2014 Author Showcase - Columbia, SC

I have finally finished putting labels and eyes on all the bookworms I've made up in the last few weeks (spent a little over an hour and a half putting eyes on 17 bookworms and labels on those plus the other 80 sitting here waiting to be labeled).  I'm ready for tomorrow.  I have 6 small library book tote bags and 3 larger sized ones available plus 10 books.  Have borrowed my friend's tablet to use my Square card reader (and did get it working last night, just hope it continues to work tomorrow so I can accept credit cards).  I've printed up table signs on my price list and the square signage.  I have books and bookworms and everything boxed and ready to go. 

If you happen to be in the Columbia, SC, or anywhere that is remotely close to Columbia tomorrow between 11 AM and 1 PM, come visit us.  For a list of authors who will be there, please check out the posting.  I'm looking forward to seeing some friends I haven't seen in a while including Ann Einstein, author of the Sean Gray, Jr FBI series; Karen Petit, author of the Ivy League series; Mary Lee, author of children's books and nonfiction.  I'm also going to see folks from the local Sisters in Crime group, although I just saw most of them last month at our meeting.  The authors from the SinC group include Polly Iyer, author of thriller/suspense novels; Cindy Blackburn, author of humorous cozy mysteries; Judy Buch, inspirational author who is working on a cozy mystery with a ventriloquist as the protagonist; Danielle Dahl, memoir author; and Roger Meadows, thriller/suspense/mystery writer (unfortunately he doesn't have a webpage).  Another author who will be there is Paula Gail Benson, short story writer and author of several genres who is a member of Sisters in Crime but actually lives in Columbia so isn't really a member of our local group but she has been the guest speaker for our group as well as attended a meeting or two.  Paula and I go back a ways. 


Those are just a few of the authors who will be attending the event tomorrow.  Hope to see you all there - E :)

SinC Meeting Guest Speaker

We had our monthly Sisters in Crime meeting last night and I felt so wanted and popular when I walked in the door.  First, I had to make my usual greeting to Barbara Williams who has been spurring me on with Words With Friends games - we've been pretty good about having a new game going about once a week or so.  I also chatted with our guest speaker, Chris Roerden, who remembered me from my volunteer time at the SC Book Festival eons ago, and who said that she didn't have my email address or she would have kept in touch.  We talked about what I've done since the volunteer time.  While I was talking with Chris, Tony came in and asked if I had a minute to answer some questions.  I finally got my stuff put at my seat and was going to chat with my good friend, Faye Tollison, trying to get her to listen to the auditions for the audio book as well as some of the first 15 minutes but the sound on the tablet was very low so that didn't work.  On my way around the tables to chat with Faye, Chris introduced me to her tour manager, Pat Meller, and was talking about my state series.  At the mention of children's books, Pat immediately asked for contact information and said she would come over to my seat and get the information when I was finished chatting with Faye.  She asked me what I was doing to get the books in schools and at the moment I'm not really in the schools which is where I want to be; she also mentioned that her niece was a "literacy coach" in Northern Alabama and so she was interested in getting the information so that she could pass it on to her niece.  When we were leaving, everyone tried to get me to talk again - Tony, Phoebe, and Pat - unfortunately, I was riding with Anita and we had to pick her DIL up from the airport.  So I do apologize to those who needed my wisdom - lol - for not sticking around and chatting.

The topic of discussion was voice and some other things crept in there including some questions about POV.  It was interesting that the these two topics came up in conjunction with each other as the past week and a half, I've been teaching POV to Mr. Hughes' 6th graders.  I'm glad I didn't get to go to the SCASL conference, although I really would have loved to have been there since that is right into getting my books in the schools, but Chris's presentation was worth it.  She gave me some new writing related thoughts to share with the class.  I can't wait for Monday's class session to share a bit of what I learned last night.

If you are interested in having Chris speak to your group or hearing one of her presentations, click here to see what she has to offer and where she will be; you never know when she will be in yourr neck of the woods. 

Off topic -  Last Saturday was the spelling bee at our local county library and Tuesday when I was just looking at my createspace dashboard trying to figure out what I needed to order and when I noticed my royalty bar showing over $15 in royalties for March.  I was surprised since I haven't had very many amazon sales or other online sales since going the route of self-publishing.  I think I've had maybe 6 books total in 2+ years sold through amazon or createspace's expanded distribution and Monday, someone ordered one of each of the four state books from amazon, which was like the moset in one sitting from a not in-person sale.  So who knows - maybe this will be the year I start gaining some attention with my books.  We shall see - for now, see you in the postings - E :)

Sisters in Crime and Domestic Violence

You may wonder how these two topics relate. If you are a mystery writer, it's always best to be as factual as possible with your details. What better way than to have experts come in and share information that you can use in your book.

Last week's guest speaker at our local Sisters in Crime meeting was the executive director of a local safe house for abused women and children. She presented information on domestic violence and some key notes on how to recognize the signs and symptoms of an abuser and victim. What came from the meeting was some very interesting information about domestic violence but in turn, several members in our local group revealed that they too had been victims of such violence.

The numbers are staggering and what was even more surprising is that South Carolina is at number 7th in the nation for domestic violence. According to our speaker, since she started working in the domestic violence arena, South Carolina has never been out of the top 10 states in reported domestic violence cases.

There are many reasons for domestic violence and many cases unreported each and every year. Being informed of the signs of an abuser and a victim should help get more cases reported, but unfortunately, it doesn't happen.

One person mentioned to me that there are four A's that are lethal to women: Acceptance, Approval, Affection, and Attention. When women strive to feel these from a man, they usually turn against them, because the abuser will use these as a way to wear down the victim's boundaries and cause her to lose sense of herself; she no lnoger exists as the person she was known to be but exists only for him.

I encourage everyone to get the facts and if they suspect abuse of someone they know that they take action and report it and hopefully prevent the death of that person.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before or not but our local chapter has some of the best meetings. We bring in guest speakers every month who have a lot to offer writers and readers. We've been told that fiction really should be as realistic as possible, so these speakers share their expertise which hopefully makes our stories more believable or plausible.

What the persons who secure the guest speakers usually do for our meetings is alternately bring in a professional in some field and an author, so the topics range from things like FBI agents, drug trafficking officers, arson inspectors, 911 operators, weapons experts, forensic psychologists, lawyers, K-9 units as well as writing related topics from the authors. In the four or so years I've been a member and attending meetings, we have had some excellent speakers. The line-up for the next few months include Maggie Toussant who blogs over on the Murder Must Advertise blog, and funny thing is just last week she posted a delightful posting about marketing, a topic that is near and dear to me. I think Maggie was surprised how many people actually read and commented on her posting. I think one author coming is the author of a book titled The Blue Virgin which is set in Oxford. It looks to be a fun and interesting year with the Greenville Chapter of Sisters in Crime.

If you are writer and have the opportunity to attend groups that are similar or offer professional guest speakers for minimal fees, I highly recommend you join the group. What can be better than getting free (depends on the venue; ours is the cost of dinner and gas since none of live very close to the meeting place, but even still for less than $20/month) advice on how to make your characters or stories more believable? Check out your local Sisters in Crime group and if there isn't one near you, get one started and seek out guest speakers who can really help you with different aspects of your mystery writing, or your writing in general.

See ou all in the postings - E :)

SinC went to the dogs

Our upstate SC Sisters in Crime meeting went to the dogs on Thursday evening. We had two K-9 officers and their dogs, Nemo and Nero, come visit us and demonstrate how the dogs are trained to attack and seek out drugs. Nero is a German Shepherd and Nemo is a Dutch Shepherd. I'd never seen a Dutch Shepherd before but that is one beautiful dog. Nero did his job and then wanted to play with his toy and wanted someone to play with him but we were all too fascinated to play. Nemo was brought in and found the two hidden bags of drugs - one in the electrical box and one in under a metal container (like an empty propane container). The drug dogs are trained for 600 hours - that is a 6-month training at 10 hours a day - for their respective purposes whether it be drug searching, bomb searching, scents or whatever. Shepherds make the best dog for attack dogs because of the way their snout is made - long and narrow. When they clamp down on a bad guy, they hold strong until the handler commands them to release. The "bites" are not what causes the damage since they are basically immobilizing a person when they clamp down on your arms or legs or whatever body part they do (necks, face and groins are off limits); it's the person trying to pull away from the animal that causes the damage. So, be warned if you are committing a crime and a dog is put on you to attack, don't fight it; you will receive less damage to your physical being than if you fight it.

The information was very good and if I were writing stories for adults (oh wait, I have three stories for adults, one is now available as an ebook - The Proposal; and two more are coming soon - lol) I probably would use some of the information we get from our meetings. I love our local SinC group for the variety of guest speakers brought in to provide the true mystery writers such great information. We have had everyone from lawyers to FBI agents, arson inspectors to forensic psychologists, weapons experts and other mystery authors come to speak since I've been a member (about the last 4 years or so).

I encourage anyone in the upper state of South Carolina or even North Carolina who either writes mysteries or loves reading mysteries to visit our group which meets the first Thursday of the month at the Runway Cafe in Greenville, SC. Meetings start at 6:15 (with dinner being served starting about 6:30) and our guest speakers starting about 7 pm. See you all in the postings and maybe at one of our meetings - E :)

Upstate SC chapter of Sisters in Crime Celebrates 25 years

Sisters in Crime (SinC) is 25 years young this year. The Upstate SC chapter is having a celebration on October 16 with panel discussions, refreshments, book signings, and prizes. For more details, please check out the Upstate SC SinC blog. We would love to see you there. E :)