September 15th, 2011
It’s just getting started, but Bouchercon is underway. Panels I’m interested in feature authors like Val McDermid, Gary Phillips, Tom Schreck, Peter Spiegelman and, well, a host of others.
The Jordans, of Crimespree Magazine fame, have put together a terrific program and you can’t two steps without seeing a author you’d love to spend some time with. And you can, everyone’s accessible and friendly. If you’ve never been to a con like this, it’s a great way to recharge your creative energy.
And this goes on for four days in downtown St. Louis. If you’re in the neighborhood, there are single day tickets available.
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September 7th, 2011
Reminder: no meeting in September, although I hope to see quite a few of you at Bouchercon!
We’ll have two outreach meetings in October. The first will be in Minneapolis on Sunday, October 16 (the day after the book festival) at Once Upon a Crime bookstore at noon. MWMWA Board member Raymond Benson promises pizza, but you need to let him know ahead of time that you’ll be coming. Contact him through his website or see the latest CLUES for his email address.
The second of the two outreach meetings will be in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday night, October 21, at 6:30 p.m. at Booked for Murder bookstore. MWMWA Board member Jerry Peterson is organizing that one. He, too, promises pizza. You can reach him by visiting his website or by checking CLUES for his email address.
Back in Chicago in November & December
We’ll be back at Augie’s store, Centuries & Sleuths in Forest Park for our meeting in November and for our Holiday Party on December 11.
The November meeting will be Sunday, November 13 at 1 p.m. and will feature Susan Vondrak, Director of Training for the Illinois State Police crime labs and also Laboratory Director of Research and Development for the State Police. She’ll cover a lot of stuff about DNA, including uses for DNA evidence and DNA identification turn-around times. Bring your questions!
The Holiday Party will be Sunday, December 11 at 1 p.m. Board members Raymond Benson and Bob Goldsborough, who did a spectacular job last year, will be working on it again this year. We’re all hoping for better weather, however.
Hope you’ll be able to make it to a meeting!
Tony Perona, Midwest Chapter President
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August 11th, 2011
Join us at Aunt Agatha’s bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 7 p.m. for a MWMWA outreach meeting. We have two special guest speakers that evening: Kelly Nichols, half of the best-selling P.J. Parrish sisters, and Doug Allyn, two-time Edgar winner (including this year) for Best Short Story. Promises to be an excellent time. Aunt Agatha’s is a marvelous mystery bookstore at 213 South Fourth Avenue in Ann Arbor. Hope to see you there!
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June 4th, 2011
Tasha Alexander and Diane Piron-Gelman signing at Printers Row.
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June 4th, 2011
Jack Fredrickson reading at Printers Row
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May 30th, 2011
When: 4 pm to about 6 pm, Saturday June 4
Where: The Midwest Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America tent at the Printers Row Lit Fest. We’re in tent V, near the intersection of Dearborn and Polk.
Who can participate? Anyone – you don’t have to be an MWA member.
How does it work?
Take one of five opening sentences and come up with a short story – so short that you can read it in five minutes or less. We’ll be timing you, but if the story is good enough we just forget to look at the clock.
Here’s the opening sentences, you can make them any gender you want:
1) He wasn’t going to make it.
2) It was the smell that got to her.
3) Digging a hole six-feet deep was harder than he thought.
4) He’d have done it different if he’d known how much weight she’d gained.
5) They say a goldfish will eat anything.
Judging will be completely arbitrary and potentially quite unfair. But regardless it’ll be awesome because we have two of the most distinguished authors in Chicago history, Barbara D’Amato and Sara Paretsky, judging. So no, no pressure here. Nope, none at all.
What can you win? All participants will likely win prizes and there will be one grand prize awarded – a $25 Starbucks gift card.
Anything else? We’re limited to at most 12 participants due to time. There will be a sign-up sheet at the tent, but first come, first served.
Categories: Announcements, Printers Row |
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April 16th, 2011
The April, 2011 meeting will be an outreach meeting in Indianapolis. Our feature presentation will be a panel discussion, The Future of the Mystery Novel.
Panelists include moderator Jim Huang, owner of Crum Creek Press/The Mystery Company Press and former bookstore owner of the Mystery Company in Carmel, Mystery Scene magazine Editor Kate Stine (from New York), and two nationally published local authors, Larry Sweazy and Jeff Stone.The meeting and the panel discussion are open to the public.
We will begin at 11:30 a.m. with the business meeting, and the panel discussion will start at noon.
The location is the Barnes & Noble store at 3748 East 82nd Street. This meeting is co-sponsored by the Speed City Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
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March 17th, 2011
“The Borders Bankruptcy” will be the subject of a panel discussion at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 19 at the Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore,
7419 W. Madison St., Forest Park Ill, (708) 771-7243. The panel, sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America’s Midwest Chapter, will discuss the implications for mystery writers of the national book chain’s financial troubles. Panel members will include authors, a publishing company representative, and August Aleksy, owner of Centuries & Sleuths.
Categories: Announcements, Meetings |
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November 23rd, 2010
Those of you who are members saw this report in the November CLUES, but I’m adding it here for those who aren’t.
The MWMWA outreach meeting in October took place in Madison, Wisconsin
at the Booked for Murder bookstore on Friday evening, October 8. We had
thirteen people in attendance. Special thanks to Jerry Peterson, who arranged
the meeting, and to Sara Barnes, our gracious hostess.
After a brief business meeting, we heard from our guest speaker, John Galligan. In addition to being
a novelist and teacher, John has worked as a newspaper journalist, feature-film screenwriter, house
painter, au pair, ESL teacher, cab driver, and freezer boy in a salmon cannery. He currently teaches writing
at Madison Area Technical College. John spoke on “What I’ve Learned About Writing from Teaching
Writing.”
John’s observations ranged from the amusing to the technical. Some excepts:
• A lot of people want to write; he knows this because he confronts it twice a year.
• It looks easy.
• The word processor has made it easier for people who want to write to do it. People with average
talent can do more they could otherwise, because they can compose, cut and paste, revise,
and do other functions relatively easily.
• Time management is critical to writing. Different parts of your brain need to be engaged at
different times. Why? Because people who can’t switch over from the creative to the analytical
mind get stymied. They’ll spend six weeks working on one paragraph.
• If you want to do this, you must make time for it. People who roll their eyes when you tell
them you need time to write are not your friends. You MUST create your time and space for
your writing and fiercely defend it.
• If you can get over all the above hurdles, you can learn the craft.
• He sees very few students who manage it. Maybe only a handful in the entire time he’s taught
creative writing finish a manuscript…ever, not just during the semester he’s teaching them.
• The biggest challenge for students is the difference between writing scenes and writing summaries.
Scenes take place in a concrete time and a concrete place, with dialogue. The second
biggest challenge is point of view.
• Just about everybody gives in too easily. If you’ve only been discouraged for ten years, that’s
nothing.
• And my favorite: If you have to explain your story or argue and defend what you’ve written,
you’re not a writer.
• Caveat to the above: Most of us would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.
• His final observation: girls do vampires; boys do zombies.
John provided the names of a couple of good books on writing he’s come across: Self-Editing for
The MWMWA outreach meeting in October took place in Madison, Wisconsin at the Booked for Murder bookstore on Friday evening, October 8. We had thirteen people in attendance, including members Jerry Peterson, Kathleen Ernst, Mary Holmes, Jerol Anderson, and Tony Perona. Special thanks to Jerry Peterson, who arranged the meeting, and to Sara Barnes, who owns Booked for Murder and was a gracious hostess.
After a brief business meeting, during which we discussed the latest news from our members and the latest happenings of our chapter, we heard from our guest speaker, John Galligan. In addition to being a novelist and teacher, John has worked as a newspaper
journalist, feature-film screenwriter, house painter, au pair, ESL teacher, cab driver, and freezer boy in a salmon cannery. He currently teaches writing at Madison Area Technical College. John spoke on “What I’ve Learned About Writing from Teaching Writing.”
John began with a number of observations that he’s had while teaching writing. They ranged from the amusing to the technical. Some excepts:
- A lot of people want to write; he knows this because he confronts it twice a year.
- It looks easy.
- The word processor has made it easier for people who want to write to write. People with average talent can do more than would be able to do otherwise because they can compose, cut and paste, revise, and other functions relatively easily.
- Time management is critical to writing. It takes a tremendous amount of time, energy, and belief in yourself.
- Different parts of your brain need to be engaged at different times, something he sees over and over again as a barrier to writing. Why? Because people who can’t switch over from the creative to the analytical mind get stymied. They’ll spend six weeks working on one paragraph.
- If you want to do this, you must make time for it. There’s a social space that must made around this. People who roll their eyes when you tell them you need time to write are not your friends. You MUST create your time and space for your writing and fiercely defend it.
- If you can get over all the above hurdles, you can learn the craft.
- He sees very few students who manage it. Maybe only a handful in the entire time he’s taught creative writing finish a manuscript…ever, not just during the semester he’s teaching them.
- The biggest challenge for students is the difference between writing scenes and writing summaries. Scenes take place in a concrete time and a concrete place, with dialog. It’s show versus tell.
- The second biggest challenge is point of view.
- Just about everybody gives in too easily. If you’ve only been discourage for ten years, that’s nothing.
- And my favorite: if you have to explain your story or argue and defend what you’ve written, you’re not a writer.
- Caveat to the above: most of us would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.
- His final observation: girls do vampires; boys do zombies.
Categories: From our MWMWA president, Meeting report, Uncategorized |
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November 18th, 2010
Mystery Writers of America Announces Sara Paretsky as 2011 Grand Master And Raven Awards
November 18, 2010 – New York, NY – Sara Paretsky has been named the 2011 Grand Master by Mystery Writers of America (MWA). MWA’s Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality. Ms. Paretsky will be presented with her award at The Edgar Awards Banquet, which will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City on Thursday, April 28, 2011. When told of being named Grand Master, Paretsky said, “I’m so glad to win this. I’m glad to have this for my very own.”
Paretsky revolutionized the mystery world in 1982 with her novel Indemnity. The book introduced detective V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator who used her wits and fists, challenging a genre in which women typically played minor or passive roles. Paretsky, who lives in Chicago, has written twelve best-selling Warshawski novels. She has also penned a memoir, two stand-alone novels, a collection of short stories, and has edited four anthologies. In 1986 Paretsky founded Sisters in Crime, an organization that supports women crime writers, earning her MS Magazine’s 1987 Woman of the Year Award. The British Crime Writers awarded Paretsky both the Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement and the Gold Dagger for best novel of 2004. Her books are currently published in thirty countries.
“The mystery genre took a seven-league stride thanks to Sara Paretsky, whose gutsy and dauntless protagonist showed that women can be tough guys, too,” said Larry Light, Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America. “Before, in Sara’s words, women in mysteries were either vamps or victims. Her heroine, private eye V.I. Warshawski, is whip-smart and two-fisted, capable of slugging back whiskey and wrecking cars, and afire to redress social injustice.”
Two exceptional mystery bookstores will be honored with the 2011 Raven Award. Established in 1953, the award recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing. Once Upon a Crime, in Minneapolis, MN, and Centuries & Sleuths in Chicago, IL, will receive recognition for their contribution to the mystery community. They also will receive their awards at the Edgar Award Banquet in New York City on Thursday, April 28, 2011.
Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore was named one of the Ten Best Bookstores in Chicago by the Chicago Tribune. Many customers have tagged the owner, Augie Aleksy, as the coolest bookseller in Chicago. “I have always wanted a Raven. The mystery community is such a great place,” Aleksy said upon hearing the news.
The store has hosted hundreds of author readings and talks, with both new and established writers. Augie’s programs are innovative, including mock trials, debates, and numerous “Meeting of Minds” programs similar to the PBS series. In fact, from the very first days of opening, actors and then authors themselves were encouraged to dress in period costumes to illustrate and dramatize a book. Centuries & Sleuths was nominated for the American Booksellers Association “Bookseller of the Year” award in 2008. The store marks its 20th Anniversary this year.
Once Upon a Crime Mystery Bookstore owners Pat Frovarp and Gary Schulze read, review, promote, and hand-sell mysteries, from small presses and new authors to the biggest best- sellers. Pat was thrilled to hear about the Raven Award, “What a wonderful, wonderful honor!” she said.
Their store is open late to host signings for local and traveling authors, and they host an annual Write of Spring. Every March dozens of Minnesota mystery authors are able to meet hundreds of fans and celebrate the world of mysteries. They are currently taking submissions for a Write of Spring anthology. Pat and Gary are such mystery book enthusiasts that they married at their store on August 1, 2007, five years to the day that they had bought the store from the previous owners. In their wedding photos, Pat held a bouquet of flowers, and Gary held a Maltese Falcon statue. Once Upon a Crime will celebrate 25 years in business in Spring 2012.
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Tags: Augie Alesky, Centuries & Sleuths Bookstores, Edgar Award, Grand Master, Sara Paretsky, V.I. Warshawski | Comments Off
