It’s hard for me to believe that this is my last monthly “Notes from the President’s Corner.” It’s been an honor to serve as president of DRS for the past two years, and as the new board begins their work, I know the chapter will be in terrific hands.

One of my favorite annual events is our chapter’s holiday luncheon.

This year, eleven of us gathered on December 3^rd to celebrate our special community, talk about our writing goals for the coming year, present Elaine Munsch with a richly deserved Volunteer of the Year Award, and officially elect our new board:

President- Elaine Munsch

Vice-President/Publicist- Carol Preflatish

 Secretary- Leanne Edelen

Treasurer- Patience Martin

Programs- Miki-Reilly Howe

Website/Membership- Susan Bell

 

 

 

 

Elaine Munsch – Volunteer of the Year!

 

Book Signing – Barnes and Noble

Prior to our luncheon, we had a delightful chapter book signing event at the Hurstbourne Barnes and Noble. The turnout was super, and we had such a good time talking with readers and signing our books! We’re grateful to Barnes and Noble for hosting this makeup event, which was originally scheduled to happen prior to the pandemic.

Writing News

Carol Preflatish reports that she enjoyed a very successful year of selling books, having attended eight events in 2022.

Her next Nathan Perry book, MURDER IN MYSTIC HOLLOW, comes out in 2023.

 

 

 

 

Lynda Rees’ books, HEART OF THE MATTER and MAGNOLIA BLOSSOMS, Reggie Chronicles 2 and 3, launched this month in audiobooks and are available at audiobook retailers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lynn Slaughter will appear with Ellen Birkett Morris, award-winning author of LOST GIRLS, to discuss their work and sign books at Lexington’s Joseph Beth Booksellers on Saturday, January 28^th, at 2 PM.

All for now. We wish you a beautiful holiday season and lots of great writing and reading in the New Year!

We were very honored to have our anthology of crime stories, Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon, be selected to participate in the 2021 Kentucky Book Festival.

The anthology was a project of love that took many years to complete: 22 authors; 18 short stories ranging from historical adventure to gritty realism; 20 non-fiction articles on Prohibition, moonshining, medicinal alcohol and profiles of distilleries and the booming Whiskey Row district in downtown Louisville; getting published during the middle of the worst pandemic since the Great Influenza of 1918. There were many obstacles in our path to publication, and post-publication, so being one of the books included in this year’s festival was indeed a blessing.

We sold out our stockpile by mid afternoon, in no small part due to the incredible salesmanship of two of our contributing authors: Lorena Peter and Karen Block. A special thank you to them for showing up and drumming up sales for the book.

Read more about the anthology and author bios here: Mystery With a Splash of Bourbon.

 

 

 

We want to thank all of the contributing authors who took the time to participate:

Lorena Peter and Karen Block, of course

Gwen Mayo and Sarah Glenn, who flew up from Florida to be at the event. Gwen and Sarah own publishing house Mystery and Horror, LLC. They were not only contributing authors to the anthology, they published the book!

Also in attendance was Mike Bradford, a former member of our chapter. He came over from his home in Bardstown. And last, our intrepid editors of the anthology, Susan Bell and Elaine Munsch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elaine was invited to participate on a panel, Building a Writing Community.

Do you struggle to get motivated or set goals in your writing? Getting together with like-minded writers who encourage each other on their way can be a big help, but sometimes finding them can be difficult. Lisa Haneberg, author of Stiff Lizard and a founding board member of the Lexington Writer’s Room, and Elaine Munsch, co-editor of Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon and member of the Derby Rotten Scoundrels writing group, will discuss what it takes to build a writing community with Lisa M. Miller, author of The Heart of Leadership for Women in the Writer’s Room. Be sure to visit the authors in the Signing Gallery (downstairs in Joseph-Beth Booksellers) to get books signed after this talk!

Elaine was joined on the panel by Lisa Haneberg and Lisa M. Miller. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elaine did a wonderful job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The audience enjoyed it, too!