky Slant
• Writer’s Secrets on Staying Organized
• The Business of Publishing
• When Two Heads Are Better Than One
• To Travel or Not to Travel
• Why Doesn’t the Movie Do Justice to My Favorite Book?

Presenters include: Elaine Munsch, Lorena Peter, Jeanette Pope, Carol Preflatish, Lynda Rees, and Lynn Slaughter.

Our New Publicist!

Board member Lynda Rees has been appointed by the board to take on a new volunteer position, publicist for our chapter. We are thrilled to have someone of Lynda’s expertise and energy on the job to spread the word about our chapter! The Board has decided to submit to the chapter changes in the by-laws which would officially add two board positions: publicist and webmaster. We will vote on these at the end of this year.

Volunteer of the Year

The Board voted to establish an annual award, Volunteer of the Year, to honor chapter members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in contributing their time and talents. The Volunteer of the Year will receive a certificate, be honored at our December luncheon, and have their upcoming national and chapter dues paid for by the chapter. We voted to award this year’s Volunteer of the Year award to Susan Bell, who has not only served as our Secretary, but has been our webmaster and our playwriting coordinator. Congratulations, Susan, and please know how much we appreciate you!

Chapter Meeting

Iced at the Easy

The Frazier Museum no longer has the resources to produce or help produce plays. A sub-committee consisting of Susan Bell, Patience Martin, Elaine Munsch, and Jeanette Pope will continue to seek other avenues of getting Iced at the Easy, based on an idea by Jeanette Pope, produced either fully or in staged readings.

Writer Support Session

In other news, we had a lively chapter meeting on July 10. Susan Bell and Elaine Munsch submitted strong submissions for critique. Susan’s Autumn Picnic is chock full of atmosphere and suspense about that suspicious young man in the woods covered in blood and carrying an axe! And Elaine’s Dash is as entertaining as ever as he investigates the mysterious death of his aunt.

August Meeting

Because so many chapter members are participating in the 10^th Annual Kentuckiana Independent Authors Fair on August 14^th, we decided to cancel our August chapter meeting and encourage everyone to come and support our DRS authors at the fair: Susan Bell, Gloria Casale, Elaine Munsch, Carol Preflatish, Lynda Rees, Lynn Slaughter, Jeanette Pope, Lorena Peter, and Pam Turner. The event will be held at 307 W. Jefferson Street in LaGrange Kentucky at the Community Center. Contact person is Tony Acree: tonyacree@gmail.com.

Zoom Continues

The Board has decided that at least through the end of the year, chapter meetings will continue to be held online, especially since several of our members have long drives to get to face-to-face meetings. Beginning with the September 11^th meeting, we will hold our business meeting from 12-1 and then from 1-2, we will either have a speaker or work our way through a craft book. In September, we’ll begin discussing chapter one of Writing Fiction, A Guide to Narrative Craft, Tenth Edition, by Janet Burroway, available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and IndieBound.

New Critique Session – Writer Support

At the retreat, attendees expressed an interest in a writing support group that would meet more often and allow for more frequent opportunities for feedback. The first DRS critique group will meet twice monthly at a separate time from our regular meetings. The group includes: Susan Bell, Elaine Munsch, Lorena Peter, Jeanette Pope, and Miki Reilly-Howe. Beth Henderson, Lynda Rees, and Lynn Slaughter have also volunteered to offer feedback to anyone requesting an extra pair of eyes on their work.

Speaker’s Bureau Prologue

In other news, Elaine Munsch, Jeanette Pope, and Lynn Slaughter will serve as a Derby Rotten Scoundrels guest panel for the Speed City Indianapolis chapter on July 24^th. We’ll share our chapter retreat and playwriting experiences.

Speakers

Our business meeting was followed by a terrific presentation by Gwen Mayo and Sarah Glenn, the publishers of Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon. They gave us a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to found and run a small independent press. It was absolutely fascinating.

You can watch their presentation here: Speaker Series

Member News

Our former president, Beth Henderson, reports she’s doing her happy dance because she just got a contract from The Wild Rose Press for her romantic suspense novel, Ghost Notes, to be published in 2022. Congratulations, Beth!

Jeanette Pope reports she had a wonderful time networking at Imaginarium and got to spend time with her mentor, Lee Pennington, former poet laureate of Kentucky and all-around fabulous writer and filmmaker.

 

 

 

Carol Preflatish also had a super time at Imaginarium and sold lots of books!

 

 

 

 

Lynn Slaughter’s guest essay on her approach to starting a novel appeared on Debra Goldstein’s blog: https://www.debrahgoldstein.com/guest-blogger-lynn-slaughter-starting-a-novel-one-writers-approach/. On July 20, Lynn was interviewed by Leah Stuhler on YA Book Chat about her newly released Leisha’s Song.

That’s it for now! Hope to see you all on August 14 at the Book Fair in LaGrange and on September 11^th, our next chapter meeting. Happy Writing!