Video Recording – Paul Stansbury – Writing the Short Story

Paul Stansbury provided a very informative talk to our chapter on Saturday, on writing the short story. Due to technical difficulties, though the video of the zoom call worked, we only got attendees on screen – no video of Paul talking. So I added a still picture of Paul through most of the video. The audio is fine. On behalf of the entire video and web team here at DRS, we apologize for any inconvenience.

Paul Stansbury is a lifelong native of Kentucky. He is the author of the five volume Inversion short story collection, Down By the Creek – Ripples and Reflections, and Under the Faerie Moon, an illustrated poetry collection. Over one hundred forty of his stories and poems have been published in print anthologies as well as online publications. He is a Kentucky Monthly Penned winner. His short play, Nana Toby, was selected for the Festival of New Plays at Union Commonwealth University. He is Scheduling Coordinator for The Jeanne Penn Lane Celebration of Kentucky Writers. He is the owner of Sheppard Press. Now retired, he lives in Danville, Kentucky.

Email Paul Stansbury: pstansburywriter@gmail.com

Follow Paul Stansbury on Facebook: Paul Stansbury Author

Website: https://www.paulstansbury.com

 

DRS Chapter Meeting – October 11 at 11:30am ** Zoom Only

Reading Like a Writer Book Club

This month the Scoundrels will be discussing When Cicadas Cry by Caroline Cleveland. Henry has already done his homework! Hopefully you all have had a chance to read the book. Scroll down to the very end of this post to see who the killer is!

Elaine and Bev will lead the book discussion in which they’ll focus on the writing and craft issues

All writing consists of a series of choices. As we read Cicadas, we’ll examine Cleveland’s choices in structuring the story she wanted to tell.

Just to get you started, here are a few thoughts that occurred to us on a second read:

  • Bev thought she’d identified the killer by around page 68. Wrong! The author led us right down the garden path.
  • Cleveland starts the book with a first-person scene in the killer’s head and continues to work these in. Would the book work as well if she’d left these out?
  • The crimes involve a present-day murder and a cold case murder. Different characters focus on separate investigations that are deftly woven together to reach a climax. How did this structure affect your reading experience?
  • Set in the Deep South, the novel uses racial issues not just as background but to drive the plot and increase tension. How do you feel Cleveland handled these themes?
  • Does the romantic subplot detract from or add to the tension?

Date: October 11, 2025

Time: 11:30 am EST

Location:  This meeting will be zoom only

Zoom Registration Link

 

 

The Killer is . . . . are you kidding? I’m not going to tell you who the real killer is. Read the book!

Member News September 2025

Meet Eileen Trauth

Image of Eileen TrauthI write in a variety of genres. I retired as a college professor in 2017. During my academic career I published ten nonfiction books and an award-winning play, iDream, based on my research. My poetry appears in Ordinary Time (Kelsay Books), as well as in print and online journals, and several anthologies.

My current prose writing projects include a historical murder mystery, and a family memoir. I find that my experience writing poetry has been very helpful in my fiction writing. My interest in writing a historical mystery novel grew out of my genealogy work. The characters I uncovered became the inspiration for my novel.

My mystery-writer sister, Suzanne Trauth, introduced me to Bouchercon, which I have attended with her since 2018. The conference panels and author interviews have been a source of valuable insights about mystery writing. It was at Bouchercon that I learned about Sisters in Crime. I have attended SinC workshops, both at Bouchercon and virtually. I have also taken several Jane Friedman courses on aspects of novel writing.

I am a member of the Greater Cincinnati Writers League, the Ohio Poetry Association, Fourth Friday International Poetry Group, Sisters in Crime, Derby Rotten Scoundrels and Queer Crime Writers. My wife, Kathy, and I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. www.eileentrauth.com.


Rhonda Lane

Rhonda announces that her first novel, Fatal Image, has been released and can be found on Amazon.

Rhonda has been a stringer news photographer, a reporter with a split beat covering “cops & courts” as well as feature stories, and a TV broadcast technician for live and recorded programming. In her TV days, her colleagues dubbed her “Chyronda” for her ability with a computer graphics generator during live news and sporting event coverage. In her print journalism days, she helped her small metro daily newspaper bring cameras into the courtroom for the first time.

As for her equestrian credentials, she grew up in rural Kentucky, but circumstances prevented her from being a lifelong horsewoman. In midlife, she entered the equestrian world as soon as she could after healing from a health scare.

For twelve years, she ran the horses-in-culture blog known as The Horsey Set Net.

She lives with her husband and their cats in an oak grove in New England.


Lynn Slaughter

book cover of Missing MomLynn’s most recent novel, MISSING MOM, has been long listed for the M&M Chanticleer Awards. Lynn said “even to get that far feels great!”

Lynn also wants to thank translator Lynn Taylor, MISSING MOM is now available in German!

 

 

 

 

 


Congratulations!

Member News – August 10 2025

LYNN SLAUGHTER

Lynn did a guest post on Joy E. Held’s substack newsletter, Writer Wellness

Lynn’s guest post, EXPLORING THE STORY THAT CAME BEFORE THE STORY,  explores her interest in missing persons’ cases. From the article:

After I’d written MISSING MOM, I discovered that what I had done is called a “time slip novel,” in which interconnected stories from different time periods appear. Although time slip novels are not uncommon, this marked the first time I’d ever attempted one, and I found it exciting to try something that was new for me as a writer.

 

Congratulations!

DRS Speaker: Trace Conger – Elements of Suspense September 13

Trace Conger will speak to our chapter on:  Elements of Suspense

Trace Conger is an award-winning author in the crime, thriller, and suspense genres. He writes the Connor Harding (Thriller) series and the Mr. Finn (PI) series, among others. His Connor Harding series follows freelance Mirage Man Connor Harding as he solves problems for the world’s most dangerous criminals. The Mr. Finn series follows private investigator Finn Harding as he straddles the fine line between right and wrong. Conger won a Shamus Award for his debut novel, THE SHADOW BROKER. His novel, FIVE WILL DIE has been optioned for film and will go into production in 2026. 

See below for time and zoom information for our chapter meeting.

 

Chapter Meeting Details

  • DateSeptember 13, 2025
  • Time

Business Meeting: 11:30 am

Guest Speaker:  Noon

 

This meeting will be zoom only. Please use the following link to register. 

Zoom Registration Link