Making Meaningful Writing Associations

 by Paula Gail Benson

             As writers starting out, we often seek writing groups in our community to learn, network, and develop additional contacts. I’ve mentioned in several posts that when I began getting serious about writing, I traveled with a friend an hour and a half from Columbia, South Carolina, to go to meetings in Charleston because a group met there that offered craft workshops. At the time, it was the only opportunity I had to receive that kind of information and interact with other writers.

             Now, thanks to virtual meeting capabilities, it can be valuable to belong to numerous groups, whether or not they are based in your geographic location. Joseph S. Walker, an incredibly talented writer who has won the Bill Crider Award at the Dallas Bouchercon, twice won the Al Blanchard award, been nominated for an Edgar, and now serves as President of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, became a member of several Sisters in Crime chapters in order to submit stories to the anthologies they sponsored. Not only has his work been published in those books, but also it has appeared in other periodicals and anthologies as well as several volumes of The Best Mystery Stories of the Year.

             Being part of the online Guppies chapter of Sisters in Crime introduced me to a community that respects and encourages short story writers. Through the Guppies’ short story critique group, I received valuable comments on my own work and met folks I now consider close friends. This year, I’ve had stories accepted by Kaye George for two anthologies she edited. Kaye and I also gave a presentation on plotting short stories at a day-long program given in Decatur, Georgia. Another participant in that program was Debra H. Goldstein. Kaye and Debra remain touchstones I rely upon for writing advice. In addition, they are exceptional cheerleaders when support is needed!

             Debra and I belong to the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Chesapeake has a solid reputation for its anthologies as well as an incredibly experienced and talented membership. It offers monthly programs that give insight into craft and law enforcement procedure.

             A few years ago, I virtually met the President of the Capitol Crimes Chapter of Sisters in Crime based in Sacramento, California, Sonja Hazzard-Webster. We first connected through email and then participated in a virtual meeting held by then Sisters in Crime President Lori Rader-Day. Sonja’s enthusiasm was contagious. We talked about a joint program with Capitol Crimes and the Palmetto Chapter, based in Columbia, S.C. Sadly, Sonja passed away suddenly on June 15, 2020, but the idea of a joint program lived on through the Capitol Crimes presidencies of Penny Manson and Sarah Bresniker and the Palmetto Chapter presidency of Carla Damron and became a reality. Our Killer Workshop, offering both in-person (in California) and virtual options, with Gregg Hurwitz as the keynote, was held on May 14, 2022.

             Since that experience, I’ve continued to be a member of the Capitol Crimes Chapter and am delighted to have been elected to its board. For years, we’ve teased about how we only know each other through our phone and computer screens. But, this year, a few of us attended Killer Nashville and were able to spend time together in person. I commend this group for its dedication in offering valuable programs and retreat opportunities. I’ve also learned a lot from them about mystery writing events that take place on the west coast. I hope one day I’ll be able to meet with them in Sacramento.

             What writing organizations do you belong to and why do you recommend being a member?

 

Where to Plant Clues?

 By Shari Randall

 

The Sisters in Crime Chesapeake Chapter recently presented a Zoom workshop called Deep in a Bowl of Porridge: Planting Clues and Obscuring Red Herrings: How, Where, and When To Plant Clues with the very talented Catriona McPherson. Catriona just published her 29^th book; if anyone knows about clues, it’s Catriona. She invited us to join her in the happy place “where the bodies pile up and the wrong people are suspected.”

 

She spoke about where, how, and when to plant clues, but I want to focus on the Where. Catriona began the class by saying “you can’t hide a horse in the desert” and gave us tips and examples for hiding clues. Her presentation was so rich and charming, I encourage you to seek out any workshop she teaches.

 

I’m sharing just a tiny bit of the wonderful advice Catriona gave us. Because I’m knee deep in writing a novel, I’m sorting through the clues I want to use and where I want to hide them. I’m sure Catriona’s advice will make that process easier.

 

Where to hide clues? Here’s a checklist for inspiration:

 

In a list of details.

 

In humor. (If the reader is distracted, you can slip clues past them.)

 

In a character’s attitude, emotion, or POV. For example: The police are looking for two men. A child describes the suspect as “tall and old.” Three adults describe the suspect as “young and short.” (All witnesses are describing the same one man from their own perspectives.)

 

In a subplot.

 

In a sex scene (Distraction again!)

 

Inside another clue. Catriona shared a quote from Reversal of Fortune: “Sunny Von Bulow is in a coma after an insulin overdose. Her husband Claus is the prime suspect. He maintains it was a suicide attempt. Earlier, her maid had found insulin hidden in a stash of drugs. She remembers being puzzled. She remembers saying “Insulin! What for insulin? My lady is not diabetic.”

 

Catriona encouraged us to remember that there are good and bad clues. We all know the good ones, the ones that make us go back in the text, the ones that delight us with their cleverness, that fool us, the ones that play fair.

 

The bad ones? The bad ones fudge reality to make the story work. Catriona shared some examples, but kindly did not identify the authors. I hope I never end up on her syllabus!

 

Writers, do you have any advice for planting clues? 

 

 

 

Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays

For those of you unfamiliar with Washington, D. C., Georgetown is a little colonial town-within-a-town on the Southwestern edge of the District. Shops line the main thoroughfares of Wisconsin Avenue and “M” Street, which runs parallel to the Potomac River a few blocks to the south. Pricey old town homes built of brick and plank edge the narrow streets. Georgetown University is located on the western perimeter uphill from the shopping areas. I gravitated to this area when in college during the 1970s as did many students. It felt like a safe harbor.

When the SinC Chesapeake Chapter announced the theme of homicidal holidays my thoughts took me to Georgetown during my college years. One morning after it snowed, I went to Georgetown. Having come from Pennsylvania, I had no fear of driving, my car clad in snow tires. I parked on upper Wisconsin Avenue and walked downhill toward the river. No cars traversed the street, and I realized that the snow was pristine. No tire tracks or pedestrian footmarks marred the snow. I stopped walking and gazed down the avenue at the vista below me. No sounds. No people. No exhaust. It seemed as if I were the only living being in the city. The quiet and beautiful scene awed me. I never forgot that instant in time.

Few places evoke Christmas like Georgetown dressed up in its holiday finery. My original idea was a

Christmas story set there. I wanted snow—lots of snow—and I got an idea for a mystery involving two roommates who went to my undergraduate school, American University. Because of my memories, the story became historical, set during the 1970s. I’d never written a historical story before and needed to do research. Historical stories must be accurate, don’t they? I became obsessed with research. I had to get everything historically correct.

But, during the 1970s I found, there was no snow on Christmas. Not even close. The snowy day I had found myself alone in Georgetown couldn’t have been in December, but I found a storm in 1979, after I’d graduated, on Presidents’ Day. What could be more Washingtonian than that? Since that storm was the only snow I found occurring on a holiday, I started to research that day and what the headlines focused on during that time. The night of Presidents’ Day during the snowstorm, George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers played at an infamous Georgetown Club, The Cellar Door.  I put the events together, created an antagonist, and the rest—was murder.

                            

Today is the official launch party for Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, which will be held from noon to 2 p.m. at One More Page Bookstore in Arlington, VA. I'm out of town and am unable to attend, but I hope some of the authors will drop by and tell you about their stories in our "comments" section. If you can't buy the book at your favorite indie store, here's a link for Amazon. It is also available as an electronic publication. I hope you enjoy reading my story, “Compromised Circumstances” along with other wonderful stories in the anthology. Here’s a list of the stories:

GROUNDHOG DAY

THE SHADOW KNOWS, by Barb Goffman

VALENTINE’S DAY

SEEING RED, by Rosemary and Larry Mild

PRESIDENTS’ DAY

COMPROMISED CIRCUMSTANCES, by E. B. Davis

ST. PATRICK’S DAY

I WILL SURVIVE, by Shaun Taylor Bevins

TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY

DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES, by Cathy Wiley

HALLOWEEN

PREMONITION, by Art Taylor

DISCO DONNA, by Shari Randall

MONSTER PARTY, by Meg Opperman

SHADOW BOXER, by Carla Coupe

LAST RITES, by Timothy Bentler-Jungr

CHRISTMAS

HOPPY HOLIDAYS, by Linda Lombardi

JASMINE, by Debbi Mack

SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE, by Clyde Linsley

A CHRISTMAS TRIFLE, by Donna Andrews

SinC Anthologies--The Chesapeake Chapter

Continuing our summer series on SinC anthologies, this week we're focusing on the SinC chesapeake Chapter's Chesapeake Crime series, which includes five--soon to be six--volumes. Please welcome Donna Andrews and Barb Goffman, who along with Marcia Talley are the coordinating editors for this series.                                                                                                                                                E. B. Davis

What prompted you to create an anthology?

The idea for the anthology series came from the late Martha Pennigar, who was at that time president of the chapter. Partway through the editorial process, she had to withdraw from

coordinating the anthology, so I (Donna Andrews), then the new president, picked up the reins. I was coordinating editor for that volume. It’s a big job, so I enlisted Maria Lima for the second volume. Marcia Talley replaced Maria for the third volume, and when Barb Goffman joined the team for the fourth volume, we knew we had such a winning combination that we’ve kept it going ever since.

Before we answer the rest of your questions, here’s a short history of the series. The volumes past and upcoming:

Chesapeake Crimes (I) (2004) Currently available from Lulu.com

Chesapeake Crimes II (2005; rereleased 2006 by Tidewater Publishers)

Chesapeake Crimes 3 (2008, Wildside Press)

Chesapeake Crimes: They Had It Comin’ (Chesapeake Crimes 4) (2010 Wildside Press)

Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder (Chesapeake Crimes 5) (2012 Wildside Press)

Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays (Chesapeake Crimes 6) (October 2014 Wildside Press)

Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning (Chesapeake Crimes 7) (2016 Wildside Press)

Chesapeake Crimes (now Chesapeake Crimes I) came out in 2004 from a small, local traditional press that seemed like a good bet at the time, but by the time Chesapeake Crimes II came out, we realized they were having financial difficulties and not dealing with them responsibly. So we got our rights back, and in 2006, volume two was re-released by Tidewater Publishers—also a small, local traditional press, but a more long-established one—it was a division of Cornell Maritime Press. But when Tidewater was acquired by Schiffer Publishing, our anthology series no longer fit into their publishing plans, so we moved to Wildside Press for volume three and have been with them ever since.

How did you develop a theme for your anthology?

For the first two anthologies, we only asked for good short stories. With the third, we asked the

writers to set their stories in the Chesapeake Bay area. When we began working with Wildside, publisher John Betancourt suggested the idea of the theme, so we came up with “They Had It Comin’” for the fourth volume. If we come up with a theme that all three coordinating editors like, we run with it, and so far we’ve been pleased with the response.

Do you develop a “local” theme to entice readers in your area?

When we do events and other publicity, we try to highlight the fact that our authors are local. But we’re also aiming to attract readers from other areas, so we don’t want too local a theme. Moreover, if we required all the stories in every volume to be set in the Chesapeake Bay area, we might have a harder time getting the diversity we want.

How long did you give your writers to submit stories?

We announce the theme around nine months in advance. We want to give our authors a thorough chance to mull over ideas, write drafts, work with their critique partners, edit, edit, edit, and then submit the best stories they can. Since we have the time in our schedule to announce our themes way in advance, we do so.

Did you adhere to the guidelines set up for anthologies by SinC?

Our first anthologies came out before the guidelines were established—back in the day when a chapter couldn’t itself issue an anthology and we had to set it up as a group of chapter members producing an anthology to benefit the chapter. Then Marcia and I (Donna), who were both on the national board around that time, served as members of the committee that created the guidelines, using our experience and that of a few other chapters who’d done successful anthologies as a model. So having been instrumental in creating the guidelines—of course!

What was the response to your query for stories among your writers?

We generally have a pretty good response to our call for submissions. We’ve reopened submissions only once due to a shortage of stories, and that was the year we only gave people a few months’ notice AND had New Year’s Eve as our deadline. We’ve learned from that mistake. Our anthologies have had between thirteen and twenty stories, and we hope to get at least twice and optimally three times that number of stories to choose from.

What were the criteria for selection?

To submit, you have to be a chapter member. Then our editorial panel selects a slate of what they consider the best stories to make up the anthology.

Were the stories judged blind? How did you obtain judges?

Yes, we have blind submission. For each anthology, we invite three or sometimes four writers to

serve as our editorial panel. So far we’ve had a different editorial panel for each volume, which we think is fairer to the writers who submit—if one editorial panel doesn’t like a writer’s style, the next might. The editorial panels so far:

CC1: Martha Pennigar, Cindy Silberblatt, Elizabeth Sheley

CC2: Trish Carrico, Patrick Hyde, Maria Y. Lima

CC3: Karen Diegmueller, Gail Meredith, Mary Augusta Thomas, Lisa Tillman

CC4: They Had It Comin’: Erin Bush, Megan G. Plyler, Mary Augusta Thomas

CC5: This Job is Murder: Ellen Crosby, Sandra Parshall, Dan Stashower

CC6: Homicidal Holidays: Christina Freeburn, John Gilstrap, Alan Orloff

CC7: Storm Warning: David Dean, Sujata Massey, B.K. Stevens

The stories are submitted electronically to me (Donna), and I make sure they contain no identifying features before sharing them with the editorial panel and with Marcia and Barb.

Did you hire an editor?

No, we use in-house, volunteer talent for that. For the first volume, I (Donna) served as editor. I was joined by Maria Lima for the second volume, by Marcia Talley for the third, and for the fourth, we came up with the triumvirate that continues today—Barb Goffman, Marcia Talley, and me. All three of us have substantial editorial experience (with Barb even running her own editing business). We work closely with the contributors to polish their stories, often going through multiple drafts. I should add, for two of the early volumes, the editorial-selection committee editors assisted with editing, though doing so isn’t a requirement to serve on a selection committee.

Was any thought given as to the order of the stories in the anthology?

In early anthologies, we simply went alphabetically. Lately, we’ve been trying to play with the order

to set the right tone for the book, as well as to ensure we don’t have two somewhat similar stories right after each other.

How did you find a publisher, and who published your anthology?

We approached small local traditional publishers. As we related above, we were unfortunate in our first choice, happier in our second, and the third time, with Wildside, has been a charm.

Were you given a choice of covers?

With our initial publisher, no. Tidewater Publishing chose to illustrate the second volume with a landscape from the Chesapeake Bay area. We liked that theme, so we’ve kept with it. The cover of the Lulu.com rerelease of CCI features a bay photo by Marcia, and with Wildside, we have provided the cover art, subject to their approval, and with their help in fine tuning it. Author Meriah Crawford provided the photo for CC3 (in which she had a story). They Had It Comin’ features one of my photos, with a sinister trench coated figure added by Stacey Logan, our graphic designer. Robin Templeton, another chapter member who in addition to being a Malice grant-winning author is also a professional photographer, did the cover photos for This Job Is Murder and Homicidal Holidays. And since one of her stories was—blindly—selected to appear in Storm Warning, I suspect we might be able to convince her to do some photography for that one as well.

How are you promoting your anthology and do you have a budget to do so?

We always have a launch party open to the public where we tend to sell a lot of copies. We also ask all our authors to promote via social media and to reach out to their local libraries to set up events. In the past, Barb has written and sent out press releases that got some traction. We always have bookmarks. And since our anthologies typically come out in the spring, we place ads in the Malice Domestic program book, since Malice occurs around the same time. This year, with Homicidal Holidays coming out on October 7^th, we’ve placed an ad in the New England Crime Bake convention program book, reminding readers that Homicidal Holidays would be a great holiday gift. (Crime Bake occurs in November, and Homicidal Holidays has several Christmas stories, as well as stories set on other holidays throughout the year.) The chapter has helped with costs for the launch parties and some of the ads and bookmarks, and the authors typically voluntarily help out, too.

Do you think that there is a resurgence of interest in short stories?

The rise of e-readers seems to have been a boon for short stories. Many shorts are sold individually for fifty cents or a dollar, an attractive price to try a new author, and certainly to buy a story from an author you love. E-book versions of our anthologies typically are sold for less than $4, which we hope will entice readers. With people so very busy these days, a short story is ideal. You can fit it in when you have a spare few minutes, whether you’re waiting for an appointment or want to read something complete and satisfying in the half hour before bed.

Have any of your anthology’s stories been nominated for awards?

Yes, we’ve had nominations or wins with each volume:

Chesapeake Crimes

“The Butler Didn’t Do It,” Maria Y. Lima, Agatha Award nominee

“Wedding Knife,” Elaine Viets, Agatha winner, Anthony Award winner

Chesapeake Crimes II

“Rear View Murder,” Carla Coupe, Agatha nominee

“Murder at Sleuthfest,” Barb Goffman, Agatha nominee

“Mother Love,” Harriette Sackler, Agatha nominee

“Driven to Distraction,” Marcia Talley, Agatha winner, Anthony nominee

 

Chesapeake Crimes 3

“Dangerous Crossing,” Carla Coupe, Agatha nominee

Chesapeake Crimes: They Had It Comin’

“Volunteer of the Year,” Barb Goffman, Agatha nominee

“Bookworm,” G.M. Malliet, Macavity Award nominee

Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder

“The Lord is My Shamus,” Barb Goffman, Macavity winner, Agatha and Anthony nominee

“When Duty Calls,” Art Taylor, Derringer Award winner, Agatha and Macavity nominee

Are you planning other anthologies?

Yes. We consider this an ongoing series, with a new volume coming out every two years. As noted above, our sixth volume, Homicidal Holidays, will be published on October 7^th. We’re currently editing stories selected for the seventh, Storm Warning. And we’re already thinking about the theme for the eighth.

Galleys!

Last night I had the nicest surprise in my inbox – the galley of the latest anthology by the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Homicidal Holidays contains my new short story, “Disco Donna.” Happy dance! And I should mention it also has a new story from our own E. B. Davis! Publication is set for this fall.

In “Disco Donna,” three very modern teenage girls stumble upon proof of their town’s most famous urban legend. Disco Donna was the 80’s girl too hot to care about her bad reputation. Donna was murdered on Halloween night, left in her bed clasping a single red rose. Her killer was never found and theories of the murderer’s identity are still whispered in the town’s cafés, shops, and high school hallways.

It was great fun to create my own urban legend and even more fun to work with the talented authors who shared their expertise and time to take my story from rough draft to less-rough draft, sharpening plot twists, highlighting characters, and omitting needless words. We discussed techniques for breaking and entering, ink colors, and the best ways to hide things you don’t want your parents to find. When my drafts came back heavily tattooed with editorial marks, my heart fell, but each suggestion helped me tighten and improve the work.

Now the story is a galley. To sailors, the galley is a kitchen. To lovers of B movies, a galley is a Ben Hur style long boat powered by men chained to oars. In publishing, the galley, or “galley proof” is the mock up of the book, the penultimate step before it goes to be printed. It’s the last chance. The galley is the dress rehearsal of the publishing process. All the writing and rewriting and editing and polishing have taken place and now we’re looking for typos. It’s done. Don’t get any ideas, the editorial coordinator warned me. (OK, Barb!) It’s too late for changes, unless they are huge.

So I am thrilled and a bit afraid to review my story. What if I do find that huge mistake? What if’s make for good story ideas, but also for a bad night’s sleep. But then I remember the great advice and help I have received from my Sisters in Crime editors. Thank you Marcia, Donna, and Barb! Without your help, I wouldn’t have slept as well last night.

How did you feel when you first saw your work in galley form?