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President’s Corner – A Sad Announcement and Hopeful News

On January 19, longtime chapter member and former treasurer, Debi Huff, passed away. She was a wonderful supporter of our chapter and a lover of mysteries and thrillers. Debi contributed Wild Turkey Distillery to our  latest anthology, MYSTERY WITH A SPLASH OF BOURBON. She will remain in our hearts and memories.

Meantime, the chapter Debi cared so much about is growing. Fifteen folks attended our February 12 meeting, including guests Sherry Youngquist and Pam Gibbs Hirschler. Both have expressed interest in joining our chapter, and we are delighted to welcome them!

Our Saturday meeting included the announcement that thanks to Elaine Munsch, our wonderful Program Chair, we will have a combined face-to-face/Zoom meeting on May 14 at the Middletown Library. Kathy Stearman, a former FBI agent and author of IT’S NOT ABOUT THE GUN, will be our featured guest speaker. This will be the first time in two years that we will have a face-to-face meeting! I can’t wait.

Meantime, we are managing to have stimulating presentations on Zoom. Miki Reilly-Howe discussed Janet Burroway’s Chapter Three on characterization from her classic craft book, WRITING FICTION, A GUIDE TO NARRATIVE CRAFT, now in its Tenth Edition. Along with her excellent talk, Miki provided us with a fabulous Power Point presentation.

Erv KleinOur guest speaker was the delightful author Erv Klein, the president of the board of Louisville Literary Arts and the 2020 winner of the Imadjinn Award for Best Historical Fiction for his debut novel, SUBTERFUGE. Erv’s second novel, SQUAT, recently came out.

In his talk, Erv stressed the importance of listening and being open to feedback about our works-in-progress. If more than one person identifies a problem area, it’s vital to pay attention. He also recommends reading craft books and taking courses, even if you’re an experienced author. Sometimes, he says, “you have to stop periodically to sharpen your writing blade.” Often, he advises, it’s a matter of trying different approaches and figuring out what works for you as a writer.

Coming up for our March 12 meeting, new chapter member and veteran author Lisa Haneberg, the founder of Lexington’s Writer’s Room, will be our guest speaker. Her presentation is entitled “Are You a Methodical Writer, Mystery Maverick, or Both?”

Prior to Lisa’s talk, Miki Reilly-Howe will discuss Janet Burroway’s Chapter Four from WRITING FICTION on indirect methods of character presentation.

Member News

Lisa Haneberg was Lynn Slaughter’s guest author on her blog. Her hilarious essay, “Attention, Shoppers,” describes a book signing that didn’t go quite as planned:

The Book Signing That Wasn’t: Meet Lisa Haneberg

 

 

 

 

Beth Henderson reports that WHEN KURT BLUDGEONED RUSTY received another Five Star review. RAVEN’S EDGE and GHOST NOTES have passed their galley okays and will seen be available for pre-sale orders. Beth plans to attend Imaginarium where she hopes to present workshops on paranormal mysteries and romantic suspense.

Jeanette Pope was interviewed on January 25 and discussed her novels, DOUBLE TRIANGLES and DESPERATE ANGLES, on Black Authors Matter.

 

book cover imageCarol Preflatish’s fourth Nathan Perry Mystery, WITCH HUNT, comes out on February 21st. Carol will also be a guest on the Star Chamber Show podcast on February 23 at 9 PM EST, talking about her book and her writing:

Star Chamber Show

 

 

 

 

 

Lynda Rees will be signing books along with her granddaughter and co-author of two of her books on March 5 from 10-2 PM at the Campbell Ridge Craft Show, 2500 Grandview Road, Alexandria KY 41001.

BOOK COVER IMAGELynn Slaughter’s coming-of-age romantic mystery, LEISHA’S SONG, has been nominated for an Agatha Award for best mystery novel in the children’s/YA category. Her unpublished adult mystery novel, MISSED CUE, has been named a finalist in the 2022 Florida West Coast Writers Contest.

All for now. We hope to see many of you at our March 12 chapter meeting!

President’s Corner – Together in the New Year!

On January 8, eleven of us met online to usher in a New Year for Derby Rotten Scoundrels. We thanked outgoing Treasurer, Debi Huff, for her service, and welcomed two new members to the board: Leanne Edelen, Secretary, and Patience Martin, Treasurer. I feel so grateful to everyone who has been pitching in on behalf of Derby Rotten Scoundrels!

Following our business meeting, chapter member Jeanette Pope led a terrific session on Chapter Two of the 10th edition of Janet Burroway’s Writing Fiction. Next month at our February 12 meeting, beginning at noon, after a short business meeting, Miki Reilly-Howe will lead us in a discussion of Burroway’s Chapter Three which deals with characterization.

I’m also excited about our speaker for the February meeting, Erv Klein, whose debut novel, Subterfuge, won Imaginarium’s award for the best historical fiction. Erv is also President of the board of Louisville Literary Arts. I had the chance to spend quite a bit of time with Erv at the Lexington Book Bash this past fall, and he is delightful! His presentation will begin at one PM.

Quite a few writing events are coming up this spring and summer, and our intrepid vice-president, Lynda Rees, is making sure we know what’s happening regionally and nationally. She is regularly communicating with our webmaster, Susan Bell, on upcoming events.

Meantime, Elaine Munsch is on the hunt for a meeting space that might accommodate both face-to-face and online access for our meetings beginning in May. We will definitely keep you posted!

With a global pandemic continuing, the specter of climate change, and political tensions, this has been such a challenging time for our country and world. Especially during tough times, sharing our stories matters. My hope is that 2022 will bring you time to write and share your gifts with readers.

And if you have writing news, be sure to share your news both with me and ex-vice president Carol Preflatish, who has traded board jobs with Lynda Rees and is now our publicist. Meantime, we have a few items of Member News to report this month.

Member News

Beth Henderson is offering two mystery-related workshops online:

Jan 17-Feb 13, 2022
MASTER CLASS: Writing the Paranormal Mystery with Beth Daniels

February 1st through 28th
WRITING ROMANTIC SUSPENSE Outreach International RWA
OIRWA 2022 Workshops

Lynn Slaughter was so grateful that several DRS members attended her online reading as part of Louisville Literary Arts author series on January 13. She was also thrilled to receive a positive review for LEISHA’S SONG in Midwest Book Review. They “highly recommended” the novel and described it as “a captivating story of intrigue, tangled relationships, and passion for music.”

Happy Writing, and I hope to see many of you in February!

A Bourbon Anthology Toast

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well. If it is worth having, it is worth waiting for. If it is worth attaining, it is worth fighting for.

— Oscar Wilde

Joseph Beth BooksellerOver twelve years in the making, our bourbon anthology finally saw the light of day (publication) in June 2020. Just in time for a pandemic that shut down the world. 2021 brought better news – we were asked to participate in the 2021 Kentucky Book Festival!

It was, in effect, our release party, and it was fabulous. Fellow Scoundrels Lorena Peter and Karen Block came down to help. Our publishers, and fellow authors, Gwen Mayo and Sarah Glenn came up from Florida to participate. Mike Bradford, another anthology author, also showed up to help. It was gratifying to have the support of these folks and it was invigorating to have customers come up to the table to show their interest in the book.

Joseph Beth Bookseller was so pleased with our results they asked us back for a signing on December 18. Elaine and I made the trek down to Lexington in a driving rain (no pun intended). Fellow author Milton Toby, out of Georgetown, joined us for the signing. We had a good time, though the crowd was much smaller. We met some nice people, and I enjoyed meeting Milton in person.

To cap off a year of hard work – really, 3 years of hard work – compiling, editing, publishing, promoting – for the anthology, my brother and sister-in-law very graciously threw a soiree to celebrate ‘the launch’ of the anthology.

Held at the 800 Tower Apartments in downtown Louisville, with a spectacular view from the Penthouse lounge, a group of friends gathered in fellowship to laugh, drink, eat great food, and listen to a handful of Scoundrel authors and friends read excerpts from our stories. We even sold some books. It was grand.

 

 

Thank you again, Elaine, for persevering through years of preparation, long drives, endless phone calls, and countless emails from me.

Thank you, Patience, for agreeing to read from Shirley Jump’s Take the Fall, and Elaine Munsch’s The Long and the Shorter of It.

 

Thanks to Lorena Peter for reading from her article, The Spirits of Buffalo Trace.

Thanks to my sister, Whitney Vale, for reading from Heidi Saunders’ Backdoor Bourbon.

And I’ll take a brief bow for reading from my story, A Summer’s End.

It takes a lot of work to get a book written, edited, published, and marketed. Writing is just half the battle. Showing up – to get it to a publisher, get it promoted, get it in front of the public, that’s the other half of the battle. Some of us have the scars to prove it!

Let’s raise a glass of bourbon to welcome in the new year, hopefully a better, healthier year for all of us.

President’s Corner – Celebrating 2021 and Looking Ahead to the New Year

On December 4, eleven of us gathered at Olive Garden for our annual holiday luncheon. I can’t begin to describe how lovely it was to be together face-to-face! I actually got to meet (in person) two of our more recent new members, Leanne Edelen and Lynda Rees, which was a special thrill!

 

In addition to catching up with one another, we did manage to do a couple of important pieces of business. One was to honor Susan Bell, our Volunteer of the Year, who not only served as our secretary and webmaster this past year, but who also coordinated our playwriting efforts and served as co-editor with Elaine Munsch of the anthology, Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon. We are so grateful to Susan for her generosity in sharing her many gifts with Derby Rotten Scoundrels!

 

We also announced the results of our Board elections for the coming year:

President – Lynn Slaughter
Vice-President – Lynda Rees
Secretary – LeAnne Edelen
Treasurer – Patience Martin
Program Chair – Elaine Munsch
Webmaster – Susan Bell
Publicist – Carol Preflatish

We’re delighted to report that Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon made such a splash at the Kentucky Book Fair that Joseph Beth Booksellers in Lexington has invited Susan Bell and Elaine Munsch back to Lexington for an additional book signing at the store on Saturday, December 18, at 2 PM. The anthology includes stories from several chapter members and makes a great Christmas gift (hint, hint!).

 

As we look to 2022, one of the things on our wish list is to resume face-to-face meetings this spring, hopefully at a location which will have web access so that folks can attend the meetings via Zoom if they’re unable to attend in person. We also hope to continue to improve our offerings for members and friends in the New Year, and our Programs Chair, Elaine Munsch, has some great speakers planned for 2022!

In February, Erv Klein, winner of Imaginarium’s Award for best historical fiction and President of the Board of Louisville Literary Arts, will be our guest speaker.

Member News

Beth Henderson’s novels UNTIL… and MARKED RAVEN (Written under her pen name, J.B. Dane) were named finalists for best book of the year in the Historical and Fantasy categories by N.N. Light Book Heaven. This is an incredible honor, especially considering that 1800 books were reviewed! Meantime, Beth continues to collect glowing five-star reviews for her new comedic paranormal mystery series, Whichur-Wolfe Detection. The fourth and final book in the series is due out this month. Congratulations on all of your good news, Beth!

Lynn Slaughter will read from her recently released novel, Leisha’s Song, as part of Louisville Literary Arts’ InKY Reading series on January 13 at 7 PM.

https://www.louisvilleliteraryarts.org/

 

 

 

 

Pamela Turner’s novel, When Angels Threaten, a celestial supernatural thriller, is now available.

Pam also has a short story, “Onryo,” in the forthcoming anthology, Among the Headstones: Creepy Tales from the Graveyard. An onryo is a vengeful spirit that can harm the living. In addition, Pam’s short screenplay, “Cemetery,” is slated to begin production, and after meeting with the production team, Pam is very excited about the direction the project is taking. We’re thrilled for you, Pam!

 

That’s it for now, except to wish all of you a beautiful holiday season and joyful New Year filled with love, laughter, and lots of writing!

 

Heaven on Earth at the Kentucky Book Festival

Heaven on earth. For a seasoned bookseller like myself, heaven on earth would be the Kentucky Book Festival held November 6 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, Kentucky.

Not only was the store crowded with customers, always a sight to make a bookseller smile, but there were tables upon tables with stacks of books on them and happy authors sitting behind them, eager to tell you about their works. As a co-editor of MYSTERY WITH A SPLASH OF BOURBON, not only was I a spectator, but also an invited guest – double the pleasure. Along with fellow authors whose short stories were features in this anthology, I got to meet and greet the many guests who were searching for the perfect Christmas gift. Of course, that would be our book.

 

I took time to peruse the other works available, especially the mystery books. Wonderful selection.

I visited with two wonderful authors I had the pleasure of working with over the years: Silas House, one of Kentucky’s premier writers who was celebrating the 25th anniversary of his book, CLAY’S QUILT. And I had a word with David Domine, Louisville’s own, who had a non-fiction crime story featured. A DARK ROOM IN GLITTER BALL CITY is the story of a murder in Old Louisville, David’s haunting grounds.

 

Along with two other writers, I was on a panel to talk about ‘Writing Communities’ and how they can change a writer’s life.

My own experience with the Sisters in Crime is an excellent example of the gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) nudging to keep writing, finish that story or book. The overall consensus was that no writer writes in a vacuum, however much they might not want to share. A good support group is essential, especially to the novice.

Just stroll around the tables at the festival and you will meet authors who got to sit behind the table because someone had faith in their ability to tell a tale, whether it be fiction or non-fiction.
I watched as crowds of customers walked the aisles around the tables, picking up this or that, leaving with a stack of books in their arms.

The printed word is not dead. It’s just gone to that little bit of heaven called a bookstore hosting a book festival.