A Visit To Writers' Police Academy

 It's hard to believe we're looking down the barrel of a new year already. We had an excellent 2012. We hosted a violent crimes detective, a GBI detective, a judge, a firearm expert, the director for a woman's shelter, and, of course, authors, including some of our own, who tried to guide us on our quest to write. The year 2013 promises to be equally good. So far we've scheduled, Nina Bruhns, editorial director for Entangled’s DEAD SEXY line, Chris Roerden, editor and author of Don't Murder Your Mystery (Agatha award winner for best non-fiction book) and Don't Sabotage Your Submission, and Shawn Stallo, an ATF agent who's looking forward to telling us what his agency does and sharing stories.  

    

Earlier this year, Linda Lovely and I attended the Writers' Police Academy in Greensboro, N.C. (Bear with me. This is relevant.) We attended classes taught by law enforcement instructors on everything from evidence collection to erotic asphyxia. For January, we've put together a presentation to cover those things that make law enforcement professionals cringe whenever they see the mistakes in books or on TV. Also, we'll share definitions for killers, how many people lose their lives to hippos, how positive is postivie fingerprint identification and much more.

 

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 3, at the Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. Pre-dinner fellowship begins around 6:15. If you’re planning to dine with us, please order ahead of time. Dinner will be served at 6:30 with the presentation starting at 7:00. Even if you can’t eat, but you plan to attend, let us know so we can ensure we provide enough seats. Click on the menu order information at left. Ellis has agreed to collect everyone’s dinner order at ellis@ellisvidler.com. Remember, if you order and fail to attend, you still have to pay, and we get to eat. 

Come join us for the meeting and start your new year right. We promise not to bug you about money during the first meeting.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Howard Lewis

Dec. 2--Chapter Holiday Celebration!

It's once more Holiday Time for the Upstate SC Sisters in Crime chapter. Our holiday party will be held on Sunday, Dec. 2, from 2-5 p.m. at the East Shores Clubhouse. If you live in the Greenville area and don't want to drive, contact our fearless leader, Howard Lewis about the planned caravan to Seneca.

Feel free to bring your spouse or a friend who enjoys books and good food.

Once again, it will be a covered dish affair--and, oh boy, do we have some good chefs and bakers in our group. Non-alcoholic drinks, cups, plates, etc. will be supplied. Please send Howard a note if you're able to bring a dish and what you plan in broad terms: entrée, dessert, snack, etc. Of course, if you can't bring anything, don't let that keep you away. We won't even notice.

Also bring a short passage to read. This can be from a work in progress, a new book, or a favorite author.

For those of you with a GPS, the address for the clubhouse is:

East Shores Clubhouse
110 Wynmere Way
Seneca, SC 
29672

If you can't find your way, call us at (864) 882-0120.

November 1, Upstate SC Sisters In Crime To Host Firearms Expert

The guest speaker at the Upstate S.C. Chapter of Sisters in Crime meeting on Thursday, November 1, will be Joe Wleklinski. Joe will discuss various types of firearms from 22s to 45s, from revolvers to semi-automatics. He'll talk about the parts of a gun, the types of safeties on various weapons, and what makes them go bang. He'll tell us what affect a person could expect from being shot with various calibers and types of bullets, where a person can carry a weapon with and without a concealed carry permit, and when a shooting is generally considered justified. 

The monthly meeting is set for Thursday, November 1, starting at 6:15 p.m. for dinner and informal conversation with Joe. The place is The Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. Joe's talk will begin at 7 p.m. Both the dinner and the meeting are open to the public.

 

Please note that The Runway Café prefers our group’s dinner orders to be emailed in advance to speed service. To see our group's special menu and how to place an order, click on the Advance Order Menu tab at right.  Dinner orders need to be placed by noon the day of the meeting. If you place an order and do not attend or cancel by noon, you will be charged for the meal.

Joe supports his family as a computer hardware consultant. In his spare time he is a certified NRA instructor, SLED certified concealed weapons instructor, a combat/SWAT instructor of the Steve Matoon (god father of SWAT training) training, a Glock Amour, and a gun smith.

He is a Reserve Sr. Deputy Sheriff with Richland County Sheriff Department, and a Sergeant First Class of the South Carolina State Guard. For the last four years, he's been an investigator for the Inspector General Office, and he's spent the last seven years in the Provost Marshalls Office.  He's been trained as an Executive Protection Operator, and Military Police Officer.

If that wasn't enough, his hobbies are photography and training women how to defend themselves.  

Our president, Howard Lewis, has taken one of Joe's classes, and assures us we will all walk away with a better understanding of firearms and the mistakes most of us make when writing about guns. If there is enough interest, Joe has a offered to host a short class at his place on gun safety and then allowing whoever wants to shoot a variety of weapons. There will have to be a small charge for whatever ammo we shoot up, but where else could we get this experience.

OCTOBER SPEAKER PENS SERIES SET IN UK

AUTHOR OF A MYSTERY SERIES SET IN ENGLAND

TO SPEAK TO UPSTATE SC CHAPTER OF SISTERS IN CRIME

Marni Graff, the author of the Nora Tierney mystery series, set in the UK, will be the guest speaker at the Upstate S.C. Chapter of Sisters in Crime meeting on Thursday, October 4.

Graff will discuss the challenges and rewards of setting a mystery outside the United States and how her Nora Tierney mystery series pays tribute to and differs from traditional British mysteries. She’ll also discuss the primer she co-authored on writing and critique groups and her weekly mystery review blog.

The monthly meeting is slated for Thursday, October 4, starting at 6:15 p.m. for dinner and informal conversation with Marni Graff at The Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. Her talk will begin at 7 p.m. Both the dinner and the meeting are open to the public.

Please note that The Runway Café prefers our group’s dinner orders to be emailed in advance to speed service. To see the special menu for our group and the procedure for placing an advance order, please click on the Advance Order Menu tab at right.  Dinner orders need to be placed by noon the day of the meeting. The early orders allow the restaurant to prepare the food and serve our group promptly at 6:30 p.m. so we can finish eating before our speaker is introduced. If you place an order and do not attend or cancel by noon, you will be charged for the meal.

Marni Graff’s debut novel, The Blue Virgin, is set in Oxford and introduces Nora, an American writer living in England. Nora becomes involved in a murder investigation to clear her best friend as a suspect, to the chagrin of the lead investigator, Declan Barnes. The Green Remains follows Nora’s move to Cumbria, where she’s awaiting the publication of her first children’s book and the birth of her first child. When Nora stumbles across the corpse at the edge of Lake Windermere, she realizes she recognizes the dead man. Then her friend and illustrator, Simon Ramsey, is implicated in the murder of the heir to Clarendon Hall, and Nora swings into sleuth mode.

Graff is co-author of Writing in a Changing World, a primer on writing groups and critique techniques. She writes a weekly mystery book review at www.auntiemwriters.wordpress.com .

A member of Sisters in Crime, Graff runs the NC Writers Read program in Belhaven and founded the group Coastal Carolina Mystery Writers. She has also published poetry, last seen in Amelia Earhart: A Tribute; her creative nonfiction has most recently appeared in Southern Women’s Review. All of Graff’s books can be bought at Amazon.com or at http://www.bridlepathpress.com.

September Meeting is CANCELLED

Due to a variety of complications, the September 6 meeting of the Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime is CANCELLED. Our guest speaker, Nina Bruhns, has agreed to join us in the spring, and we'll notify everyone well in advance of the date of her visit so folks can plan their pitches and enjoy her presentation.

Please be advised that if you contacted Howard Lewis regarding this meeting, he may not have received your message. Due to a death in the family, he is away from his computer and email.

Thanks for your understanding!

Nina Bruhns, Best-Selling Author & Entangled Editorial Director, Joins us Sept. 6

We’re delighted that Nina Bruhns, national best-selling author of nearly 30 books and editorial director for Entangled’s DEAD SEXY line, will be our guest speaker at our Thursday, September 6 meeting. Nina also has agreed to take pitches from authors interested in having their work published by Entangled, an e-book publisher.

At the meeting, Nina will talk about her experiences and publishing trends, including the surge in indie publishing. The monthly meeting is slated for Thursday, September 6, starting at 6:15 p.m. for dinner and informal conversation with Nina at The Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. Her talk will begin at 7 p.m. Both the dinner and the meeting are open to the public.

  

Here are the rules if you want to pitch your manuscript:

(1)     You must have a completed manuscript.

(2)     The manuscript must meet the submission criteria for one of the Entangled lines (Complete guidelines for the imprint can be found here: http://bit.ly/DeadSexyBooks)

(3)     We must receive your request before 8 a.m. Wednesday, September 5

(4)     To make a request, email howard-g-lewis@earthlink.net and then provide us with your name, email address, phone number and the Entangled line you are interested in.

(5)  We will contact you with your 'slot'

We will schedule pitches in 15 minute intervals, starting around 3 or 4 p.m. (depending upon response).

Please note that The Runway Café prefers our group’s dinner orders to be emailed in advance to speed service. To see the special menu for our group and the procedure for placing an advance order, please visit our website — www.sincupstatesc.blogspot.com  — click on the Advance Order Menu tab at right.  Dinner orders need to be placed by noon the day of the meeting. The early orders allow the restaurant to prepare the food and serve our group promptly at 6:30 p.m. so we can finish eating before our speaker is introduced. If you place an order and do not attend or cancel by noon, you will be charged for the meal.

Thursday, August 2, Upstate Sisters in Crime Meeting

The Upstate Chapter of Sisters in Crime meeting Thursday, August 2 will be held at the Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. Pre-dinner fellowship begins around 6:15. Dinner will be served at 6:30 with the meeting starting at 7:00.

This month we have the pleasure of meeting Linda Kiliszewski. From Linda, “I graduated from high school in 1964.  As a female at that time, my higher education choices were:  secretary, nurse, teacher.  I chose teacher.  Off I went to Buffalo State, from the country to the city, as far from home as my NYS scholarship would be viable.

“All was fine until I student taught.  Hated it.  Changed majors to Liberal Arts - English, and still managed to graduate in 4 years with a BA in Liberal Arts.  What to do???  Hmmmmm... I had taken an elective in juvenile delinquency that seemed kind of interesting, so I hunted up the professor to inquire about the pathway to that job.  "You need a couple of years experience in some kind of social work, or else a Masters" he explained, and added that the 2 years could be gained by taking a civil service exam and going to work at the Department of Social Services.  I did that.

“Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, depending on your point of view), I passed the exam, interviewed, and was hired and assigned to what was then known as Child Welfare Service (a separate division of the Department of Social Services.)

“There I was, greener than grass, having come from a rather sheltered background, and now responsible for *the welfare of children!* We're talking about abused and/or neglected kids who have been removed from their parents by Family Court, or even voluntarily surrendered by parents who could not care for them.  So these kids are in foster home placement... the plan is to help the parents to correct whatever problems caused the removal of their children, so the children can go back home.  So... drug or alcohol addicted, mentally ill people, parents with just no basic idea of good parenting.  Mostly, the kids just stayed in foster care... and if they exhibited enough adjustment/behavior problems, then institution placement. (Worse yet.)

“So, after 3 1/2 years of that, another civil service exam, another interview, and then - viola! - I became a Probation Officer.  Still clueless.  And there I remained for 22 years, because in those days we didn't change jobs at the drop of a hat, and the thing about civil service (also in those days) was that although the pay wasn't great, the benefits were.

“Again, fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view), I was assigned to the juvenile division.  Juvenile in NYS at that time included children ages 7 - 16 who were "ungovernable" meaning beyond parental control, or truant to the extent that the school petitioned Family Court, or else they were delinquent, in that they had committed some kind of criminal offense.

Family Court could order probation supervision for a year or two, with specific terms and conditions, and if the child did not comply, he/she could be returned before the judge and ordered into an institutional setting.

“After about 10 years in juvenile, I asked for and was granted a transfer to the Adult Supervision where I remained for the rest of my career.  Easier, because it was possible not to care as much.  Harder, because of the heavy caseloads and the much more serious offenses that had been committed.  I did several years of "regular" supervision, a few more of "intensive" supervision (smaller caseloads, more serious offenders), and ended up doing presentence investigations for the courts where you supply the judges with a complete criminal and social history of the offender, including any "victim impact" statements, and a recommendation for sentencing.  (I understand that presentence reports are not done here in SC.)

“And after that, in 1993, I quit, moved down here to SC, and lived happily ever after.”

July 2012 Meeting Details for Upstate Sisters in Crime

Since the first Thursday in July lies on the week of the 4th, the Upstate Sisters in Crime will meet on July 12th. Ellis has found us a place. Again thanks. It wasn't easy. We're returning to one of our old haunts, Ryan’s. Anything you want and plenty of it. The tip will be added to our bill, but we will still probably send around a cup for our server.
J. Douglas Parker, a 30 year veteran of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, still plans to join us and share some of his vast experience. Since leaving the GBI, he has started his own company, Private Consultations & Investigations, LLC. Mr. Parker has investigated over 350 deaths involving natural, accidental, suicide, police officer "use of force" and murder, some resulting in the death penalty. These investigations have involved the securing of search warrants in accordance with the 4th amendment, the processing and documentation of crime scenes and attending autopsies. Parker has interviewed in excess of 35,000 witnesses, victims, and suspects in a vast array of cases from juvenile misdemeanors to felonies. He has been trained in nonverbal communication and statement analysis which coupled together can provide for an accurate assessment of witness, victim and suspect statements.

Among the services offered by PCI, Parker’s private investigation firm, are criminal/civil case investigations, crime scene and evidence reviews, background investigations, computer and cell phone forensics, blood spatter analysis, polygraphs, layered voice analysis, undercover surveillance, and more. Truthfully, there is a lot more to be said about Mr. Parker and his company, but in the interest of brevity, I’ve stopped here.

The meeting will be Thursday, July 12. Ryan’s is a self-serve buffet style restaurant so there is no reason to preorder. The meeting will be in the back room. Trust me it isn't as intriguing as it sounds. The restaurant is at 2426 Laurens Road in Greenville. Typically, pre-dinner fellowship begins around 6:15, and the meeting starts at 7:00.

Hope to see you all there. It should be a very interesting meeting.
haird

Angela Knight's Fight Scene How-To Presentation

On Saturday, May 12, the Palmetto RWA chapter has invited the Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime to attend a presentation by NY Times best-selling author Angela Knight, who will share her secrets on how to write realistic fight scenes. The presentation starts at 10 a.m. at the Pelham Branch of the Greenville, SC, Public Library.

May 3rd--Guest Speaker Will Address Domestic Abuse Issues

Our May 3rd meeting Sisters in Crime meeting will focus on domestic abuse, including signs of a domestic abuser and the abused, how abuse starts, how it escalates, and where and what kind of help a person can expect.

Our guest speaker, Becky Callaham, M.ED, LPC, has plenty of expert knoweldge and experience in dealing with abuse victims. She's worked in human services since 1986. For the last 12 years, she's worked at Safe Harbor increasing her responsibilities from shelter counselor to Executive Director. Safe Harbor provides domestic violence prevention, crisis intervention, emergency shelter, transitional housing and community education for the Upstate of South Carolina.

Becky earned a BS in Psychology from the College of Charleston, an M.ED in Counseling from Clemson University, and she is a Licensed Professional Counselor.

She started her career while still in college working part time at a homeless shelter in Charleston, SC. It was during this time that she developed a passion for working with people who have been oppressed and marginalized.

She spent 10 years working at Gateway House, an internationally recognized rehabilitation program for adults with mental illness. She worked with these individuals, assisting them to rebuild their lives in areas of housing, employment, education and overall quality of life.

As usual, we'll meet Thursday, May 3 at the Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. Pre-dinner fellowship begins around 6:15. If you’re planning to dine with us, please order ahead of time. Dinner will be served at 6:30 with the Ms. Callaham’s discussion starting at 7:00. Even if you can’t eat, but you plan to attend, let us know so we can ensure we provide enough seats. For menu information, see our blog/websitewww.sincupstatesc.blogspot.com. Ellis has agreed to collect everyone’s dinner order at ellis@ellisvidler.com. Remember, if you order and fail to attend, you still have to pay, and we will enjoy your food.

April 2012 Meeting - C. Hope Clark is our Guest Speaker!

April 5, Sisters In Crime Meeting

For April, we have the pleasure of hosting C. Hope Clark. Ms. Clark is an accomplished author and an advocate for writers. Her debut work, Lowcountry Bribe - A Carolina Slade Mystery, from Bell Bridge Books, was releasedFebruary 1, 2012. Lowcountry Bribe's opening chapter took first place in the Phillip Mangelsdorf Award, third place in Alabama Writer's Conclave Competition and honorable mention in The Writing Show Chapter Competition as judged by bestselling mystery author C. J. Box. The novel enjoyed semi-finalist status (top 100 out of 10,000) in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest, and was selected as a finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Mystery/Suspense Award, sponsored by the Romance Writers of America.

Hope is married to a 30-year veteran of federal law enforcement, a Senior Special Agent, now a contract investigator. They met on a bribery investigation within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the basis for the opening scene to Lowcountry Bribe.

She also currently manages Funds forWriters.com, a weekly newsletter service she founded that reaches almost 45,000 writers to include university professors, professional journalists and published mystery authors. Writer's Digest has recognized the site in its annual 101 Best Web Sites for Writers for a dozen years.

She's published in The Writer Magazine, Writer's Digest, Chicken Soup, Next Step Magazine, College Bound Teen, Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), TURF Magazine, Landscape Management and other trade and online publications. She speaks at writers' conferences across the United States, and is a long-term member of SC Writers Workshop Association, Sisters in Crime and MENSA.

For more information about Hope's newsletters and other books, visit her website at http://chopeclark.com/

Come join us Thursday, April 5 at the Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. Pre-dinner fellowship begins around6:15. If you’re planning to dine with us, please order ahead of time. Dinner will be served at 6:30 with the panel discussion starting at7:00. Even if you can’t eat, but you plan to attend, let us know so we can ensure we provide enough seats. See our blog/website, www.sincupstatesc.blogspot.com, for menu information. Ellis has agreed to collect everyone’s dinner order atellis@ellisvidler.com. Remember, if you order and fail to attend, you still have to pay, and we will enjoy your food.

I hope to see you there.

haird

March 1 2012, Sisters In Crime Meeting

On March 1, the Upstate Sisters In Crime has the pleasure of meeting Detective Diane Orlanda.

Prepare yourself for an interesting and informative meeting! Detective Orlanda achieved an Associates in Social Science and a BA in Psychology before starting her Law Enforcement career as a corrections officer at the Greenville County Detention Center. She has continued her training over the years with various law enforcement classes, and FBI courses

She started her career as a uniformed officer, then she became a forensic investigator, a hostage negotiation team member, and a detective. She has 10 years of experience in street law enforcement, incarceration, forensics, interrogation, and court room testimony.

Please join us for the monthly meeting:

• DATE :  Thursday, March 1, 2012
• WHERE:  The Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. 
• INFORMAL TIME:  6:15 p.m. for dinner and informal conversation with Detective Orlanda.
• MEETING TIME:  7 p.m. Official start of meeting and Detective Orlanda's presentation.

Both the dinner and the meeting are open to the public. A few minutes will be taken before the start of the program for chapter business.

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ:
The Runway Café prefers our group’s dinner orders be emailed in advance to speed service.

To see the special menu for our group, please visit our website   http://www.sincupstatesc.blogspot.com/

Click on the Advance Order Menu (link is here, or click on the tab on the sidebar at right.

Email your dinner orders to Ellis Vidler (ellis@ellisvidler.com) by noon Thursday.

The early orders allow the restaurant to prepare the food and serve our group promptly at 6:30 p.m. so we can finish eating before our speakers are introduced. If you place an order and do not attend or cancel before noon, you will be charged for the meal.

JOIN US FEB. 2--LOCAL AUTHORS LEAD PANEL DISCUSSION ON SELF PUBLISHING

Self-publishing is a relatively new choice in the publishing industry. Many top authors have chosen this route in getting their work out to the public. Many authors are considering it. And most authors are confused by it. Sisters in Crime members Polly Iyer and Ellis Vidler have experience with both traditional and self-publishing.

These authors will take the mystery out of self-publishing during a panel discussion at the February meeting of the Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime. They’ll discuss the advantages to publishing oneself, how to format your book, what makes good cover art, what to include in a blurb, and how to let the world know you have a book for sale.

Members and guests of the Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime will meet on Thursday, February 2, at 6:15 p.m. for dinner and informal conversation with the authors at The Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. The panel discussion will begin at 7 p.m. Both the dinner and the meeting are open to the public.

Polly Iyer was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, a coastal city north of Boston. After graduating from Massachusetts College of Art, she accompanied a friend to Italy. Polly stayed a year and a half. Her friend never came home. In the City of Lights, Rome, she worked as a free-lance illustrator for Women’s Wear Daily, sketching the designs of Valentino and Emilio Pucci, among others. Upon returning to the States, she continued free-lancing for Fairchild Publications, and offered copywriting and illustration services to a select group of clients.

Polly is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and past-president of her local Sisters in Crime chapter. Polly creates her own cover art, and her self-published books include InSight, Hooked, Murder Déjà Vu, and Mind Games. Her traditionally published novels are under a pen name and in a different genre.

As a child in North Alabama, Ellis spent nights reading, from Tarzan and D’Artagnan to Anne Shirley and Nancy Drew. She spent hot days imagining herself living them. So what did she do as an adult? Write fiction. She loves creating characters and making them do what she wants. Much to her dismay, mostly they take off on their own and leave her hurrying to catch up.

Ellis is an author, editor, and speaker. She studied English and art at All Saints College for Women, and thoroughly enjoyed studying creative writing under the great Scott Regan. She taught elements of fiction at a community college. All her stories have some degree of romance and a lot of suspense. Her traditionally published works are Haunting Refrain and Cold Comfort. The Peeper and Tea in the Afternoon are self-published.

January 2012 Meeting Minutes

The Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime opened the first meeting of 2012 with the election of new officers.

Howard Lewis was elected Chapter President
Linda Lovely was elected Chapter Vice-President
Helen Turnage was elected Chapter Treasurer
Deb Carr was elected Chapter Secretary

Kathleen Delaney and Linda Lovely announced new book contracts with Harlequin.

Linda reminded everyone to renew their membership in Sisters in Crime National Chapter, since that membership is a requirement for membership in the local chapter.

The decision was unanimous to continue holding meetings at The Runway Cafe, on the first Thursday of each month.

Our guest speakers were Jim Schoonover, a retired State Department employee, and his wife, Barbara. They both told entertaining tales of their three-year assignment in Cairo, Egypt.

Launching 2012 with International Intrigue

The Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime welcomes Jim Schoonover, a retired State Department employee, and his wife, Barbara, as guest speakers for our first meeting of 2012 THIS THURSDAY. During his career, Schoonover, an engineer, visited more than 95 countries, while his wife worked for the U.S. Embassy in Cairo during a three-year assignment in Egypt.

The couple will discuss various aspects of living and working abroad. If you have a question about setting a scene from your novel in a different country, odds are that Schoonover will be able to provide some first-hand information.

The monthly meeting is slated for Thursday, January 5, starting at 6:15 p.m. for dinner and informal conversation with the Schoonovers at The Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. Their talk will begin at 7 p.m. Both the dinner and the meeting are open to the public. A few minutes will be taken before the start of the program for the 2012 election of officers.

Please note that The Runway Café prefers our group’s dinner orders to be emailed in advance to speed service. To see the special menu for our group and the procedure for placing an advance order, please visit our website — www.sincupstatesc.blogspot.com — and click on the Advance Order Menu tab at right. . Email your dinner orders to Ellis Vidler (ellis@ellisvidler.com) by noon Thursday. The early orders allow the restaurant to prepare the food and serve our group promptly at 6:30 p.m. so we can finish eating before our speakers are introduced. If you place an order and do not attend or cancel before noon, you will be charged for the meal.