Sunday, June 10, 2018

Minutes from the May and June 2018 Meetings


Your chapter secretary has been remiss, as usual. But here are the minutes for our May and June meetings. What’s the saying? Better late than never.

Minutes from the May 3rd Meeting

17 members and guests attended the meeting on May 3, 2018 at the Runway Café in Greeenvile. Our president Sally Handley (who is far, far more conscientious than yours truly) brought the meeting to order with gobs of new business and opportunities for all of us. She and Linda Lovely attended the Malice Domestic conference and brought back lots of info from SinC national. If you are a member (and you should be, or you’re missing out on stuff) go to the SinC national website to find out about Book Club Central—a great way to get your mysteries in front of libraians and book clubs nationwide! Also the website outlines guidelines for the SinC education grants—grants given to members like YOU to attend conferences, or take courses, for your professional development as an author. Also at the SinC national website is info about this year’s Bouchercon in St. Petersburg and the one-day workshop SinC sponsors at that.

Charles Duke reminded us the Golden Doughnut short story contest sponsored by Writers Police Academy is underway. See the Writers Police Academy website for details on entering.

And finally our terrific guest speaker, cozy mystery author Cheryl Peyton, took over. Cheryl regaled us with many amusing tales of her adventures in life and her other jobs and careers, all of which gave her fodder for her books. Cheryl enjoys and spends a lot of time on research. She especially likes Google Earth Pro since her protagonist in her series is a travel agent/tour guide. And one aside—along with Wayne Zurl, Cheryl is the co-founder of the Authors Guild of Tennessee. Cheryl was a very entertaining, charming, and informative speaker! Thank you, Cheryl!

Minutes from the June 7th Meeting

A whopping 25 people attended our June meeting! After our usual self-intros (we needed them with so many new faces), President Sally Handley got down to new business with another great opportunity brought to you by SinC national. Go to the website to learn about entering short stories into the Me Too short story anthology. Dealine for submissions is July 1, 2018. Also in new business, on July 28th Elaine Vietts will be the guest speaker at the SinC Palmetto chapter in Columbia. See their website for details. Sally also reminded us about the mystery book club our chapter co-sponsors with local bookstore Fiction Addiction. Linda Lovely hosts one more meeting—the club will be reading Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Then Sally Handley will take over leadership for the next three month stint. The book club meets at Fiction Addiction the 2nd Wednesday of the month at noon. Sounds like fun! Linda reminded us the deadline for the Golden Doughnut short story contest in conjunction with the Writers Police Academy.

Then our terrific guest speaker Larissa Reinhart gave us her presentation about keeping a series alive and fresh. Larissa, who writes cozy mysteries, offered tons of great ideas! As an author of two cozy mystery series myself, this was a lesson I, personally, needed to hear! Everything Larissa said was fascinating, but a couple gems: Why keep a series fresh? Not only to keep the reader’s interest, but also the author’s. Larissa offered some “easy” ways to keep things fresh—like changing the setting, the protagonist’s occupation, or giving an occassional book a holiday theme. And then she offered more complex ideas about backstories and character arcs. Be sure that EACH character in your books, not just your protagonist, has a backstory and a character arc.  In other words, everyone should be changing and growing as your series develops! Such great ideas! I’ve been thinking about all my character arcs ever since! Thank you Larissa!!

In conclusion, the Upstate Chapter of  Sisters in Crime meets the first Thursday on every month at the Runway Café in Greenville. Arrive at 6:15 for some social time and chatting, and dinner is served at 6:30, and soon after that our meetings get underway. Trust me, it’s THE place to be on those first Thursdays. Join us!

Respectfully Submitted,

Cindy Blackburn

Chapter Secretary


Friday, June 1, 2018

June 7 Meeting Guest is Larissa Reinhart


A bright spot on the horizon is our monthly meeting coming up on June 7th. Our speaker will be Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Larissa Reinhart. With several mystery series in her repertoire, Larissa will talk to us about how to keep a series fresh.

The author writes humorous mysteries and romantic comedies including the critically acclaimed Maizie Albright Star Detective, Cherry Tucker Mystery, and Finley Goodhart Crime Caper series. Her works have been chosen as book club picks by Woman’s World Magazine and Hot Mystery Reviews. Larissa’s a contributor to the 2017 Silver Falchion Reader’s Choice winner, was the 2015 Georgia Author of the Year finalist, 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist, 2012 The Emily finalist, and 2011 Dixie Kane Memorial winner.

Larissa’s family and dog, Biscuit, had been living in Japan, but once again call Georgia home. You can see them on HGTV’s House Hunters International “Living for the Weekend in Nagoya” episode. Visit her website, LarissaReinhart.com, and join her newsletter for a free short story.
Our monthly Upstate SC SinC meeting will take place Thursday, June 7, at The Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, SC.  Be there at 6:15 p.m. to meet the Larissa and enjoy chapter fellowship. Supper should be served at 6:30. Larissa’s talk will begin after new and old business at about 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, go to the Advance Order Menu tab at right to make your selection and e 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.