Vol. 2_No. 8 Carmel, Indiana Febuary 24, 2007
Speed City typically meets on the 4th Saturday of the month.
NEXT MEETING:
March 24, 2007
10:30a.m. critique group
11:30a.m. business meeting
12:00p.m. guest speakers:
"Six Writers in Search of a Publisher"
Listen to the stories behind these authors' varied paths to publication:
Susan Crandall
Brandt Dodson
Phil Dunlap
Terence Faherty
Michael Koryta
Brenda Stewart
FUTURE MEETINGS AND EVENTS:
April 28, 2007
10:30a.m. critique group
11:30a.m. business meeting
12:00p.m. guest speaker: TBA
MEETING LOCATION:
The Mystery Company
233 2nd Avenue SW
Carmel, IN 46032
317-705-9711
800-643-6737
CRITIQUE GROUP
SinC members who have not joined the critique group but are interested in doing so need to contact Pat Robertson at:
TO JOIN SPEED CITY SINC:
You must be a member of the National Sisters in Crime Local chapter dues are $15.00, due on or before October 15, 2006 and payable to SCISinC. You can mail your application and check to:
Pat Robertson
554 Miami Street
Ellettsville, IN 47429
E-mail Pat Robertson if you need an application or additional information.
INDIANA SISTERS IN CRIME CHAPTER OFFICERS
(January 1, 2007 - January 1, 2008)
Brenda Robertson Stewart, president
317-831-1566
Andrea Smith, vice president
Pat Robertson, membership chairman, 812-876-7772
Jim Huang, program chairman
Vicki Stewart, treasurer
Kit Ehrman, secretary, newsletter editor
Mark Zacharias, communications chairman, (webmaster)
Sheila Boneham, critique group chairperson
CALL FOR GUEST SPEAKERS
Give Jim a hand in finding interesting guest speakers by providing the following information:
GUEST SPEAKER CONTACT INFORMATION
•
name, job title
name, job title•place of employment
place of employment•address
address•phone
phone•fax
fax•e-mail
e-mail•website if applicable
website if applicable•suggestions for topic(s) the speaker is qualified to speak about and that the group would find interesting
suggestions for topic(s) the speaker is qualified to speak about and that the group would find interesting•list of published works if applicable
list of published works if applicable•your connection to the speaker—how you know him/her
your connection to the speaker—how you know him/her•permission to use your name in the initial contact
permission to use your name in the initial contactSend your information to Jim Huang
Put SinC Possible Guest Speaker in the subject line.
WEBSITES OF INTEREST
If you’re a chapter member with a mystery website, and you would like it listed here, e-mail Kit Ehrman.
WEBSITES OF INTEREST TO WRITERS
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES
Want to see what happened at an earlier meeting? Visit the newsletter archives page.
MYSTERY / BOOK CONVENTIONS:
03/21/07 - 03/25/07
Charlottesville, VA
04/25/07
New York, NY
04/26/07
New York, NY
04/28/07- 04/29/07
Los Angeles, CA
05/04/07 - 05/06/07
Arlington, VA
05/24/07 - 05/27/07
Omaha, Nebraska
06/01/07 - 06/03/07
New York, NY
06/08/07 - 06/09/07
Boise, ID
06/15/07 - 06/16/07
Boise, ID
06/15/07 - 06/17/07
Victoria, BC, Canada
06/21/07 - 06/27/07
Washington, DC
06/29/07 - 07/01/07
Parsippany, NJ
07/12/07 - 07/15/07
New York, NY
09/27/07 - 09/30/07
Anchorage, AK
Email: aksinc@alaskasinc.com
10/9/08 - 10/12/08
Baltimore, MD
MEMBER NEWS:
Kit Ehrman's latest release in the Steve Cline
Mystery Series is a February 2007 Book Sense
Notable Book, a Kentucky Literary Award
nominee, and a ForeWord magazine Book-of-
the-Year finalist.
~~Speed City members, share your news.~~
E-mail news releases to Kit Ehrman.
CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS, CONTESTS, CONVENTIONS, PROMO OPPORTUNITIES, RETREATS
A LETTER FROM OUR NATIONAL PRESIDENT
Continuing Grants
SINC is offering $300 grants to independent booksellers and libraries who host Sisters in Crime authors! The grants must be used for additional publicity or advertising of the event. Please tell your favorite bookstore or library about them. We WANT to give away money! Go to www.sistersincrime.org/grants.html for more information.
20th Anniversary Commemorative Products
Mugs and t-shirts commemorating our 20th anniversary will be available through our website soon. Keep checking www.sistersincrime.org/resources.shtml for more.
Library Programs
In March 2007, libraries will celebrate the spirit of Sisters in Crime with special displays. If you would like your local library to receive a free kit with everything they need to mount an exciting 20th anniversary display, please have them sign up at www.sistersincrime.org/anniversary.html
That's it for now -- except for one more thing. Please make sure we keep your email address up to date so we can continue to keep you abreast of our activities. Send any changes to: sistersincrime@juno.com. Be assured we will never give or sell your email to anyone. And if you'd like to visit our newly designed, chock-full-of-information website, just click here.
Thanks -- we hope to see you sometime during our anniversary year!
Libby Hellmann, President
SPEED CITY
Indiana Chapter of Sisters in Crime News
SPEED CITY
Indiana Chapter of Sisters in Crime News
compiled by Kit Ehrman
Brenda Stewart opened the meeting and welcomed our new member, Tammy Huber Shaw, author and reader and a member of the Ohio River Valley Chapter of Sisters in Crime which meets in Louisville.
The Anthology:
Brenda reported that Cardinal Publishers of Indianapolis will publish the anthology. Cardinal is also a large distributor and will handle the distribution. The anthology will include 19 authors. Books will be in the warehouse in August with a launch date of Oct. 1 to take advantage of the Christmas shopping rush. There will be a big promotion before race next year. We will need all members' help to promote the book.
We will have input on the cover. Brenda thinks the book will sell well. Cardinal will have a designer for cover.
March Sisters in Crime Program: SIX WRITERS IN SEARCH OF A PUBLISHER
March 24th's program is the brainchild of Jim Huang and should prove to be very interesting and entertaining.
SIX WRITERS IN SEARCH OF A PUBLISHER will begin at noon. Six local writers will discuss their debut publishing experience.
Susan Crandall: BACK ROADS (2003), a Warner Books mass market paperback original.
Leigh Mitchell is the sensible, responsible, dedicated sheriff
of her rural Indiana county. It's a position that sets her
apart in ways she'd never expected. She's facing her
thirtieth birthday and feeling restless. On a moonlit night,
driven by a desperate need for change, she indulges in an
innocent flirtation with an intriguing stranger. When a
teenaged girl goes missing, everything Leigh holds dear,
her loyalty to family, devotion to duty and her trust
in love are tested to their limits. For the first time in her
life, steadfast Leigh must let go of the clear cut rules that have always guided her and travel the uncertain back roads of the heart.
Brandt Dodson: ORIGINAL SIN (2006), a Harvest House trade paperback (CBA publisher based in Oregon)
Emma Caine, a high school guidance counselor, didn’t have
an enemy in the world, except for her murderer. In Original
Sin, Indianapolis private detective Colton Parker is hired
to investigate Emma’s violent death. Along the way,
he tangles with everyone from organized crime figures to
highly-placed police officials as he discovers the dark
truth behind the slaying -- a truth that threatens to pull
Indianapolis apart. "Crisp. Wry. Honest. P.I. Colton Parker is
as unexpected as a bullet hole in a brand new Brooks
Brothers suit. You’re gonna like this gumshoe!"-Clint Kelly, author of Scent
Phil Dunlap: THE DEATH OF DESERT BELLE (2004), an Avalon Books hardcover (small, library-oriented New York publishing house)
In the dusty Arizona hamlet of Desert Belle, a mysterious
explosion levels half of the adobe jail. It appears the
notorious Bishop brothers have made good on their threat
to escape before they could be brought to trial. At least it
had looked that way until two bodies were found crushed
beyond recognition beneath the thick slabs of adobe wall.
While the sheriff says good riddance, others aren't so sure
the Bishops are really gone for good. Meanwhile, not far
away, two teenage boys inadvertently come face-to-face
with a gunslinger who demands they leave town or get shot. The mis-
adventures of the two boys eventually cause them to cross paths with Marshal Piedmont Kelly. The boys and Kelly will have to trust each other and work together in order to save themselves and the town of Desert Belle.
Terence Faherty: DEADSTICK (1991), a St. Martin's Press hardcover
The Edgar-nominated debut of the series finds Owen
Keane, ex-seminarian, working as a researcher for a
New York law firm. His routine existence is interrupted
by a strange assignment: compile all available infor-
mation on a forty-year-old plane crash that claimed
the lives of a playboy and his fiancee. The request is
made by the playboy's brother, a reclusive millionaire.
Keane soon learns that the crash was once rumored to
be murder and that his client was the chief suspect.
Stranger still, Keane realizes that no one wants him to
finish his report, not the millionaire's employees, not Keane's own firm, not even Keane's girlfriend, who hopes he'll swear off metaphysical mysteries forever.
Michael Koryta: TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE (2004), a St. Martin's Press hardcover that won the Private Eye Writers of America best first PI novel contest
When investigator Wayne Weston is found dead of an
apparent suicide in his home in an upscale Cleveland suburb,
his wife and five-year-old daughter missing, Lincoln Perry
and his partner Joe Pritchard are hired by Weston's father
to bring some resolution to the high-profile case. The
investigators quickly discover there is much more to the
situation than has been described in the prevalent media
reports: rumors of gambling debts and extortion, a
millionaire real estate tycoon, and a group of Russians
with ties to organized crime who don't appreciate being
investigated.
Brenda Stewart: POWER IN THE BLOOD (2005), a Sterling House trade paperback (a smaller independent press based in Pennsylvania)
When curious children discover a human skull in a sinkhole,
forensic sculptor Lettie Sue Wolfe begins a quest that will
lead her into the gravest danger. After reconstructing the
face of the deceased, she is shocked to find the face of
her childhood friend’s sister, who disappeared thirty years
earlier. Lettie decides to investigate and uncovers some
unsavory secrets about local residents. Things go from
bad to worse when Lettie hires a private investigator,
and soon both are wondering if they too will end up in a
sinkhole. For those who love forensic mysteries, Power in
the Blood is a riveting whodunit with a supernatural twist.
The program format will be pretty straightforward. Jim will do a short introduction, then ask each author to speak for about eight minutes on the steps along the path to publication for their first novel and, in retrospect, whether they think they made the right choices. Q&A to follow. There will be copies of the author's books available for sale and autographing.
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations are in order for Jim Huang and Austin Lugar for their Agatha Award nomination for Best Non-fiction for Mystery Muses. If you haven't heard about this teriffic book, check it out.
For a follow-up to the Agatha and Anthony-award winning
collections of essays, 100 Favorite Mysteries Of The
Century (2000) and They Died In Vain: Overlooked,
Underappreciated And Forgotten Mystery Novels (2003),
we asked 100 mystery writers: Did a mystery set you on
your path to being a writer? Is there a classic mystery that
remains important to you today? Find their answers in:
Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today's Mystery
Writers. Purchase from The Mystery Company.
From The Critics
Publishers Weekly
Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today's Mystery Writers, edited by Jim Huang and Austin Lugar, features sparkling miniessays on the works of genre giants from Edgar Allan Poe to Dennis Lehane. Contributors include such notable current practitioners as Jan Burke, Margaret Maron, Laura Lippman, Edward Hoch, Peter Lovesey and Tim Cockey.
Notes from National:
March 2007: Libraries across the countries celebrate SinC with displays
May 4-6: sinc celebration at Malice Domestic, Arlington VA
September 29, 2007: Closing celebration (Death by Chocolate) at Bouchercon, Anchorage, Alaska
Fall 2007: Release of SinC presidents anthology edited by Sara Paretsky
MARCH 3, 2007
The Write Business Workshop and Book-Signing sponsored by the Indiana Romance Writers of America
Indianapolis, Indiana
A Writing-To-Sell Workshop for Fiction Writers
Empowering Characters’ Emotions
If you want to learn how to enhance character emotions—word by word—this is the workshop for you. Learn the four levels of powering up emotion, explore the nuances of body language, and dig into deep editing with the EDITS System. You will hook the reader emotionally and keep the line taut until releasing them on the last page. Instructor Margie Lawson—Formerly a college professor teaching graduate courses in psychology, Margie holds a Master of Science degree in Counseling Psychology. Her resume includes clinical trainer, psychologist, sex therapist, hypnotherapist and keynote speaker.
Sex Between the Pages: Understanding and Writing Sexual Tension
How do you write great sexual tension whether you write Regencies or Erotica or somewhere in between? Why is it some authors can make you cheer and commiserate and ache as their characters take their perilous journeys toward intimacy and others leave you feeling ho hum? Mary combines examples from outstanding Romance authors with an in depth analysis of the 12 stages of intimacy, findings in behavioral science and the power of biology to better understand and incorporate sexual tension in your own writing. Instructor Mary Buckham—Mary interviewed authors such as Linda Howard, Stella Cameron, Susan Anderson and Lori Foster to learn how to write sexual tension from sweet to spicy hot for her SEX ON THE PAGE workshop. When Mary is not writing part of her INVISIBLE RECRUIT series for Silhouette Bombshell, she is presenting writing workshops both on-line and around the country.
The Write Business: Agent Kelly Harms will take afternoon appointments.
Book Signing: Following the workshop, area authors will sign books and answer your questions.
A Chance to Win: Two attendees will win a videotaped analysis of their agent/editor pitch, book signing talk or TV interview from Natalie
Eggeman www.PresentingWithPizzazz.com.
LOCATION:
Radisson Hotel Indianapolis Airport,
2500 South High School Road
Indianapolis Indiana 46241
(317) 244-3361
COST: $70
TIME: Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Workshops: 9:00 – 4:00.
Agent appointments: 1:00-3:30 p.m. Book Signing: 4:15.
Seating is limited. Reserve your place soon.
Additional information and official registration form located on the Indiana Romance Writers website: www.indianarwa.com or email:workshop@indianarwa.com.
March 11-18, 2007
Novel In Progress Workshop
Spalding University
Louisville, KY
Green River Writers, Inc., will host the 17th annual Novels In Progress Workshop from March 11 to 18, 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky. For the third consecutive year, this weeklong fiction writing conference will meet on the campus of Spalding University in downtown Louisville.
Conference activities for 2007 will include faculty-led breakout sessions, individual instruction with faculty mentors, small-group critique sessions, a panel discussion with agents and editors, and opportunities for one-on-one meetings with agent and editor guests.
Writing conference participants will be able to choose from three enrollment options based on their instructional needs. Workshop Basics will offer a full week of seminars designed to help aspiring novelists learn about the writing craft and the publishing industry. Personal Instruction will add the opportunity to zero in on the writer's own work of fiction with the help of a faculty mentor and other participants, as well as visiting agents and editors. One-day Workshop Blocks will allow those who cannot attend the entire week to register for individual days of the writers' conference.
Novels In Progress Workshop always provides a great opportunity to get to know other fiction writers from across the region in a mutually supportive atmosphere. Participants come together in a creative community while studying, writing and living together. Housing for the week is available in an on-campus residence hall as well as several nearby hotels and bed and breakfasts. Located near Louisville's beautiful Central Park, the Spalding University campus is within walking distance of several restaurants and shopping locations, including Fourth Street Live, the city's new entertainment and retail nexus.
For more information visit: http://www.greenriverwriters.org/nipw.html
Directions to the new MYSTERY COMPANY:
It's easy to get to the new Mystery Company from the old location. Leave the old parking lot and turn right, heading north on S. Rangeline Road. Pass beneath a steel Arts & Design District arch that spans the road. Almost immediately, make a left onto 3rd Street SW. Third Street SW dead ends at the Monon Trail. Make a right onto 2nd Avenue SW. Go a half block. The new store is on the right. Additional parking is across the street.
Mapquest Map
The Mystery Company phone # 317-705-9711
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Our Guest:
We were delighted to have Marianne Halbert as our guest speaker for February. Marianne is a Marion County Public Defender (since 1996). She works in the Mental Health Division, defending the mentality ill.
Diversion program – tries to get people who’ve been arrested out of jail and into treatment.
She is the winner of the 2006 Mark Emory Award.
photo by Brenda Stewart
Marianne is also a writer who has completed a thriller.
Marianne’s goal today: dispel stereotypes about public defenders to help writers create authentic characters. Marion County has a lot of resources for public defenders. It’s a large agency with lawyers who really know what they’re doing. Marion County agency includes financial officers, an appellate division, paralegals and criminal defense lawyers.
If book is set in small town, the situation will be different. A lot of small towns don’t have staffs and may hire lawyers from private practice to handle cases.
Gideon vs. Waingright, 1963, was the case that resulted in public defender roll being established to guarantee citizens who couldn’t afford attorney legal representation.
Public defenders get a bad rap. The perception is public defenders don’t know what they’re doing and they don’t want to be doing the public defender job.
photo by Brenda Stewart
Two kinds of people who are public defenders – people fresh out of law school who will get lots of experience in court.
True believers – believe in the constitution and rights it guarantees who want to do the job for life
People think we’re there to get the bad guys off. We’re there to defend constitution not get bad guys off.
Fight for rights of defendants because it protects everybody’s rights.
People say “I want a real lawyer.”
Public defenders are real lawyers. Some are also in private practice.
Don’t get to choose clients. Appointed by judge based on their financial means. Can’t be hired. Client can’t pick them. Judge assigns public defender randomly to a case.
Experienced public defenders will have different views of cops and prosecutors in legal professional. Experienced public defender may be a little jaded.
Sometimes it’s whoever is easiest to catch who ends up in the orange jump suit. Sometimes police get so focused on number of arrests / convictions. Lot of people get charged for things that they didn’t do. Sometimes we have to protect the rights of people we don’t like very much.
Benefit to being public defender are the relationships you get to build with those who work in the court system – prosecutors, judges, court reporter. We do sit around and talk. Public defenders want to be nice to court staff. Need to check your ego at the door.
Lots of lawyers dabble in a lot of areas and take whatever case comes through the door, but aren’t specialized in criminal defense.
Public defenders don’t have to worry about financials. It’s about the pure practice of law. It’s about teamwork; don’t have to worry about striving to climb the corporate ladder
We’re often the go-to people for the private attys. They come to us for advice. Perception is if you pay, you’re going to get better defense.
Public defenders have to be thorough. Must document every phone call, jail visit, every aspect of a case.
Question from audience:
Have you ever had a client you immediately didn’t like? Yes, but shouldn’t factor into the legal equation. Try to not even think about who the client is. Have to desensitize yourself from the client.
A lot our clients are nice. Have a lot of frequent fliers (mentally ill clients)
Had bipolar client commit suicide, had client who froze to death on mother’s porch. Harder for me when I care about my client.
Marianne works mostly on commitment cases.
Mentally ill people who need to be hospitalized.
Question:
What happens with client when taken to jail? Generally not treated well. Often end up racking up more charges while in jail. Jails have become like the new psych hospitals because there’s not enough space in hospitals.
Question: What’s the criteria for speedy trial?
70 days
Question: When there’s a good relationship between public defender and prosecutor how do you guard against violating client rights?
It’s interesting because public defenders must keep all client information private, but prosecutors must share everything.
Question: How does a defendant get a resisting arrest charge if you aren’t being arrested for anything?
Bottom line is if the police tell you to stop you must or it’s considered resisting.
Theme of the job: Public defenders get tired of police officers and prosecutors who bring cases to trial that they shouldn’t and who handle these cases poorly. Some have gotten so far away from the reason that they’re there.
Question: Are the pay scales similar for public defenders/prosecutors? Pretty even with regards to pay.
Our obligation is only to our clients. Some clients think because the state pays us, it will taint our defending them.
Troublesome stereotypes: Judges don’t respect public defenders. Truth is relationships are respectful.
Some stereotypes come from the movies, which come from the books you write.
A special thank you to Andrea Smith for taking the notes for the February meeting! ~Kit
photo by Brenda Stewart
