December 2 Meeting --What a year this has been!

 

Many of you have expressed hopes that we resume in-person meetings of our SinC Chapter. Unfortunately, The Runway Cafe continues to remain closed in the evenings. We hope that will change in the coming year. Even if that doesn't happen immediately, we hope to have a Spring Fling at an outdoor site just as soon as the weather permits in 2022. Just like last year, the 2021 holiday season presents us with a number of challenges. Many of us may still not be able to travel or spend time with our loved ones. But thanks to the wonders of technology, the Upstate Chapter of Sisters in Crime will once again come together, albeit virtually, to celebrate the season.

We hope you will join us as we gather together on December 2nd Each of you is invited to read something you've written or something you've read that you'd like to share with all of us. (4 minute limit.) We'd also encourage you to provide an update on what you've been working on over the past few months, as well as any ideas for programs you'd like to see in the coming year. ATTENDANCE IS FREE, BUT YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE When: Dec 2, 2020 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) To register  for this meeting click here: REGISTER After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. In the meantime, here's wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving! Any questions, contact Sally Handley, President, Upstate SC Chapter, Sisters in Crime, sally@sallyhandley.com

You never write alone when you have sisters!

Minutes from Nov 4 meeting

 

Nineteen people (from our own chapter, from across the US, and even from Canada) attended our monthly meeting on Thursday November 4 via ZOOM. Chapter President Sally Handley led the meeting and gave all a chance for a brief introduction during our social time, beginning at 6:30 pm. At 7:00 pm,  Sally then introduced our guest speaker, Cindy Sample. Ms. Sample gave an excellent presentation on writing humor, using examples from her own books and those of our very own member, Linda Lovely. The meeting was adjourned at 9 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Cindy Blackburn

Chapter Secretary

Author Cindy Sample Joins Us Nov. 4 for Laughs

 

Award-winning author Cindy Sample, known for her humorous cozy mysteries, will be the guest speaker for our Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime virtual November meeting. Cindy will talk about why humor is central to her mysteries, and how she dreams up her heroine’s humorous escapades. The Thursday, Nov. 4, Zoom meeting is open to the public, but advance registration is required.

Click HERE to register.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. East Coast time with members sharing writing and publishing updates prior to 7 p.m. when Cindy’s presentation will begin.

Cindy is the author of the national bestselling and award-winning Laurel McKay Humorous Mystery series, described as Erma Bombeck meets Agatha Christie. During for a Date, the first book in the eight-book series, has earned  some 1,188 Amazon ratings for a 4.5 star average. The Laurel McKay series is primarily set in El Dorado County, California.

Cindy is a five-time finalist for the LEFTY Award for Best Humorous Mystery and a two-time finalist for the SILVER FALCHION award for best traditional mystery.

In January, 2022, Cindy will release the first book in a new Spindrft Cove Mystery Series set in Washington state. Birthdays Are Murder gives singer/performer Sierra Sullivan, Laurel’s cousin, a chance to star in her own series. For more information about Cindy and her books, visit her website: https://cindysamplebooks.com/ or connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cindysampleauthor 

 

Forensic Psychologist Headlines Oct. 7 Meeting

 

Author and forensic psychologist Phyllis K. Walters will be the guest speaker for our Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime virtual October meeting. The Thursday, Oct. 7, Zoom meeting is open to the public, but advance registration is required.

Click HERE to register.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. East Coast time with members sharing writing and publishing updates prior to 7 p.m. when Phyllis’s presentation will begin. 

Phyllis K. Walters holds a doctorate in counseling and served as a licensed clinical psychologist in Ohio and an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton. She is the author of two true-crime novels, The Christmas Slavings, and Wives Who Kill. A third book in this series, Husbands Who Kill, is set for release in late 2021.

While this series is based on true stories in which Dr. Walters played a professional evaluation role, she chose the name Dr. Rosie Klein for the psychologist portrayed in the books.

In 1994 Dr. Walters was appointed to evaluate a young woman involved in a murder case. When she could not get this young woman out of her mind, she decided to write her story, which became The Christmas Slayings. The psychologist continues to correspond with the woman who has now been imprisoned for 29 years. Encouraged by her editor to write a three-book series, Dr. Walters focused on the story of two abused women, the choices they made for Wives Who Kill. Her SinC presentation will focus on these women.

Tami Hoag, #1 NYT Bestselling Author, Sept. 2 Guest Speaker

Tami Hoag, the #1 international bestselling author of more than 30 books published, will be the Sept. 2nd guest speaker at our Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime virtual meeting. The Thursday, Sept. 2, Zoom meeting is open to the public, but advance registration is required.

Click HERE to register.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. East Coast time with members sharing writing and publishing updates prior to 7 p.m. when Tami’s presentation will begin. 

Hoag first hit the New York Times Bestseller List with NIGHT SINS in 1995. Each of her books has been a bestseller. Published in 30 languages, more than 40 million of her books have been sold.

 Hoag prides herself on research-based realism, crackling dialogue, and spot-on police procedure. “My first obligation as a writer is to be as true as possible to the characters I’m writing about, to the jobs they do, and to the world they inhabit.” She’s become a crack shot with hand and long guns, studied forensic psychology with top experts, learned to drive a police car in pursuit of bad guys, and studied mixed martial arts fighting.

Hoag grew up in Harmony, Minnesota. In 1988, Bantam published her first novel, a romance. After penning a number of romance novels, she switched her focus to mystery and thrillers.

Tami lives in the greater Los Angeles area where she is also known as a top competitive equestrian in the Olympic discipline of dressage.

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Speaker Marco Conelli, NYPD Investigator & Former Undercover Officer

Marco Conelli, who served New York City as an NYPD Detective for more than 20 years, will be the August 5 guest speaker at our Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime virtual meeting. The Thursday, Aug. 5, Zoom meeting is open to the public, but advance registration is required. 

Click HERE to register.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. East Coast time with members sharing writing and publishing updates prior to 7 p.m. when Marco’s presentation will begin. He’ll talk about his work as an undercover officer and what writers get right and wrong about undercover work. He’ll also discuss his duties and challenges as an investigator for the District Attorney’s office.

Marco, a crime purist at heart, is a prize-winning author as well as a crime-solving professional. His latest book, Cry for Help, a hard-boiled police procedural released in 2016, delves into New York’s forgotten borough, The Bronx. 

In 2007, Marco introduced teenage sleuth Matthew Livingston and, in the process, ignited a dormant young adult mystery genre. The third book in the series, Matthew Livingston and the Politics of Death, won the 2011 Silver Falchion Award.  

Marco lectures at Crime Writing conferences and has created presentations designed to teach authors credible police techniques. His advice has helped many authors, including Mary Higgins Clark pen her novel The Shadow of Your Smile. Marco lives in New York where he continues to work as an investigator. 

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes - July 8

 Minutes from July 2021 Meeting – Upstate, SC, Sisters in Crime

Our monthly meeting for July 2021 was held a week later than usual due to the holiday earlier in the

month. We gathered, via ZOOM, at 6:30 on July 8, 2021. 35 people attended the meeting. Linda Lovely,

our membership chair, with a little help from me, the secretary, conducted the meeting, since our

president Sally Handley could not attend.

No new business, although a few upcoming conferences were discussed during our social half hour. At

7:00 we all got a fantastic treat, when our guest speaker Edith Maxwell took the ZOOM stage to discuss

her tips and tricks for writing a series. Great info from a great author! Check out the recording of the

meeting to learn more! And many thanks to Ms. Maxwell.

Linda closed the meeting at about 8:00.

Respectfully Submitted,

Cindy Blackburn

Chapter Secretary

Guest Author Edith Maxwell To Share Tricks for Writing Series

 

At the July 8 virtual meeting of our Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime, Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell will about tricks for writing a series - beginning considerations, record keeping, and how to stay sane and keep it fresh when it becomes long-running. She’ll also answer member questions.

 MEETING DETAILS

The Zoom meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time to give members and guests a chance to share writing and publishing news before Edith begins her presentation at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The meeting is free and open to guests, but you do need to register in advance.

Click HERE to register.

 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Edith Maxwell is a past president of the New England chapter of Sisters in Crime and a long-time member of the Society of Friends. She is the author of the Agatha Award-winning Quaker Midwife Mysteries and short crime fiction, and she writes the Country Store Mysteries and the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries under the pseudonym Maddie Day.

A fourth-generation Californian, Edith lives with her beau and energetic kitten north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook. Find her (and Maddie) at EdithMaxwell.com, wickedauthors.com, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media.

 

Minutes - June 3 Meeting

Chapter President Sally Handley began our monthly SinC Upstate meeting at 6:30 on June 3, 2021, via Zoom. As usual our first half hour was informal—meet and greet, and any news catch up. We had several guests from far and wide who were interested in our guest speaker and his topic for the evening. Mostly we all chatted about upcoming conferences we have heard about that might be of interest to mystery writers throughout the summer.

Sally began the official part of the meeting at 7:00. No old business. New business—our chapter will need a new president as of January 2022, as Sally will have fulfilled the 5-year time limit SinC National places on local chapter presidents. In other words, we need someone to volunteer for the president’s position for at least the coming year (2022). Interested?? Contact Sally, or any of the current board memebrs for more info!

Linda Lovely introduced our guest speaker, and Jim Mann, a retired security strategist gave a fantastic and informative (and rather terrifying!) powerpoint presentation on cyber threats, cyber crimes, and cyber safety tips for private indiviuals, businesses and corporations, and government entities. Many of us had questions, and Jim answered them all! The meeting was recorded, and you can find the recording here at our website.

Sally was called away, so at 8:05 or so, Cindy Blackburn closed the meeting. Thanks to all for attending. We hope you learned a lot!

Respectfully Submitted,

Cindy Blackburn,

Chapter Secretary   

CYBER HACKS, RANSOMWARE, THREATS

 At the June 3 virtual meeting of our Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime, Jim Mann, a recently retired Security Strategist for HP Inc., will provide an overview of today’s biggest cyber threats, how criminals use them, and efforts to combat them. He’ll also answer member questions.

The Zoom meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time to give members and guests a chance to share writing and publishing news before Jim begins his presentation at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The meeting is free and open to guests, but you do need to register in advance.

Click HERE to register.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Security Strategist Jim Mann pictured at the 2020 NBA Finals.
In his “side job,” he serves as Head Statistician for the Houston Rockets.

Jim is a retired Distinguished Technologist from HP Inc. As Security Strategist in the Office of the Chief Engineer, he led and participated in various security-related activities both across HP and in industry consortia. Jim led the company’s product security quality and governance efforts, community development, education, supply chain security, and wrote security requirements and policies. He served as a technical resource for HP business units in bringing secure products to market. Active in numerous industry consortia activities and other private-public forums related to security, he also worked with security-sensitive U.S. government agencies.

Prior to this position, Jim held various chief technologist and strategist roles embedded in the business units. He was the Director of R&D at both Hewlett-Packard and Compaq for iPAQ Handheld products, and held design and management roles in both consumer and commercial desktop organizations. Jim received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Engineering from Iowa State University, where he graduated with Distinction and performed graduate work in the fields of non-destructive evaluation and artificial intelligence. He was awarded the 1992 Achievement Award by the American Society for Nondestructive Testing. A resident of Cypress, Texas, Jim retired after 30 years at HP and Compaq. He holds 32 Patents with more pending.

 

Minutes - May 6, 2021

Upstate SinC Meeting 5/6/21 Minutes:

ZOOM meeting began informally at 6:30 with greetings, intros of new faces, and any news reports from our members and friends. Aprox 20 people attended.

At 7:00 Chapter President Sally Handley called the meeting to order.

                Old Business—nothing

                New Business—Sally reminded us of our Mystery Book Club meeting this coming Wednesday at noon. It’s a ZOOM meeting, we’re reading Dog On It by Spencer Quinn, and Cindy Blackburn is leading the discussion this month. If you care to join us, contact Sally for the ZOOM invitation.

Other new business—our chapter will be ZOOMing in again on May 19^th for an informal discussion concerning the new Amazon platform Vella. Be on the lookout for an e-mail from Sally with more details!

Linda Lovely then introduced our guest speaker—Harriet Sackler. Ms. Sackler discussed and explained her publishing company—Level Best Books. She also her explained her involvement in the mystery conference Malice Domestic and what to expect this year, as the conference will be virtual. Many questions about both Level Best and Malice Domestic were asked and answered, with Linda Lovely taking the lead in keeping the questions and discussion flowing. (Linda has a contract with Level Best!) Thank you, Linda. And big thanks to Ms. Sackler!! The video recording of the presentation is available at this websight.

Sally adjourned our meeting at about 8:00.

Respecfully Submitted,

Cindy Blackburn,

Chapter Secretary

April--An Afternoon of Mystery with Catriona McPherson!

 

We hope you can join the Upstate SC Chapter and the Greenville Library for this mystery-packed double panel event on Saturday, April 10th from 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM Eastern Time.  Celebrated author Catriona McPherson kicks off the afternoon with her discussion, Plenty Deadly: Sisters, Dames, and Girl Detectives, a fascinating look at women sleuths and women mystery writers.

Keynote Speaker Catriona McPherson Catriona McPherson was born in Scotland and lived there until 2010 until immigrating to California, where she lives on Patwin ancestral land. A former academic linguist, she now writes full-time. Her multi-award-winning and national best-selling work includes: the DANDY GILVER historical detective stories, the LAST DITCH mysteries, set in California, and a strand of contemporary standalone novels including Edgar-finalist THE DAY SHE DIED and Mary Higgins Clark finalist STRANGERS AT THE GATE. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, The Crimewriters’ Association, The Society of Authors and Sisters in Crime, of which she is a former national president.

Panel Discussion: What We Wish We Had Known About the Writing Process

Explore mystery writing even further with the second session, The Mystery of Writing - a panel discussion with Catriona McPherson and authors Cindy Blackburn, Kellye Garrett, Sally Handley, Polly Iyer, Howard G. Lewis (moderator) and Linda Lovely.  Join the authors as they discuss what they wish someone had told them when they were first starting out as authors.

ATTENDANCE IS FREE, BUT YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE ATTENDANCE IS FREE, BUT YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE An Afternoon of Mystery Registration link (for both parts of the day): https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwvd--prTkoGtBPMns6glk34RlGPU5iMmTi An Afternoon of Mystery event link: https://www.greenvillelibrary.org/event-series/an-afternoon-of-mystery Any questions, contact Sally Handley, President, Upstate SC Chapter, Sisters in Crime, sally@sallyhandley.com

You never write alone when you have sisters!

March Speaker, Forensic Artist

 

Roy B. Paschal, Forensic Artist

The Upstate SC Chapter of Sisters in Crime hopes you can join us on March 4th when artist and sculptor Roy B. Paschal will be our guest speakerh. With thirty years’ experience as a Forensic Artist for South Carolina Law Enforcement Division in Columbia, Roy will discuss the role of the forensic artist in solving crimes. With a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Baptist College of Charleston, Roy also served as a Toxicologist and Drug Analyst during his tenure at the SC Law Enforcement Division. Author of “Forensic Scientists in the Courtroom”, he has been a frequent guest lecturer to numerous law enforcement groups throughout his career. Roy’s professional memberships include: About Face Artist Group IAI- Forensic Art Certification Board - 1997-2003 IAI Journal of Forensic Identification – Editorial Board, 1997-2003 IAI - Chair Forensic Art Subcommittee - 1995-1997 (Secretary – 1995-1996) Since 2008, Roy has devoted his time to Art Instruction, Consultation, Sculpture, and Fine Art. To learn more about his artistic vision, visit: http://www.roypaschal.com/index.html#

ATTENDANCE IS FREE, BUT YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE To register  for this meeting click the link below: https://us02web.zoom.us/meetin... MEETING DETAILS When: March 4th, 2021 Networking: 06:30 PM- 07:00  Eastern Time (US and Canada) Speaker Presentation starts promptly at 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting We will be recording this meeting and will make it available to everyone on-line. Recordings will be available for one month. So even if you can’t join us on March 4th, you will still be able to watch the meeting at your convenience. Any questions, contact Sally Handley, President, Upstate SC Chapter, Sisters in Crime, sally@sallyhandley.com