Sisters In Crime's Blog (36)

When BSP is a bad thing

By Donna Andrews



The other day I was at an event sponsored by a writing-related organization. (Maybe it wasn't SinC. Maybe it was MWA. Or RWA. Or a local writing outfit. I'm not telling. Let's call it RISC, for Really Impressive Scribbler's Club.) Anyway, this particular RISC meeting was well attended. Most of the people there were writers--published or aspiring--along with a few avid readers and a few friends and significant others of writers. The meal was edible to tasty, the… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on May 19, 2008 at 10:44pm — No Comments

And we said, "Let's publish an anthology!"

What better way “to promote the professional advancement of women who write mysteries,” Chesapeake Chapter thought, than to put together a short story anthology. Three anthologies and more than a few headaches later, we sometimes find ourselves wondering, was it worth it? Then someone invariably points to our six Agatha nominations (and two wins), two Anthony nods (and one win), previously unpublished contributors being considered for representation by agents, and at least two with publishing… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on May 15, 2008 at 1:00am — No Comments

I'm trying to write a novel here....

by Margaret Coel



Six months ago, I had a brilliant idea. Two walls of my study could be knocked out to make a bigger study. To get just how brilliant this was, try to picture my study: desk and computer, a pair of stuffed floor-to-ceiling bookcases, flowered loveseat, lamp and two filing cabinets, all jammed shoulder-to-shoulder against the walls around the closet, window and door. Piles of manuscripts, folders, magazines and other important stuff that I mean to get to someday on the… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on May 5, 2008 at 10:40pm — No Comments

In Praise of Editors

by Nancy Martin



My latest book (Murder Melts in Your Mouth, the 7th Blackbird Sisters Mystery) was released a month ago, and we’ve been enjoying good sales. I say “we” intentionally, because no successful book could possibly be the work of one person. In my case, there’s my critique partner, my blog sisters, my readers, my family, my agent and her various colleagues, my publisher and the house staff, and last but certainly not the least--my editor.



In my twenty-eight-year… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on April 14, 2008 at 11:30pm — No Comments

If you're going to Malice Domestic--have we got a meeting for you!

Dear Sisters and Brothers,



The board is excited to offer a new event at Malice this year. Please join us on Friday afternoon, April 25, in the Fairfax Room on the 2nd Floor of the convention hotel, from 1:00-3:00 for our Flash Training Session and chapter meeting.



Here's the schedule:

1:00-1:15 Creating a Must-Read Chapter Newsletter: Roberta Isleib (NE Chapter), Jane Cleland (NY Chapter)



1:15-1:30 Spicing Things Up with Special Projects: Ruth McCarty (NE… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on April 9, 2008 at 11:25pm — No Comments

Losing A Friend And A Fan

Dadmj_2 As some of you may know, my stepmother, Mary Jane, died unexpectedly of an aneurysm in February. She and her family lived next door to mine in New Jersey…

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Added by Sisters In Crime on March 31, 2008 at 10:53pm — No Comments

A Few Good Sisters in Crime Members Need

I'm sure all of you have thought about volunteering for Sisters in Crime. I have a great opportunity for you to join in and improve Books in Print.



As most of you know, Sisters in Crime had a difficult time this year making the transition from collecting data by hand for Books in Print to collecting data on the web site. For 15 years one person, currently Vicki Cameron, collected the data, edited the data, answered 3,000 e-mail per edition and worked endless hours. In this day and… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on March 24, 2008 at 10:14pm — 1 Comment

The Pursuit of Excellence

Sixteen years ago I set out to become a published novelist. During that year I took it upon myself to outline and write my very first book. After finishing the first draft I went through and re-wrote it before holding my breath and handing it to a few trusted readers. One reader, especially, who happened to be a professional proofreader, gave me lots (and lots) to think about. I re-wrote the book again. And again. And again.



After re-writing it a dozen times I began the agent search.… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on March 17, 2008 at 9:53pm — 1 Comment

Changing Small Pieces of the World

By Donna Andrews



As I'm writing this, it's late Sunday night at the Left Coast Crime convention hotel, and I just found an email reminding me that I'm at bat tomorrow for the Sisters in Crime blog. I suspect my fellow board members are probably hoping I'll post something profound about some of the contentious topics facing the organization, but I'm juggling post-convention exhaustion, the dregs of a cold, and a touch of altitude sickness, and I'm not sure I can do justice to any… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on March 12, 2008 at 2:40am — 1 Comment

Changes to Books In Print

Dear Sisters in Crime members:



We’ve had a few problems with our transition to entering titles online

into Books in Print (BIP) this past year. Our apologies to those of

you who were inadvertently left out of the BIP, or whose listings were

incorrect. We are working on ironing out the bugs. If your listing was

missing or incorrect and you haven’t told us already, please email

Beth Wasson: sistersincrime at juno.com. (The deadline for checking your

entry… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on March 8, 2008 at 11:30am — No Comments

Staying Connected

By Marcia Talley



When I still worked “outside the home” at a job in Washington, DC, we were always being asked by our supervisors to accommodate “shifting paradigms.” This usually meant that a hot-shot management guru had treated our CEO to lunch, and presumably held him hostage over double martinis, prime rib and crème brulé until he’d signed the corporation up for the latest management craze — MBO, TQM. Remember?



If you don’t, never mind. After spending millions on… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on March 5, 2008 at 11:51pm — No Comments

Speechless. Tongue-tied. Thunderstruck. Bowled over. Wordless. Dumbfounded.

You get the idea. That’s me when it comes to writing. It’s also me in the presence of those of you who write--especially those who write crime fiction--for your livelihood. So it’s a great honor and privilege for me to have been elected to follow the incomparable Doris Ann Norris as Sisters in Crime’s Library Liaison.

With two major library conferences on the calendar, 2008 is an especially promising year for bringing together…
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Added by Sisters In Crime on February 18, 2008 at 10:33pm — No Comments

Monitoring Project News

One of Sisters In Crime's ongoing programs is the Review Monitoring Project. We have a team of dedicated SinC members who check book reviews in local and national publications all year long. They tally results in two categories, those reviews of mysteries written by men and those by women.



Since its beginning, Sisters In Crime has worked hard to accomplish its mission of raising awareness of women mystery authors. The monitoring project is one way to measure how women's books are…

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Added by Sisters In Crime on February 11, 2008 at 9:12pm — No Comments

Ten Things a Tart Learned About Blogging

By Nancy Martin (SinC member at large)

Three years ago, some author friends and I decided to call ourselves the Book Tarts and start a blog (insert www.thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com ) in order to reduce our PR travel and help sell our books. Our success has come as a result of a lot of vigilant, ongoing work. (Our only motto? Never blog about diets.) If you're reading this, chances…

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Added by Sisters In Crime on February 4, 2008 at 10:42pm — No Comments

Sisters in Crime Makes Plans for 2008



The Sisters in Crime Board of Directors has planned many gatherings and book events for 2008. Take a minute to read the list and let me know if you have additional questions. More information is on www.sistersincrime.org.



- Left Coast Crime 2008 - Denver, CO - March 7&8 - Roberta Isleib, Donna Andrews and Beth Wasson will be at Left Coast Crime and will be available at the Sisters in Crime Rocky Mountain Hospitality Suite. The… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on January 22, 2008 at 4:13am — No Comments

A New Year For SINC

Happy New Year to all of our friends – whether you are readers, librarians, writers, agents, booksellers, editors…or a combination of any of those. We welcome you to the SinC blog, and to SinC. If you are not a member of Sisters in Crime but would like to be, please visit us at sistersincrime.org. We’d love to have you join us.



This year we are trying some exciting new things for our members, with the goal of expanding our members’ knowledge of writing, the mystery business (and…
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Added by Sisters In Crime on January 14, 2008 at 11:25pm — No Comments

Looking Forward, Looking Ahead

As the end of the year approaches, it seems fitting to both look back over avery busy, productive year for Sisters in Crime, and then to look ahead.Here are just a few of the 2007 highlights:



In March, libraries across the nation celebrated the SinC 20th anniversaryby setting up displays highlighting our authors and our organization. SinCsent out almost 2000 packets which included crime scene tape, posters,bumper stickers and more to help organize the displays.



On April…
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Added by Sisters In Crime on December 17, 2007 at 10:50pm — No Comments

Read First!

SINC BLOG

December 10, 2007

READ FIRST



One of the questions I dread in the Q&A section of any talk I’m giving is that loaded one, Where do you get your ideas? I generally shrug my shoulders and tell the absolute truth: if I knew for certain, I’d be happy to share it with you. After all, where does imagination have its roots? I’m sure there’s some psychological or physiological answer of which I’m ignorant, but I don’t think that’s what people want to know. They’re…

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Added by Sisters In Crime on December 10, 2007 at 11:06pm — No Comments

Casting the Net Wide

Where does a mystery author begin? Was it the Agatha Christie novels my mother read while pregnant with me? The Nancy Drew books I devoured as a young girl? The fact that Mom was a charter subscriber to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and kept stacks of them around the house? Or maybe it was the night Daddy made an inspired exception: even though I had school the next day, I could stay up to watch Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Sundays at 9:30, provided my homework was done.

The seed…

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Added by Sisters In Crime on November 26, 2007 at 10:56pm — No Comments

The Great White Seal

Thegreatwhiteseal_2 My trip to Anchorage, Alaska for the Bouchercon mystery convention was memorable for many reasons, but the biggest was receiving the Sisters in Crime "seal" of office after I was elected president. Margaret Maron started this tradition in 1990 when she passed the stuffed animal to incoming president, Sue Dunlap. The actual metal seal of office has somehow… Continue

Added by Sisters In Crime on October 16, 2007 at 12:10am — No Comments

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