By Barbara Fister
Let’s do the numbers:
Mystery reviews in The New York Times
• 1987: 6% female authors
• 2010: 35% female authors
Edgar best novel winners:
• Pre-1986: 17% female
• Since 1986: 31% female
Mystery authors published in the US:
• 1986: 38% female
• 2010: 50% female
(source: Edgar submissions)
Percentage of consumers in the U.S. who buy mysteries, 2010:
• 68% female
(source: SinC/Bowker study)
One of the first projects established by Sisters in Crime 25 years ago was the task of monitoring and reporting on the gender of the mystery authors whose books were reviewed in the media. At the time, The New York Times was paying scant attention to women authors. In 1987, the year that Sara Paretsky, Margaret Maron, Nancy Pickard and other SinC founders gathered at Sandra Scoppottone’s loft in New York to strategize, the Times reviewed 97 mysteries written by men and only seven authored by women. In those days, approximately 38% of the published mysteries were written by women.
Things have improved. In 2010, the Times reviewed 96 mysteries by men and 47 by women. (However, since about half of the mysteries published that year were written by women, the number of published reviews remained skewed toward male writers.) And, in recent years, pre-publication and mystery-focused review sources are more balanced in terms of gender than the mainstream media. One publication – Romantic Times – has consistently reviewed more mysteries by women than men.
Since 1985, we’ve seen enormous shifts in the publishing industry, including a steep decline in the number of book reviews appearing in the mainstream media – even as the number of published books has increased, particularly in the area of non-traditional publishing. According to Bowker, there were more than three million new books published in the U.S. last year, with non-traditional titles outnumbering traditional titles eight to one.
In 2012, we hope to shift gears with the monitoring project to create a dashboard of indicators that reflects changes in the publishing environment. We’re cutting back on monitoring print sources and will be adding online review sources to see how we’re doing over time as the mystery landscape changes.
Is the monitoring project still relevant? Well, to answer that, we need numbers. If we ever get to the point that the number of published reviews reflects the percentage of published books written by women, we might consider our work done. For now, though, that’s still not the case. In the shrinking hole for book reviews in newspapers and magazines, male authors are still twice as likely to get a review as female authors.
Sisters in Crime needs volunteers for the review monitoring project for 2012! If you would be willing and able to monitor reviews published by online sources or in one of the publications listed below, please contact me – bfister @ hickorytech[dot]net.
• The Boston Globe
• Crimespree
• Deadly Pleasures
• Entertainment Weekly
• The Wall Street Journal
Questions? Comments? Feel free to weigh in.
Barbara Fister is the author of the Anni Koskinen mysteries. The most recent title in the series is Through the Cracks. She is an academic librarian and serves on the SinC board as Coordinator of the SinC Review Monitoring Project.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Scared to Death: The Authors' Viewpoint
by Sandra Parshall
Crime fiction authors put their characters through some horrifying ordeals for the reading pleasure of their fans. Have you ever wondered what scares the writers themselves – and whether they call on their own fears to ratchet up the tension in their stories?
We asked five outstanding writers which of their fictional scenarios sends shivers down their spines.
Tess Gerritsen, author of The Silent Girl, latest in the Rizzoli & Isles series:
“I tend to put my poor heroines through exactly the things that terrify me, whether it's being buried alive, or trapped in space or chased by serial killers. I would have to say that being buried alive is probably the worst of them, something that happened to one of my characters in Body Double. The pregnant woman in that book, Mattie Purvis, is kidnapped and held in a box underground until she goes into labor. She doesn’t know when -- or if -- the kidnapper will come back to get her. She doesn’t know if he's planning to kill her. All she knows is that she’s alone, in the dark, in a place where no one will ever find her. Eeek.”
Meg Gardiner, author of The Nightmare Thief, latest in the Jo Beckett series:
"The fictional scenario that most terrifies me takes place in my novel, China Lake. Heroine Evan Delaney is driving her six-year-old nephew to her brother's house when the cops stop her. Though she's the little boy's guardian, they arrest her for child abduction. They not only take him from her, but prepare to hand him over to his mother -- who has joined an apocalyptic religious sect. Desperate to get the boy back, she has lied and set Evan up for arrest. Handcuffed and locked in the back of a patrol car, Evan watches as the cops pass little Luke into the hands of violent lunatics. She has to find some way to stop it before her nephew is taken away forever.
"There's no secret why this idea terrifies me: I'm a mom. And if anybody tried to take one of my kids away, I hope I'd react with the do-or-die tenacity that Evan does."
Hallie Ephron, author of the new suspense novel, Come and Find Me:
“In Never Tell a Lie, I wrote about a woman, nine-months pregnant with her first child, and who has had multiple miscarriages. She's in danger of losing her unborn child. As I was writing, I followed advice I’d gotten: when you are writing extreme emotion, find a situation in your past that elicited that emotion and channel it into the writing. I revisited a truly terrifying moment (we were swimming) when I came this close to losing my baby girl. The detail of the situation wasn't the same at all, of course, but the emotion was.”
Simon Wood, author of Did Not Finish, first in the new Aidy Westlake series:
“Crash landing an aircraft that occurs in Accidents Waiting to Happen. It was based on something I had to do as a student pilot. I was involved in a near-miss in bad weather, and I had to set the plane down in a field, but I had time on my side to get my plane down. In the book, the plane is falling out of the sky and the pilot has to crash land. He has five minutes at best to find a safe spot to land and set the plane down before he runs out of elevation. The worst part of a scenario like this is that no one can help you and you can't pull over. You can only do your best. That's scary.”
Deborah Crombie, author of No Mark Upon Her, latest in the Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James series
“I have a fairly long line of dire deeds to pick from. Thinking about it, I seem to have been quite fond of the good old blunt instrument. But I have also drowned quite a few characters, and I think that terrifies me more than anything. Remember the scene in "The Abyss" where Ed Harris has to watch Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio let herself drown? Gave me nightmares for years. And Charlie in "Lost?"
“Maybe I should stay out of the water . . .”
Sandra Parshall is the award-winning author of the Rachel Goddard mystery series. Her latest book is Under the Dog Star, published this month by Poisoned Pen Press.
Crime fiction authors put their characters through some horrifying ordeals for the reading pleasure of their fans. Have you ever wondered what scares the writers themselves – and whether they call on their own fears to ratchet up the tension in their stories?
We asked five outstanding writers which of their fictional scenarios sends shivers down their spines.
Tess Gerritsen, author of The Silent Girl, latest in the Rizzoli & Isles series:
“I tend to put my poor heroines through exactly the things that terrify me, whether it's being buried alive, or trapped in space or chased by serial killers. I would have to say that being buried alive is probably the worst of them, something that happened to one of my characters in Body Double. The pregnant woman in that book, Mattie Purvis, is kidnapped and held in a box underground until she goes into labor. She doesn’t know when -- or if -- the kidnapper will come back to get her. She doesn’t know if he's planning to kill her. All she knows is that she’s alone, in the dark, in a place where no one will ever find her. Eeek.”
Meg Gardiner, author of The Nightmare Thief, latest in the Jo Beckett series:
"The fictional scenario that most terrifies me takes place in my novel, China Lake. Heroine Evan Delaney is driving her six-year-old nephew to her brother's house when the cops stop her. Though she's the little boy's guardian, they arrest her for child abduction. They not only take him from her, but prepare to hand him over to his mother -- who has joined an apocalyptic religious sect. Desperate to get the boy back, she has lied and set Evan up for arrest. Handcuffed and locked in the back of a patrol car, Evan watches as the cops pass little Luke into the hands of violent lunatics. She has to find some way to stop it before her nephew is taken away forever.
"There's no secret why this idea terrifies me: I'm a mom. And if anybody tried to take one of my kids away, I hope I'd react with the do-or-die tenacity that Evan does."
Hallie Ephron, author of the new suspense novel, Come and Find Me:
“In Never Tell a Lie, I wrote about a woman, nine-months pregnant with her first child, and who has had multiple miscarriages. She's in danger of losing her unborn child. As I was writing, I followed advice I’d gotten: when you are writing extreme emotion, find a situation in your past that elicited that emotion and channel it into the writing. I revisited a truly terrifying moment (we were swimming) when I came this close to losing my baby girl. The detail of the situation wasn't the same at all, of course, but the emotion was.”
Simon Wood, author of Did Not Finish, first in the new Aidy Westlake series:
“Crash landing an aircraft that occurs in Accidents Waiting to Happen. It was based on something I had to do as a student pilot. I was involved in a near-miss in bad weather, and I had to set the plane down in a field, but I had time on my side to get my plane down. In the book, the plane is falling out of the sky and the pilot has to crash land. He has five minutes at best to find a safe spot to land and set the plane down before he runs out of elevation. The worst part of a scenario like this is that no one can help you and you can't pull over. You can only do your best. That's scary.”
Deborah Crombie, author of No Mark Upon Her, latest in the Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James series
“I have a fairly long line of dire deeds to pick from. Thinking about it, I seem to have been quite fond of the good old blunt instrument. But I have also drowned quite a few characters, and I think that terrifies me more than anything. Remember the scene in "The Abyss" where Ed Harris has to watch Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio let herself drown? Gave me nightmares for years. And Charlie in "Lost?"
“Maybe I should stay out of the water . . .”
Sandra Parshall is the award-winning author of the Rachel Goddard mystery series. Her latest book is Under the Dog Star, published this month by Poisoned Pen Press.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Writers Police Academy
By Dana Stabenow
[Published in a slightly longer version at www.stabenow.com]
The worst thing about the Writer’s Police Academy (WPA) is that you can’t split yourself into quadruplets so you can see and do everything on offer. Shallow grave burial site? or jail searches? or Krimesite Imager hands-on workshop? or search and rescue? or ambulance tour? And that’s just the first hour of the first day.
Event maestro Lee Lofland is unrepentant. “I want this to be just as intense an experience as if you were a recruit going through an actual police academy,” he said.
I attended the third WPA this year in September in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
I wrote a sniper into my next book, and Saturday morning, found out everything that I’d written was wrong when the faculty staged an unannounced hostage situation.
Sniper Randy Shepherd took down the suspect with a single shot to “the T-box — mouth, up the nose and across the eyes. "This blows out the control box in the brain, so he’s not going to pull the trigger of the gun he’s holding to the head of the hostage.” Okay.
I haven’t even mentioned the Murder Room guy and the jail tours and the ride-alongs with Guildford County deputy sheriffs and the hands-on workshops in fingerprinting and bloodstain patterns and the firearms training simulator, and oh the hell with it, just click here to look at the whole schedule of events.
[Published in a slightly longer version at www.stabenow.com]
The worst thing about the Writer’s Police Academy (WPA) is that you can’t split yourself into quadruplets so you can see and do everything on offer. Shallow grave burial site? or jail searches? or Krimesite Imager hands-on workshop? or search and rescue? or ambulance tour? And that’s just the first hour of the first day. Event maestro Lee Lofland is unrepentant. “I want this to be just as intense an experience as if you were a recruit going through an actual police academy,” he said.
I attended the third WPA this year in September in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
Lee is a retired police detective whom you may know through his blog, The Graveyard Shift, where he has been known to profess his profound admiration of the television show, Castle, among other things. The Graveyard Shift is where I first saw mention of the Writer’s Police Academy.
“The Writers’ Police Academy was an idea that came to me while attending SinC’s Forensic University," Lee said. "That particular conference was spectacular, but it dawned on me that having an event where writers could actually attend a hands-on event in a real police academy setting would be extremely beneficial to bringing realism to their stories. So, ATF Agent Rick McMahan and I tossed a few ideas back and forth and what you saw this year was the result of those initial thoughts.”
What I saw this year was two full days and three nights of practicing law enforcement professionals taking the time to demonstrate and talk about their jobs with a bunch of writers who (speaking strictly for myself here) probably get it wrong in our books more than half the time. Almost every law enforcement discipline and organization you can name was represented on the faculty.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives? The aforementioned Agent Rick McMahan, who said that while most ATF work is gun-related, he loves cigarette smugglers. “They show up on time, their money’s good, and they do the deal.”
FBI? Meet Lt. Josh Moulin of the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force, by way of the Southern Oregon High-Tech Crimes Task Force. “Eighty percent of what my unit does is child exploitation,” Josh said, and then gave us some statistics.
Thirteen percent of infants and toddlers are abused. Josh has seen photos and videos of infants under the age of one being penetrated by an adult male. Offenders average 13.5 victims each, and Josh’s unit apprehended one perpetrator with 180,000 unique porn images on his computer.
“I have 10 guys,” Josh said. “I could have 30 and we still couldn’t keep up with what’s going on.”
If that isn’t sufficiently traumatizing, Dr. Denene Lofland (also Lee’s wife) worked on several Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency projects she still can’t talk about, but she can talk all day about weaponizing smallpox.
“Smallpox is eradicated but we are no longer immunizing for it,” she said, adding, “A bioterrorism attack doesn’t necessarily have to kill you, it just has to make you sick or disfigure you. The threat alone will disrupt life.”
In the event of an airborne bioterrorism attack, Denene recommends respiratory mask N-95. Good to know.
Interested in arson investigation? Assistant Fire Marshal for Guildford County, Jerry Coble, said, “There are very few true pyros out there. They are generally younger people, generally men.”
Jerry caught one in 30 years, and it took 14 years to catch that one. He listed three causes of fire -- accidental, incendiary, and providential -- which I cite here just so I can quote his definition of accidental: “You can’t fix stupid.”
Friday afternoon Dr. Katherine Ramsland fascinated the 140 attendees and, I think, the faculty, too, with her lecture on psychological autopsies. Surprisingly, psychological autopsies are used not only in cases of murder, but to settle criminal cases, estate issues, malpractice suits, and insurance claims.
“Five to twenty percent of deaths in the U.S. are undetermined,” Ramsland said, and then she took us through a case analysis of the murder of Hugues de la Plaza in San Francisco in 2007. She did not agree with the findings of the local police. To put it mildly.
“This is not a science,” Ramsland said and she was adamant. “It is based on probabilities.”
I wrote a sniper into my next book, and Saturday morning, found out everything that I’d written was wrong when the faculty staged an unannounced hostage situation.Sniper Randy Shepherd took down the suspect with a single shot to “the T-box — mouth, up the nose and across the eyes. "This blows out the control box in the brain, so he’s not going to pull the trigger of the gun he’s holding to the head of the hostage.” Okay.
This post is getting really long and I’ve left out so much, like Sergeant Catherine Netter’s mesmerizing talk on women in law enforcement.
“Your brain is your primary weapon. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of what we do is communicate,” she said.
Halfway through her talk, Corporal D.A. Jackson of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office showed up to join in. Dee taught a workshop on self-defense and another in handcuffing and arrest techniques, which is pretty much the only way anyone would ever get restraints on Dee.
I haven’t even mentioned the Murder Room guy and the jail tours and the ride-alongs with Guildford County deputy sheriffs and the hands-on workshops in fingerprinting and bloodstain patterns and the firearms training simulator, and oh the hell with it, just click here to look at the whole schedule of events. And then, there was the Sunday morning debrief. The faculty lined up on stage and answered questions and told stories for two hours. In many ways, it was the best part of the entire weekend, especially Dee’s account of the first time she got hit on the job.
This event may be the best money I will ever spend as a crime fiction writer. The faculty members are the real deal, practicing professionals, people with serious time served, some retired after decades of service, some still on the job. They are funny, smart, patient, articulate, and incredibly generous, first with their time and later with their business cards.
I had lunch with Lee, Denene and Josh after the Sunday debrief, and asked Josh, “Why did you say 'yes' when Lee called?” He smiled and sort of shrugged, like it’s nothing. “I like to teach,” he said.
“I’ve never had a no,” Lee told me.
Preliminary plans are underway for a 2012 WPA, with Lee Child as keynote speaker. Lofland also plans to continue the tradition of bringing the very best police and forensics experts to the lineup.
“So far,” he said, “we have lots of new workshops and exciting surprises on the way for 2012. As always, there’ll be explosions, gunfire, sirens, flames, handcuffs, barking dogs, tons of action, and plenty of cops, firefighters, and EMS professionals on hand to answer your questions.”
You heard it here first: If you’re a writer of crime fiction, put this event on your calendar now. You will never in your life be in the presence of this many professional police officers and federal agents from so many different disciplines at the same time. It’s a first-class learning experience for wannabes, and an even better refresher course for the already-published.
Oh, and buy Lee’s book.
Big, fat footnote to all writers out there, male or female, published or un:
This year, Sisters in Crime subsidized its members’ attendance to the Writer’s Police Academy to the tune of $155. Yes, that’s right–if you were a dues-paying, card-carrying member of Sisters in Crime, you saved one hundred and fifty-five smackeroos just by showing up in Greensboro.
Right now, this minute, Sisters in Crime is the most forward-thinking, market-watching, member-supporting writer’s organization available to the professional author, whether you already have your name spelled correctly on the cover of a book or not.
If the monthly SinCLinks don’t convince you to join, if the Publishing Summit reports don’t (Who else talks to Google for you?), if the sheer joy of being part of a community of people who speak your language doesn’t, then let us whisper seductively to your wallet.
Photos by Lee Lofland.
Dana Stabenow is the award-winning author of the 18-book Kate Shugak mystery series, the four-book Liam Campbell mystery series and the three-book Star Svensdotter science fiction series. The 19th Kate Shugak outing, Restless in the Grave (available on Feb. 14, 2012), follows Kate and Liam as they work together for the first time.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Secondary Characters: In First Place
By Sandra Parshall
The protagonist occupies center stage in a mystery novel, but a book also needs a cast of vivid supporting players. Whether secondary characters are funny or sad, irritating or lovable (or both at the same time), they claim their own special place in the writer’s heart.
Recently I asked several authors – who all happen to be Goddesses, former Sisters in Crime presidents – the question:
Of the many secondary characters you’ve created, which have you most enjoyed writing about?
Sara Paretsky, author of the V.I. Warshawski series:
“My regular secondary characters are all interesting and important to me. Lotty Herschel, the doctor who is V.I.’s important friend, critic and mentor, is the one whose life I’ve thought about most; she has her own story told in flashback chapters in my novel Total Recall, and those six chapters are among the writing of my own in which I’ve invested the most work and emotion. They detail Lotty’s history as a refugee in London during WW II, and her training as a young doctor in the bitter winter right after the war. Mr. Contreras, V.I.'s downstairs neighbor, is both annoying and lovable. He got on my nerves so much that at one point I was going to kill him off, but my husband protested mightily, and jumped in front of the gun, deflecting the bullet into Mr. Contreras’s shoulder.”
Nancy Pickard, author of the Jenny Cain series, the Marie Lightfoot series and several stand-alone novels:
“In my Jenny Cain series, it’s Jenny’s old teacher, Lucille Grant, whom I brought back because readers asked for her. In the Marie Lightfoot series, it's Marie's assistant, Deb Dancer. In The Scent of Rain and Lightning, it’s Red Bosch, a plain, good man. What those three have in common is that they love their protagonist, but that doesn’t stop them from telling her the truths she needs to hear. Each is a very genuine person. Because these nice people love their ‘star,’ they make her look better simply by virtue of their relationship with her.”
Judy Clemens, author of the Stella Crown series and the Grim Reaper series:
“In Embrace the Grim Reaper, the first of the Grim Reaper books, there is a character named Loretta. She is a middle-aged African American woman with deep religious ties who works at the soup kitchen where Casey and Death spend some time. She punctuates her language with exclamations (“Thank you, Jesus! Hallelujah!”), sometimes shocking or startling the people around her. She was really fun to write because she is pretty much based on a woman I know who answers her phone by saying, “Praise the Lord!” even if you wake her up from a deep sleep and her voice isn't quite working yet. I've never known anyone else like her, and it was fun to put her into print -- even if she doesn't know I did.”
Carolyn Hart, author of the Death on Demand series:
“Emma Clyde, the very rich mystery author on my island in the Death on Demand series. She's rich because I'm not, but who knows? Someday a miracle may occur and my books, like Emma's, may sell faster than ice melts in the Sahara. And I have great fun skewering us - writers - because Emma is totally self-centered and self-absorbed. Her main focus is always The Book. Sound familiar? I am very fond of Emma.”
Margaret Maron, author of the Deborah Knott series and the Sigrid Harald series:
“I adore Judge Deborah Knott's old reprobate of a father. Kezzie Knott is one of the fast-disappearing backcountry types that I grew up loving. Yes he was a bootlegger; yes, he may have killed someone; yes, he only has a 4th-grade education, but he's loving and loyal and wily as a fox.
“From the Lt. Sigrid Harald series, I love her housemate Roman Tramegra, who keeps trying to pick Sigrid's brain for murder mystery plots and who complains because most of her cases are too dull to make interesting reading.”
What question would you love to ask your favorite writers? Send it to me at sandraparshall@yahoo.com along with a list of authors. If we use your question on the blog, we’ll give you credit.
Sandra Parshall is the author of the award-winning Rachel Goddard mysteries. The fourth book in the series, Under the Dog Star, has just been published.
The protagonist occupies center stage in a mystery novel, but a book also needs a cast of vivid supporting players. Whether secondary characters are funny or sad, irritating or lovable (or both at the same time), they claim their own special place in the writer’s heart.
Recently I asked several authors – who all happen to be Goddesses, former Sisters in Crime presidents – the question:
Of the many secondary characters you’ve created, which have you most enjoyed writing about?
Sara Paretsky, author of the V.I. Warshawski series:
“My regular secondary characters are all interesting and important to me. Lotty Herschel, the doctor who is V.I.’s important friend, critic and mentor, is the one whose life I’ve thought about most; she has her own story told in flashback chapters in my novel Total Recall, and those six chapters are among the writing of my own in which I’ve invested the most work and emotion. They detail Lotty’s history as a refugee in London during WW II, and her training as a young doctor in the bitter winter right after the war. Mr. Contreras, V.I.'s downstairs neighbor, is both annoying and lovable. He got on my nerves so much that at one point I was going to kill him off, but my husband protested mightily, and jumped in front of the gun, deflecting the bullet into Mr. Contreras’s shoulder.”
Nancy Pickard, author of the Jenny Cain series, the Marie Lightfoot series and several stand-alone novels:
“In my Jenny Cain series, it’s Jenny’s old teacher, Lucille Grant, whom I brought back because readers asked for her. In the Marie Lightfoot series, it's Marie's assistant, Deb Dancer. In The Scent of Rain and Lightning, it’s Red Bosch, a plain, good man. What those three have in common is that they love their protagonist, but that doesn’t stop them from telling her the truths she needs to hear. Each is a very genuine person. Because these nice people love their ‘star,’ they make her look better simply by virtue of their relationship with her.”
Judy Clemens, author of the Stella Crown series and the Grim Reaper series:
“In Embrace the Grim Reaper, the first of the Grim Reaper books, there is a character named Loretta. She is a middle-aged African American woman with deep religious ties who works at the soup kitchen where Casey and Death spend some time. She punctuates her language with exclamations (“Thank you, Jesus! Hallelujah!”), sometimes shocking or startling the people around her. She was really fun to write because she is pretty much based on a woman I know who answers her phone by saying, “Praise the Lord!” even if you wake her up from a deep sleep and her voice isn't quite working yet. I've never known anyone else like her, and it was fun to put her into print -- even if she doesn't know I did.”
Carolyn Hart, author of the Death on Demand series:
“Emma Clyde, the very rich mystery author on my island in the Death on Demand series. She's rich because I'm not, but who knows? Someday a miracle may occur and my books, like Emma's, may sell faster than ice melts in the Sahara. And I have great fun skewering us - writers - because Emma is totally self-centered and self-absorbed. Her main focus is always The Book. Sound familiar? I am very fond of Emma.”
Margaret Maron, author of the Deborah Knott series and the Sigrid Harald series:
“I adore Judge Deborah Knott's old reprobate of a father. Kezzie Knott is one of the fast-disappearing backcountry types that I grew up loving. Yes he was a bootlegger; yes, he may have killed someone; yes, he only has a 4th-grade education, but he's loving and loyal and wily as a fox.
“From the Lt. Sigrid Harald series, I love her housemate Roman Tramegra, who keeps trying to pick Sigrid's brain for murder mystery plots and who complains because most of her cases are too dull to make interesting reading.”
What question would you love to ask your favorite writers? Send it to me at sandraparshall@yahoo.com along with a list of authors. If we use your question on the blog, we’ll give you credit.
Sandra Parshall is the author of the award-winning Rachel Goddard mysteries. The fourth book in the series, Under the Dog Star, has just been published.
Friday, October 14, 2011
SinC Library Grant Program Extended
Sisters in Crime has extended its We Love Libraries! grant program into 2012.
From January through December 2012, SinC will give a $1,000 book-buying grant each month to a library selected via a random drawing.
Recent winners of the SinC We Love Libraries! grants include:
Lawton Public Library in Lawton, OK
Southeast Regional Library in Garner, NC
Plattsmouth Public Library in Plattsmouth, NE
River Road Santa Clara Volunteer Library in Eugene, OR
To be eligible for the grant, libraries must be located in the continental U.S. and must register for the drawing online. For complete program details, go to www.sistersincrime.org.
Is your library registered for the drawing?
From January through December 2012, SinC will give a $1,000 book-buying grant each month to a library selected via a random drawing.
Recent winners of the SinC We Love Libraries! grants include:
Lawton Public Library in Lawton, OK
Southeast Regional Library in Garner, NC
Plattsmouth Public Library in Plattsmouth, NE
River Road Santa Clara Volunteer Library in Eugene, OR
To be eligible for the grant, libraries must be located in the continental U.S. and must register for the drawing online. For complete program details, go to www.sistersincrime.org.
Is your library registered for the drawing?
Friday, October 7, 2011
New SinC Officers and Board Members
Sisters in Crime (SinC), an international organization supporting the professional development and advancement of women writing crime fiction, elected a new slate of officers and directors at its annual meeting, held in September in St. Louis, Mo.
The organization’s officers are:
- President – Frankie Y. Bailey of Albany, N.Y.
- Vice President and President-Elect – Hank Phillippi Ryan of Boston, Mass.
- Secretary – Laura DiSilverio of Colorado Springs, Colo.
- Treasurer – Kathryn Wall of Hilton Head, S.C.
- Chapter Liaison – Martha Reed of Pittsburgh, Pa.
- Publicity Chair – Stefanie Pintoff of New York, N.Y.
- Bookstore Liaison – Sally Brewster of Charlotte, N.C.
- Library Liaison – Mary Boone of Bowling Green, Ohio
- Monitoring Coordinator – Barbara Fister of St. Peter, Minn
- Member-at-Large – Ellen Hart of Minneapolis, Minn.
- Member-at-Large – Val McDermid of the north of England
- Immediate Past President – Cathy Pickens of Charlotte, N.C.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Four Tips for the Performance Author
Part Two of Two Parts
By Ramona DeFelice Long
Reading to an audience is an art—a performance art. It's also a skill that can be developed. Today's blog entry focuses on the final two Ps to help shy authors overcome their trepidation—Practice and Psyche Yourself.
Practice – Practice has two meanings here. You’ll become more comfortable with performing if you do it often, and if you watch others. So, attend public readings. If an open mic is offered, participate. Sit in on poetry slams. Offer to introduce fellow authors at events. Volunteer, and get up to say a few words of thanks. Every time you stand up and speak, you build confidence. It’s the immunity effect. The more you perform a feared act, the more you immunize yourself against being afraid of it.
Once you have a reading lined up, how do you practice? First, decide what you will read. Make sure it fits the time frame. Read your selection, aloud, over and over. Some people practice in front of a mirror. Some record themselves. Others read to family or friends. All good ideas. The important thing is to read the piece through, beginning to end, as many times as needed to become wholly comfortable with it.
As you practice, listen to the rhythm of the words. Note when you need to take breaths. Think about the mood and tone. Think about the narrative point of view, or POV. If the narrator is a child, you don’t have to speak like a child, but you don’t want a blasé, world-weary tone.
If it’s an action piece, read a little quickly, with a vibrant voice. If it’s quiet or moody, try a steady, thoughtful tone. If you have characters with accents, consider speaking in their unique voices. If the voice is snarky or sarcastic, adopt that into your reading voice. Get comfortable raising your voice when a character yells, or lowering it for dramatic effect.
If a part trips you up, say it over and over. If you still stumble, reword or cut it out.
I print a copy in very large type. I add emphasis and pause marks to remind myself when I want to be extra-dramatic. And I practice until I’m sick to death of it. When you’re so tired of the sound of your voice reading this thing, you’re probably ready to perform it.
Psyche Yourself – Fear is both physical and psychological, so there are both physical and psychological ways to overcome fear.
First, understand that everyone in the room is on your side. This isn’t a contest or election with winners or losers. You’ve already won. You are in this spot because you did something well. Second, phone in to your inner grown-up. Being a good reader adds to your skill set. Even if you hate it, mastering public performances is a savvy move.
Now it’s time to perform. Assure yourself that you are prepared. Bring a marked-up copy of your reading selection. Bring your lucky rabbit’s foot if you think that will help. Some writers like to hold a pencil or wave it around. Some clutch a water bottle. If the set-up is not to your liking, ask to make a change. I don’t like a free-standing mic, so I often pull up a chair. I keep one hand on the chair. It grounds me.
Before you begin, take deep breaths. If someone is introducing you, the first words out of your mouth are, “Thank you for that nice introduction, Tom.” Next words, “I also want to thank My Town Library for hosting me today, and all of you nice people for showing up.” Followed by, “This was inspired by….”
Then you’re on. “This is from my new novel, The Performance Author.”
Even if you are shy, you want people to read your stories. Readers love to meet authors. They’re your people. Read to them.
Ramona DeFelice Long works as an author, independent editor and writing instructor. Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in regional, literary and online publications, and she was honored by the Delaware Division of the Arts as an Established Artist in Fiction in 2009. As an editor, she works with mystery/thriller authors and collaborated with SinC’s Guppy chapter as editor of Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology. She is active in the Delaware literary scene and maintains a literary blog at http://ramonadef.wordpress.com.
By Ramona DeFelice Long
Reading to an audience is an art—a performance art. It's also a skill that can be developed. Today's blog entry focuses on the final two Ps to help shy authors overcome their trepidation—Practice and Psyche Yourself.Practice – Practice has two meanings here. You’ll become more comfortable with performing if you do it often, and if you watch others. So, attend public readings. If an open mic is offered, participate. Sit in on poetry slams. Offer to introduce fellow authors at events. Volunteer, and get up to say a few words of thanks. Every time you stand up and speak, you build confidence. It’s the immunity effect. The more you perform a feared act, the more you immunize yourself against being afraid of it.
Once you have a reading lined up, how do you practice? First, decide what you will read. Make sure it fits the time frame. Read your selection, aloud, over and over. Some people practice in front of a mirror. Some record themselves. Others read to family or friends. All good ideas. The important thing is to read the piece through, beginning to end, as many times as needed to become wholly comfortable with it.
As you practice, listen to the rhythm of the words. Note when you need to take breaths. Think about the mood and tone. Think about the narrative point of view, or POV. If the narrator is a child, you don’t have to speak like a child, but you don’t want a blasé, world-weary tone.
If it’s an action piece, read a little quickly, with a vibrant voice. If it’s quiet or moody, try a steady, thoughtful tone. If you have characters with accents, consider speaking in their unique voices. If the voice is snarky or sarcastic, adopt that into your reading voice. Get comfortable raising your voice when a character yells, or lowering it for dramatic effect.
If a part trips you up, say it over and over. If you still stumble, reword or cut it out.
I print a copy in very large type. I add emphasis and pause marks to remind myself when I want to be extra-dramatic. And I practice until I’m sick to death of it. When you’re so tired of the sound of your voice reading this thing, you’re probably ready to perform it.
Psyche Yourself – Fear is both physical and psychological, so there are both physical and psychological ways to overcome fear.
First, understand that everyone in the room is on your side. This isn’t a contest or election with winners or losers. You’ve already won. You are in this spot because you did something well. Second, phone in to your inner grown-up. Being a good reader adds to your skill set. Even if you hate it, mastering public performances is a savvy move.
Now it’s time to perform. Assure yourself that you are prepared. Bring a marked-up copy of your reading selection. Bring your lucky rabbit’s foot if you think that will help. Some writers like to hold a pencil or wave it around. Some clutch a water bottle. If the set-up is not to your liking, ask to make a change. I don’t like a free-standing mic, so I often pull up a chair. I keep one hand on the chair. It grounds me.
Before you begin, take deep breaths. If someone is introducing you, the first words out of your mouth are, “Thank you for that nice introduction, Tom.” Next words, “I also want to thank My Town Library for hosting me today, and all of you nice people for showing up.” Followed by, “This was inspired by….”
Then you’re on. “This is from my new novel, The Performance Author.”
Even if you are shy, you want people to read your stories. Readers love to meet authors. They’re your people. Read to them.
Ramona DeFelice Long works as an author, independent editor and writing instructor. Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in regional, literary and online publications, and she was honored by the Delaware Division of the Arts as an Established Artist in Fiction in 2009. As an editor, she works with mystery/thriller authors and collaborated with SinC’s Guppy chapter as editor of Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology. She is active in the Delaware literary scene and maintains a literary blog at http://ramonadef.wordpress.com.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Four Tips for the Performance Author
Part One of Two Parts
By Ramona DeFelice Long
A first novel. A writing fellowship. A conference panel. A contest win. Author day at a school. A book festival. These are events a writer daydreams about—unless public speaking is involved. Then, for some authors, the daydream becomes a nightmare.
Not long ago, I followed a conversation on the Sisters in Crime members-only listserv about shy authors. Writing is a solitary occupation, someone wrote, and being a good writer does not automatically make you a good public speaker. Someone else pointed out that reading work aloud in front of a group, or discussing work in a panel, is awkward, unnatural and terrifying.
If you feel this way, you are not alone. Many people fear giving a speech more than flying, heights, terminal illness, old age or being mauled by a bear.
Public speaking is a regular gig for me. In 2011, I’ve been on stage, so to speak, as a writing teacher, a workshop leader, a featured reader, an emcee, a free write facilitator and a guest author. I am not shy, and I am (mostly) comfortable in front of a crowd because I do it often.
But what if you don’t? What if the prospect of reading in public fills you with dread?
Reading to an audience is an art—a performance art. It’s also a skill that can be developed. I’d like to offer four Ps—Purpose, Plan, Practice and Psyche Yourself—to help shy authors overcome their trepidation.
Purpose – Think of a public reading as an opportunity, both for you and the audience. You have the chance to present your written work verbally or to talk about your creative process. The audience gets to experience that, live.
To make the most of this opportunity, answer the following:
What is your goal? To promote your work—that’s a given. More specifically, is your appearance to promote a particular work? Or is it to promote yourself as an author? If your purpose is to promote a specific or newly-published work, read from it. If your purpose is to promote yourself as an author, share a piece that best represents your body of work.
Plan – First, consider time. Most people read at a rate of one minute per page. 15 minutes = 15 pages. Take into account time for someone to introduce you and for questions at the end. If you’re doing a book talk as opposed to a straight reading, include time for story background.
If you are slated with other authors, be considerate. Don’t eat into someone else’s performance minutes. When you are solo, fill up the time allotted. If you are scheduled for 30 minutes and your reading peters out after 15, this is not good. Always give the impression that there’s never enough time to share your writing with the wonderful people who’ve come to hear you.
Next, the audience. Who will be there? What’s appropriate to read to them? At a senior citizen facility, for instance, avoid racy sex scenes and don’t drop any f-bombs. Likewise, a quiet mother-baby scene might not fly at a middle school.
And now, what to read? From a novel or short story, choose a beginning or full scene that is active. It doesn’t have to be high action, but choose a scene with a clear event or important exchange at its center. Your selection should stand alone without a lot of explanation. If you are given five minutes to read, and you need two of those minutes to set up the scene, identify characters or share back-story, you’ve made a poor choice. If you must set it up, keep it short: “Jane is the main character. John is her husband. Their son Tommy has gone missing while biking with friends in Spain.”
How the story came to you is always interesting—but keep that brief as well. “I got this idea after visiting a B&B in Massachusetts. The hill behind the garden was the sight of a massacre during King Philip’s War and is supposedly haunted. This story grew out of that.”
Finally, if possible, inquire about the venue and set. Will you be behind a podium? Standing before a free-standing microphone? Sitting at a table? A reading is a physical performance, and you want to be physically comfortable. If you need to sit, or a podium makes you nervous, relay that to the coordinator.
To be continued tomorrow...
Ramona DeFelice Long writes fiction and non-fiction for children and adults and everyone in between. She works as an independent editor, specializing in mystery novels and short stories, and teaches workshops on all aspects of writing. Ramona is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Delaware Literary Connection, the Hillendale Farm Critique Group and is an honorary member of The Written Remains writing group.
By Ramona DeFelice Long
A first novel. A writing fellowship. A conference panel. A contest win. Author day at a school. A book festival. These are events a writer daydreams about—unless public speaking is involved. Then, for some authors, the daydream becomes a nightmare.Not long ago, I followed a conversation on the Sisters in Crime members-only listserv about shy authors. Writing is a solitary occupation, someone wrote, and being a good writer does not automatically make you a good public speaker. Someone else pointed out that reading work aloud in front of a group, or discussing work in a panel, is awkward, unnatural and terrifying.
If you feel this way, you are not alone. Many people fear giving a speech more than flying, heights, terminal illness, old age or being mauled by a bear.
Public speaking is a regular gig for me. In 2011, I’ve been on stage, so to speak, as a writing teacher, a workshop leader, a featured reader, an emcee, a free write facilitator and a guest author. I am not shy, and I am (mostly) comfortable in front of a crowd because I do it often.
But what if you don’t? What if the prospect of reading in public fills you with dread?
Reading to an audience is an art—a performance art. It’s also a skill that can be developed. I’d like to offer four Ps—Purpose, Plan, Practice and Psyche Yourself—to help shy authors overcome their trepidation.
Purpose – Think of a public reading as an opportunity, both for you and the audience. You have the chance to present your written work verbally or to talk about your creative process. The audience gets to experience that, live.
To make the most of this opportunity, answer the following:
What is your goal? To promote your work—that’s a given. More specifically, is your appearance to promote a particular work? Or is it to promote yourself as an author? If your purpose is to promote a specific or newly-published work, read from it. If your purpose is to promote yourself as an author, share a piece that best represents your body of work.
Plan – First, consider time. Most people read at a rate of one minute per page. 15 minutes = 15 pages. Take into account time for someone to introduce you and for questions at the end. If you’re doing a book talk as opposed to a straight reading, include time for story background.
If you are slated with other authors, be considerate. Don’t eat into someone else’s performance minutes. When you are solo, fill up the time allotted. If you are scheduled for 30 minutes and your reading peters out after 15, this is not good. Always give the impression that there’s never enough time to share your writing with the wonderful people who’ve come to hear you.
Next, the audience. Who will be there? What’s appropriate to read to them? At a senior citizen facility, for instance, avoid racy sex scenes and don’t drop any f-bombs. Likewise, a quiet mother-baby scene might not fly at a middle school.
And now, what to read? From a novel or short story, choose a beginning or full scene that is active. It doesn’t have to be high action, but choose a scene with a clear event or important exchange at its center. Your selection should stand alone without a lot of explanation. If you are given five minutes to read, and you need two of those minutes to set up the scene, identify characters or share back-story, you’ve made a poor choice. If you must set it up, keep it short: “Jane is the main character. John is her husband. Their son Tommy has gone missing while biking with friends in Spain.”
How the story came to you is always interesting—but keep that brief as well. “I got this idea after visiting a B&B in Massachusetts. The hill behind the garden was the sight of a massacre during King Philip’s War and is supposedly haunted. This story grew out of that.”
Finally, if possible, inquire about the venue and set. Will you be behind a podium? Standing before a free-standing microphone? Sitting at a table? A reading is a physical performance, and you want to be physically comfortable. If you need to sit, or a podium makes you nervous, relay that to the coordinator.
To be continued tomorrow...
Ramona DeFelice Long writes fiction and non-fiction for children and adults and everyone in between. She works as an independent editor, specializing in mystery novels and short stories, and teaches workshops on all aspects of writing. Ramona is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Delaware Literary Connection, the Hillendale Farm Critique Group and is an honorary member of The Written Remains writing group.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Talking About Banned Books
By Anne Perry
We all want the freedom to make our own choices, and to do so without penalty or coercion. But with freedom comes responsibility to live with the results. A civilized society tries to create a balance between protecting the vulnerable and stifling the explorers of the mind, the innovators and the creators in the imagination, without whom there would be no invention and no art.
It is an appallingly difficult course to steer. My freedom of religion might be your blasphemy. My questions might be disturbing to you – your art might be obscene to me. One man's political protest might be another's treason, and so on.
Who has the right or the duty to decide what we may or may not read? And upon what grounds?
Which brings me to the question how on earth anyone decided that "The Chronicles of Narnia" were dangerous and should be banned. Am I hopelessly naïve and missing some dark evil in a children's story which is blazingly obviously Christian, written by a man famous for his faith and his inspiring wartime broadcasts to Britain?
"Narnia" is not among my favourites of his works. I greatly prefer The Great Divorce, and The Screwtape Letters with their brilliant philosophical insights. They were not mentioned as banned, but seem to me far more provocative of thought, self-questioning and possible growth. Are they allowed? May we know what C. S. Lewis thought to be the smallness of mind, the sins clung onto which will keep us out of heaven?
I am more than surprised that "Narnia" was banned. I am astounded, and I admit I do not understand.
Which banned book is my favourite? I don't even have to think about that. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. I grew up with it in my hand. Even now, listening to others read it to their children, I find I can follow almost word for word.
Its wit and imagination still please me. The smile of the Cheshire Cat is part of the furniture of my mind, as is the Mad Hatter with the price ticket on his hat, the March Hare (they do go crazy in March here in the fields and are a joy to see), the Gryphon, the dance on the seashore; all of it.
To me, Alice was a reflection of myself; inquisitive, articulate and frequently argumentative and, like most children, with a keen sense of what is fair. I also had vivid dreams, and toy animals I talked to (They never talked back! That would be cause for concern). I knew all the poetry and loved the play on words. I can still smile at "reading, writing and painting in oils" ending up as "reeling, writhing and fainting in coils."
And Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen – "jam every other day – yesterday and tomorrow!" Life can seem like that. "Don't waken the Red King or we shall all disappear – we are only figments of his dream."
And the poetry in "Through the Looking Glass": The Walrus and the Carpenter. I could quote screeds of it. Even better, the White Knight, forever slipping off his horse, and the old man a-sitting on a gate that summer evening long ago.
It seemed to be innocent, funny and very dear. What did I miss in it that was so dangerous it must be banned? Dangerous to what? My imagination, my laughter, my love of reading, my ability to "think outside the box"?
Who decides these things? What slander, blasphemy or sedition is hidden in these stories? What monster do they see that I missed? Is it possible it isn't there, and they brought it with them?
Anne Perry is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author. Her two Victorian mystery series have more than 25 million copies in print worldwide. A docu-style video on Perry and more about her books can be found here.
We all want the freedom to make our own choices, and to do so without penalty or coercion. But with freedom comes responsibility to live with the results. A civilized society tries to create a balance between protecting the vulnerable and stifling the explorers of the mind, the innovators and the creators in the imagination, without whom there would be no invention and no art.
It is an appallingly difficult course to steer. My freedom of religion might be your blasphemy. My questions might be disturbing to you – your art might be obscene to me. One man's political protest might be another's treason, and so on.
Who has the right or the duty to decide what we may or may not read? And upon what grounds?
Which brings me to the question how on earth anyone decided that "The Chronicles of Narnia" were dangerous and should be banned. Am I hopelessly naïve and missing some dark evil in a children's story which is blazingly obviously Christian, written by a man famous for his faith and his inspiring wartime broadcasts to Britain?
"Narnia" is not among my favourites of his works. I greatly prefer The Great Divorce, and The Screwtape Letters with their brilliant philosophical insights. They were not mentioned as banned, but seem to me far more provocative of thought, self-questioning and possible growth. Are they allowed? May we know what C. S. Lewis thought to be the smallness of mind, the sins clung onto which will keep us out of heaven?
I am more than surprised that "Narnia" was banned. I am astounded, and I admit I do not understand.
Which banned book is my favourite? I don't even have to think about that. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. I grew up with it in my hand. Even now, listening to others read it to their children, I find I can follow almost word for word.
Its wit and imagination still please me. The smile of the Cheshire Cat is part of the furniture of my mind, as is the Mad Hatter with the price ticket on his hat, the March Hare (they do go crazy in March here in the fields and are a joy to see), the Gryphon, the dance on the seashore; all of it.
To me, Alice was a reflection of myself; inquisitive, articulate and frequently argumentative and, like most children, with a keen sense of what is fair. I also had vivid dreams, and toy animals I talked to (They never talked back! That would be cause for concern). I knew all the poetry and loved the play on words. I can still smile at "reading, writing and painting in oils" ending up as "reeling, writhing and fainting in coils."
And Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen – "jam every other day – yesterday and tomorrow!" Life can seem like that. "Don't waken the Red King or we shall all disappear – we are only figments of his dream."
And the poetry in "Through the Looking Glass": The Walrus and the Carpenter. I could quote screeds of it. Even better, the White Knight, forever slipping off his horse, and the old man a-sitting on a gate that summer evening long ago.
It seemed to be innocent, funny and very dear. What did I miss in it that was so dangerous it must be banned? Dangerous to what? My imagination, my laughter, my love of reading, my ability to "think outside the box"?
Who decides these things? What slander, blasphemy or sedition is hidden in these stories? What monster do they see that I missed? Is it possible it isn't there, and they brought it with them?
Anne Perry is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author. Her two Victorian mystery series have more than 25 million copies in print worldwide. A docu-style video on Perry and more about her books can be found here.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Greetings from Bouchercon!
[Originally published at Literary Lunchbox, http://literarylunchbox.wordpress.com]
By Karen Burgess
I’m on a four-day literary extravaganza! Bouchercon is the annual fest for fans and writers of mystery, crime, thriller, suspense and related subgenres (graphic novels, anyone?). This is mostly a fan event. The numbers are not yet in for this year, but attendance in 2010 topped 1,600.
Although I know more writers than I did in the past, I’m still bowled over to be in the room with luminaries such as Val McDermid, Jan Burke, Parnell Hall, Jeremiah Healy, Charlaine Harris… the list goes on. And on.
Yesterday began with a 6 a.m. pickup from my friend Addy, chauffeur and roommate extraordinaire. (For which I am eternally grateful – she had to get up at 4:30 to make this happen!) We drove to St. Louis, checked in to the super-lovely Renaissance Grand Hotel, and then walked over to the ever-so-opposite Holiday Inn Select, where Sisters in Crime was holding its pre-conference workshop for writers. It was the only event specifically for writers, so I was pumped to go.
The event was an incredible value for the $50 registration fee. The speakers included:
Personally, I have a super-fun book that I have given up on pitching – it’s not a mystery. I came away convinced that I can freshen this up (wrote it so many years ago that my popular references are sure to be dated), format it myself, get an ISBN number, get my ever-so-talented graphic designer husband to do me a cover, price it at $2.99 or $3.99, upload it to Amazon and let my employer know I’m about to retire. (Just kidding on that last one.)
The Sisters in Crime event included a banquet with a very amusing after-dinner speech by author Meg Gardiner. Meg writes the Evan Delaney series about a Santa Barbara attorney and the Jo Beckett series about a forensic psychiatrist. Her books were published worldwide, but not in the U.S., until Stephen King wrote an article about them in Entertainment Weekly. Fourteen publishers called the next day. I was drinking coffee and paper-and-penless during her speech, but I sent myself a series of emails so I could remember some key points.
Email #1: Meg’s blog is called Lying for a Living. She’s also on WordPress. Sister!
Email #2: Meg's first published book was China Lake. I bought it – and several others she authored – today in the Bouchercon book room because when she talked about China Lake, she commented that “a big, big story will expand your readership.” Now I want to see a big, big story. I fear mine are tiny, itsy-bitsy stories.
Email #3: ”Left Behind in the E-book Rapture.” Or at least that’s what my email was supposed to say. iPhone corrected it to “Left Behind in the Snook Rapture.” I love the phrase and the point she’s making – e-books are not going away. Not there? It’s not too late. And if you can focus on a big career, this is going to all come naturally.
So that’s it. I have a giant list of cool blogs, web sites, resources, and more – a bulging book bag full of new purchases and a Bouchercon tote bag full of books that I got FOR FREE repeat FOR FREE, several new friends and a few days to go. More later.
Karen Burgess writes fiction (novels and short stories), is a published author and is searching for an agent. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. You can keep up with her online at her blog, Literary Lunchbox.
Photos courtesy of Karen Burgess.
By Karen Burgess
I’m on a four-day literary extravaganza! Bouchercon is the annual fest for fans and writers of mystery, crime, thriller, suspense and related subgenres (graphic novels, anyone?). This is mostly a fan event. The numbers are not yet in for this year, but attendance in 2010 topped 1,600.Although I know more writers than I did in the past, I’m still bowled over to be in the room with luminaries such as Val McDermid, Jan Burke, Parnell Hall, Jeremiah Healy, Charlaine Harris… the list goes on. And on.
Yesterday began with a 6 a.m. pickup from my friend Addy, chauffeur and roommate extraordinaire. (For which I am eternally grateful – she had to get up at 4:30 to make this happen!) We drove to St. Louis, checked in to the super-lovely Renaissance Grand Hotel, and then walked over to the ever-so-opposite Holiday Inn Select, where Sisters in Crime was holding its pre-conference workshop for writers. It was the only event specifically for writers, so I was pumped to go.
The event was an incredible value for the $50 registration fee. The speakers included:
- David Wilk, CEO, Booktrix, on the state of publishing
- Libby Fischer Hellmann, author (most recent book, Set the Night on Fire, a standalone thriller), on comparing traditional and e-publishing
- Cathy Pickens and Jim Huang (author and bookseller, respectively) on getting your book into print
- Marcia Talley and Ellen Hart, popular mystery authors with long backlists, on do-it-yourself publishing on Kindle
Personally, I have a super-fun book that I have given up on pitching – it’s not a mystery. I came away convinced that I can freshen this up (wrote it so many years ago that my popular references are sure to be dated), format it myself, get an ISBN number, get my ever-so-talented graphic designer husband to do me a cover, price it at $2.99 or $3.99, upload it to Amazon and let my employer know I’m about to retire. (Just kidding on that last one.)
The Sisters in Crime event included a banquet with a very amusing after-dinner speech by author Meg Gardiner. Meg writes the Evan Delaney series about a Santa Barbara attorney and the Jo Beckett series about a forensic psychiatrist. Her books were published worldwide, but not in the U.S., until Stephen King wrote an article about them in Entertainment Weekly. Fourteen publishers called the next day. I was drinking coffee and paper-and-penless during her speech, but I sent myself a series of emails so I could remember some key points.
Email #1: Meg’s blog is called Lying for a Living. She’s also on WordPress. Sister!
Email #2: Meg's first published book was China Lake. I bought it – and several others she authored – today in the Bouchercon book room because when she talked about China Lake, she commented that “a big, big story will expand your readership.” Now I want to see a big, big story. I fear mine are tiny, itsy-bitsy stories.
Email #3: ”Left Behind in the E-book Rapture.” Or at least that’s what my email was supposed to say. iPhone corrected it to “Left Behind in the Snook Rapture.” I love the phrase and the point she’s making – e-books are not going away. Not there? It’s not too late. And if you can focus on a big career, this is going to all come naturally.
So that’s it. I have a giant list of cool blogs, web sites, resources, and more – a bulging book bag full of new purchases and a Bouchercon tote bag full of books that I got FOR FREE repeat FOR FREE, several new friends and a few days to go. More later.
Karen Burgess writes fiction (novels and short stories), is a published author and is searching for an agent. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. You can keep up with her online at her blog, Literary Lunchbox.
Photos courtesy of Karen Burgess.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Ready for the Big Screen?
Screenwriter Wayne Beach, now in his 20th year as a working screenwriter, will lead two workshops in October from his home base in Phippsburg, Maine.
Screenwriting: The Foundation is a five-day workshop for beginners that provides an intensive introduction to concept, story, structure, building characters, visual storytelling and the way the screenwriting business works. The workshop, limited to six participants, takes place Oct. 25 -29. The registration fee is $850.
Building the Script is a five-day workshop for intermediate and advanced writers. The session is designed for writers who have a story and are trying to build the structure into an effective outline or for those who have a finished draft screenplay and are about to work on a revision. The sessions will help writers shape and sharpen their work. The workshop, open to six participants, takes place Oct. 11 – 15. The cost is $950.
Beach has written screenplays for Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, Disney, TNT, Fox 2000 Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures. He has developed projects for the makers of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Law & Order,” “The Fugitive,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Platoon” and “The Perfect Storm.” His filmed writing credits include “Murder at 1600,” “The Art of War” and “Slow Burn.”
In addition to having completed writing “Ten Good Men,” a feature film in development by Wolfgang Petersen’s Radiant Films, Beach is currently on assignment adapting “The Garden of Betrayal,” a new novel by Lee Vance published by Knopf.
Beach is a respected teacher of the screenwriting craft. He is on the faculty of Maine Media College and is teaching screenwriting at Bates College this fall. Previously, he taught screenwriting at Northwestern University for several years. Many of his former students have become successful writers, directors and producers in film and television.
Additional information on the upcoming workshops is available by calling (207) 389-1770 or emailing 44enigmas@gmail.com .
Screenwriting: The Foundation is a five-day workshop for beginners that provides an intensive introduction to concept, story, structure, building characters, visual storytelling and the way the screenwriting business works. The workshop, limited to six participants, takes place Oct. 25 -29. The registration fee is $850.
Building the Script is a five-day workshop for intermediate and advanced writers. The session is designed for writers who have a story and are trying to build the structure into an effective outline or for those who have a finished draft screenplay and are about to work on a revision. The sessions will help writers shape and sharpen their work. The workshop, open to six participants, takes place Oct. 11 – 15. The cost is $950.
Beach has written screenplays for Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, Disney, TNT, Fox 2000 Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures. He has developed projects for the makers of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Law & Order,” “The Fugitive,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Platoon” and “The Perfect Storm.” His filmed writing credits include “Murder at 1600,” “The Art of War” and “Slow Burn.”
In addition to having completed writing “Ten Good Men,” a feature film in development by Wolfgang Petersen’s Radiant Films, Beach is currently on assignment adapting “The Garden of Betrayal,” a new novel by Lee Vance published by Knopf.
Beach is a respected teacher of the screenwriting craft. He is on the faculty of Maine Media College and is teaching screenwriting at Bates College this fall. Previously, he taught screenwriting at Northwestern University for several years. Many of his former students have become successful writers, directors and producers in film and television.
Additional information on the upcoming workshops is available by calling (207) 389-1770 or emailing 44enigmas@gmail.com .
Friday, September 2, 2011
The First SinC25 Blogging Challenge Roundup
By Barbara Fister
Jose Ignacio Escribano, who blogs from Spain at The Game’s Afoot, was the very first blogger to pick up the SinC 25th anniversary book blogging challenge, and has already posted twice. His posts are helping to remind me of several Spanish women whose work I keep meaning to read.
Jose Ignacio Escribano, who blogs from Spain at The Game’s Afoot, was the very first blogger to pick up the SinC 25th anniversary book blogging challenge, and has already posted twice. His posts are helping to remind me of several Spanish women whose work I keep meaning to read. Bernadette in Oz, who writes insightful reviews at Reactions to Reading, has also started the challenge, focusing her first post on women writing in the PI tradition - Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton having been her original ticket to the genre. I’m looking forward to post #2, but since the deadline is “whenever,” I’ll be patient.
Also from Australia (or “Paradise,” as she prefers to call it), Kerrie Smith of Mysteries in Paradise completes the challenge with a roundup of women writers she has enjoyed reviewing recently, starting with Asa Larsson’s new book, which I am eager to read.
The director of the Goshen Public Library has also taken the challenge and posted about a library-related mystery. Scan her blog to read reviews of more women writers – and male writers, too.
Fictionista Katherine Tomlinson (Kat Parrish) has two posts about women authors at Kattomic Energy – love that name! – featuring Sharyn McCrumb’s Ballad mysteries, Kelli Stanley, Carol O’Connell, and more.
If you want to play along, the rules (such as they are – I’m an anarchist at heart) are here. If you tag your posts with SinC25, I will be able to add them to the list.Sisters in Crime is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the professional development and the advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry. And it’s 25 years old this year.
Barbara Fister is the author of the Anni Koskinen mysteries. The most recent title in the series is Through the Cracks. She is an academic librarian and serves on the SinC board as Secretary.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Summer Reading
by Sandra Parshall
Sometimes I look at my list of recently read books and realize many of them made little impression on me, but this summer’s list is filled with memorable novels.
Karin Slaughter’s new book is always a highlight of summer, and I think this year’s Fallen is the best novel she’s ever written. I’ve been a happy reader since Karin brought Sara Linton and Will Trent together, and their relationship advances in Fallen, but the focus is on Faith Mitchell, Will’s partner in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and her mother, a retired cop who has been kidnapped. Old secrets surface in the course of a riveting crime story.
For something completely different, I turned to Julia Spencer-Fleming’s long-awaited new mystery, One Was a Soldier. Claire Ferguson’s return from active duty in the Middle East lands her and Police Chief Russ Van Alstine in the middle of a murder investigation and gives Julia the opportunity to explore the aftermath of war duty in the lives of veterans.
I read Chevy Stevens' first and second novels, Still Missing and Never Knowing, close together and found both absorbing in different ways. The author uses the same device to tell each story, a first person protagonist talking to her therapist, but there’s nothing similar in the plots. Still Missing is about a woman who is kidnapped and held prisoner for a year (giving birth to the kidnapper’s baby during that time) and suffers another life-altering jolt when she learns the truth behind what happened to her. Never Knowing is about a woman who was adopted as a baby and searches for her real parents as an adult, with disastrous consequences.
I “discovered” Michael Koryta with So Cold the River, and although I’m not usually a fan of supernatural elements in mysteries, I’m now hopelessly hooked on his writing. I read The Cypress House and The Ridge this summer, enjoying his larger-than-life characters and his fearless storytelling.
Again, for something totally different, I finally got around to Leonie Swann’s Three Bags Full, a marvelously droll tale of a flock of sheep solving the murder of their shepherd. The sheep were as real to me as any human characters I’ve met in novels.
These are just a few of the entertaining books on my summer list, which also includes Iron House by John Hart, Fatal Error by J.A. Jance, Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton, The Ice Princess and The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg, and the astonishing Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson. Next up, another new book by a favorite writer: Laura Lippman’s The Most Dangerous Thing.
What have you been reading this summer?
Sandra Parshall is the author of the award-winning Rachel Goddard mysteries. The fourth book in the series, Under the Dog Star, has just been published.
Sometimes I look at my list of recently read books and realize many of them made little impression on me, but this summer’s list is filled with memorable novels.
Karin Slaughter’s new book is always a highlight of summer, and I think this year’s Fallen is the best novel she’s ever written. I’ve been a happy reader since Karin brought Sara Linton and Will Trent together, and their relationship advances in Fallen, but the focus is on Faith Mitchell, Will’s partner in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and her mother, a retired cop who has been kidnapped. Old secrets surface in the course of a riveting crime story.
For something completely different, I turned to Julia Spencer-Fleming’s long-awaited new mystery, One Was a Soldier. Claire Ferguson’s return from active duty in the Middle East lands her and Police Chief Russ Van Alstine in the middle of a murder investigation and gives Julia the opportunity to explore the aftermath of war duty in the lives of veterans.
I read Chevy Stevens' first and second novels, Still Missing and Never Knowing, close together and found both absorbing in different ways. The author uses the same device to tell each story, a first person protagonist talking to her therapist, but there’s nothing similar in the plots. Still Missing is about a woman who is kidnapped and held prisoner for a year (giving birth to the kidnapper’s baby during that time) and suffers another life-altering jolt when she learns the truth behind what happened to her. Never Knowing is about a woman who was adopted as a baby and searches for her real parents as an adult, with disastrous consequences.
I “discovered” Michael Koryta with So Cold the River, and although I’m not usually a fan of supernatural elements in mysteries, I’m now hopelessly hooked on his writing. I read The Cypress House and The Ridge this summer, enjoying his larger-than-life characters and his fearless storytelling.
Again, for something totally different, I finally got around to Leonie Swann’s Three Bags Full, a marvelously droll tale of a flock of sheep solving the murder of their shepherd. The sheep were as real to me as any human characters I’ve met in novels.
These are just a few of the entertaining books on my summer list, which also includes Iron House by John Hart, Fatal Error by J.A. Jance, Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton, The Ice Princess and The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg, and the astonishing Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson. Next up, another new book by a favorite writer: Laura Lippman’s The Most Dangerous Thing.
What have you been reading this summer?
Sandra Parshall is the author of the award-winning Rachel Goddard mysteries. The fourth book in the series, Under the Dog Star, has just been published.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Sisters in Crime Book Bloggers Challenge
By Barbara Fister
Avid readers are always on the lookout for ideas about what to read next. They also like to share what they’ve been reading. So, to satisfy both urges – and to celebrate SinC’s 25th anniversary – I threw down a reading challenge.
I hope some of you will want to take it up and will post your own thoughts – on your own blogs or here at the SinC blog – about favorite mysteries by women authors. (To submit posts to the SinC blog, contact KathieFelix[at]aol.com.)
Here’s what I posted at my blog:
I am somewhat loath to issue a reading challenge, given that one of the greatest pleasures of reading is choosing books you just feel like reading without being told what to read. But this challenge includes a lot of latitude for crime fiction fans, so I hope it will let you indulge in an activity enjoyed by avid readers: that of grabbing people by the virtual elbow and saying “have you read this book? It’s sooooo good!”
Given that Sisters in Crime is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year at Bouchercon, it seems a good time to blog about women’s contributions to crime fiction.
Easy challenge: Write a blog post about a work of crime fiction by a woman author; list five more women authors who you recommend.
Moderate challenge: Write five blog posts about works of crime fiction by women authors. For each, mention another woman author who writes in a similar vein.
Expert challenge: Write 10 blog posts about works of crime fiction by women authors. For each, mention three similar women authors whose works you would recommend.
Deadline: Whenever. Another one of the joys of reading for pleasure is not having deadlines. Also, feel free to recycle previous reviews. I’m all about recycling.
If you tag your posts with “SinC25” I will compile them. And if you tweet, use the hashtag #SinC25.
You can do it!
If you aren’t familiar with Sisters in Crime, it’s a nonprofit organization with the mission to “promote the professional development and the advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry.” SinC was founded on the heels of a talk Sara Paretsky gave at the first conference on women in detective fiction held at Hunter College in March 1986. The organization now has 3,000 or so members worldwide and is welcoming to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.
For writers in particular, both published and not yet published, it offers some terrific opportunities for friendship and professional development. (Full disclosure: I’ve been a member for many years and am currently serving on the board.)
By the way, this image is based on the famous “We Can Do It/Rosie the Riveter” poster in the National Archives. Feel free to reuse my Rosie the Reader variation.
Guess I’ll dive into the deep end and sign up for the Expert Challenge. Stay tuned …
Barbara Fister is the author of the Anni Koskinen mysteries. The most recent title in the series is Through the Cracks. She is an academic librarian and serves on the SinC board as Secretary.
Avid readers are always on the lookout for ideas about what to read next. They also like to share what they’ve been reading. So, to satisfy both urges – and to celebrate SinC’s 25th anniversary – I threw down a reading challenge.
I hope some of you will want to take it up and will post your own thoughts – on your own blogs or here at the SinC blog – about favorite mysteries by women authors. (To submit posts to the SinC blog, contact KathieFelix[at]aol.com.)
Here’s what I posted at my blog:
I am somewhat loath to issue a reading challenge, given that one of the greatest pleasures of reading is choosing books you just feel like reading without being told what to read. But this challenge includes a lot of latitude for crime fiction fans, so I hope it will let you indulge in an activity enjoyed by avid readers: that of grabbing people by the virtual elbow and saying “have you read this book? It’s sooooo good!”
Given that Sisters in Crime is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year at Bouchercon, it seems a good time to blog about women’s contributions to crime fiction.
Easy challenge: Write a blog post about a work of crime fiction by a woman author; list five more women authors who you recommend.
Moderate challenge: Write five blog posts about works of crime fiction by women authors. For each, mention another woman author who writes in a similar vein.
Expert challenge: Write 10 blog posts about works of crime fiction by women authors. For each, mention three similar women authors whose works you would recommend.
Deadline: Whenever. Another one of the joys of reading for pleasure is not having deadlines. Also, feel free to recycle previous reviews. I’m all about recycling.
If you tag your posts with “SinC25” I will compile them. And if you tweet, use the hashtag #SinC25.
You can do it!
If you aren’t familiar with Sisters in Crime, it’s a nonprofit organization with the mission to “promote the professional development and the advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry.” SinC was founded on the heels of a talk Sara Paretsky gave at the first conference on women in detective fiction held at Hunter College in March 1986. The organization now has 3,000 or so members worldwide and is welcoming to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.
For writers in particular, both published and not yet published, it offers some terrific opportunities for friendship and professional development. (Full disclosure: I’ve been a member for many years and am currently serving on the board.)
By the way, this image is based on the famous “We Can Do It/Rosie the Riveter” poster in the National Archives. Feel free to reuse my Rosie the Reader variation.
Guess I’ll dive into the deep end and sign up for the Expert Challenge. Stay tuned …
Barbara Fister is the author of the Anni Koskinen mysteries. The most recent title in the series is Through the Cracks. She is an academic librarian and serves on the SinC board as Secretary.
Monday, August 8, 2011
A Reader Goes to ALA
By Molly Weston
Asking me to be part of Sisters in Crime's Summit Team and attend the American Library Association's Summer Conference in New Orleans was a lot like throwing Br'er Rabbit in the Briar Patch! Of course, I'd been to mystery conferences and booksellers' conferences, but never to a library conference. I had everything laid out for the trip a month before I was due to pack.
The excitement began to swell on the plane leaving Charlotte. I watched more and more travelers board carrying tote bags from libraries—and paperbacks in their hands. As I looked around en route, nearly everyone was reading! My seat mate was a librarian from Canada and the kind lady who entertained the child beside her until takeoff explained she was a grandmother. I later found she, too, was a librarian.
When I got into line for the van ride to the hotel, it was jammed with more librarians and their accompanying identifying tote bags. And these weren't the "Ssssh!" types from the 50s. They were all swaying to the sounds of the jazz band playing beside baggage pickup!
Unsurprisingly, our hotel was packed with librarians, too, and every day more tote bags replaced purses and suitcases. By the time the trade show floor opened, the bags were stuffed with books and posters. It was heartening to see the distinctive red Sisters in Crime bags amongst those from publishers and distributors.
[Photo: It wouldn't be New Orleans without beignets for breakfast!]
The SinC bags were an enticement for visiting our library-themed booth, as was the drawing for an iPod Touch. Mary Boone and Doris Ann Norris did a bang-up job making the booth both attractive and accessible. In addition to the SinC banners, they hung poster-sized photos of many of the "We Love Libraries!" winners to ensure that folks asked about entering the contest.
[Photo: Dorris Ann Norris and Mary Boone take a break after setting up the SinC booth.]
The Summit Team members were charged with talking with librarians, distributors, and publishers about how readers find books. We met in focus groups, one-on-one interviews, catch-as-catch-can talks on the trade show floor, and at meals. Everyone we talked with was happy to share ideas with us—frequently they seemed thrilled that someone would ask!
The Summit Report will provide full details about these ideas. Don't miss reading it! All SinC members will receive the report as part of their membership package. If you're reading this as a non-member, consider joining today at www.sistersincrime.org. This report will be well worth it.
The Saturday "Mystery Day" coordinated by Rosemary Harris brought in so many mystery writers it would be difficult to list them all. It was great fun catching up with old friends and meeting (and making) new ones. I was delighted to meet Julie Smith, whom I've loved reading for more than 20 years (she must have won her Edgar when she was 12!).
Nearly every member of the Summit Team was on a panel on the Pop Top stage. I was delighted to get to moderate "Attention to Detail: How Research Adds to the Mystery," with Frankie Y. Bailey, Rhys Bowen, Jane Cleland, and Carolyn Hart. My trip was made!
Every night I returned to my hotel room totally exhausted, but with my mind overflowing with great ideas and wonderful memories. After all, what could be better than five days with librarians and Sisters in Crime?
[Photo: (front row, from left) Rhys Bowen, Holli Castillo and Libby Fischer Hellmann ready to lend a hand in the SinC booth at ALA.]
New Orleans photos by Molly Weston.
Molly Weston is the editor of inSinC, the Sisters in Crime quarterly news bulletin. She is a book reviewer, media escort, blogger and book club maven — when not pondering the intricacies of keeping the local deer from eating the entire colorful crop at her day lily farm.
Asking me to be part of Sisters in Crime's Summit Team and attend the American Library Association's Summer Conference in New Orleans was a lot like throwing Br'er Rabbit in the Briar Patch! Of course, I'd been to mystery conferences and booksellers' conferences, but never to a library conference. I had everything laid out for the trip a month before I was due to pack.
The excitement began to swell on the plane leaving Charlotte. I watched more and more travelers board carrying tote bags from libraries—and paperbacks in their hands. As I looked around en route, nearly everyone was reading! My seat mate was a librarian from Canada and the kind lady who entertained the child beside her until takeoff explained she was a grandmother. I later found she, too, was a librarian.
When I got into line for the van ride to the hotel, it was jammed with more librarians and their accompanying identifying tote bags. And these weren't the "Ssssh!" types from the 50s. They were all swaying to the sounds of the jazz band playing beside baggage pickup!
Unsurprisingly, our hotel was packed with librarians, too, and every day more tote bags replaced purses and suitcases. By the time the trade show floor opened, the bags were stuffed with books and posters. It was heartening to see the distinctive red Sisters in Crime bags amongst those from publishers and distributors.
[Photo: It wouldn't be New Orleans without beignets for breakfast!]
The SinC bags were an enticement for visiting our library-themed booth, as was the drawing for an iPod Touch. Mary Boone and Doris Ann Norris did a bang-up job making the booth both attractive and accessible. In addition to the SinC banners, they hung poster-sized photos of many of the "We Love Libraries!" winners to ensure that folks asked about entering the contest.
[Photo: Dorris Ann Norris and Mary Boone take a break after setting up the SinC booth.]
The Summit Team members were charged with talking with librarians, distributors, and publishers about how readers find books. We met in focus groups, one-on-one interviews, catch-as-catch-can talks on the trade show floor, and at meals. Everyone we talked with was happy to share ideas with us—frequently they seemed thrilled that someone would ask!
The Summit Report will provide full details about these ideas. Don't miss reading it! All SinC members will receive the report as part of their membership package. If you're reading this as a non-member, consider joining today at www.sistersincrime.org. This report will be well worth it.
The Saturday "Mystery Day" coordinated by Rosemary Harris brought in so many mystery writers it would be difficult to list them all. It was great fun catching up with old friends and meeting (and making) new ones. I was delighted to meet Julie Smith, whom I've loved reading for more than 20 years (she must have won her Edgar when she was 12!).
Nearly every member of the Summit Team was on a panel on the Pop Top stage. I was delighted to get to moderate "Attention to Detail: How Research Adds to the Mystery," with Frankie Y. Bailey, Rhys Bowen, Jane Cleland, and Carolyn Hart. My trip was made!
Every night I returned to my hotel room totally exhausted, but with my mind overflowing with great ideas and wonderful memories. After all, what could be better than five days with librarians and Sisters in Crime?
[Photo: (front row, from left) Rhys Bowen, Holli Castillo and Libby Fischer Hellmann ready to lend a hand in the SinC booth at ALA.]
New Orleans photos by Molly Weston.
Molly Weston is the editor of inSinC, the Sisters in Crime quarterly news bulletin. She is a book reviewer, media escort, blogger and book club maven — when not pondering the intricacies of keeping the local deer from eating the entire colorful crop at her day lily farm.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Off to See the Lizard?
By Kathie Felix
This summer, Vintage Books launched “Weekly Lizard,” a new mobile-enabled website for fans of mystery, crime, suspense and thriller fiction.
The site, online at weeklylizard.com, offers news and feature articles written by authors, booksellers, journalists, bloggers and other experts in the mystery and thriller genre.
The content includes author profiles in a section titled “In the Lineup,” essays and profiles of great mystery characters (filed under “Tough Guys and Dangerous Dames”), quotations from classic and contemporary mystery and thriller novels (“Wiseguy Quotes”) and early excerpts from upcoming novels.
The site draws on Vintage Crime/Black Lizard’s backlist and lineup of contemporary authors for access to original essays and historical documents. Feature articles are developed from books and news across the publishing industry.
Expect to see information on the imprint’s classic crime writers such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, as well as current bestsellers Steig Larsson, Henning Mankell, James Ellroy and Ruth Rendell.
The site also covers book-to-film news and features, classic film noir and current popular crime television series.
Currently, Weekly Lizard offers an in-depth look at the life of hard-boiled hero James M. Cain, author of the crime fiction classics The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce; author Lisa Unger’s take on Scott Smith’s novel, A Simple Plan, and an inside look at the debut of the Aurelio Zen series now airing on Masterpiece Mystery. In addition, author Karen Essex writes about sex and storylines with a discussion of her thriller, Dracula in Love.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, founded in June 1990, combines the publishing muscle of Vintage Books, the publisher of Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler, with Black Lizard, a classic crime fiction publishing house focused on the post-World War II era.
This summer, Vintage Books launched “Weekly Lizard,” a new mobile-enabled website for fans of mystery, crime, suspense and thriller fiction.
The site, online at weeklylizard.com, offers news and feature articles written by authors, booksellers, journalists, bloggers and other experts in the mystery and thriller genre.
The content includes author profiles in a section titled “In the Lineup,” essays and profiles of great mystery characters (filed under “Tough Guys and Dangerous Dames”), quotations from classic and contemporary mystery and thriller novels (“Wiseguy Quotes”) and early excerpts from upcoming novels.
The site draws on Vintage Crime/Black Lizard’s backlist and lineup of contemporary authors for access to original essays and historical documents. Feature articles are developed from books and news across the publishing industry.
Expect to see information on the imprint’s classic crime writers such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, as well as current bestsellers Steig Larsson, Henning Mankell, James Ellroy and Ruth Rendell.
The site also covers book-to-film news and features, classic film noir and current popular crime television series.
Currently, Weekly Lizard offers an in-depth look at the life of hard-boiled hero James M. Cain, author of the crime fiction classics The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce; author Lisa Unger’s take on Scott Smith’s novel, A Simple Plan, and an inside look at the debut of the Aurelio Zen series now airing on Masterpiece Mystery. In addition, author Karen Essex writes about sex and storylines with a discussion of her thriller, Dracula in Love.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, founded in June 1990, combines the publishing muscle of Vintage Books, the publisher of Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler, with Black Lizard, a classic crime fiction publishing house focused on the post-World War II era.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Use all of your Borders Bucks this weekend!
By Kathie Felix
The remaining Borders bookstores will accept Borders Bucks for purchase discounts through Sunday, July 31, 2011, only.
The Borders Bucks program has ended. Shoppers enrolled in the program cannot receive Borders Bucks credit during the chain’s liquidation.
Borders gift cards will be redeemable throughout the liquidation process, which is scheduled to end in mid to late September at most of the chain’s existing stores.
For many readers, a nearby Borders store brings back a wealth of memories of great reads, a reintroduction to lost classics and exciting new reading discoveries. In honor of those vanished days, I took a stroll through the Borders in my neighborhood to take what may be my final look at the place that once was my second home.
It was difficult to see the old store underneath the trappings of the closing sale. This week, the shop décor was accented by countless large neon orange and yellow signs announcing discounts of 20 to 40 percent. (Most of the books on the shelves were discounted 20 percent.)
The cashiers were very busy, even though employees were unable to look up information on titles or authors for customers. As might be expected, no checks are accepted at the register these days -- and no returns will be accepted.
The mystery/crime fiction section was still in relatively good shelving order. It was fairly easy to find a copy of The Big Dirt Nap by Rosemary Harris and We’ll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews, a couple of the titles that I’ve been meaning to pick up for quite a while. They may turn out to be my final Borders purchases.
I spent more time than I intended wandering through the store and wondering about what might make the ultimate last Borders purchase. During my browsing, I found the Biography section in perfect order, despite several shoppers in the area. I wondered briefly if biography readers are tidy people – or if the sale’s shoppers were just not interested in biography.
I’m not sure I’ll be back before the store closes. It was a sad experience.
Do you have plans to get to a Borders store some time soon? What do you expect to buy as your final Borders purchase?
The remaining Borders bookstores will accept Borders Bucks for purchase discounts through Sunday, July 31, 2011, only.
The Borders Bucks program has ended. Shoppers enrolled in the program cannot receive Borders Bucks credit during the chain’s liquidation.
Borders gift cards will be redeemable throughout the liquidation process, which is scheduled to end in mid to late September at most of the chain’s existing stores.
For many readers, a nearby Borders store brings back a wealth of memories of great reads, a reintroduction to lost classics and exciting new reading discoveries. In honor of those vanished days, I took a stroll through the Borders in my neighborhood to take what may be my final look at the place that once was my second home.
It was difficult to see the old store underneath the trappings of the closing sale. This week, the shop décor was accented by countless large neon orange and yellow signs announcing discounts of 20 to 40 percent. (Most of the books on the shelves were discounted 20 percent.)
The cashiers were very busy, even though employees were unable to look up information on titles or authors for customers. As might be expected, no checks are accepted at the register these days -- and no returns will be accepted.
The mystery/crime fiction section was still in relatively good shelving order. It was fairly easy to find a copy of The Big Dirt Nap by Rosemary Harris and We’ll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews, a couple of the titles that I’ve been meaning to pick up for quite a while. They may turn out to be my final Borders purchases.
I spent more time than I intended wandering through the store and wondering about what might make the ultimate last Borders purchase. During my browsing, I found the Biography section in perfect order, despite several shoppers in the area. I wondered briefly if biography readers are tidy people – or if the sale’s shoppers were just not interested in biography.
I’m not sure I’ll be back before the store closes. It was a sad experience.
Do you have plans to get to a Borders store some time soon? What do you expect to buy as your final Borders purchase?
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tax Tips for Writers, Part 2 of 2 Parts
By J. J. Murphy
The conversation with certified public accountant Carol Topp continues:
Q. Is it true that a writer (or anyone) who experiences a substantial increase in income in a single tax year can refile past taxes (up to five years back) to flatten the tax liability in the high-income year? Is that a worthwhile project?
A. Sorry, but income averaging has not been allowed since 1987, except for farmers and fishermen. Now, taxes are due on income the year in which the income was received.
On the other hand, if a business suffers a loss, the owner may choose to carry back the loss. The loss can usually be carried back two years. Recently, Congress has allowed a carry-back of a loss up to five years (it’s called an NOL, or Net Operating Loss).
Q. When should a writer hire a CPA?
A. Good question! Here are times when a CPA can really help a writer:
Carol Topp’s Tips to Find a CPA
Seek out an accountant who has the ability teach you the financial side of your business. You should feel comfortable with him or her and feel free to ask questions. If you leave a meeting with an accountant feeling confused, you need to find another accountant. To find a helpful professional, ask other small business owners in your area for their accountant’s contact information or call your state CPA society. Find a listing at www.taxsites.com/cpa-societies.html.
Topp's Tips on Business and Taxes
Carol's book, Business Tips and Taxes for Writers, will be available through her website (where she offers sample chapters and also lots of other free information) at: http://taxesforwriters.com.
J.J. Murphy is the author of the Algonquin round table mysteries (Obsidian), featuring Dorothy Parker as the wisecracking sleuth. The second book in the series, You Might as Well Die, comes out in December, 2011. For more information, see www.roundtablemysteries.com.
The conversation with certified public accountant Carol Topp continues:
Q. Is it true that a writer (or anyone) who experiences a substantial increase in income in a single tax year can refile past taxes (up to five years back) to flatten the tax liability in the high-income year? Is that a worthwhile project?
A. Sorry, but income averaging has not been allowed since 1987, except for farmers and fishermen. Now, taxes are due on income the year in which the income was received.
On the other hand, if a business suffers a loss, the owner may choose to carry back the loss. The loss can usually be carried back two years. Recently, Congress has allowed a carry-back of a loss up to five years (it’s called an NOL, or Net Operating Loss).
Q. When should a writer hire a CPA?
A. Good question! Here are times when a CPA can really help a writer:
- When you receive a letter from IRS, especially if it involves an audit or something you do not understand.
- When you need help with record keeping.
- When you start to make self-employment income of more than $400 a year.
- When you make good money and fear you’ll owe taxes at the end of the year. Ask your CPA about “estimated payments” to the IRS and your state.
- When you sell books or e-books and have to collect and pay sales tax.
- To assist you in preparing payroll taxes and filing payroll reports.
- At least every three years to review a tax return you prepare. The IRS can audit back three years, so I recommend getting a CPA to review your self-prepared return at least that frequently.
- When you purchase equipment for your business and want to take a depreciation expense.
- To understand the pros and cons of forming a partnership or becoming a corporation.
- When you are not sure if you need to pay self employment tax or sales tax.
Carol Topp’s Tips to Find a CPA
Seek out an accountant who has the ability teach you the financial side of your business. You should feel comfortable with him or her and feel free to ask questions. If you leave a meeting with an accountant feeling confused, you need to find another accountant. To find a helpful professional, ask other small business owners in your area for their accountant’s contact information or call your state CPA society. Find a listing at www.taxsites.com/cpa-societies.html.
Topp's Tips on Business and Taxes
Carol's book, Business Tips and Taxes for Writers, will be available through her website (where she offers sample chapters and also lots of other free information) at: http://taxesforwriters.com.
J.J. Murphy is the author of the Algonquin round table mysteries (Obsidian), featuring Dorothy Parker as the wisecracking sleuth. The second book in the series, You Might as Well Die, comes out in December, 2011. For more information, see www.roundtablemysteries.com.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Tax Tips for Writers, Part 1 of 2 Parts
By J.J. Murphy
Dorothy Parker once said, “The two most beautiful words in the English language are ‘check enclosed.’” The witty Mrs. Parker also published a book called Death and Taxes. I’ll let you connect the dots.
Then again, you may find that connecting those dots isn’t so easy. Let’s face it—we’re writers, not accountants. To that end, I took the opportunity to ask for a few tax tips from Carol Topp, a certified public accountant and a writer. Carol is the author of an upcoming book, Business Tips and Taxes for Writers (Media Angels), which will provide nuts-and-bolts advice on topics such as income tax, sales tax, self-employment tax, tax deductions, financial planning, bookkeeping and — last but not least — mistakes that authors and publishers make. Here’s the Q&A with the C.P.A.
Q: What’s the best business (or tax) tip that, in your experience, most writers don’t seem to know?
A: Only one? Here’s one tip: Calling your writing a hobby — when you have been paid — can be detrimental to your pocketbook. In other words, you may be paying too much in income tax because, unlike a business, many expenses for hobbyists are not tax-deductible.
It's fairly easy to convert a hobby into a business. You simply have a profit motive and conduct your writing as a business — meaning you keep records, consult a professional when needed, and improve your knowledge in the area of writing, as a business owner would do.
Q: What’s the bottom line on the home office deduction? Is it an automatic red flag, or is there something in a tax filing that makes it become a red flag?
A: The I.R.S. does not reveal its algorithm for choosing tax returns to audit, but C.P.A.s know from experience that the home office deduction is frequently audited. So here’s a warning: excessive home office expenses without corresponding income can look very suspicious.
Q: You make a distinction between a writer who’s a “hobbyist” and one who’s a “professional” (in a business sense). Let’s say the self-publishing hobbyist makes a nice $500 in one year and the professional makes a very nice $50,000 in a year from writing. Are these amounts fundamentally taxed differently, or is each writer taxed comparably for their income?
A: The income is not taxed differently, but the expenses are treated differently for a hobby than for a business.
A business can deduct necessary and ordinary expenses and reduce taxable income. A hobby must report all its income, but may be unable to deduct the related expenses due to limitations in the tax code. Hobby expenses are deducted on Schedule A itemized deductions under miscellaneous deductions, subject to a 2% of adjusted gross income threshold. This threshold means that a taxpayer can deduct miscellaneous deductions that are greater than 2% of their adjusted gross income.
For example, Mary has income of writing of $250. Mary’s only expenses related to this income are paper, ink, and postage of $50. Mary’s expenses can be deducted on her itemized deductions under miscellaneous deductions, subject to 2% of her adjusted gross income. As is common with many taxpayers, Mary’s expenses of $50 were too small to overcome the 2% threshold to be deductible. She received no tax deduction for her writing expenses, yet pays tax on all the income.
Additionally, the I.R.S. does not allow hobby expenses to exceed hobby income. In other words, losses from a hobby are not permitted on a tax return. A business can have a loss and it can be deducted on a tax return, but not a hobby loss. If John, a hobby writer, had income from writing of $400 and attends a writers' conference that costs $900, he could deduct his expenses (as miscellaneous deductions) up to $400 (his hobby income), but no more. The extra expenses of $500 are considered personal expenses that John incurred for the love of writing.
To be continued...
J.J. Murphy is the author of the Algonquin Round Table Mysteries (Obsidian), featuring Dorothy Parker as the wisecracking sleuth. The second book in the series, You Might as Well Die, comes out in December, 2011. For more information, visit www.roundtablemysteries.com.
Dorothy Parker once said, “The two most beautiful words in the English language are ‘check enclosed.’” The witty Mrs. Parker also published a book called Death and Taxes. I’ll let you connect the dots.
Then again, you may find that connecting those dots isn’t so easy. Let’s face it—we’re writers, not accountants. To that end, I took the opportunity to ask for a few tax tips from Carol Topp, a certified public accountant and a writer. Carol is the author of an upcoming book, Business Tips and Taxes for Writers (Media Angels), which will provide nuts-and-bolts advice on topics such as income tax, sales tax, self-employment tax, tax deductions, financial planning, bookkeeping and — last but not least — mistakes that authors and publishers make. Here’s the Q&A with the C.P.A.Q: What’s the best business (or tax) tip that, in your experience, most writers don’t seem to know?
A: Only one? Here’s one tip: Calling your writing a hobby — when you have been paid — can be detrimental to your pocketbook. In other words, you may be paying too much in income tax because, unlike a business, many expenses for hobbyists are not tax-deductible.
It's fairly easy to convert a hobby into a business. You simply have a profit motive and conduct your writing as a business — meaning you keep records, consult a professional when needed, and improve your knowledge in the area of writing, as a business owner would do.
Q: What’s the bottom line on the home office deduction? Is it an automatic red flag, or is there something in a tax filing that makes it become a red flag?
A: The I.R.S. does not reveal its algorithm for choosing tax returns to audit, but C.P.A.s know from experience that the home office deduction is frequently audited. So here’s a warning: excessive home office expenses without corresponding income can look very suspicious.
Q: You make a distinction between a writer who’s a “hobbyist” and one who’s a “professional” (in a business sense). Let’s say the self-publishing hobbyist makes a nice $500 in one year and the professional makes a very nice $50,000 in a year from writing. Are these amounts fundamentally taxed differently, or is each writer taxed comparably for their income?
A: The income is not taxed differently, but the expenses are treated differently for a hobby than for a business.
A business can deduct necessary and ordinary expenses and reduce taxable income. A hobby must report all its income, but may be unable to deduct the related expenses due to limitations in the tax code. Hobby expenses are deducted on Schedule A itemized deductions under miscellaneous deductions, subject to a 2% of adjusted gross income threshold. This threshold means that a taxpayer can deduct miscellaneous deductions that are greater than 2% of their adjusted gross income.
For example, Mary has income of writing of $250. Mary’s only expenses related to this income are paper, ink, and postage of $50. Mary’s expenses can be deducted on her itemized deductions under miscellaneous deductions, subject to 2% of her adjusted gross income. As is common with many taxpayers, Mary’s expenses of $50 were too small to overcome the 2% threshold to be deductible. She received no tax deduction for her writing expenses, yet pays tax on all the income.
Additionally, the I.R.S. does not allow hobby expenses to exceed hobby income. In other words, losses from a hobby are not permitted on a tax return. A business can have a loss and it can be deducted on a tax return, but not a hobby loss. If John, a hobby writer, had income from writing of $400 and attends a writers' conference that costs $900, he could deduct his expenses (as miscellaneous deductions) up to $400 (his hobby income), but no more. The extra expenses of $500 are considered personal expenses that John incurred for the love of writing.
To be continued...
J.J. Murphy is the author of the Algonquin Round Table Mysteries (Obsidian), featuring Dorothy Parker as the wisecracking sleuth. The second book in the series, You Might as Well Die, comes out in December, 2011. For more information, visit www.roundtablemysteries.com.
Friday, July 22, 2011
25th Birthday Bash at Bouchercon
Sisters in Crime celebrates its 25th birthday during Bouchercon with a breakfast party at the Roberts Mayfair, a Wyndham Hotel, on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011, at 7:30 a.m.
A full plated breakfast will be served. Guests are welcome.
The cost is $25 for SinC members and $45 for nonmembers.
The Roberts Mayfair is the located near the front door of the Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel.
The deadline for registrations sent by U.S. Postal Service mail is Sept. 9. The mailing address is: Sisters in Crime, P.O. Box 442124, Lawrence, KS 66044. Be sure to include an email address with your reservation to receive a receipt from SinC.
The online registration deadline is Sept. 12. Members can click here to register; nonmembers can click here to register.
The room location for the breakfast will be sent to attendees by email and will be posted on the Sisters in Crime website by Sept. 9.
A full plated breakfast will be served. Guests are welcome.
The cost is $25 for SinC members and $45 for nonmembers.
The Roberts Mayfair is the located near the front door of the Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel.
The deadline for registrations sent by U.S. Postal Service mail is Sept. 9. The mailing address is: Sisters in Crime, P.O. Box 442124, Lawrence, KS 66044. Be sure to include an email address with your reservation to receive a receipt from SinC.
The online registration deadline is Sept. 12. Members can click here to register; nonmembers can click here to register.
The room location for the breakfast will be sent to attendees by email and will be posted on the Sisters in Crime website by Sept. 9.
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