Author: susancbell

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Member News – March

 

Lynn Slaughter

Lynn reports that she is an M & M Finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Awards in the mystery category.

Also, she is a finalist in the Book Excellence Awards in mystery for DEADLY SETUP.

Lynn will be joining the board of Louisville Literary Arts.

Congratulations Lynn!

 

Elaine Munsch and Susan Bell

Elaine and Susan would like you to join us at the Jeffersonville Library, Saturday, April 1st, from 1:30 until 3 p.m.

The library is located at 211 E. Court St., Jeffersonville, IN, 812-285-5630

We will be discussing:
Haunting Front CoverA HAUNTING AT MARIANWOOD
By E. M. Munsch
Marianwood, located in central Kentucky, is the motherhouse for the Sisters of the Blessed Mother of God. When the president of the order experiences odd happenings, she calls on her cousin Dashiell Hammond, retired Army colonel, to sort out the events. Is there really a ghost or more sinister beings at work?
This is the sixth book in the Dash Hammond series.
MYSTERY WITH A SPLASH OF BOURBON
by Derby Rotten Scoundrels authors
From historical adventure, gritty realism, and madcap humor, the crime stories in MYSTERY WITH A SPLASH OF BOURBON are fermented in the history and culture of Kentucky bourbon and distilled through the imagination of the writers. Murder, Mayhem and Bourbon –What’s more Kentucky than that?
We hope you can come out and see us!

Leanne Edelen

Leanne has a short story, Playing Possum, which will be published in an anthology called Strangely Funny X (publisher: Mystery and Horror, INC).  The anthology is due to be released in May of this year.

She is also submitting a short story to a fellow Sisters in Crime chapter, Speed City (Indianapolis). The story is titled The Perfect Match, and our fingers are crossed that her story is accepted for the anthology, Amber Waves of Graves.

Several other members are also planning to submit to this anthology, but I won’t put them on the spot unless they ask. Good luck to anyone and everyone who submits! For more information on this anthology, click the link (submission deadline is March 24, 2023):  https://www.speedcitysistersincrime.org/amber-waves-of-graves.html

 

That’s all for now, folks!

 

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Member News – February

Lynn Slaughter

Check out Lynn Slaughter’s essay on the importance of backstory  on hastybooklist.com:

Also, Lynn and Ellen Birkett Morris gave a delightful talk at Jo-Beth’s bookstore. Lynn and Ellen were superb, talking about their writing process, and reading from their latest novels. Well done! Susan and Elaine drove down to show support, along with Miss Whitney Vale (Susan’s sister).

Lynda Rees

DRS Member and Author, Lynda Rees, The Murder Guru, will be teaching The Business of Publishing workshop online for the Womens’ Fiction Writer’s Association, classes from April 20-30. It’s only $20.

Lynda is also honored to have been selected to help judge as Unpublished Category Coordinator for the Kiss of Death, Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery / Suspense contest. You DO NOT have to be a KOD or RWA member to enter. This year short stories are a new category! Entry information is in the graphic below.

Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon

Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon

The Kentucky Derby Museum recently ordered 36 copies of our anthology to stock in their gift shop.  And they just told us that, instead of doing consignment, which we have been doing the past 6 months, they will now buy outright! Great news, and much easier to keep track of. We hope we get more orders from them as the Derby approaches. Fingers crossed!
Also, in January, Susan and Elaine dropped off copies of the anthology to Keeneland and the Kentucky Horse Park. Sadly, Keeneland said no. We haven’t heard back from Kentucky Horse Park. NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED!
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Comma Long With Me

Few elements of punctuation are as daunting as the comma. When do I use it? Where do I put it? There are rules, and sometimes controversy (Oxford commas come to mind).

Reference this article on  8 basic uses of commas:  Commas (Eight Basic Uses)

This month, we will focus on independent clauses.

An independent clause is also called the main clause. It expresses a complete thought, and it can stand alone as a sentence. Its counterpart is a dependent clause, which cannot stand alone. Dependent and independent clauses can combine to make different types of sentences.

A clause is a phrase that contains a subject and a verb or verb phrase

Every complete sentence has an independent clause, but not every sentence contains a dependent clause.

reference: Independent Clause: What It Is Explained with Examples

 

Independent Clause plus a Dependent Clause:

Boomer, a cat who started life in the park, enjoys playing in my backyard.

The independent clause in this sentence is:

Boomer enjoys playing in my backyard.

This is a complete thought, with a subject (Boomer), a verb (enjoys), and an object phrase (in my backyard). As an independent clause, the above statement does not require a comma.

The following clause is dependent, because it cannot stand alone:

a cat who started life in the park

The dependent clause is almost a parenthetical description, used to provide a little ‘background’ info on Boomer, but not essential to the main clause. When you add the two clauses togther, you need to separate them with a comma (in this case, two commas, because the dependent clause is dropped into the middle of the independent clause:

Boomer, a cat who started life in the park, enjoys playing in my backyard.

Two Independent Clauses in one Sentence:

We can connect two independent clauses in a few different ways. The first method is to use a coordinating conjunction.

There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. You can remember these with the acronym FANBOYS.

Example:

The following two clauses are independent because they can each stand alone as a complete thought:

My dog is an Australian shepherd.

I don’t have any sheep for him to herd.

When combined, they need a comma and a conjunction (but) to connect them.

My dog is an Australian shepherd, but I don’t have any sheep for him to herd.

 

You don’t have to use a coordinating conjunction to connect independent clauses. You can also use certain punctuation marks. These are semicolons, em dashes, and colons.

When you use a semicolon, you do not include a coordinating conjunction. You can use a transitional word or phrase after the semicolon, like “however” or “as a result.” These are called independent markers.

Examples:

I used to live in Montreal; however, I am not fluent in French.

We discovered the thief—it was my next-door neighbor!

You don’t usually see colons separating independent clauses. The independent clauses must be closely related to use a colon. The emphasis should also be on the second clause.

  • The results of the study surprised us: the animals responded positively to the visual stimuli.

reference: Independent Clause: What It Is Explained with Examples

I hope you have enjoyed my TED talk!

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Member News – January 2023

Lynn Slaughter

Lynn Slaughter and Ellen Birkett Morris

Join our former DRS President, Lynn Slaughter, for her book signing and talk at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Lexington. Lynn will be there with award-winning author of LOST GIRLS, Ellen Birkett Morris

Lynn’s most recent novel, Deadly Setup, was released in 2022.

When: Saturday, January 28th at 2 PM

Where:  Joseph Beth Booksellers in Lexington

Other news:
I was featured on Sarahlyn Bruck’s “Author Spotlight” talking about DEADLY SETUP:  : https://sarahlynbruck.com/blog-slaughter. 
I did a guest blog/giveaway for CrimeCafe: : https://www.debbimack.com/blog/crime-cafe/guest-post-and-book-giveaway-by-lynn-slaughter/ , as well as a podcast interview which will go live January 8th.
I’m also a guest author on George Cramer’s blog on January 12.

Leanne Edelen

Leanne’s short story, Playing Possum, was accepted by Mystery and Horror, INC for an anthology to come out later this year!

Note:  Mystery and Horror published the DRS anthology Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon in 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

Patience Martin

The latest episode of Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theater has been released, and our resident actress, Patience Martin, is a featured player.
The Case of the Sleeping Policeman is filled with drama and suspense – and lots of struggling and screaming on my part.  — Patience Martin
Here’s purchase and download information:

Linda Rees

Magnolia Blossoms, Reggie Chronicles 3 and Heart of the Matter, Reggie Chronicles 4 by Lynda Rees and audio by Sally Barron just came out in audiobook format and should soon be picked up by all audiobook retailers.

Linda is teaching a class on  Organization and Productivity (January 28) for Contemporary Romance Writers later this month. More information here: January 2023 CRW Workshops

 

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Book Signing and Holiday Dinner – December 3 – Mark Your Calendars!

Book Signing at Barnes and Noble 1 – 3PM

Join your sisters in crime for a book signing at Barnes and Noble on Hurstbourne. Books make a perfect holiday gift. Authors participating:

Elaine Munsch – A Haunting at Marianwood 

Lynn Slaughter – Deadly Setup and other titles

Carol Preflatish – Witch Hunt and other titles

Lynda Rees – Operation Second Chance and other children’s titles

Jeanette Pope – Desperate Angles and other titles

Susan Bell – Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon

Gloria Casale – Shadow Road (note – Gloria’s books will be available, but Gloria has a conflict with another signing)

 

Location:

Barnes and Noble

Holiday Dinner – Olive Garden 4PM

Join us for our annual Holiday Dinner at Olive Garden on Hurstbourne. We’ll be celebrating another great year, awarding Elaine Munsch for her services as Volunteer of the Year, and electing our new board for next year. If you can’t attend, please be sure to email Lynn Slaughter with your vote for the board.  Our nominees for 2023 are:

President: Elaine Munsch

Vice-president: Carol Preflatish

Secretary: Leanne Edelen

Treasurer: Patience Martin

Programs: Miki Reilly-Howe

Webmaster/Membership: Susan Bell

Location:

Olive Garden

We’ve had very few opportunities to meet as a group over the past year, so I hope you can join us at the signing and/or the dinner later in the day. We look forward to seeing you on December 3!