Eileen Trauth

On Saturday, August 1, Eileen Trauth was a featured poet at Peripatetic Poets of Cincinnati at the Muse Cafe

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Lynn Slaughter

Lynn’s novel, Missing Mom, was named a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion finalist in the juvenile/young adult category.

Lynn’s newest novel, The Big Switch: Varney and Cedric, received a lovely review in Midwest Book Review: https://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/jul_26.htm#suziehousley

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Jenise Hale

Jenise Hale participated in the Buffalo Run Road Festival in Shepherdsville, Kentucky on July 25. This was an author book signing event that included other local vendors. The event organizers included the Main Book Hook and the Cedar Grove Coffee House. The coffee house created a special coffee drink called Kat’s Key to champion her book, Gossamer Key. How cool is that?

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LaGrange Book Fair

Elaine Munsch, Lynn Slaughter, Jeanette C. Pope, and Jenise Hale had a delightful time representing the Derby Rotten Scoundrels at the LaGrange Book Fair yesterday!

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Congratulations!

Beverle Graves Myers

Beverle Graves Myers’ latest short story, Three Fingers of Fate, appears in Detectives, Sleuths & Nosy Neighbors III from Inkd Publishing.

Set during an elegant gala brimming with ambition and secrets, her story offers a reminder that even the most polished appearances can be dangerously misleading.

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Lynn Slaughter

Lynn’s novel, Missing Mom, was named the third place finalist in the National Excellence in Storytelling Contest. Lynn is “Feeling very grateful!”

Lynn’s newest novel for children, The Big Switch, received a great Readers Review (Readers’ Favorite web site):

“a remarkable novel for children”

https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-big-switch

Per Lynn: “This has definitely been my lucky day!”

Lynn’s short fiction piece, “Betrayal,” appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of the Louisville Review.

https://louisvillereview.org/tlr-98

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Congratulations!

Jeanette Pope

Jeanette participated at the Romance in Bloom Book Fair in May. The book fair was held at City Place Pavilion in LaGrange.

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Lynn Slaughter

Lynn is excited announce the official release of Death in the End Zone, a sequel to Missed Cue featuring the same detective, Caitlin O’Connor, who navigates the investigation of another puzzling case while dealing with continuing changes and challenges in her personal life.

Lynn says “This is the first time I’ve ever written a novel which was not a stand-alone, so it’s been a whole new experience for me!”

Lynn is delighted to share  that her novel, Leisha’s Song, is the 2026 Maxy Award winner in the middle grade and young adult category:

https://www.maxyawards.com/2026

Lynn also had the following articles published in May:

• An article on work-life balance for contemporary women appeared online at GirlTalkHQ: https://www.girltalkhq.com/work-life-balance-for-contemporary-women-its-complicated

• An article on mysteries for sports lovers appeared in CrimeReads: https://crimereads.com/boxing-football-cricket-and-more-5-mysteries-for-sports-lovers/

• An article on the importance of backstory to character development appeared in Writer’s Digest on May 22:
  https://www.writersdigest.com/no-backstory-bashing-allowed

• An article on “Never Say Never!” appeared on online platform Books by Women: https://booksbywomen.org/never-say-never-our-passions-as-writers-may-take-us-to-unexpected-places/
  

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Chapter Anthologies

Derby Rotten Scoundrels has published three anthologies between 2004 and 2020:

• Derby Rotten Scoundrels a Silver Dagger Mystery (2004)
• Low Down and Derby a Silver Dagger Anthology (2006)
• Mystery with a Splash of Borubon (2020)

These anthologies got a shout out by the blog post Mystery Fanfare, a daily blog on mystery authors and stories run by Janet A. Rudolph. Her May 2 blog included the listing of our three anthologies (shown in the image), and we are grateful for the notice!

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Send your news items to the following address: news@derbyrottenscoundrels.com

We will post on our Facebook page weekly and do a monthly round-up of news on the website.

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Congratulations!

We were delighted to host Virginia Smith’s presentation:  Treat Your Writing Like a Business. In today’s competitive publishing landscape, creative talent is only half the equation; the most successful writers are those who approach their craft with the precision of an entrepreneur.

In this presentation, bestselling author Virginia Smith provides tips to help boost your writing productivity and gain an understanding of transitioning your writing from hobby to a business framework that can sustain a long-term career.

 

Virginia Smith is the USA Today bestselling author of 50+ books with more than 1.5 million copies sold worldwide. A multi-award winner with two Holt Medallion Awards of Merit and a Library Journal top pick, Ginny was delighted (and surprised!) when her novel made the leap to the silver screen (catch The Lies We Bury on Amazon Prime and other streaming channels). Central Kentucky is home, where she lives with her husband, a lively flock of chickens, and one very vocal Maltese named Max. Get to know her better at virginiasmith.org