============================================ SinC and Swim Sisters in Crime Internet Chapter Newsletter November 2002 - Issue #20 ============================================ CONTENTS: President's Note Editor's Note Giving Thanks Chapter News Member News What Does SinC-IC Do For You? Writer's Workshop Online Writing Courses Travel Tips: Weekend Imposter -- Taking a Vacation from Yourself by Lisa Polisar On The Road With Sisters In Crime Found Online November Trivia The Fine Print ============================================ Notice to the members from La Prez... ============================================ According to our bylaws, November is the official month to nominate candidates for Internet Chapter President and the Steering Committee. We will likely be appointing three new Steering Committee members. Nominations will be posted on the list and on the website message board. Nominations must be seconded and voting will take place the first week of December. New officers will take office on January 1, 2003. If you have any difficulty accessing the official board to vote, websister will assist you. I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by. I'll have more to say on that in December's newsletter. However, if you have any suggestions on ways to make the IC run smoother, or anything you would like to see implemented, please send to me in a private e-mail rather than on the list. Of course, the Steering Committee and President will have to vote on any changes, and they would have to be in line with our by-laws. Lonnie ============================================ EDITOR'S NOTE ============================================ November's here! In your part of the country, you may be seeing brilliant multi-colored leaves, or perhaps your trees are already bare. Here in North Florida, my son can still wear shorts to school. Nonetheless, we're ready for pleasant autumn temperatures and the neighborhood lawns are decorated with scarecrows and pumpkins. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. What do we, as writers, have to be thankful for this year? I had hoped to read a few stories from my SinC siblings, but alas it didn't happen. Perhaps it's because our newscasts are littered with stories about things like snipers and impending war. It's hard to stop in the middle of our busy days and find just one thing to be thankful for. But I encourage all of you to do just that. Take a moment to contemplate the good things in your life. Even when you're snowed under with work or an impending deadline, find the time to stop and 'smell the roses.' If you haven't figured it out by now, I am a woman who believes in the power of positive thinking, and I also believe that when we do good for others, it comes back to us tenfold. That is the real reason I'm writing this article... to tell you about an idea I had this week. My childhood friend wrote to me recently about her son who is an Army Ranger stationed in the Mideast. I don't have to tell you what his life is like right now, because you already know from those news stories what may lurk in his not-too-distant future. Yet, he has a positive attitude and he's proud to be where he is, serving his country. He asked his mom to send items to him--snacks, cigarettes, magazines, etc. Items that he can SHARE with his buddies. When I was thinking about "giving thanks," I immediately thought about my friend's son. I wondered how I could show him and others like him how much I appreciate what they are doing for our country. And then I decided I would send him my book because I knew that he could read it and pass it along to his friends. Then I thought about my "author friends" on the Internet. Why not collect MORE BOOKS to go to our soldiers overseas? If you would like to reach out to eager readers with your book, please contact me at claudia_mccants@bellsouth.net (Subject: OUTREACH). I will tell you how you can participate in this outreach by sending your book to a soldier. I will handle this off list because I don't want to distribute his mailing address in a public forum (I'll be asking you to send your book directly to him). If you participate, YOUR words will be read by many, many appreciative eyes. ...and that is my one good thing. Claudia McCants P.S. If you have your own idea for how we can "reach out" (perhaps you know of a serviceman/woman overseas), please write to me off list. ============================================ CHAPTER NEWS ============================================ Reminder: Only dues paying members of SinC-IC have access to private areas of our website. If you're not visiting that area, you're missing out on lots of great features! Forget your password? Write to data@sinc-ic.org. Awards/Nominations: Charlaine Harris won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original for DEAD UNTIL DARK. G. Miki Hayden won the Macavity at Bouchercon for WRITING THE MYSTERY. Babs Lakey won the Minneapolis Award in the Patron of the Arts category. She will be attending an awards dinner in early November to receive it. Judy Copek received an honorable mention for a personal essay, The Summer I Almost Became a Star, in the 2002 Writer's Digest Contest. CONGRATULATIONS SIBLINGS! New Publications: From Patricia A. Rasey: I would like to announce the release of my suspense/ thriller, FACADE, from Amber Quill Press. FACADE was the winner of Word Weaving Award of Excellence and received an Honorable Mention from the Dorothy Parker Awards in the suspense category. From Sara Frommer: I'm delighted that WITNESS IN BISHOP HILL is arriving in bookstores. The cover is great! This book is set in the real Bishop Hill, Illinois, near where I grew up. I figured that Fred Lundquist had to have grown up in that Swedish-American village. His mom, Helga, witnesses a murder, but her early Alzheimer's makes her an unreliable witness who may or may not even recognize the killer. But does the killer know that? Did he see her? How can Joan and Fred keep her safe? From Lisa Polisar: "Blackwater Tango" (Hilliard and Harris) is officially OUT. From Kit Ehrman: At Risk--a Steve Cline mystery that takes place on a Maryland horse farm--was released in October, 2002, by Poisoned Pen Press in hard cover and has received excellent reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and The Drood Review, among others. Nancy J. Cohen is excited to announce the December hardcover release of BODY WAVE, a new installment in her Bad Hair Day Mysteries series. Marla Shore, savvy South Florida hairstylist, is ready to solve another scorching mystery while cutting and coloring her customers' hair. Tilapia aquaculture and shade-grown coffee production are topics explored in her new title. Meanwhile, MURDER BY MANICURE has just hit bookstore shelves in paperback. Signings/Appearances: Sara Frommer: I'll be signing books at the Village Smithy in Bishop Hill (Illinois) at noon, December 7, and Green River Books, 440 South Main Street in Princeton, at 3PM. The next afternoon I'll speak in the library in Kewanee (where I got my Social Security number when I began working as a page). Not sure what time. Almost everything in Bishop Hill used to be something else. Thus, the Village Smithy is not a smithy, but a quilt shop that also sells a few books, including mine...starting, of course, with Buried in Quilts. Nancy J. Cohen: November 18, Monday 7:00 pm West Regional Library 8601 W. Broward Blvd. Plantation, FL 33324 954-831-3300 November 21, Thursday 7:30 pm Barnes & Noble 18711 NE Biscayne Blvd. Aventura, FL 305-9335-9770 November 23, Saturday 10:00am MWA FL chapter Miami Book Fair Miami, FL Guest Author: Ellen Edwards Kennedy (http://www.sinc-ic.org/GA.shtml) Spotlight Author: Denise Tiller (http://www.sinc-ic.org/profile.shtml) Recent additions to our SinC-IC family: Deborah Atkinson Barbara Bradshaw Suzy Butcher Julie Carlson Deanna Carlyle Nancy Fields Anna Geddes Britin Haller Lana Waite Deborah Whittaker Welcome, New Siblings! ============================================ MEMBER NEWS ============================================ From Judy Copek: The New England Sisters in Crime together with the New England Mystery Writer's of America are producing their first mystery conference, The New England Crime Bake, at North Essex Community College in Haverhill, November 9th. We're very excited about the day of mysterious doings for both mystery writers and readers. The New England Sisters have a very active speaker's bureau which we use to get the word out about our books, Sisters in Crime, and women in the mystery genre. Lisa Polisar has been busy. Her story "The Duck Charmers of Moorhead" will be published in the November issue of Amarillo Bay Literary Journal. Her story "Dust and Fire" will be published in Conundrum Mystery Magazine. And her story "The Last Sly Fox" will be published in the January issue of Detective Mystery Stories. And that's not all! Her article entitled "Film For Fodder - The Use of Legends in Plotting Mystery Novels" is published in the October issue of Novel Advice, an online writing journal. From Chester Campbell: "My newly published book, Secret of the Scroll, will be featured by the Wicked Company Book Preview Club the week of November 14. Incidentally, I've had two good reviews, 5 daggers from All About Murder and 4 hearts from Heartland Reviews. It would be nice to get something from one of the biggies, but I guess those are few and far between for trade paperbacks from first time authors with small presses." Guppy and SinC-ic member Jonette Stabbert has been pretty much incommunicado lately. That's because she's been single-handedly organizing a writing seminar and contest for the American Book Center in Amsterdam for November 30 and December 1. She's managed to line up a great group of working writers and journalists (no mystery writers this year). Information is at: www.treehouse.abc.nl . click on workshops or November and look for the Feed the Writers seminar. Del Tinsley's short story, "A Cut Above," is featured in the premiere issue of Hardluck Stories Zine (http://www.hardluckstories.com/issue1-DelTinsley.htm). Hardluck Stories Zine is a new quarterly web publication featuring hard-boiled and noir fiction and related articles. Phillip Tomasso III - author of Johnny Blade, Third Ring, Tenth House and Mind Play - is the Guest Editor for the first issue. You'll also find a review of Les Roberts's The Irish Sports Page by James Winter, a short essay on Jim Thompson, and stories of murder, mayhem and madness by Leon Altman, Ed Lynskey, Stephen Rogers, David Toy and Tim Wohlforth. More news from Judy Copek: The Longfellow Society will publish one of my poems, Baltic Summer. On the book front, my suspense novel, The Shadow Warriors, has garnered good reviews and will soon be available in paperback from RFI West. I trekked from Boston to the Burning Man Festival in Nevada over Labor Day, and all the craziness and creativity in the Black Rock Desert gave me an idea for a short story and the opening chapter of my next novel. ============================================ What Does SinC-IC Do For You? Writer's Workshop ============================================ Welcome to the Workshop, siblings. Bring your bent verbs and twisted paragraphs for repairs. It is truly a Workshop, we work hard here. Any dues-paying member can utilize this very valuable resource. Entering is easy; when you want a critique, use your password to enter the workshop, post your critique and sit back and wait. Once your critique is posted you can read it there and/or print it. Posting for the first time feels the same as volunteering for a medical experiment. You hope it works, and how much will it hurt? The good news is that it works great. The better news is that it doesn't hurt. We are all aware that we must critique as we wish to be critiqued. One of the assets is that everyone has a different view of the same piece of work. Some of the members are so good at defining characters that you see your tired old heroine as fresh and new. Another knows the English language inside out. Several others can advise about technical details. And we all work toward the same goal; better manuscripts. Right now there are five or six sisters using the Workshop on a regular basis. We learn from each other through the process. We agree that what we need is straight-from-the-shoulder advice, tempered with mercy. We aren't offering games, there's another site for that. And I won't speak for the others, but my participation has given me an infusion of courage and renewed belief in myself. If you're considering a critique, you should drop in and check us out. Susan S. Moderator For more information on the SinC-IC Writer's Workshop, visit this link http://www.sinc-ic.org/private/joinshop.shtml ============================================ ONLINE WRITING COURSES ============================================ From Lonnie Cruse: Writing courses can be both expensive and inexpensive but well worth the price either way. You are learning from a trained pro (assuming you take a course from a respected online school) and you will receive a professional critique of several of your chapters from the teacher, and a non-professional but still great critique from the other students. You get a chance to read your fellow students' work as well, and see who is doing what in the mystery world of the unpublished. Because of the two classes I took, one from Painted Rock taught by G. Miki Hayden, and Writer's Online Workshop (Writer's Digest) taught by Bonnie Hearn Hill, I learned how to write the dreaded synopsis, a query letter, and how to prep the manuscript, particularly the first three chapters normally sent to agents/publishers. I highly recommend digging into the piggy bank and taking a good class. I wouldn't have found a publisher without the classes I took (not to mention the networking I've been able to do on SINC-IC.) From Kris Neri: I taught an online class on mystery short story writing for the KOD chapter of RWA. I didn't like it nearly as well as regularly classroom teaching because I couldn't see the faces out there in the virtual classroom. In an actual classroom, I count on reading the expressions I see. I can see when someone has a half-formed question they're not ready to ask -- and if they don't ask, and I move on, maybe it never will be asked. I like being able to anticipate their needs before they do. But for the students, it gives them a chance to take courses from the comfort of their homes or offices, at their own time, with instructors who live far away. It has really opened up more possibilities for students. But I think it places a greater burden on the instructor. From G. Miki Hayden: I teach a range of fiction and nonfiction courses at Writers Online Workshops presented by Writers Digest. Because this is Writers Digest, the classes are certainly of value--but also expensive. I wouldn't suggest spending your lunch money on this, but if you have some "extra" cash, these are decent classes and provide help to the aspiring writer. I have a positive impression of the general level of instruction and the students are often quite good writers, just needing some objective feedback and guidance. Can someone be taught to write? Anyone can certainly be helped to improve technique and skills and to understand some of the principles of dramatic structure. While no mystery course per se is taught, other students in the various fiction classes write mystery, too, so a mystery aspirant taking a class won't be alone. From Beth Anderson: When I was still on AOL a few years ago I took a couple of online forensic courses from a former coroner in Florida. It was more than worth it to me at the time. He gave us all a tremendous amount of firsthand information, and I'm very glad I took them because it gave me a lot to think about. You always learn something when you take a course, any course, no matter how much you think you know about the subject. (I don't know that much about any one thing, so I'm pretty safe taking any course.) Right now I'm taking Pauline Baird Jones's screenwriting course, and so far, although I'm petrified almost out of my skin--it took me three days just to work up enough nerve to read the lesson--I definitely think she knows enough about this subject to teach just about anyone, including me. Now that I've finally read the first lesson, I think it's worth far more than she charges for the course. Just looking at how she did the screenplay for Doo Wah Diddy Die was worth its weight in gold, because now I know how one is really supposed to look. I never say never, but I doubt I'll ever teach online. I'm just too much of a maverick to have to do something every week, week in and week out. I never joined a bowling team because of that. Just call me a free spirit. Or call me anything you like, as long as you call me something. ;-)) Wait...maybe I should re-phrase that. EDITOR, OH LINE EDITOR... ============================================ TRAVEL TIPS ============================================ Weekend Imposter -- Taking a Vacation from Yourself by Lisa Polisar What adventures did you dream about when you were young? Lunar exploration? Emerald City? Narnia? Did you want to be Alice in Wonderland and have surreal tea parties with a psychedelic rabbit, or fly like Peter Pan? What makes these characters so appealing? Because their lives are disengaged from reality. Dorothy Gale and Peter Pan don't go to work every day to make a house payment. They don't whip up dinner for four in thirty minutes, mow the lawn or fix clanking sounds in the car. Never-never lands have no rules about how to squeeze the toothpaste or which wine to bring to a dinner party. Actually, they don't have any rules at all. Dare to take a vacation from yourself and your rules. And I don't mean going to work naked or driving on the wrong side of the road. I'm talking smaller than that, like leaving the cap off the toothpaste and your coat on the dining room chair. Feel rebellious? How about wearing suede shoes in the rain and leaving your phone off the hook all day? But in order to break your rules, you have to identify them first. For the most part, people fit into one of four categories: obsessive neatniks, fake obsessive neatniks, slobs, and fake slobs. Obsessive neatniks arrange the clothes in their closet according to color and size. Within those color schemes, the clothes are further compartmentalized into shades of color and then styles. For instance, a pink tank top is positioned next to a pink sleeveless button down shirt. Organization is one thing, but this is ridiculous. You know who you are. Stop pretending. The fake version maintains all the same patterns but they leave their shoes exactly where they first kicked them off after coming home from work. They seem comfortably messy, but the insides of their dresser drawers look like they were arranged by Martha Stewart. In this category, compulsive behavior is lurking but cleverly disguised. Real slobs don't waste time on unimportant things. Their mental energy is dedicated to establishing solutions to global warming, peace in the Middle East and modernization of the American judicial system. People like this have IQ's of 150 but they've never balanced their checkbooks and don't return calls. They forget their own phone number, lose their keys once a week and come out of the bathroom with their shirts half untucked. Fake slobs are like fake neatniks because of their shared duplicity. They think they are one way and are trying very hard to perpetuate this façade, but underneath all their organization is a messy, carefree little six-year old. But even if you're aware of these patterns, why should you change? Because understanding your behavior and breaking your subconscious rules can transform your life and relationships, as well as keep you from tail-chasing psychological ruts. Our patterns, whether emotional, interpersonal or psychological, evolved for a valid reason, but that doesn't mean we need them forever. They can be replaced with newer, updated versions. I've found it easier to initiate serious changes by going out of town. Leave the familiar to uncover the unfamiliar. Do it over a weekend, and try to visit a new place. The process of discovering, or more appropriately "uncovering" parts of yourself can be doubled in intensity when you venture outside of your familiarity-zone. A B&B is a perfect venue because you have the freedom of being on your own while in close proximity to others. Step outside of your own habits for just a few days and watch what happens. Whatever your norm, deviate from it. Initiate conversations with strangers, or don't talk to anyone for a whole weekend. Leave your contacts at home and walk around in your dorky 'round-the-house glasses. Move away from your pragmatic, no-nonsense self and enjoy a blissful indulgence of change. Wake up at ten and stay in your bathrobe until noon, or take a five mile hike before breakfast. Dare to be someone different, for a day, even an hour, and the possibilities are endless! My last escape was to my favorite writing retreat spot - Ruidoso, New Mexico. The endless drive down an empty stretch of barren flatlands has always helped slow my mind from its gyrating circles. Born and raised in New England, I feel entirely at home amid the thick forest of Douglas fir, Blue Spruce and Ponderosa Pine. During this trip, I successfully broke every rule I'd ever established. But don't think change comes easily just because it needs to happen. Your psyche will fight you tooth and nail, thinking of ways to glue you to your old, worn out patterns. The devious human mind craves routine and regularity. It wants you to wake up at the same time every morning and eat the same dull cereal for breakfast. But, like every other psychological pattern, you can train your mind to embrace change and train yourself to think differently. Anything's possible. As a self-proclaimed neatnik, my planned changes were easy. No hanging up the clothes I brought with me or folding them after I'd worn them. No making the bed, wiping down kitchen counters, or compulsively folding and refolding bath towels. I only washed the pots and pans in my cabin because the management required it. For lunch on my first day, I perpetuated the same deviations that I'd started when I unpacked my clothes and left them in a heap in the closet. Instead of a salad and lemonade, it was a corned beef sandwich and French fries. (After that meal, I was sure I wouldn't eat again for three days.) Whatever was my norm, I was hell bent on doing the opposite. Change is good. For most people, self-esteem and well-being depend on a sense of productivity. So, during my opposites-training, I did nothing but watch old movies on the fuzzy black and white TV. I actually spent a day without my cell phone, without checking email and without cleaning anything. Experiencing change makes you feel bigger because you're turning off your automatic responses and using more of your brain. Go out and find your personal Ruidoso, and when you get home, laugh as you screw the cap back on the toothpaste and fold the towels in your bathroom. Be aware of the rules without breaking them, but understand them for what they are. The idea is to become more conscious rather than less. Resist the mind's tendency toward hibernation and auto-pilot. It's not enough to just keep your eyes open. Really see what's around you. Don't just show up for things -- pay attention and listen. Be present, be conscious, and more than anything else, allow change to transform you into a more complete, authentic person. ============================================ ON THE ROAD WITH SISTERS IN CRIME ============================================ From Judith R. Parker: I didn't attend B'con but I did spend a Saturday afternoon at the Northwest Bookfest. It was a wonderful experience. There really are still readers out there!!! I didn't get there until about 1 PM on Saturday. For over a mile before we even got to the turn off to Magnuson Park, both sides of the street were packed with cars. As we creeped the quarter of a mile down or more to the old Navy hanger, it was touch and go to avoid bumping people. There were literally hundreds coming and going. The bookfair was held in a humoungous hanger and was crowded with literally thousands of people. Almost all carrying bags of books! I gave up counting the booths of exhibitors at 100. The SinC booth and Seattle Mystery Book Store (they were side by side) seemed to be getting the most action. I signed two of my books, WHILE HYENAS LAUGH and DEADLY DIAMONDS from 4:00 - 5:00. What I didn't sell, Seattle Mystery bought for their store. I had the pleasure of visiting with an old friend, Jo Dereske, who says she will be writing another MISS ZUKAS book. I also got to visit with Larry Karp and Stella Cameron. Linda Jedlicka did a fantastic job with the SinC booth and deserves a really big thank you from all us sibs. From Bob Armstrong: Nita and I had a nice time at Bouchercon. It was our first experience. We planted our big motor home in a park about 25 miles south of the convention site, and drove in every morning. On the day of my panel, on "Urban Commandos," I dressed in a tux, with the coat made of camouflage material. It got a lot of attention, especially from a couple of off duty cops who said they had a couple of guys down at the station house who would kill for the jacket. Sold a few autographed books. The fans were much more friendly than the authors, publishers, and agents. Met a couple of real fans. Also had a good exchange with the representative from iUniverse (Mike Altman). He was there displaying books by iU authors and he put mine right up front. He gave me the impression that iU would be attending more of these gatherings and displaying our books. I also met an agent who asked me to submit my work to him. Having attended and organized lots of medical meetings of this type, I must admit that my Texas colleagues could have been a bit more organized. Most every panel had to designate a moderator on the spot, and come up with what their definition of what the panel topic really meant. As usual, most meetings of this type seem to over-emphasize the bar and the cocktail hour. This was obviously not the best meeting for the aspiring author. Still, we (Nita and I) learned a lot, especially the panel on Historical Mysterie, and spent a relaxing remainder of the next week in the quaint Texas Hill Country, perusing the antique shops in Fredricksburg. Of course Nita insisted on a visit to Kerville to shop at the James Avery "silversmith" factory. We also visited the Base Exchange at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio. She got a new Fossil watch and considered the vist a success. From G. Miki Hayden: I went to the Mid-Atlantic Mystery Fair, September 27-29, an event run periodically by Deen Kogan in Philadelphia. Deen is a convention pro and knows how to put together these things. She will be doing next year's Bouchercon in Las Vegas, having run the Bouchercon in Philadelphia in 1998. Our dinner, at which the Shamus Awards were presented, consisted of prime ribs, and we listened to a live piano gently playing in the background. Top authors showed up, such as S. J. Rozan, George Pelicanos, Charles Todd, and others. The conference was small, but really quite fun. I moderated a panel on Writing ABOUT Mystery and one of the participants was Mystery News co-owner Chris Aldrich. That Sunday I was back in New York where I set up the MWA booth for NY Is Book Country on Fifth Avenue. Anne Poe Lehr of Poe's Cousin had SinC authors signing at her booth. From Charlaine Harris: Bouchercon was hectic for me. I don't think I got to see a single panel besides my own. For those of you who haven't been to many, Bouchercon is usually heavily scheduled for writers; since everyone is there, it's a popular time to meet with your agent, your editor, and be treated to a meal or a cocktail party by your publishers. Also, many of the big mystery-themed organizations have their annual or biannual meetings at Bouchercon; Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and several more. If there's a particular friend you want to see, it's wise to schedule a time before you leave home. There are several people I like that I heard afterward did attend Bouchercon, but I never saw them there! Magna Cum Murder is one of my favorite conventions. I go about every two or three years. It is excellently run and writers are treated as though they were very important at Magna, which is held in Muncie, Indiana, and sponsored by Ball State University. The convention is held at the Convention Center and the old hotel directly across from it, the Hotel Roberts. Muncie itself does not have a whole lot to offer, but the convention always has panels that are intriguing, a good slate of writers, and it is very personal. I give it high marks. From Marily Meredith: Despite the problems with the panels, Bouchercon was fun as usual. I had a great time with Margo Power and Kit Sloane and lots of others. It was exciting waiting for the Best Cover results at the banquet with Kit's daughter even if she didn't win. From Linda Jedlika: Northwest Bookfest 2002 Imagine this: you're standing shoulder-to-shoulder with several hundred other booklovers, listening to some of your favorite authors. Outside, the weather is misty and cool, a perfect Northwest fall day -- inside, it's a bit cool as well because this year you're in a 1930s airplane hangar at Sand Point Magnuson Park (not too far and down the hill from the University of Washington). When the presentation ends, you follow the authors and your fellow booklovers to the book signing area, where you buy the authors' latest books as well as books by authors you've met for the first time. Then you join the thousands of other attendees wandering aisle after aisle of more than 200 exhibitors' booths -- including the MOST excellent booths of Sisters-in-Crime (hosted by the Puget Sound Chapter) and Seattle Mystery Bookshop, which this year are next to one another (yes!) This was Northwest Bookfest 2002. This year's Bookfest was fantastic! After several years in modern, and sadly sterile exhibition centers in downtown Seattle, this year we moved to a funky facility much more like Bookfest's original home in an old pier near the ferry dock. The booksellers once again had to protect their stock from pigeons perched overhead -- it was great! I was worried that people would have trouble finding us in a maze of now retired military buildings, but find us they did - attendance topped 20,000! Our SinC booth was more popular than ever before - in part due to our location next to Seattle Mystery Bookshop's booth and in back of the stage where the presentations we sponsored were held, but in larger part due to "goodies" sent to us by SinC members, including those in the Internet Chapter who included Chris Aldrich (who sent us a huge box of giveaway copies of Mystery News), Libby Hellmann, Jackie Griffey, Roberta Isleib, Judith Parker, Denise Swanson, Deborah Wessell (aka Deborah Donnelly), and Lorie Ham. The 400+ copies of Books in Print National SinC sent us (the last of which disappeared the morning of the second day!) helped as well. I was afraid our panels wouldn't be well attended due to the times we were assigned this year - the last session of the day on both Saturday and Sunday! But I needn't have worried. Our Saturday session, "Food, Drink, Woman, Detective" with panelists Jo Dereske, J.A. Jance, Judith Smith-Levin, Kate Wilhelm, and moderator Pat Lunneborg was packed to over flowing. The Sunday session, "Mysterious Sidekicks", with panelists Earl Emerson, April Henry, and Mary Daheim, drew fewer people (Sunday overall drew fewer people than Satuday), but with more than a hundred die-hard mystery lovers in the audience, we considered it a success as well. We plan to return to Bookfest and are already thinking of ideas for next year's sessions. We'd love to have you join us, if not in person, by sending promotional goodies for us to give away! For information about Bookfest, see http://www.nwbookfest.org/ Linda Jedlicka websister@sinc-ic.org and websister for the Puget Sound chapter: http://www2.whidbey.net/sinc ============================================ FOUND ONLINE ============================================ Bouchercon 2003: http://www.bconvegas2003.org/ Thanksgiving Reading Ideas from Myshelf.com: http://www.myshelf.com/holiday/pages/thanksgiving.htm ============================================ November Trivia ============================================ "Jingle Bells," a popular Christmas song, was actually written for Thanksgiving. The song was composed in 1857, by James Pierpont, and was originally called "One Horse Open Sleigh". When Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835, Halley's comet was visible in the sky over Florida, Missouri. Aware that he was born when Halley's comet was visible, Mark Twain predicted in 1909 that he would die when it returned. He was right. When Mark Twain died on April 21, 1910, Halley's comet was once again visible in the sky. When Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, died on December 4, 1894, he willed his November 13 birthday to a friend who disliked her own Christmas birthday. Turkey trivia: http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/turkey.asp.