susancbell, Author at Derby Rotten Scoundrels

Member News – January 2024

Jeanette C. Pope at Grace M. James Academy of Excellence – Entrepreneur Fair

Jeanette C. Pope was honored to get invited to the Grace M. James Academy of Excellence – Entrepreneur Fair, on December 13, 2023. Grace M. James Academy of Excellence is part of the Jefferson County Public School system.

While networking, Jeanette was thrilled to share her books, Double Triangles, and Desperate Angles with other business participants.

Author Jeanette intrigued students with the covers of her books and the fact that both books are set in Louisville, Kentucky.

Jeanette seized this opportunity to discuss with the teens (middle-school girls) the purpose and plot of her soon-to-be-published book, Authentica. The central idea of the novel is ways to respond to bullying in a high school situation.

The girls expressed great interest in reading such a book and urged her to have it ready for GMJ Entrepreneur Fair, in 2024!

The sixth-ninth graders gave Jeanette many useful insights and suggestions, so now she has enough information to write a sequel to Authentica.

Location, Location, Location

We all know location can make or break a business, but how important is location for your novel?

Join us on January 13 when DRS members Carol Preflatish and Elaine Munsch discuss writing about location. Learn how they chose both real and imagined settings for their novels, and how location can make a story more or less challenging to write. You’ll also discover when setting has enough power to become a character in the story.

author image - Carol Preflatish — Carol Preflatish

Carol Preflatish is from southern Indiana and has been writing for over twenty years. She is the author of the Nathan Perry Mystery Series, as well as several romantic suspense novels. Carol is also a multi-award-winning screenwriter. Her adaptation of her book, Homecoming to Murder, won the runner-up award for Best Screenplay – Long Format at Imaginarium 2023 and Best Feature Script at the ICE CineFest 2023.

Elaine Munsch, writing as E.M. Munsch, is the author of seven Dash Hammond novels. The latest, Old Sins, was published at the end of 2023. She is a life-long bookseller and lover of mysteries. She’s been a member of Sisters in Crime forever (or at least the last thirty years).

When: Saturday, January 13, 2024

Time: Noon-2pm (PLEASE NOTE THE NEW TIME FOR JANUARY ONLY)

Where:

Middletown Library

12556 Shelbyville Road

Louisville, KY 40243

This meeting will also be zoomed – but not recorded. Please use the following link to register.

Zoom Registration Link

NOTE: From Noon until about 12:45pm, we will have a brief business meeting followed by a group critique session of short manuscripts submitted by group members. Carol and Elaine will give their presentation beginning at 1:00PM.

Member News – December

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.

Jo-Ann Farmer – A Day in the Life of a Coroner

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