Keeping cool at the fest
June 4th, 2011
Tasha Alexander and Diane Piron-Gelman signing at Printers Row.
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Reading at Printers Row
June 4th, 2011
Jack Fredrickson reading at Printers Row
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MWA Printers Row Flash Fiction Contest
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 | Tags: Barbara D'Amato, Printers Row, Sara Paretsky | Comments Off
April Meeting in Indianapolis
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 meeting
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.
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Madison Outreach Meeting in October
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 | Comments Off
Midwest sweeps Grand Master and Ravens!
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.
Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Augie Alesky, Centuries & Sleuths Bookstores, Edgar Award, Grand Master, Sara Paretsky, V.I. Warshawski | Comments Off
Holiday party
October 18th, 2010
Century & Sleuths at 2 p.m.
7419 W. Madison St. in Forest Park,
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Magna cum Murder
October 18th, 2010
October 29-31 in Muncie, Indiana. The November outreach meeting was held there. Here is the report from CLUES:
The November meeting of the Midwest
Chapter was held one day before November,
on Sunday, October 31st at the
Magna cum Murder mystery convention
in Muncie, Indiana. Eight members and guests attended. It
was a small group, but that meant we were able to have a more intimate
conversation with our guest speaker, Charles Todd, half of the
mother-son writing team that produces the Inspector Ian Rutledge
series and the nurse Bess Crawford series, both period series that
require quite a bit of research. A few things we learned from
Charles:
• His real name isn’t Charles and his mother’s name is not Caroline. They developed
those personae when they became authors. (He declined to reveal his real name.)
• When Charles is flying out to a mystery convention or some other book-related function,
he introduces himself to those around him on the plane as Charles Todd, an author, and
by the time he gets to his destination, he’s “in character.”
• It took a while for him and his mother to develop their professional relationship that is
different from the mother-son relationship they have when they are not writing books or
making appearances together. Now, he says, it’s easier to separate the two relationships
and recognize when they need to switch from one to the other.
• Charles has served as the president of the mid-Atlantic MWA chapter and has been on the
national Board several times. This past year he was snookered into being parliamentarian
again, after saying he was going to take a break from the Board. (Tony particularly got a
kick of this, since he was part of the Board that roped him back in.)
• Charles and Caroline are real sticklers for research, which is what you have to be when
you write historical series, as they do.
• His father is very much a part of the team, although he doesn’t do any of the writing.
Charles says his father has a very analytical mind and, as their first reader, is good at
catching gaps in logic and changes in details about their characters.
The November meeting of the Midwest Chapter was held one day before November, on Sunday, October 31st at the
Magna cum Murder mystery convention in Muncie, Indiana. Eight members and guests attended. It was a small group, but that meant we were able to have a more intimate conversation with our guest speaker, Charles Todd, half of the
mother-son writing team that produces the Inspector Ian Rutledge series and the nurse Bess Crawford series, both period series that require quite a bit of research. A few things we learned from Charles:
• His real name isn’t Charles and his mother’s name is not Caroline. They developed those personae when they became authors. (He declined to reveal his real name.)
• When Charles is flying out to a mystery convention or some other book-related function, he introduces himself to those around him on the plane as Charles Todd, an author, and by the time he gets to his destination, he’s “in character.”
• It took a while for him and his mother to develop their professional relationship that is different from the mother-son relationship they have when they are not writing books or making appearances together. Now, he says, it’s easier to separate the two relationships and recognize when they need to switch from one to the other.
• Charles has served as the president of the mid-Atlantic MWA chapter and has been on the national Board several times. This past year he was snookered into being parliamentarian again, after saying he was going to take a break from the Board. (Tony particularly got a kick of this, since he was part of the Board that roped him back in.)
• Charles and Caroline are real sticklers for research, which is what you have to be when you write historical series, as they do.
• His father is very much a part of the team, although he doesn’t do any of the writing. Charles says his father has a very analytical mind and, as their first reader, is good at catching gaps in logic and changes in details about their characters.
Categories: Event, From our MWMWA president, Meeting report, Meetings | Comments Off
October Meeting
October 18th, 2010
The Author’s Art of Selling One’s Book
Century & Sleuths at 1 p.m.
7419 W. Madison St. in Forest Park,
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