Blog

Elaine Munsch

Elaine is very happy to announce the publication of the seventh Dash Hammond book, OLD SINS.

You can order the book from Amazon right now

— OR  —

if you prefer to buy your books from a bookstore, OLD SINS will be available at Barnes & Noble after the holidays.

Thank you for your support.

Elaine will be signing books at the Jingle Bell Book Bash.

WHEN:  Sunday, December 10^th, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

WHERE:  Forest Edge Winery, 1910 Clermont Road,  Shepherdsville, Kentucky.

Hope to see you there.

Pam Hirschler AND LEANNE edelen

Pam and Leanne have short stories in a new anthology published by our fellow Sisters in Crime chapter Speed City (Indianapolis).

Leanne’s story, THE PERFECT MATCH, involves a troubled teenager named Henry, who has a penchant for setting fires.

Pam’s story, written under pen name P. K. Richard, HIGH ROLLER, involves a small-town florist with a nose for detective work.

Our DRS critique group got an early peek at these two stories before they were published, and they ae both delightful.

The rural Indiana landscape seems so bucolic, from the gently rolling hills of the south to the easy sway of cornfields in the north. Who knew those picturesque barns could hide criminal activity as well as livestock, or those rustic cemeteries be rife with murder victims as well as those who died of old-age? The members of the Speed City Sisters in Crime chapter, that’s who! In these seemingly peaceful rural settings, our authors uncover criminal deeds, unearth long dead secrets, provide justice for the wronged, and thwart the plans of the wicked. Sixteen tales testify that from the wide-open farmland to the small farming towns, the opportunity for mayhem and mischief is ever-present.

Linda Rees

Linda will be signing books at the Campbell County Band Craft Show. When: Dec2 between 9-3:00 Where: CCHS Winterfest Alexandria

Linda’s books are on sale at: Country Patchwork gift store in Falmouth Dec. 2, from 10-5:00.

Linda is happy that her books are on sale at Moonstruck in Williamstown.

Lynn Slaughter

Lynn signed a contract with Fire and Ice/Melange Books for her young adult romantic mystery, MISSING MOM.

Anticipated release date: Aug/Sept 2024.

Seventeen-year-old Noelle, an aspiring ballet dancer, refuses to believe her mom’s disappearance was a “probable suicide.” She’s determined to find out what really happened to her mother. Her investigation turns out to be connected to a young woman who escaped from an abusive marriage nearly two decades ago.

Join us on November 11 for our guest speaker, Jo-Ann Farmer.

Be advised this is a very graphic presentation, and no one under the age of 18 will be allowed to attend.

Jo-Ann Farmer was elected Jefferson County Coroner in November 2022. Previously, she served as a Deputy Coroner for nearly 23 years, and the last 17 were as Chief Deputy Coroner. She earned “Advanced Coroner” designation in 2005 and achieved “Master Coroner” designation in 2011.

Jo-Ann is the keynote speaker for Bellarmine University several times per year, lecturing on Forensics, and speaks to high schools and community organizations on Foresics as well. She conducted a six-week Forensic seminar at the Louisville Free Public Library and two full-day seminars at the University of Central Florida.

A graduate of the University of Kentucky Nursing Program, Jo-Ann’s nursing experience includes: Charge Nurse of Trauma/Emergency Room, Labor and Delivery, Coronary Care and Intensive Care Units in Lexington, Covington and Louisville.

She is a native Louisvillian, a wife, a mother of two adult sons, and “Mimi” to two young grandsons.

Note: At the request of Ms. Farmer, this meeting will not be recorded.

When: Saturday, November 11, 2023

Time: 11am-1pm

Where:

Central State Campus, Bingham Building

10511 La Grange Road

Louisville, KY 40223

Directions on the campus:

Go in the main entrance and veer right.

There will be a building on the left with mosaic tile on it.

This is the Bingham Building.

We need to wait outside the entrance until the entire group has arrived.

Google Map

Saturday’s guest speaker, David Wecker, gave a very entertaining and informative presentation on writing author bios. Thanks to David for his time, and thanks to Miki Reilly-Howe for arranging and moderating the talk! See below for some example bios David has done for various professionals.

Example Bios:

It’s a coolish Friday night. You find yourself making your way slowly, very slowly, up a steep hill to the castle. A fine mist begins to fall turning the centuries old buildings into spooky shapes. You finally reach the Church of the Holy Rude, the starting place for the 2023 Bloody Scotland. A very appropriate beginning to the weekend. The church, built in the early 15^th century, was the setting for the coronation of James VI. (Holy Rude being only the second church in Britain to hold a coronation; Westminster being the other.)

Outside the church is a cemetery where the tombstones have weathered over the centuries. In the misty evening one can readily imagine the residents rising to join in the festivities.

After a refreshing glass of potent punch, we, the attendees, make our way even further up the hill, over weathered cobblestones to the castle, Stirling Castle that is. There on the esplanade we gather where everyone received a torch. Yes, a real torch with flames shooting out of the top in spite of the rain. (For the safety of my fellow crime lovers, I declined to carry one.)

As the pipes and drum begin, we form a huge column and slowly start down the winding street to the village of Stirling. Occupants of the houses along the way open their doors; some are new to this event and are wondering what is going on.

We reach the bottom safely and I personally utter a huge sigh. Tonight’s main event is the prize-giving, as the Brits say. The McIvanney Prize for the best Scottish crime book of the year goes to Collum McSorley for his novel, SQUEAKY CLEAN. The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize winner is Kate Foster for THE MAIDEN.

The next day, Saturday, my daughter Kristin and I attended a few sessions. She choose a discussion with Denise Mina and Karen Smirnoff, two authors who are authorized to pick up iconic characters and create new stories for them. Mina has written a new Philip Marlowe in THE SECOND MURDERER while Smirnoff has picked up the Salander books with THE GIRL IN THE EAGLE’S TALONS.

I attended a discussion about anthologies chaired by Abir Mukherjee, author of A RISING SON, set in 1919, Calcutta, a very good book. The title of the panel was ‘HOT BLOOD, COLD BLOOD,’ the title of a new anthology published by Amazon featuring stories written by Scottish and Bengali writers. Joined by Anita Agnihotri and Doug Johnstone, the authors explored the many ties between Scotland and Bangladesh.

Then I scurried up a smallish hill to the Golden Lion Hotel where there was a panel called ‘Without a Trace,’ a discussion of books about missing persons. Alan Parks, author of the Harry McCoy series, was the person I wanted to hear having just finished his BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER. Gillian McAllister and Liz Mistry joined him; both had just published books about people who went missing. There was a lot of laughter from the audience as the writers told of bad reviews they had received and not forgotten..

For us, the festival ended with the Fun-Lovin’ Crime Writers Band doing a two-hour performance. All the songs had a crime theme: I fought the law; Bang, Bang, Watching the Detective, Delilah and many more songs. Who knew there were so many about crime, murder, etc.! The band is composed of Val McDermid (the Queen of Crime Fiction, her t-shirt says so), Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre, Doug Johnston, Stuart Neville and Luca Veste. They ended the evening with a rousing rendition of, fittingly, Paperback Writer. You can find them on YouTube.

Thus ended our days in Stirling. We left with a long list of new authors to try and enjoy.