NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 HOTSHOTS! (click on image to view)
Inside this issue: Never Ever Round Robin, NaNoWriMo #SinC50K, Remembering Joyce Arquette, Austin Shakespeare – Agatha Christies The Hollow, Authors of Mystery Talk, Free Workshop with Bernard Schaffer (Houston Chapter)
Sisters in Crime is an international organization of women and men whose mission is to promote the professional development and advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry. Speakers include published mystery authors and technical experts who help writers craft better mysteries and readers enjoy what they read. Meetings are free and open to all. For more information, check out the Sisters in Crime website at https://sinc-heartoftexas.com.
Our mission is to promote
the ongoing advancement, recognition,
and professional development of women crime writers. ~ SINC Mission Statement
@ CAFE EXPRESS! Program: Manning Wolfe on Legal Issues for Authors Upcoming Programs HoTXSinC Interview Published in Austin Chronicle Texas Book Festival: HoTXSinC Authors Update Boerne Book Festival: Table for HoTXSinC Authors For Members Only: A Fun Short Ghost Story Contest The Word on Our Members Who’s Blogging? Opportunities Selected Sites
HOTSHOTS! Wants You
Subscribe to HOTSHOTS! Nolo Contendere
Manning Wolfe
on
Legal issues for Authors
Manning Wolfe will speak to Heart of Texas Sisters in Crime on August 12, 2018, at Café Express about Legal Issues For Authors. Manning’s legal thrillers include Dollar Signs, Music Notes and Green Fees.Manning’s a member of our chapter.
Have you ever wondered if someone could steal your manuscript? Have you ever badmouthed someone in your book and wondered if they could sue you? Have you ever wondered if it’s safe to say your character drank a Coke or a Lone Star Beer? These are the questions that Manning will cuss and discuss. She’ll also provide information on copyright, use of photos, ISBN’s, tax obligations, and more. Expect plenty of handouts for more in-depth study, and as a reminder of the tips she gives in her talk.
Don’t get caught with your proverbial pants down! Come out and learn the nuts and bolts of Legal Issues for Authors! Hope to see you there!
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Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter meets monthly on the second Sunday of the month at 2:15 p.m. We meet at Café Express at 3418 N. Lamar.
Sisters in Crime is an international organization of women and men whose mission is to promote the professional development and advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry. Speakers include published mystery authors and technical experts who help writers craft better mysteries and readers enjoy what they read. Meetings are free and open to all. For more information, check out the Sisters in Crime website at https://sinc-heartoftexas.com.
For information contact Joyce Arquette, Publicity (512) 266-6543
“Sisters in Crime Prefer Their Ink Mixed With a Little Blood”—an interview with HoTXSinC President Helen Currie Foster, President Elect Noreen Cedeño, and HOTSHOTS! editor M. K. Waller–appeared in the July 5, 2018 issue of the Austin Chronicle. Read it online here. It also ran in the Chronicle’s print edition under the headline “Murder, They Write.”
*****
“Why do cats sleep so much?
Perhaps they’ve been trusted with some major cosmic task,
an essential law of physics – such as:
if there are less than 5 million cats sleeping at any one time
the world will stop spinning.
So that when you look at them and think, “what a lazy, good-for-nothing animal,” they are, in fact, working very, very hard.” ― Kate Atkinson
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Texas Book Festival: HoTXSinC Authors Update
The 2018 Texas Book Festivalis drawing near, and we are hard at work putting together the HoTXSinC booth! This year the festival takes place in and around the Capitol grounds and runs from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, 10/27 and from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, 10/28. Here are some things our members need to know!
You can still sign up to staff the booth! Here’s the link to the sign-up page! Just copy and paste this address into your browser:
We want to sell your books! HoTXSinC members may bring their books to any of our meetings between now and the festival. (October 14 is the date of the last SinC meeting before the festival.) We are asking for the following items:
–No more than ten copies of each book
–A brief synopsis of the book (think elevator pitch plus just a few more details)
–A brief bio of yourself
An 8 X 10 photo of yourself, ESPECIALLY if you’re staffing the booth. This can be color or black and white. We noted last year that the festival attendees did not realize that the folks who were manning the booths were the actual authors of the books.
I have no problem with folks dropping off their books at my home. I live at 7520 Moon Rock Rd., ATX, 78739. That’s in the Circle C area south of town. If you need some help getting the books to me, please call me at 713-962-9992 or email me at kpgresham (at) aol (dot) com.
Thank you to all for your work in helping with this great P.R. event for both our authors and our Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter! K.P.Gresham
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“They said love made you strong, but in Louise’s opinion it made you weak.
It corkscrewed into your heart and you couldn’t get it out again,
not without ripping your heart to pieces.” ― Kate Atkinson, One Good Turn
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Boerne Book Festival: Table for HoTXSinC Authors
THE BOERNE BOOK FESTIVAL – OCTOBER 6, 2018 – 10:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. We have been invited to share in Boerne’s rich literary tradition. HoTXSinC WILL HAVE A TABLE AT THEIR BOOK FESTIVAL. We are asking for volunteers to work either of two shifts: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Please contact Fran Paino at franpaino.com if you can volunteer for either or both shifts. Booksellers must be present at the HoTXSinC table in Boerne to sell their books. Standard rules apply: Sellers must be current members in both local and national levels.
All who are interested in writing a ghost story, please submit no later than September 9, to Noreen Cedeño at noreenm74 (at) yahoo (dot) com, or Fran Paino atfpaino (at) gmail (dot) com.
Up to 6,000 words. The winner will be announced at the Member Showcase at the October meeting, when a paranormal expert will be the guest speaker. More information on the contest will follow.
*****
A truth is what it is.
A lie, a thought out deception more brutal than a truth could ever be. ~ Charlotte Armstrong
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“He was born a politician. No, Ursula thought, he was born a baby, like everyone else.
And this is what he has chosen to become.” ― Kate Atkinson, Life After Life
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The Word on Our Members
Nancy G. West’s THE PLUNGE, the first Aggie Mundeen Lake Mystery, will be released in October 2018.
“THE PLUNGE infects readers with the threat of looming disaster and the helplessness of being swept along by an untamable force. Do survivors really survive if disaster changes them forever?
“THE PLUNGE, a Lake Mystery, takes Aggie in a new direction.”
Nancy says, “In honor of first responders who save so many lives in a disaster, my royalties from sales of THE PLUNGE will go to the Texas National Guard and the 100 Club.
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Manning Wolfe joined BookPeople’s crime fiction coordinator ScottMontgomery and Hopeton Hay for a live in-studio interview about her latest legal thriller, GREEN FEES, on Sunday, June 27, on KAZI 88.7 FM. More information on GREEN FEES is available at http://manningwolfe.com/breaking-news-green-fees-is-live. They also did their crime fiction picks of the month with Molly Odintz, associate editor of crimereads.com, joining them by phone from New York.
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“Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested.” ― Kate Atkinson, Life After Life
“With the recent closing ofBlack Mirror Press,their planned anthology celebrating the works of Poe sits orphaned. After giving this situation a great deal of thought, and discussing it with our partners and staff, we at Camden Park Press have decided that the efforts of the authors who have been working on stories for the past several months should not be wasted, and Black Mirror Press’ efforts in inspiring the project and motivating the authors to create their own, re-imagined versions of Poe’s work need not be in vain. To that end, we are now opening submissions for Quoth the Raven, a contemporary re-imagining of the works of Edgar Allan Poe.”
“An annual anthology of hardboiled and noir crime fiction to be released each fall beginning in 2020, Mickey Finnwill pick up where the three-volume Fedora anthology series left off, pushing hard against the boundaries of crime fiction. Contributors will be encouraged to push their work into places short crime fiction doesn’t often go, into a world where the mean streets seem gentrified by comparison and happy endings are the exception rather than the rule.
“The ideal submission will be approximately 5,000 words—less than 3,000 is likely too short, more than 8,000 is likely too long. Originals only. No reprints.
“The first Mickey Finn is scheduled for release fall 2020.”
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Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible – Call for Submissions
“Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible will be presented by Parnell Hall and published by Wildside Press in time for Malice Domestic 31, which will take place May 3 – 5, 2019. . . Mystery Most Edible: ‘Mystery Most Edible’ means that the story must have a significant gastronomic or culinary aspect.”
*****
“If they would all sleep all the time
she wouldn’t mind being their mother.” ― Kate Atkinson, Case Histories
*****
“Men had no purpose on earth whereas
women were gods walking unrecognized among them.”
― Kate Atkinson
*“Fiction had never been Jackson’s thing. Facts seemed challenging enough without making stuff up.
What he discovered was that the great novels of the world were about three things – death, money and sex. Occasionally a whale.” ― Kate Atkinson, Started Early, Took My Dog
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HOTSHOTS! Wants You
HOTSHOTS!welcomes reviews and articles written by members. Query kathywaller1 (at) gmail (dot) com.
*****
“Sylvie’s knowledge, like Izzie’s, was random yet far-ranging,
‘The sign that one has acquired one’s learning from reading novels
rather than an education…” ― Kate Atkinson, Life After Life
*****
Subscribe to HOTSHOTS!
You can receive notification each time HOTSHOTS! is published.
OR Ask Kathy to register for you. kathywaller1 (at) gmail (dot) com
*****
My father, whose hobby was collecting secondhand cricket books,
came back from a book fair one day
with a copy of ‘The Body In The Library.’ ~ Sophie Hannah
*****
No Lo Contendere
Members, send news to kathywaller1 (at) gmail (dot) com. Include both past and upcoming events. Include pictures if you have them.
Also send head shots and a list of your book titles/short story titles to Kathy for theHOTXSINC author page.
And send titles/authors of books (articles, websites, blogs) you’ve read or are reading, and that you recommend to other Sisters in Crime.
HOTSHOTS! welcomes reviews and articles written by members. Email kathywaller1 (at) gmail (dot) com.
Our mission is to promote
the ongoing advancement, recognition,
and professional development of women crime writers. ~ SINC Mission Statement
@ CAFE EXPRESS! Program: Dave Ciambrone on Off-the-Shelf Poisons for Writers
***Watch for It! July 6 – HoTXSinC in The Austin Chronicle***
Upcoming Programs
HoTXSinC Members: Two Festivals for Selling Your Books
Guest Post by Kaye George: To Go or Not to Go October: Paranormal Research and Member Showcase: Ghost Stories
What Can SinC Do for You? The Word on Our Members Who’s Blogging? Opportunities Selected Sites HOTSHOTS! Wants You
Subscribe to HOTSHOTS! Nolo Contendere
Dave Ciambrone
on
Off-the-Shelf Poisons for Writers
Dr. David Ciambrone is a retired aerospace and defense company executive, scientist, professor of engineering, and a forensics consultant and is now a best-selling, award-winning author living in Georgetown, Texas with his wife Kathy. He has published twenty-one books, four non-fiction, two (2) textbooks for a California university, and fifteen mysteries and has new mysteries in work.
Dave has been a speaker at writers groups, schools, colleges, writer’s conferences and business/scientific conferences internationally.
Dr. Ciambrone also wrote three newspaper columns and wrote a column for a business journal.
Dave has been VP of the Sisters in Crime Orange County, California chapter and President and treasurer of HoTXSinC. He was also president of the San Gabriel Writer’s League and was on the Board of Directors of the Writer’s league of Texas. He is a member of MWA and the International Thriller Writers.
Dr. Ciambrone worked with a police agency and was a consultant to police/sheriffs and coroners, including the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office.
Dave is a Fellow of the International Oceanographic Foundation. He has a Bronze Trowel Award from the Archaeological Institute of America. He is also a member of the Order of Merlin of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The Chinese Government appointed him a Dragon Master (龍重要資料).
***
Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter meets monthly on the second Sunday of the month at 2:15 p.m. We meet at Café Express at 3418 N. Lamar.
Sisters in Crime is an international organization of women and men whose mission is to promote the professional development and advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry. Speakers include published mystery authors and technical experts who help writers craft better mysteries and readers enjoy what they read. Meetings are free and open to all. For more information, check out the Sisters in Crime website at https://sinc-heartoftexas.com.
For information contact Joyce Arquette, Publicity (512) 266-6543
…it seems to us that the readers who want fiction to be like life
are considerably outnumbered by those who would like life to be like fiction. ~ Sarah Caudwell
*****
Watch for It! July 6 – HoTXSinC in The Austin Chronicle
A story about HoTXSinC will appear in the Austin Chroniclethis Friday, July 6, 2018. W. A. Brenner, the Chronicle’s Arts Listings and Food Events editor, interviewed President Helen Currie Foster, President-Elect Noreen Cedeño, and Web Editor Kathy Waller about the history, mission, and activities of the both the chapter SINC International. Discussion ranged from HoTXSinC’s programming to individual members’ favorite mystery authors. The print story will be released on Thursday, July 5. It will also appear on the Chronicle’s website, https://www.austinchronicle.com/
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Oppression works in such a way that it holds every person responsible for the acts of any wrongdoer of the oppressed group. ~ Rita Mae Brown
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Upcoming Programs
August: Manning Wolfe on Legal Issues for Writers
September: Dr. Kim Rossmo on Geographic Profiling (of serial killers/ terrorists/ rapists)
October: Robert Ansley on Paranormal Research and Showcase of Members’ Writing and Announcement of Ghost Story Contest Winner
November: Mark Pryor, District Attorney and Author
December: Party
And for 2019:
February: Jan Burke, Guest Speaker from SinC National Speaker’s Bureau
*****
What I find is that it’s the middle-aged authors who have lived a life who have the most important, interesting voices. They just need someone to give them the key to unlock the door. ~ Fiona McIntosh
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HoTXSinC Authors: Two Festivals for Selling Your Books
Current author members of Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter will be able to sell their books, and all members will have the opportunity to actively participate, network, and meet authors, publishers, and great readers at two book festivals.
THE TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL – OCTOBER 27 & 28, 2018
CHAIRED BY KATHY GRESHAM
HoTXSinC WILL HAVE A TABLE AT THE TBF. There are still slots available for volunteers to sign up and help at the HoTXSinC booth. Updates will be forthcoming from the chapter’s TBF chair.
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THE BOERNE BOOK FESTIVAL – OCTOBER 6, 2018 – 10:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. We have been invited to share in Boerne’s rich literary tradition. HoTXSinC WILL HAVE A TABLE AT THEIR BOOK FESTIVAL. We are asking for volunteers to work either of two shifts: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Please contact Fran Paino at franpaino.com if you can volunteer for either or both shifts. Booksellers must be present at the HoTXSinC table in Boerne to sell their books. Standard rules apply: Sellers must be current members in both local and national levels.
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I’ve never lost my capacity to be shocked. ~ Kathy Reichs
*****
Guest Post by Kaye George:
To Go or Not to Go
For me, as for many other writers, conferences are high points of the year. They make me feel like a real writer, an actual author. I can tell people I’m going to a conference and it makes me sound so businesslike and professional.
If you don’t already know, you can deduce from my opening that I (again like many other writers) am insecure in the profession. We feel like frauds. We wrote a book and got it published, but maybe it was a fluke. Can we ever do it again? I’ve written and gotten ten of them published, but I always wonder if I can do it again. A conference is a chance to be with other people who are just like me. People who write and wonder if we’re real writers. Neurotic, interesting people.
I love going to both kinds of conferences, those for fans and readers, and those for writers. The former concentrate on telling the attendees who we are and what we’ve written and on trying to sell our books to them. The latter concentrate on craft and, for a lot of gatherings, putting writers together with agents and publishers. They both have appeal.
At a fan conference, the panels tell the audience what our books are about and give them behind-the-scene glimpses at how we put them together. Nothing technical, just things that would interest a reader (we hope). Background for the stories we write.
Short Story Panel from Malice Domestic 2017
Mayhem self-defense demo 2008
At a writers’ conference, we try to impart whatever knowledge we’ve acquired on to our fellow scribes. We discuss character formation, plot arcs, chapter lengths, sentence lengths, forensic details (we’re mystery writers, after all), even how to market and sell.
2014 Murder in the Magic City
Fan cons tend to be very large: Bouchercon and Malice Domestic are two well-known and well-attended ones. The writers’ cons are generally smaller and regional, more intimate.
At both of them, we writers get together over meals and drinks and discuss where to hide the bodies and how to create our villains. These are not lunch and dinner conversations you can have with just anybody. They are the finer points of our art.
It couldn’t be more fun!
***
Photograph of mountain from morguefile Photograph of 2014 Murder in the Magic City from Kaye Wilkinson Barley
*
Kaye George, national-bestselling and multiple award-winning author, writes several mystery series: Imogene Duckworthy humorous mysteries, Cressa Carraway musical mysteries (Barking Rain Press), People of the Wind Neanderthal mysteries (Untreed Reads), and, as Janet Cantrell, Fat Cat (Berkley Prime Crime cozies). The third cozy, Fat Cat Takes the Cake, and the second Cressa Carraway novel, Requiem in Red, were published in April, 2016. The second People of the Wind, Death on the Trek, came out in June, 2016. Her short stories appear in anthologies, magazines, and her own collection, A Patchwork of Stories. The anthology, Murder on Wheels, with the Austin Mystery Writers, recently became a Silver Falchion Winner. She now lives in Knoxville, TN, where she also reviews for Suspense Magazine. http://kayegeorge.com/
There is in the end no remedy but truth.
It is the one course that cannot be evil. ~ Edith Pargeter
*****
October Program: Member Showcase – Ghost Stories
The theme for the October program is Ghost Stories. Members interested in submitting a ghost story for this meeting should contact Fran Paino at franpaino@gmail.com. A winner will be announced at the meeting. DEADLINE: OCTOBER 1, 2018.
*****
Do you know what they call people who hoard books? Smart. ~ Lisa Scottolini
No good ever comes from putting up walls.
What people mistake for safety is in fact captivity.
And few things thrive in captivity. ~ Louise Penny
*****
The Word on Our Members
Dixie Evatt will represent author Meredith Lee in a panel discussion, “Marketing, Schmoozing, and Building Connections as a Writer,” at the Writers’ League of Texas’ Third Thursday meeting, on July 19, 2018. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Meredith Lee is the author of SHROUDED.
*
Manning Wolfe’s GREEN FEES, the third in her Merit Bridges Legal Thriller series, was published in June. Manning appeared on a panel with Jay Brandon at BookPeople on June 24. Crime Fiction Coordinator Scott Montgomery moderated.
I’m always astonished to see how badly people can behave
when they think no one is noticing. ~ Diane Mott Davidson
*****
*****
I wish that I had known back then that a mastery of process
would lead to a product. Then I probably wouldn’t have found it
so frightening to write. ~ Elizabeth George
*****
*****
To understand a cat, you must realize that he has his own gifts,
his own viewpoint, even his own morality. ~ Lilian Jackson Braun
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Opportunities
Mystery Weekly Magazine “Submissions must be original works of short fiction that have never appeared online or in print in any form. Avoid scenes of animal cruelty or excessive profanity/violence, and please make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors. We currently pay 1¢ / word for accepted stories.”
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Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible
“Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible will be presented by Parnell Hall and published by Wildside Press in time for Malice Domestic 31, which will take place May 3 – 5, 2019. . . Mystery Most Edible: ‘Mystery Most Edible’ means that the story must have a significant gastronomic or culinary aspect.”
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The Wyrd “The Wyrd is a speculative short fiction market for authors and artists who have a fondness for weird and slipstream themes. What that means is we’re looking for works that cross, combine or redefine traditional genre boundaries. We enjoy stories that come with a heavy dose of the uncanny, the strange, and blend literary, science-fiction, fantasy, mystery and horror tropes.”
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Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
“We are interested in nearly every kind of mystery: stories of detection of the classic kind, police procedurals, private eye tales, suspense, courtroom dramas, stories of espionage, and so on. We ask only that the story be about a crime (or the threat or fear of one). We sometimes accept ghost stories or supernatural tales, but those also should involve a crime.”
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Mystery Tribune
“In addition to fiction, Mystery Tribune accepts submissions in other categories during the following periods: Art and Photography – 24 January – 24 February; Non-fiction – 24 April – 24 May”
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Suspense Magazine “Suspense Publishing continues to expand its reputation and influence in the publishing industry, offering some of the best titles in the suspense, thriller, mystery, and horror genres.
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
“We publish every kind of mystery short story: the psychological suspense tale, the deductive puzzle, the private eye case—the gamut of crime and detection from the realistic (including the policeman’s lot and stories of police procedure) to the more imaginative (including “locked rooms” and “impossible crimes”). We need hard-boiled stories as well as “cozies,” but we are not interested in explicit sex or violence. We do not want true detective or crime stories. With the exception of a regular book review column and a mystery crossword, EQMM publishes only fiction.”
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The Dark City
“The Dark City is dedicated to the love of story, and in particular, the rough and tumble of the world of crime and violence. We are fans of story that has roots in reality but we do consider humorous situations and characters to be part of reality. We hope to acquire stories that leave readers thinking about the characters and their dilemma.”
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Mystery Weekly Magazine
“. . . 2500-7500 word mystery. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but not multiple submissions; please send only your best available story. Submissions must be original works of short fiction thathave never appeared online or in print in any form. Avoid scenes of animal cruelty or excessive profanity/violence, and please make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors.”
Journals listed above are taken from 180 Literary Journals for Creative Writers, cited above. Quoted descriptions are drawn from the journals themselves.
*****
The rain it raineth on the just And also on the unjust fella; But chiefly on the just, because The unjust steals the just’s umbrella. ― Marion Chesney, The Wicked Godmother
“Aubrey Davenport was dressed like a fop, had the manners of a fop, and appeared to have the intelligence of a potato.” ― Marion Chesney, Miss Tonks Turns to Crime
*****
HOTSHOTS! Wants You
HOTSHOTS!welcomes reviews and articles written by members. Query kathywaller1 at gmail dot com.
OR Ask Kathy to register for you. kathywaller1 at gmail dot com
*****
My father, whose hobby was collecting secondhand cricket books,
came back from a book fair one day
with a copy of ‘The Body In The Library.’ ~ Sophie Hannah
*****
No Lo Contendere
Members, send news to kathywaller1 at gmail dot com. Include both past and upcoming events. Include pictures if you have them.
Also send head shots and a list of your book titles/short story titles to Kathy for theHOTXSINC author page.
And send titles/authors of books (articles, websites, blogs) you’ve read or are reading, and that you recommend to other Sisters in Crime.
HOTSHOTS! welcomes reviews and articles written by members. Email kathywaller1 at gmail dot com.
Author Dave Ciambrone will present Death by Firearms or, What Really Happens When You Shoot Someone at the January 8th Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter meeting, 2:15 p.m. at the Yarborough Branch of the Austin Public Library.
Dave Ciambrone
In addition to describing different types of firearms and ammunition, Dave will discuss how to fire a gun successfully, and how the impact from a bullet affects the human body. He will also talk about using firearms for self-defense.
He will address the differences between reality and Hollywood shootings. Using visual aids, he will show the impacts of ballistic gel bullets on actual gun shot victims, none of whom survived.
Following his presentation, Dave will take questions from the audience.
Dr. David (Dave) Ciambrone spent 40 years developing weapons for the military and special equipment for government clandestine organizations. He took the “short course” at Camp Perry for the CIA. He worked with a police department and was a consultant to the LA County Coroner. Dave did consulting for police and sheriffs around the country. He has also consulted for National Laboratories.
An award-winning and best-selling author, Dr. Ciambrone has published 19 books, (2 textbooks, 4 nonfiction, and 13 mysteries) and has more in work. He wrote three newspaper columns and a business journal column. He has been VP of the Orange County, California, Sisters-in Crime chapter, and twice president and treasurer of Heart of Texas Chapter of sisters in Crime. Dave has spoken at numerous writing conferences around the country.
Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter meets at the Yarborough Branch of the Austin Public Library, 2200 Hancock Drive, Austin, Texas. Meetings are free and open to the public. For more information, email Joyce Arquette, Publicity, JArquette at austin dot rr dot com.
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Opening Line
On November the twenty-first, the day of her forty-seventh birthday, and three weeks and two days before she was murdered, Rhoda Gradwyn went to Harley Street to keep a first appointment with her plastic surgeon, and there in a consulting room designed, so it appeared, to inspire confidence and allay apprehension, made the decision which would inexorably lead to her death. ~ P. D. James, The Private Patient
“Last bit of news for this week. I decided to put together a short story anthology that I’m calling DAY OF THE DARK. It’s inspired by the total eclipse of the sun coming up August 21st, 2017. Wildside Press has agreed to get it to publication in time! I’ve gotten several submissions already, but the deadline is 1/31/17. (Yikes, it’s almost 2017!) Here’s the details from the announcement I sent out. Feel free to ask me about this if you’re interested!”
“Everyone predicted a bad reunion. Few expected murder…”
For the December 2016 HOTXSINC meeting, members of the dysfunctional Stout clan gathered at their ancestral home in the mountains. The next morning, the elderly head of the family, Malachi Stout, was found dead, smothered in his sleep. The safe in his study was open and–the family jewels were gone.
Phone lines were down, and rain had washed out the road to town, so it was up to the Stout family to determine–Whodunnit?
Armed with the mystery game Malachi Stout’s Family Reunion, Valerie Chandler led HOTXSINC members in a rousing murder investigation. Which of the suspects pictured below killed Malachi Stout?
“Shames’s superior sixth Samuel Craddock mystery…a prequel set possibly during the early 1970s, explores a significant case at the start of the retired police chief’s career. Skilled depictions of the lawman’s formative choices and emotions enhance a timely story with resonance in the era of Black Lives Matter.”
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“The characters are believable and the plot is fascinating. Fast-paced, intriguing, and like an Agatha Christie novel…River City Dead is one adventure I highly recommend to all. ” ~ Danielle Urban, Goodreads
2020 HOTSHOTS!
Manning Wolfe
All who are interested in writing a ghost story, please submit no later than 
Dr. David Ciambrone is a retired aerospace and defense company executive, scientist, professor of engineering, and a forensics consultant and is now a best-selling, award-winning author living in Georgetown, Texas with his wife Kathy. He has published twenty-one books, four non-fiction, two (2) textbooks for a California university, and fifteen mysteries and has new mysteries in work.
If you don’t already know, you can deduce from my opening that I (again like many other writers) am insecure in the profession. We feel like frauds. We wrote a book and got it published, but maybe it was a fluke. Can we ever do it again? I’ve written and gotten ten of them published, but I always wonder if I can do it again. A conference is a chance to be with other people who are just like me. People who write and wonder if we’re real writers. Neurotic, interesting people.
Kaye George, national-bestselling and multiple award-winning author, writes several mystery series: Imogene Duckworthy humorous mysteries, Cressa Carraway musical mysteries (Barking Rain Press), People of the Wind Neanderthal mysteries (Untreed Reads), and, as Janet Cantrell, Fat Cat (Berkley Prime Crime cozies). The third cozy, Fat Cat Takes the Cake, and the second Cressa Carraway novel, Requiem in Red, were published in April, 2016. The second People of the Wind, Death on the Trek, came out in June, 2016. Her short stories appear in anthologies, magazines, and her own collection, A Patchwork of Stories. The anthology, Murder on Wheels, with the Austin Mystery Writers, recently became a Silver Falchion Winner. She now lives in Knoxville, TN, where she also reviews for Suspense Magazine. 
Dixie Evatt will represent author Meredith Lee in a panel discussion, “Marketing, Schmoozing, and Building Connections as a Writer,” at the Writers’ League of Texas’ Third Thursday meeting, on July 19, 2018. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Manning Wolfe’s 
AN UNSETTLING CRIME FOR SAMUEL CRADDOCK: A Samuel Jarrett Mystery