Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Chapter Meeting May 4, 2017

Hello Sisters and Brothers in Crime!
We’re in for a special treat at our monthly meeting on May 4th.  Dr. Warren Moore, mystery writer and Professor of English at Newberry College in Newberry, SC will be our speaker.  Professor Moore is also Editor of Newberry College’s scholarly journal, Studies in Crime Writing. This on-line publication is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal focusing on the literary study of crime writing, including noir, thrillers, and true crime, as well as classical and hard-boiled detective fiction. 
Born in Nashville and raised in the burbs of Nashville and Cincinnati, Moore has been a journalist, tire salesman, stand-up comic, advertising copywriter, magazine editor, and drummer in a variety of unsuccessful bands. He finished tied for 105th in the 1979 National Spelling Bee.

Moore holds a Ph.D. in English from Ball State University, with a specialty in medieval literature, and has taught courses covering topics from the Seven Deadly Sins to film noir. BROKEN GLASS WALTZES, his first novel, was published in 2013, and will be reissued this fall by Down and Out Books. He has published short stories in a variety of print and online venues since then. His short story “Bowery Station, 3:15 A.M.” was named an Honorable Mention in Otto Penzler’s Best American Mystery Stories 2016. His story “Office at Night” recently appeared in In Sunlight or In Shadow, an anthology edited by Lawrence Block. Moore has a story appearing in another Block anthology late this year, and a collection of his short fiction is scheduled to appear in 2018.
Professor Moore can be found on Facebook, as well as at his blog, “Professor Mondo” (http://profmondo.blogspot.com), and he tweets as @profmondo. Moore also plays drums in a 60s-style garage band that plays in the Upstate and Midlands, and lives in Newberry with his wife and daughter.
Our monthly Sisters in Crime meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 4th, at The Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C.  Be there at 6:15 p.m. to meet Warren Moore and enjoy chapter fellowship. Supper should be served at 6:30. Our speaker will begin right after new and old business at 7 p.m. Both dinner and the meeting are open to the public. 
In order for the Runway Café to speed service, dinner orders must be emailed by noon the day of the meeting. If you can't dine with us, we would still like to know you plan to attend so we can be sure you have a seat. If possible, please join us for dinner as our dinner orders help to ensure we can book our meeting room for free. To see the special menu for our group, please visit our website — www.sincupstatesc.blogspot.com  — and click on the Advance Order Menu tab at right.  Please e-mail your order to Ellis Vidler at ellisvidler1@gmail.com.
 If you place an order and do not attend or fail to cancel by noon, you will be charged for the meal. And like always, we'll enjoy it.
 Look forward to seeing you on May4th.
 Sally Handley

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Minutes from the April 4, 2017 chapter meeting


You’ve heard of dinner and a movie? Well, here at the Upstate Sisters in Crime, we do dinner and a guest speaker. This month 19 members and guests met at the Runway Café in Greenville for an evening of fantastic food, writer talk, and information.



Our president Sally Handley started the meeting as is our custom, with a quick go-around the room of introductions. It’s always nice to share the good, the bad, and the ugly of our writing journeys—especially the good! Sally reminded us of our upcoming 30th anniversary celebration on June 10th, and also invited any member with news to share—such as contests, conferences, etc, to e-mail her, and she’ll be sure to spread the word to the rest of us.



And then, drum roll, please, our guest speaker took over. Jamie Mason was a hoot! And SO informative and helpful! Jamie described her books, Three Graves Full and Monday Lies, as “why-dun-its” as opposed to “who-dun-its,” and labeled them literary suspense. She explained that a new trend in publishing is this “blending of genres.” She also shared quite a few amusing anecdotes that inspired her stories, or at least got her imagination in gear. One idea: when she is brainstorming for a new story, Jamie scours newspaper headlines. She DOES NOT read the article, just the headlines, and asks herself if she can see a plot developing…



Soon Jamie was fielding questions, and as a traditionally-published author, she answered a lot of questions about the publishing business. She chose the traditional route because she wanted to see her books in bookstores and indie authors are less likely to have that opportunity. Jamie recommended a few websites such as AbsoluteWrite.com and AgentQuery.com, gave us tips about finding and working with an agent, and some more amusing and informative quips about the trials and tribulations of both good and bad reviews and working with a screenwriter. As far as the writing process, Jamie uses the “8-sequence screeenwriting” approach. She used to be a pantser, but now is a plotter. Jamie believes it saves a lot of time and effort and heartache to know where you’re going.



After thanking Jamie for her wisdom, insight, and humor, the meeting was adjourned until next time. We meet the first Thursday evening of every month. Come on down!



Respectfully Submitted,



Cindy Blackburn

Chapter Secretary