Scared to Death: The Authors' View, part 2

By Sandra Parshall

Do writers use their own darkest fears to lend reality to scary scenes in their novels? Do they sweat along with their characters while they’re sitting at the keyboard? Last time we asked this question, we got a peek into the writing lives of Tess Gerritsen, Hallie Ephron, Simon Wood, and Deborah Crombie. This time around, we’ve asked Tim Hallinan, Kate Flora, and Libby Fischer Hellman to tell us what goes into writing their characters’ most terrifying experiences.

Timothy Hallinan is best known as the author of the Poke Rafferty Bangkok thrillers. The next in the series, The Fear Artist, will be published in August.

In The Queen of Patpong, which is the fourth and most recent of my Poke Rafferty Bangkok thrillers, I back up in time to tell the story of Poke's wife. When Rafferty met her, she was working in a bar on the notorious Patpong Road, and Queen traces her transformation from a shy, unworldly village teenager into the “Queen” of Patpong. As Rose says in the book, “queen of a kingdom of whores and viruses.”

Toward the end of her story, a handsome customer named Howard Horner woos her, proposes marriage to her, and then takes her down to Phuket for a holiday. Once their little boat is out on the water, it becomes obvious that Howard is not only not in love with her, but that this has all been a sick game that's supposed to end with him killing her on a cluster of barren rocks in the middle of the Andaman Sea. When the rocks come into sight of the boat's lights, it's nighttime, and Rose waits until Howard is busy avoiding the rocks and rolls backward into the water.

What follows is the longest action scene I've ever written – 25 typeset pages in the book – with Rose in the dark water, water that's swarming with the lethal jellyfish called sea-wasps, as Howard hunts her in the boat. I am personally terrified of dark water. I am personally terrified of sea-wasps, having been stung very lightly by one and having suffered for days as a result. I wrote much of the scene in a single, goose-bumped seven-hour session.

By the time it's over, and she's free of Howard, who's standing on the rocks as the tide comes in, I was a mess. I dreamed the scene all night long. (And made some improvements the next day, suggested by the dreams.)

Kate Flora, a former SinC president, writes the Thea Kozak series and the Joe Burgess series. Her latest book is Redemption.

The scariest situation I've ever put a character in? Well, you know I've been criticized over the years for putting my Thea Kozak character into dangerous situations, and exposing her to physical harm. But I'm a feminist (and PROUD of it) and an equal opportunity writer. Thea is tough and she gets into tough situations, so I have a lot to choose from.

That being said, I think the scene in Liberty or Death, the sixth Thea Kozak mystery, where she is facing a group of religious, conservative militiamen, who try her and convict her of spying on their organization, and decide to execute her, is absolutely terrifying. They lack compassion. They can't be reasoned with. They are utterly convinced that they are right, and since God is on their side, whatever they chose to do is okay. She's lost hope that the cavalry is going to ride in and rescue her. They aim a gun at her. She truly believes she's going to die, and they shoot.

There have been a number of times, in this series, when I've watched my character get herself into situations that have me wringing my mental hands over how headstrong she is, and how foolishly brave she can get when she's angry. But that's her character.

I worry, though, about what will happen should she and Andre ever be lucky enough to become parents.

Libby Fischer Hellman is a former SinC president and author of the Ellie Foreman series and several stand-alone novels. Her latest is A Bitter Veil.

That's a tough question, because, as writers, we always know what the outcome will be, no matter how frightening the scenario. I'd like to rephrase the question this way: What situation did you have the most qualms about writing? That I can answer easily.

There were two, coincidentally in my first and then my most recent thrillers. The first was in An Eye for Murder when Ellie Foreman was tied up and one of her assailants knifed her across her breast. I really had to ask myself whether that was necessary. I decided it was, both for the story and for the symbol of attacking one's "womanliness." Got some emails about that one. The second was in my new literary thriller, A Bitter Veil, which is set in Revolutionary Iran. In one scene, Anna is in prison and is tortured. I really had to examine my motives for that one, too. Was it necessary? Would it have happened in reality? I decided it was. I expect I'll get emails about that as well.


Sandra Parshall writes the Rachel Goddard mysteries. Her next book, Bleeding Through, will be published in September.

SinC at ALA in Anaheim in June

By Mary Boone

I’m pleased to be sharing with you the news that Sisters in Crime will host a booth in the Exhibit Hall at the 2012 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Anaheim CA.

The exhibit dates are Friday, June 22, through Monday, June 25. Author and librarian SinC members who live in or near Anaheim, or who may be traveling to the area during the conference dates, are invited to help represent SinC at this important conference.

The hours for the exhibits at ALA this summer will be:

• Friday, 6/22, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

• Saturday, 6/23 & Sunday 6/24, 9 am - 5 pm

• Sunday 6/25, 9 am - 2 pm

Volunteers for the SinC booth are needed during all of these times.

I coordinate and schedule all volunteers’ time in the booth. If you want to volunteer, please give me a couple of times that could work with your personal schedule. When setting up the booth schedule, I will do my best to accommodate your first preference for a time in the booth.

The time slots in the booth will be 1 to 1.5 hours in length. If a large number of members step forward to volunteer, I’ll pull back to a one-hour shift to give everyone who wants to volunteer the opportunity to do so.

I register all volunteers for the conference through SinC (that gets each volunteer a “conference pass.”

Author-volunteers may give away (we don’t sell books) and sign their books while in the booth. It’s a super networking opportunity. That said, I do ask that author-volunteers to be willing to wear two hats and to promote SinC while in the booth.

I am also looking for one local volunteer to help out by receiving SinC promotional materials from Beth Wasson, as well as donations of books sent to the conference by members (who can't come to the conference themselves) to be used for daily raffles in the booth. This volunteer also should be able to bring the boxes of materials and books to the convention center the day I'll be setting up the booth. I will provide more details to anyone interested in helping in this way.

Author members, if you are unable to attend ALA, would you consider sending one signed book to be given away in daily raffles held in the SinC booth during the convention? Librarians who win these raffles generally put the books into their library’s collections. It would be a crime to miss out on these opportunities to connect with librarians who put your books into readers’ hands every day.

I hope to see you in Anaheim! To volunteer, or for more information, contact Mary Boone, Library Liaison at macboone[at]me.com. Please use the subject heading SinC, ALA 2012 in your email to me.

Mary Boone, Library Liaison for Sisters in Crime, says she is happy to be a reader and lucky that, as a librarian, she gets paid to turn readers on to books. She encourages everyone to make sure their library or libraries have entered the Sisters in Crime "We Love Libraries" book grant lottery. Information and a registration form can be found on the SinC website page linked here.

SinC at PLA: Presenting 'Perfect Partners in Crime'

By Mary Boone

Sisters in Crime participated in last week's Public Library Association (PLA) conference in Philadelphia with a very popular exhibit booth and a well-received panel titled "Perfect Partners in Crime" celebrating public libraries and the books we read.

Presentation proposals for PLA must be submitted two years in advance of the conference (which is only held every two years), which can make writing a proposal, and then following up with a panel proposal written so far in advance, a real challenge.

I had a front row seat for the proceedings and, from my perspective, the panel was a hit. A 600-seat auditorium appeared to me to be close to a third to half full of librarians there to hear to SinC board members Frankie Bailey, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Cathy Pickens, and Nancy Martin talk to librarian "rock star" Nancy Pearl about books, libraries, a love of reading, and Sisters in Crime.

The conversation flowed from the practical (a little background about SinC and its resources including info about the continuing We Love Libraries drawings and what makes a good author visit program) to the theoretical (how best to connect readers to books and how helpful are genre and sub genre classifications) and back again.

Hank moderated the panel, and started with a "stump the librarian" quiz, which served to bring the audience immediately into all aspects of the conversation that followed. She'd asked the panelists in advance what books had a profound influence on them growing up. She read a few sentences from the opening of each and challenged the audience to identify the book and match it to the panelist. The audience identified Nancy Pearl’s and Cathy Pickens's books, but were stumped by Frankie Bailey’s and Nancy Martin's.

Early in the panel, Hank made Nancy Pearl an honorary member of Sisters in Crime. Nancy P. played a key role in last summer's SinC Summit Team project, when the team went to the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans to talk with librarians about how readers find books.

Later in the conversation, Nancy P., who pioneered the one city/one book movement, commented that one of the things she valued most about SinC is the organization's commitment to building community around books and reading and its commitment to libraries. She said, in that respect, librarians and Sisters in Crime had common goals.

Nancy Martin wanted to know how Nancy Pearl, who has been called "America's Librarian" and has come to be known as a literary "tastemaker," finds the books she reviews and recommends in her popular Book Lust series and on National Public Radio.

Nancy P. said she receives numerous copies of books from publishers and other sources and that she will try to read any book but, if she isn't engaged within the first 50 pages, she stops reading. This is a strategy she recommends to all readers.

"Life is short, and the library is large," she's often said.

The time may not be right, and she will put aside a book, and come back to it later. But, having said that, she went on to say that she believes that most of us (herself included) find the books we read and love from recommendations from friends.

I watched the audience for its reactions, and saw librarians furiously taking notes and listening with concentration to the discussion. A number of librarians approached panel members afterward to say they thought this was one of the best panels of the conference. Bear in mind the time slot was late Friday afternoon, the last full day of the conference, so folks were conference-weary, thinking about getting to dinner or packing for the trip home, etc.; in short, not necessarily an easy audience to please.

Another measure of the success of the panel is that our PLA panel/conference programming liaison, Ronald Block, approached me after the session to say that PLA was looking forward to making a panel from Sisters in Crime an on-going part of its conference programming.

As plans for this panel were coming together before the conference, we began thinking of it as a "dream book discussion group." Every indication Friday afternoon was that the audience thought of it this way, too.


Mary Boone, Library Liaison for Sisters in Crime, says she is happy to be a reader and lucky that, as a librarian, she gets paid to turn readers on to books. She encourages everyone to make sure their library or libraries have entered the Sisters in Crime "We Love Libraries" book grant lottery. Information and a registration form can be found on the SinC website page linked here.

SinC Supports Member Book Signings at the LA Times Book Festival

Sisters in Crime author members worldwide have three days left to sign up for a spot in the Los Angeles chapter’s book-signing booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Saturday, April 21, and Sunday, April 22, 2012.

A grant from Sisters in Crime is enabling the chapter to invite any SinC member to participate in the renowned book festival that attracts as many as 150,000 book lovers each year.

The chapter will schedule as many as seven authors for each two-hour slot - Saturday from 10-12, 12-2, 2-4, and 4-6 and Sunday from 10-12, 12-2, and 2-4. Authors should select the time of their choice and one alternate signing time.

To take advantage of this opportunity, SinC members must contact LA chapter liaison Kathy Kingston by Tuesday, March 20. Use the online information form linked here to make sure you provide all of the necessary information. The form will be sent directly to Kathy.

To participate, members should make sure their dues are current. You can confirm your dues status on the Sisters in Crime website here.

Traditionally published authors whose books are in print, returnable and available through a distributor should include the title of their most recent book and up to four titles from their backlist. For all books, include the publisher and the ISBN number. Space limitations prevent the chapter from selling more than five titles from any author.

For traditionally published authors whose books are out of print and for self-published authors, the bookseller will sell your books on consignment with a 60/40 split. On the day of your signing, bring your books and a sheet of paper listing your name, address, email and phone number for payment purposes. On the same sheet, write the title of each book, how many copies of each book you’re bringing and the price of each copy, which should be the same price you are charging at other festival booths. Additional instructions are available on the Sisters in Crime website here.

Maps and parking fees will be emailed to participating authors when they are available.

Librarians and Booksellers Solve Mysteries Every Day

Sisters in Crime board member Jim Huang reports that there’s been a great deal of author member interest in SinC’s first “Booksellers and Librarians Solve Mysteries Every Day” celebration scheduled for Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., local time.

The festivities went global rapidly. The first offer of participation came from a SinC member in Hawaii. Not long afterward, a member planning to be in Paris on April 21 offered to find a spot at a bookstore or library in the City of Light.

Earlier this week, SinC members received an email message from Jim announcing that Sisters in Crime will celebrate 25 years of working with librarians and booksellers in support of women writing crime fiction with a special one-day in-store, in-library event. To participate in the “Solving Mysteries Every Day” celebration on April 21, SinC authors will shadow a librarian or bookseller for six hours to learn exactly how they solve mysteries daily. As a volunteer in the stacks, on the floor and behind the scenes, the members will do whatever a manager asks of the regular staff—shelving, bagging, sweeping, assisting patrons, pulling holds, making recommendations, taking out the trash, checking in returned books, etc.

To spread the word about the way booksellers and librarians serve their communities and assist readers, the participating members will be tweeting and posting messages to blogs and to Facebook about their experiences—before, during (especially) and after the event. This is SinC’s chance to shine a bit of a spotlight on these hardworking—and often unsung—heroes and heroines of our communities.

The goal is to cover as many locations as possible, with one SinC member author at each location.

The participation process was outlined in the email sent to members this week. Specific questions about the process should be directed to Jim Huang at jim[at]themysterycompany.com.

Sisters in Crime has set up an event-specific website at www.sisterssolvemysteries.com, featuring additional program details. The site is sparse at the moment, but will be built up with answers to questions that come our way. We’re also setting up a Facebook event page, a Twitter hashtag and other forms of virtual and social media to spread the word about the event.

The celebration begins at 10:00 a.m. on April 21.

Librarians solve mysteries every day.

Booksellers solve mysteries every day.

Let’s thank them for their efforts!

So, tell us, where will you be on April 21?

Inside inSinC: March 2012

Have you spent some time yet with your March edition of inSinC, the Sisters in Crime Quarterly?

As you no doubt already know, inSinC, edited by Molly Weston, provides a treasure trove of feature articles, columns from industry experts and useful news for SinC member writers and readers. But did you know that Molly is a recipient of a 2012 Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America? Here at Sisters in Crime, we are very proud of her accomplishments in the field of crime fiction—and we are very glad to have Molly at the helm of the inSinC Quarterly.

The March 2012 issue of inSinC features an in-depth look at the new world of publishing, courtesy of Marcia Talley and Barbara Fister, who report on Sisters in Crime’s third annual “SinC Into Great Writing” workshop. In addition to details on the information-packed day-long session, Marcia and Barbara provide links to SinC’s first-ever professional development video series, featuring free online access to more than two hours of video taped during the workshop’s presentations.

SinC board member Jim Huang launches news of Sisters in Crime’s first-ever “Booksellers Solve Mysteries Every Day, Librarians Solve Mysteries Every Day” event with an article on the celebration. Find out what he's got planned for Saturday, April 21, in libraries and bookstores nationwide.

“Promote or Perish” by Dorothy Francis provides a roadmap to an unexpected promotional opportunity for writers in art-loving communities nationwide. “SinC Loves Libraries” by Debra H. Goldstein shares the story of a magical day with Carolyn Hart and Eve Sandstrom (JoAnna Carl) at the Lawton, Okla. Library, the recipient of a $1,000 SinC We Love Libraries! grant for book purchases.

SinC Library Liaison Mary Boone offers information on author opportunities at the American Library Association annual conference in Anaheim, Calif., June 25 – 28, 2012. And SinC Review Monitoring Coordinator Barbara Fister provides an update on SinC’s review monitoring project, complete with a call for volunteer monitors.

The regular inSinC columns include Sisters in Crime president Frankie Bailey’s report on recent and upcoming SinC initiatives (including SinC Into Great Writing IV with presenter Nancy Pickard and plans related to The Writers’ Police Academy 2012), SinC administrator Beth Wasson’s update on an array of important SinC technology initiatives and meeting opportunities, “Law & Fiction: Getting Facts Straight” by attorney Leslie Budewitz and “Priming Your Brainstorm” by forensic psychology and criminal justice professor Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D.

In addition, the latest inSinC provides other news you can use, including “Chapter Highlights,” news of special events that may just offer some ideas for your own chapter activities; “Conferences and Happenings,” an updated event calendar; “The Docket,” offering the latest publishing news from your Sisters; and “Writing Contests,” a look at award-winning opportunities.

Let us know what you think about the latest edition of inSinC. We'd love to hear from you!

Thinking about Libraries

By Leslie Budewitz

[Originally published at Suspense Your Disbelief, http://www.jennymilchman.com/blog/]

“I have always imagined that Paradise would be a kind of library.”
– Jorge Luis Borges

My first memory of a library is the Parmly Billings Library in Billings, Montana. The city was named for Northern Pacific Railroad president Frederick Billings, whose son Parmly was the only family member to live there. When Parmly died of pneumonia at 25 in 1888, his parents gave the city a building site and seed money for a library. Built of local sandstone in the Romanesque style, it served as the library from 1901 until the late 1960s. I thought it was a castle.

By the 1960s, even with several additions, the castle was so crowded that most books were kept in inaccessible stacks and brought out by request–except for the children’s section. There, Curious George and Mike the Steam Shovel reigned. The Borrowers spun their magic, and I could easily imagine walking through a wardrobe into Narnia.

Libraries needn’t be grand. The castle was eventually replaced by an old warehouse, which offered space and parking, and didn’t seem to cramp Curious George’s style–just like kids, he’s curious anywhere. For a while, a children’s branch anchored a shopping center. And Tuesday mornings in summer, I peddled my pink Schwinn to Rose Park to meet the bookmobile, emptied my twin bike baskets, and filled them up again. The ride home was uphill, but my excitement made the ride easier.

Now I live in a small town with a county branch library. The online catalog lets me sit at home and order books from other branches or the statewide library partnership. It’s great technology, both in scattered rural states like Montana and busy systems with dozens of branches.

But I miss the physical spaces. I miss those accidental finds, the books you come across mis-shelved, or when you kneel down to look at something and your eye falls on something else, or the book that’s just been returned and screams to go home with you.

In law school, I spent much of my waking time in the library, studying. (And some of my sleeping time, too–I occasionally fell asleep on the floor in “the stacks,” the windowless basement rooms crammed with bound volumes of law reviews and obscure references.) The main reading room featured classic oak library tables, some tucked in book-lined alcoves with arched windows of leaded glass. In one alcove, a maple vine poked its way in through a pinhole in the glass and twined down the stone walls.

The main library at Notre Dame is a tall building with a mural outside showing Jesus with his arms raised to heaven. The building faces the end of the football stadium where the students sit, so of course, it’s called “Touchdown Jesus.”

Inside the library, I came across a pink cloth-bound book called Law Careers for Girls. I could hardly believe it was still on the shelves, or that it recommended careers in tax law, because women are good with numbers and details. I’m sure my tax prof would have howled if I’d showed him the book.

Sometimes you can’t find those accidental discoveries again, no matter how many librarians you enlist in the search. I’d still like another look at a book in the Seattle Public Library on pairing American quilts and Asian furniture in design.

When I worked in downtown Seattle in the 1980s, the library occupied a squat black glass building that did nothing to inspire reading or writing, at least on the outside. The new library, built in 2004, is so wildly creative that it’s been both a prize-winner and a bit of a controversy. The exterior makes you wonder "what building is that?"

I always imagine the interior to be made of giant crayons, bent and molded and reshaped. Like libraries and their contents–offering so much more than books these days–do to our thinking, our imagination, our plans for the afternoon.

Kind of like Curious George in the castle, I think.

What’s your favorite library memory?

Leslie Budewitz is the author of Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure (Quill Driver Books, October 2011). She is a practicing lawyer and a mystery writer living in northwest Montana. Read an excerpt and more articles for writers, or send her a question, at www.LawandFiction.com.

SinC at Public Libraries Conference in Philly

Sisters in Crime invites author members attending the Public Library Association (PLA) Conference in March in Philadelphia – and author members living near the Philly area – to volunteer to spend some time at the SinC booth in the convention center to meet and greet visiting librarians.

Author volunteers are needed at the Sisters in Crime booth Wednesday through Friday, March 14 through 16, to help spread the word that SinC works with libraries to connect readers and writers. Authors working at the booth may sign and give away copies of their books. SinC will register all booth workers for the conference.

Members unable to attend the conference are welcome to send a signed book to be given away during daily raffles at the SinC booth. The librarian raffle winners generally put these books in circulation in their libraries’ collections.

We hope to see you in Philadelphia! This is a great opportunity to bring your work to the attention of librarians who put mysteries into the hands of readers every day.

For details, contact Sisters in Crime Library Liaison Mary Booth at boonema[at]oplin.org. Please use “SinC PLA Philadelphia” on the subject line.

More on Vera Caspary

By A. B. Emrys

I have published a great deal about Caspary's appreciation for the novels of Wilkie Collins, the Victorian author often considered to have launched the mystery novel, and Caspary's adaptations of both his The Woman and White (1860) and The Moonstone (1868). In addition to Laura, she went on to rework Collins' plots and characters in Stranger than Truth (1946), set in Caspary's familiar world of ad agencies, and The Mystery of Elizabeth, about an amnesiac who's claimed by three sets of people, all of whom want to lock her up.

She was one of the most innovative of Collins's many adapters, who range from Bram Stoker to Elizabeth Peters - and the most successful one I've found at modernizing the character narration of his novels of testimony. Among other changes, her principal female characters tell their own version of the story. Collins' wide experimentation with having characters tell all or parts of the story blended perfectly with Caspary's instincts as playwright and scriptwriter, and her use of voice in novels flowered from Laura (1942) through the rest of her career.

Three Caspary films are available to see - and the best of these is Laura. Caspary fought with Preminger for her positive view of the title character and the film ultimately captured it. Note that in the chief setting, Laura Hunt's apartment, she lives alone with a large portrait of herself. This backdrop wordlessly conveys Caspary's independence theme.

The other two films are A Letter to Three Wives and Blue Gardenia. A Letter to Three Wives, which the New York Times called one of the top 10 films of 1949, was based on a script Caspary adapted from another writer's novel. The plot is about three wives tormented by a local siren who claims to have run off with one of their husbands. Among Caspary's additions to the story were strengthening the women as they find out the truth, as well as the use of the taunting voiceover. The Fritz Lang film, Blue Gardenia, adapted by others from her screen scenario tells the story of a telephone operator so desperate for affection that she goes out with the company seducer. Little of this study of a lonely single woman comes off in the film, but Nat King Cole does sing the title song.

Two of Caspary's novels, Laura and Bedelia (The Feminist Press, 2005) and a collection of stories are in print now. The stories collect several of her best 1940s and 50s magazine pieces, especially "The Murder in the Stork Club" (Crippen & Landru, 2009), about an upper-class woman who writes radio mysteries and is married to a working-class detective. When she's a suspect in a nightclub killing, he puts aside their quarrels over her mink coat to clear her name.

Most of Caspary's novels can be found through online sources, chiefly in old library editions that are further evidence of how well-known she was as a writer. Several articles on her (including my own) have appeared in Clues: A Journal of Detection. The Vera Caspary Papers, an archive she created, resides with the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research in Madison, housed in the Wisconsin Historical Society. The archive includes unproduced scripts (Illicit was bought for Marilyn Monroe, who killed herself before production), movie scenarios (including Gardenia), book manuscripts, revisions and a great deal of correspondence about her work.

In writing about Caspary, it's my hope that readers will rediscover and enjoy her writing and more scholars will comment on her long career as novelist, playwright and scriptwriter.





A. B. Emrys is the author of Wilkie Collins, Vera Caspary and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel and professor emeritus of English at the University of Nebraska - Kearney.

Vera Caspary: A Lost Sister in Crime

By A. B. Emrys

When Vera Caspary died in 1987, every major newspaper ran her obituary, and they had plenty of information to cite. Over half a century, she had published 17 novels plus novellas and short stories. In addition, 20 films were credited to her as adaptations of her work, or were based on scenarios or scripts she wrote. The play she adapted from her most famous novel was still staged (and is today).

Her last novel, The Mystery of Elizabeth, came out in 1976, followed by her critically-praised autobiography, The Secrets of Grownups, in 1979. She was best known then, and only known now, if at all, as the author of Laura, her 1940s mystery about an ad executive targeted for murder. The novel was filmed by Otto Preminger as one of the first movies called noir.

I've been helping to get Caspary's work back into print and I made her a major focus in my book, Wilkie Collins, Vera Caspary, and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel (McFarland, 2011). In doing so, I've met a fascinating character and discovered books and movies I now recommend to others.

Caspary's unflinching spirit made Sojourner, in a review of her autobiography, call her "a natural and unabashed female rebel." Part of her rebellion was her determination to be a professional writer. When she got turned down over and over for business writing jobs, she took what she could get and finagled her way into writing ads, much like her character, Laura Hunt.

Her early novels veered from fantasy (the tale of the daughter of side-show performers who flees to avoid becoming a tattooed lady in Ladies & Gents), to stringent analysis of class, race and gender-bashing (in The White Girl about a black woman who passes for white) to a family epic about class prejudice among a clan of Portuguese-descended Jews much like her own family (Thicker Than Water).

The Depression and her membership in the Communist Party strengthened Caspary's focus on serious issues. Yet it was murder plots, the first of which was Laura, her fourth novel, that offered the fresh vehicles for her to continue analyzing the dynamic between independence and the temptation to cling and possess, something both her male and female characters have to confront to survive.

Even her most classically-plotted murder books deeply embedded other crimes. In one of her most chilling plots, Bedlia (1944), a black widow novel, the tables are turned on the serial bride in a scene so callous it generates some sympathy for a killer.

She became one of the mid-century writers of what were dubbed "psychothrillers," and an older colleague of Patricia Highsmith. Fans of Highsmith's conundrums (and I'm one) would also enjoy Caspary's The Weeping and the Laughter (1950), whose lead character may have been attacked by one of her greedy relatives or may have tried to kill herself; The Man Who Loved His Wife (1966), in which a disabled, angry man keeps a deliberately false diary that accuses his wife of wanting him dead - and then becomes a corpse or Final Portrait (1971) in which an actor turns down the part of Hamlet only to play it in real life.

To be continued tomorrow ...

A. B. Emrys is the author of Wilkie Collins, Vera Caspary and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel and professor emeritus of English at the University of Nebraska - Kearney.

Touring: Worth the Price?

By Jeri Westerson

[Originally published at Poe's Deadly Daughters, http://poesdeadlydaughters.blogspot.com]

Since my newest book, Troubled Bones, came out in mid-October, I’ve been on the road touring. And I think if I never saw another airport, it couldn’t be too soon.

My husband actually looks forward to the early part of the tour that I do in Arizona, because this becomes a long weekend for us both, driving from our home in southern California to cross the deserts and slip over the Colorado River into Arizona. A weekend of sitting around pools with the occasional stint at a bookstore or library doesn't sound too bad.

This year, I asked my publicist at St. Martin’s to set me up on a multi-state tour. The company is happy to do that for me. Of course, they don’t actually pay for any of it, they just make the phone calls and set it up. It’s up to me to get there.

Is it worth the time and expense for an author? In this age of social media, can one get away with simply tapping away on the computer to get attention? To sell books, authors have to get their name out there. And even with all the Facebooking and Twittering one can do, I believe there comes a time when you still have to step out of your front door and go out into the world, meeting people personally and connecting with librarians and booksellers.

I do events all year. I’m lucky to live in southern California where there seems to be lots of avenues for me to get myself out into the public eye, from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books to the smaller but no less high profile literary gatherings like Literary Orange and luncheons sponsored by various women’s professional organizations, as well as library appearances. And once the word gets out that you’re halfway entertaining, you get recommended all over the place. That’s how I roll these days, through recommendations, through the speaker’s bureau at my Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime, and through my publicist with my publisher.

But that only gets me connected in California. I wanted far more coverage than that and this year, I pulled out the stops—and my credit card—to hit the road. (You can see pictures of my adventures at www.Getting-Medieval.com)

Before any official book tour, I began the year in January with a couple of panels at the ALA Midwinter Conference in San Diego. And then I got invited to Murder on the Menu, a grand panel of authors sponsored by the Cerritos Library in southern California. So far so good. I could drive to these and they required no overnight stay.

In February, I was invited to Birmingham, Alabama, for the weekend of author panels and events in Murder in the Magic City. Now I needed to shell out airfare and hotel. They managed the ferrying around and the meals, so that helped. Also in February, I flew up to San Francisco for a day to the Oakland Library to participate on a panel with other mystery authors. Airfare only, as one of my critique partners, Ana Brazil, who lives in the area, offered to drive me around (when I came off the plane she was holding up one of those signs with my name on it, as if she were a limo driver. Funny!)

In April, I hit Literary Orange on a panel with fellow author (and personal idol) Barbara Hambly, and made all sorts of connections with librarians, scoring more gigs for later in the year. There were no fees accrued there and I got a free lunch, to boot. Also in April, San Antonio College invited me to speak as part of its writer’s week (they heard about me through acquaintance with another mystery author). They paid me to be there. (That's what I'm talkin' about!)

At the end of April, I skipped the free LA Times Festival of Books to attend the mystery fan convention, Malice Domestic, in Bethesda, Maryland, where I hosted a banquet table with fans and fans-to-be and also sat on a panel. I paid a conference fee, airfare, hotel and meals, as well as dosh for giveaways to my tablemates.

I taught a workshop on researching the historical novel at the California Crime Writer’s Conference in Pasadena, for which I only shelled out for the hotel room (which I really got free with my points from Best Western).

In June, I attended and was empaneled at the Historical Novel Society Conference in San Diego (I paid a conference fee, which they cut in half since I was a speaker, hotel expenses, and gas to get there. Meals were included.)

In September, I went to Bouchercon in St. Louis, moderated one panel, sat on another, was snuck into the Library Breakfast by my publisher, and attended an outside event under my pen name at a local bookstore. In October I was on a panel at the West Hollywood Book Fair as my alter ego, and then began my medieval mystery book tour with my book launch in Pasadena (hotel, meals and party expenses for the launch, including sword-fighting knights, who don't come cheap!)

The following weekend, my husband and I headed out for the Arizona leg of the tour, which was driveable (gas, food, lodging). But the weekend after that, I was flying out to Texas to hit a bookstore each in Houston and Austin. The next weekend, I was in North Carolina, hitting two libraries and two bookstores, and this last weekend wrapped things up in Wisconsin having been invited to Murder and Mayhem in Muskego, another weekend full of panels with 14 other mystery authors.

This last stop in Wisconsin was the only event I attended all year where all expenses were paid by the sponsors (except that my flight out of Milwaukee was delayed and I missed my connecting flight to California which ended up in an overnight stay in Chicago, which I paid for). Otherwise, I was all in for conference registration fees, hotels, car rentals, gas, airfare and meals. And let me tell you, all told for the year, that is a very, VERY BIG bill for a mid-list author with only four books released (six if you count the others under my pen name). If you think it's glamorous being an author, let me show you my credit card bills.

So, am I just going to complain about it or has it been worthwhile? On a human level, it was very worthwhile. Going to meet the readers personally, giving readers face time--and connecting in person to all those Facebook friends--leads to even more loyalty and to talking me up to other readers. Same thing at the bookstores. Sure, I sell a few right then and there, but now you’ve got the bookstore owner on your side, hand-selling when a curious and eager reader shows up and just has no idea what to read next.

But how does one quantify it? Do I have to sell X number of books on my tour to pay for it? Does it even work that way? Can it?

The answer, I believe, is not really. It’s truly impossible to quantify how many books I will eventually sell by these out-of-pocket efforts.

Touring is not for everyone. And because of the expense involved, I doubt I will be doing much traveling at all next year (see me and Crispin on Facebook!). But I’m glad I gave it a push this time around. And, as many of the librarians and new fans told me, “You weren’t on my radar before, but you are now!” Maybe that says it all.

(Pictures, from top: Jeri and the Giant Peach outside of Birmingham, AL; the costume parade at the Historical Novel Society Conference; the town called Hope in Arizona I passed through.)

Jeri Westerson, the president of the Orange County chapter of Sisters in Crime, is the author of the Crispin Guest medieval mysteries. The newest title in the series is Troubled Bones. The previous title, The Demon's Parchment, was nominated for the Reviewer's Choice Award for Historical Mystery from Romantic Times magazine and the Bruce Alexander Award for Best Historical Mystery. For more information, see www.JeriWesterson.com.

Considering the MacGuffin

[Originally published in a longer version at http://www.cozychicksblog.com]

By J. J. Murphy

Have you ever heard of a MacGuffin? And, no, it’s not a new breakfast sandwich at McDonald’s.

If you’re a movie buff, you probably know this term. It was used by film director Alfred Hitchcock to explain a certain kind of plot device. Specifically, a MacGuffin is a valuable item that both the heroes and the villains are desperately trying to obtain. It’s often used in thrillers or mysteries, but it can appear in other types of films or books as well.

One classic example of a MacGuffin is the black bird statuette in the film, “The Maltese Falcon.” Another is the Ark of Covenant in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Yet another is the sled, Rosebud, in “Citizen Kane.” A MacGuffin is a kind of holy grail, sometimes literally, as in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” or “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

The MacGuffin is often an object that has no meaning other than simply being valuable. It’s sometimes just a thing that the story revolves around, something that moves the plot forward. For example, we never find out what’s actually on the secret microfilm in Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.”

But this object, because it’s pursued by many people, becomes the repository of their hopes and desires.

“The stuff that dreams are made of,” said Humphrey Bogart (as Sam Spade) in “The Maltese Falcon.”

Tell us, what’s your favorite MacGuffin – and where can it be found?



Photo: J. J. Murphy and spouse.

J.J. Murphy writes the Algonquin Round Table mysteries, a humorous historical series that features Dorothy Parker as a witty sleuth in 1920s New York. The most recent title in the series, You Might As Well Die, focuses on the tale of Ernie MacGuffin, a second-rate artist and a first-rate nuisance who jumps to his certain death off the Brooklyn Bridge. It takes Parker, the other members of the famed Algonquin round table and master magician Harry Houdini to determine what really happened to him.

Letting Go In Order to Write

By Ellen Byerrum

[Originally published online at http://ellenbyerrum.livejournal.com/]

Every book gets written in spite of fear, anxiety, and the world at large - or maybe they are written in spite of ourselves, when we manage to get out of our own way. And so there comes a point in every mystery novel where I have to let go of my fears and preconceptions about what it should be and who it has to please, and simply write the story. I have to let go in order to reach a new and different level in my writing.

That seems self-evident, and yet it's easy to allow little things to stump me and stop me. I have to remember what I enjoy about writing. That often seems impossible. And it means kicking all the invisible critics off my shoulders and ignoring the visible ones. It means I have to remember why I like my characters and their stories in the first place. Why I started writing in the first place.

After writing the Crime of Fashion mystery series for eight books, it becomes way too easy to get wrapped up in conflicting expectations. The geometry of the plot, for example. How many suspects should there be? Where and who are the red herrings? What is the story arc? Where do I introduce a new character? How do the mechanics work? Am I ignoring regulars in the series that people love, but who just don’t have a big role in this book? How do I make room for new characters I'm excited about bringing to life?

And then there are the ... Fashion Bites! Believe me, including "Fashion Bites" in the books was never my idea in the first place. In my first novel (Killer Hair), I included a few tiny snippets of the reporting and fashion columns written by my heroine, fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian, just enough to give a flavor of her writing and her job at her newspaper. But my editor at the time (a terrific editor I'm still friends with, by the way) eagerly suggested how much fun it would be to turn these snippets into full columns in the books.

Fun?! The last thing I think about when I write them is fun. I worry if I have enough of them (four or five per book). I worry if they're smart and funny. Are they useful as actual fashion advice? Do they reflect the plot and move it forward? Are they in the right places, right order, right mood? Do they carry Lacey's unique voice and viewpoint? Do they work? Do they bite? (Yes, they often do.)

All those things can get in the way of the story. They can drain the energy, the spontaneity and the zest of the book. The story needs to spring to life as if it can't wait to be told. When the dialog is just okay and the opening is top-loaded with exposition, it reflects too much attention to the geometry and the plot set-up to make it enjoyable.

Overall, I have to remember that a mystery, though plotted carefully, is not an algorithm. In my experience, writing the required outline can strip away the moment-to-moment surprises like nothing else. Can you really write well if you’re burdened by some formula? If a = suspects, b = complications, c = corpse and d = detective, do you add blind alleys and red herrings, and divide by y (means, motive and opportunity) in order to find x (the culprit). Or does that just make it stale?

You may solve the mystery that way, but it does not necessarily add up to a good mystery. Formulas and algorithms for writing do not account for the effervescence, the will o' the wisp, the life and soul of a book. If you write it to a formula, it will read like a formula.

• “Couldn’t you add a cat? Mystery readers love cats!” Don’t think so. I’m allergic to them in Real Life, so I can’t conduct the proper research.

• “Have you considered a crime-fighting parrot?” Please, I’m trying to write. Although, in comic terms, the parrot is intriguing. Polly, want a clue? Wait, don’t distract me!

• “This is too gritty/dark/light/comic for your readers.” Really? How do you know? Are my readers so delicate, so Victorian, they can’t take a touch of gritty realism? Will they faint if Lacey Smithsonian finds herself between a murderer and a hard place or investigates a skin-crawling, heartbreaking crime? Do they never laugh through the tears in Real Life? I suspect my readers are made of sterner (and deeper) stuff than formulaic mysteries. And I hope I am, too. And even though my books are comic, they are not fluffy. They have subtext. They have life.

So I am reminding myself to enjoy the process, to let the characters have their way and their say. I have to trust that the book is there within me. Yes, I am writing a book for my readers, my agent, my editor and my publisher. But I’m also writing it for myself. I can’t cram my mysteries into a preconceived idea. The bottom line is: First, I have to like it! I have to please myself. That means I cannot please everyone. And letting go of too many expectations is the first step.

So why is that so hard to remember?


Ellen Byerrum is the author of the Crime of Fashion mysteries. Two of her books -- Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover -- were adapted for film by the Lifetime Movie Network. The seventh and latest installment in the series is Shot Through Velvet.

Arizona Celebrates 25 Years of SinC

By Kris Neri

When Sandy Parshall, Chapter Liaison for Sisters in Crime, asked me to host one of the SinC 25th anniversary parties at my bookstore, The Well Red Coyote in Sedona, Arizona, I jumped at the chance. Throughout my own writing and publishing career, I’ve owed such a debt of thanks to Sisters in Crime that the party seemed a good way to express that and to introduce the organization to our customers.

Joining us in hosting the party was the SinC Desert Sleuths chapter of Scottsdale, Arizona, which has also scheduled parties in other bookstores around the state including The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale and Clues Unlimited in Tucson.

Appearing on a mystery panel at our event were L.C. Hayden from Texas, whose latest book is Bell Shaped Flowers, and Tom Griffith of California and Arizona, who has published The Burger Barn on Sunset. Also participating were Arizona authors and SinC members Shannon Baker, author of Ashes of the Red Heifer; R.P. Dahlke, author of A Dead Red Cadillac and A Dead Red Heart; Lori Hines, whose first mystery is The Ancient Ones, and Maria Grazia Swan, a published nonfiction author and a longtime SinC member in California and Arizona.

We received terrific raffle prizes from authors throughout the U.S., including Darrell James, who donated copies of his books Nazareth Child and Body Count and t-shirts; Sally Carpenter, who offered a copy of her book, The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper; M.M. Gornel, who donated copies of her books, Reticence of Ravens and Death of a Perfect Man, as well as beautiful bookmarks and L.C. Hayden, author of the Harry Bronson series, who donated an adorable personal grooming gift basket. Our grand prize was a lovely vase donated by author and potter Bette Golden Lamb who, with her husband J.J. Lamb, wrote Sisters in Silence.

We had hoped the mild weather we’d been enjoying would hold a bit longer — we’d had another author’s reception on the patio outside our store just two days before. But a freak storm blew in, bringing the cold, and forcing us to move everything indoors. The store made for quite a cozy setting, filled as it was with so many sisters, brothers and customers. All came together quite nicely in toasting Sisters in Crime’s illustrious milestone and wishing the organization another 25 years.


Photos by Joe Neri.

Award-winning author Kris Neri is the owner and operator of The Well Red Coyote, a general interest bookstore voted "Best Bookstore in Sedona" for six years in a row. She is the author of the Lefty Award-nominated Magical Mystery series. The newest title in the series is the recently-released Magical Alienation.

SinC Offers Two Hours of Video on the Latest Publishing Trends

For the first time ever, Sisters in Crime (SinC) is offering a series of video presentations of a SinC-sponsored writers’ workshop.

The video content, available online at no charge to members and non-members, includes more than two hours of information on the latest trends in publishing presented by crime fiction industry leaders specifically for crime fiction authors. The sessions were taped during Sisters in Crime’s annual “SinC Into Great Writing” workshop in September 2011.

The free video content includes:

Meg Gardiner: Lying for a Living
Award-winning thriller author Meg Gardiner speaks about the craft of writing and the key elements of a good read. (21 minutes)

Ellen Hart: E-publishing 101
Award-winning mystery author Ellen Hart provides an introduction to the first steps in e-publishing your novel. (9 minutes)

Libby Fischer Hellmann: To E or not to E
Award-winning crime fiction author Libby Fischer Hellmann presents the pros and cons of traditional publishing and e-publishing options. (20 minutes)

David Wilk: Trends in Publishing
Booktrix CEO David Wilk offers a look at a variety of issues facing authors today, from social media to the best materials to e-publish. (22 minutes)

Marcia Talley: Look Ma! I've Been Kindled!
Award-winning mystery author Marcia Talley provides a tutorial on publishing a manuscript for the Kindle and Nook platforms. The PowerPoint slides for her presentation are posted online with the video file. (15 minutes)

The Business of Print Publishing
Award-winning authors Cathy Pickens and Jim Huang present an overview of the business side of print publishing. (12 minutes)

Brazen Hussies Present: A Colloquium on Marketing
Marcia Talley leads a discussion of marketing possibilities. The panelists include Libby Jordan, marketing consultant for Open Road Media; Gina Panettieri, President and Executive Editor of Talcott Notch Literary Services and Debbi Mack, independently-published author. (19 minutes)

The seven-video series is available to Sisters in Crime members online at http://www.sistersincrime.org in the Members Only section at the Promoting Yourself area. Members will need a username and password to access the videos here. In addition, the video files are available to non-members online at http://www.sistersincrime.org in the Recent News section linked here.

Sisters in Crime was founded in 1986 to support the professional development and advancement of women crime fiction authors.

Finding Their Place in History

by Sandra Parshall

Authors of historical novels have all of human history, and a world of settings, to choose from. Have you ever wondered why a mystery writer decides to place a series in an earlier era – and what draws him or her to a particular time and place? We asked four authors of historical crime series what led to their choices.

Stefanie Pintoff, author of Secret of the White Rose, latest in the Simon Ziele mysteries:

“I was drawn to setting my historical series in early 1900s New York City for two primary reasons.

“First, there was never a question but that New York City would be a central setting in my books. I’m one of those people who became a New Yorker the moment I set foot here – and I find the city and its history to be endlessly fascinating.

“And second, I was drawn to the forensic innovation so prevalent during the time period. By 1905, more forward-thinking criminal scientists were beginning to challenge the prevailing opinion that criminal behavior resulted from a flaw of nature – a view popularized by Lombroso’s theory of the ‘born criminal.’ Scientists like my Alistair Sinclair sought to disprove these notions by interviewing and learning from a variety of violent offenders. This practice was not uncommon, but it was highly controversial: people worried that if we came to understand the criminal too well, then we might excuse (and not punish) his or her behavior.

“This led me to the challenge of creating an imperfect profiler. Someone who had many of the same questions we do today – but access to less sophisticated answers. Someone who would be brilliant and passionately devoted to his subject – but egocentric to the point of folly. Someone who would be just as enamored of New York City's high society as he was his academic passions. Through this scientist and my lead detective, Simon Ziele, I have introduced elements of ‘new’ science in each book – fingerprinting in the first, graphology in the second, and ballistics testing in the third (experts had just discovered that it was possible to match a particular gun to the bullet it had fired). I love the zeitgeist of this era, characterized by a tremendous faith in possibility – and the sense that the next big discovery was just around the corner, certain to change everything for the better.”

Kelli Stanley, author of City of Secrets, latest in the Miranda Corbie mysteries, and the Arcturus Roman noir mysteries:

“I grew up feeling like I secretly belonged in another era: the 1930s and 40s. I watched classic films, listened to radio shows (it helped that I was a kid in the nostalgia-crazed 70s) and devoured issues of a well-loved magazine called Nostalgia Illustrated, which covered popular culture of the 20s through the 50s.

“Call it Kismet, call it fate, but my fascination with the 30s and 40s – the period before my parent's actual memories, as they were both born in '39 – was always there, from the earliest age I can remember and, once I decided to become a writer, setting a series in the period between the wars seemed inevitable.

“As for San Francisco, though I didn't grow up here – and therefore don't share personal memories of Playland-at-the-Beach and other fondly-remembered landmarks – I did visit SF fairly regularly from the age of 10. I fell in love with it. I always sensed an electricity, a crispness, a clarity that other places and other cities lacked, a kind of devil-may-care danger and a celebratory sort of mad but innocent hedonism.

“Once I became an adult, it also seemed inevitable for me to live here (I have since 1985) and write about the City by the Bay... I may not be a native – indeed, I'm not a California native – but my heart is certainly in San Francisco, particularly in the rollicking, wide-open, cosmopolitan but small-town-generous city that she was in the 30s, 40s and 50s.”

Jeri Westerson, author of Troubled Bones, latest in the Crispin Guest medieval noir mysteries:

“The ‘Middle Ages’ spans some 1500 years, so I had to narrow it down from that. I picked that particular time in the 14th century to write about because it came some 40 years after the Plague that took out a third of the population of Europe: a third of the merchants, farmers, nobility—no one was spared.

It is also the age when the 10-year-old Richard II took the throne and began his intrigue-embattled reign that concluded at the end of the century with his being deposed and murdered. It is the time of the Hundred Years War and chivalry in its prime, with jousts and armor-plated battles. And it is the era of Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote the first important literary works in English (and who also appears as a character in my latest book, Troubled Bones).

When William the Conqueror came to England three centuries before, he kicked out all the Saxon (English-speaking) nobles and placed his own in their place and, for centuries after, the nobility of England only spoke French. But, in the late 1300’s, even the king is speaking (Middle) English and this is the beginning formation of the sense of Englishness that culminates with Henry VIII two centuries later. It’s a fascinating time to write about.”

Carola Dunn, author of Anthem for Doomed Youth, latest in the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries, and the Cornish mysteries:

“I chose the 1920s for the Daisy Dalrymple series because it was a time of change, when women were taking advantage of opportunities opened by the huge loss of men in WWI. I didn't want to deal with the horrors of the war directly, though the lingering shadows play a part in most of the books.

“My Cornish series is set about 1970. I didn't actually choose the date – after 30 years of writing historical fiction I thought I'd give myself a break and be vague. I said in a foreword to the first one that it's set "somewhere between my childhood memories of Cornwall and the present reality." But somehow it's got pinned down to the late '60s, early '70s.

“Almost all my books are set in England (Daisy does venture to America in one, and several of my Regencies are set elsewhere) because I'm a Brit in exile. After over four decades in the U.S., I still sound just about as English as when I landed on
these shores.”


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.

Aiding and Abetting

By Julie Tollefson

One of the things I value about members of Sisters in Crime is their willingness to aid and abet -- not in a criminal way, but in many generous and unselfish ways that help others build careers.

As a beginning fiction writer, the best career decision I’ve made was to join Sisters in Crime and its Border Crimes and Guppies chapters. The opportunities to grow as a writer and the camaraderie of the members are outstanding.

The monthly meetings of the Border Crimes chapter, which draws members from both the Kansas and Missouri sides of the Kansas City area, feature a programming mix that serves the interests of both writers and readers. In the past year, we’ve had visiting authors and book signings, as well as discussions with a homicide detective, a financial crimes investigator and experts in the psychology of anger. If that’s not enough, the chapter offers something special the second Saturday of every month, when the fabulous Nancy Pickard leads a book dissection workshop for writers to explore the techniques and skills of mystery writing. So many benefits for the low, low price of SinC membership!

Not long ago, I read a post on the Escaping Mediocrity blog describing crabs trapped in a bucket dragging each other down every time one tried to climb out. The author of the piece, Sarah Robinson, imagined a different scenario in which helpful crabs came to the rescue of their trapped brethren, aiding their escape from captivity. She suggested that in our lives and careers, we should look for the helpful crabs, the individuals who have successfully traveled a path similar to the one we are on and who are willing to lend us a hand on our journey.

“Because they’ve tasted freedom and they know your struggle, they are putting energy into aiding and abetting your escape. I believe that for those of us determined to get out of the bucket, such a group exists,” she wrote. (Read the entire post here).

Without a doubt, Sisters in Crime is such a group.

William W. Warner borrowed the name of his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Beautiful Swimmers, from the translation of the Atlantic blue crab’s scientific name, Callinectes sapidus. (Callinectes = beautiful swimmer, sapidus = tasty.) The name also aptly describes the helpful members of Sisters in Crime. The established writers who willingly mentor others. The Sisters who commiserate and offer advice when the business of publishing seems overwhelming. The authors who volunteer information and guidance, swimming alongside colleagues through the challenges and joys of bringing a book to market. The result is a strong community that aids and abets all members in pursuit of their goals.

Sisters in Crime is a special group, and I feel unbelievably fortunate to be a member. I’ll wager every member has at least one story of a Sister (or Mister) who has gone above and beyond to lend a helping hand. Let’s show what great people belong to this organization. Give a shout out in the comments section to the good crabs, the beautiful swimmers, you’ve met through Sisters in Crime.


Julie Tollefson spends her days overseeing communications for an academic research center and her nights writing fiction. She can be found online at http://julietollefson.com.

Photo by David Gnojek.

New SinC Membership Options

by Elaine Will Sparber & Beth Groundwater

What gets you eight editions of inSinC, 24 editions of SinC Links, 24 editions of e-Book SinC Links, and two SinC Summit Reports? The new two-year membership option offered by SinC! Make all of those unlimited, add a spiffy lapel pin, and you’ve got the benefits of a lifetime membership.

Of course, both options, like the one-year membership, also offer a cornucopia of local chapters, a couple of online chapters, discounts to a variety of SinC events around the country, access to our book club database and networking and mentoring with fellow members, including an email discussion list.

The two new categories were unveiled this month for the 2012 membership year. Dues for the two-year option are $80/$70, professional and active respectively; the lifetime, $400/$350. One-year dues are unchanged.

With these choices, how do you decide which is right for you? Author Beth Groundwater, inSinC editor Molly Weston and aspiring fiction author Elaine Will Sparber sat down recently to figure that out.

Elaine Will Sparber (pictured at left): One thing to consider is how long you’ve already belonged to SinC. When did you first join? Where were you in your life?

Molly Weston: I first joined SinC nearly 20 years ago. I was then, as now, a voracious mystery reader and reviewer.

Beth Groundwater: I joined SinC in 2003, the local Rocky Mountain Chapter in 2004 (it disbanded at the end of 2009), and the Guppies online chapter in 2004. In 2003, I was an aspiring author with some unpublished short stories I was submitting to magazines, a practice novel-length manuscript that would never be published and one of many manuscript iterations for A Real Basket Case that I was starting to shop around.

EWS: I joined SinC in 2004. I was a writer and editor specializing in nonfiction, but my first love was always fiction and I hoped SinC would help me move in that direction. I also joined the New York/Tri-State Chapter and the Guppies. It took a while, but I learned to craft a novel-length piece of mystery fiction. Through SinC, I learned how to revise, pitch, promote and just generally slap my manuscript into shape and shove it out my door. How has your membership benefited you?

MW: Learning about what was going on in the mystery community—mystery conferences, Books in Print, and member contact information—was critical before the Internet. Networking among members has given me many opportunities to bring authors to my area.

Beth Groundwater (pictured at left): I’ve made personal contacts with many types of people who have helped me in my career: writers, readers, bloggers, librarians, bookstore owners, agents, editors, etc. Fellow Guppies helped me research agents and hone my query letter—through a Guppy contact I found my first agent. Local chapter meetings and workshops offered more help such as police, coroner and pi investigative techniques; how to plot, to develop characters, to promote and much more.

I attended the local Sheriff’s Department Citizen’s Academy with a group of Sisters. Then I branched out to mystery conferences where I met even more Sisters. I know that, without SinC, I would not be a published mystery author now and I would not have had the success that I’ve had to date.

EWS: Something else to consider when weighing dues options is where you see yourself in the next few years. I hope that in the coming year, I’ll finish one, if not both, of the fiction manuscripts I’ve been writing. In five years, I hope to see them published, and in 10 years, I hope to be publishing steadily.

BG: I will always be a mystery reader no matter what happens in my writing career. As for writing, I’ll have a book in each of two series released in 2012, two more are scheduled for 2013, and I hope to continue both series for many years. Five or 10 years down the road, who knows? I can dream of bestseller lists and other fantastic career goals, but I’ll continue to work hard on the manuscript for each book I write. I hope to never stop learning and improving, and SinC will help me in that.

MW: I suspect I’ll be reading mysteries as long as I can see—and I’m sure I’ll continue recommending those I like. I just hope that I’ll still be able to edit inSinC that long!

EWS: So, which dues option will you choose for 2012 and why?

MW: I’ll choose the lifetime or two-year option, mostly because I hate having to pay bills! I’m always looking for ways to simplify my life.

BG: I’m choosing the lifetime option because, no matter what happens with my writing career, I will always be a mystery reader. I will want to find out new-to-me mystery series and meet new-to-me mystery authors. And, as long as readers and publishers are interested in my mystery books, I expect to continue writing them. So, I plan to hang around with SinC for a long, long time.

EWS: I’ll most likely go with the two-year option. I’ve gotten so much from my SinC membership and I continue to learn things. One of these years, I’ll spring for the lifetime membership but, until I start earning money from my fiction, I’m trying to control my expenses.

BG: If you see yourself in 10 years still wanting to be a SinC member and still benefiting from that membership and you have the means to make that large commitment to the organization this year, then I suggest signing up for lifetime membership. You’ll be helping SinC build a reserve fund that will ensure the stability and strength of the organization in the future. Like the founding Sisters and past presidents, you’ll have raised your hand as someone who believes deeply in SinC and its goals and as someone who will rally ‘round the cause when needed. Plus you’ll get a snazzy pin to wear proudly, and you’ll never have to wonder again if you’ve sent in your membership!

For more information about the new dues options, see www.SistersInCrime.org.


Elaine Will Sparber, Beth Groundwater, and Molly Weston are members of the SinC Membership Committee.

SinC's Review Monitoring Project Needs YOU!

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.