Criminal

Tendencies

March 5
April 2
May – No meeting/Malice
June 4

President’s Message

I've just come out of my first board meeting as your new chapter president, and I am excited about the year ahead of us. Chapter member Louise Titchener's fascinating February workshop on writing dialog at the Howard County Public Library is just one example of the many interesting programs we have scheduled. Next month, come hear Peter

Blau, a Sherlockian expert, when he joins us on 5 March at That’s Amore in Vienna, VA. We plan to continue alternating meeting sites between Maryland and Virginia, and are looking into a return to an old favorite, the Anchor Inn, which has recently reopened under new management.

Your chapter's financial position is sound. We have contributed $400 to help member Chris Freeburn purchase mystery books for West Virginia school children as part of the Mystery Writers of America's KLAM (Kids Love a Mystery) program. In addition, the chapter has hired a professional web maven to revise, update and maintain the Chesapeake Chapter website so that it can serve as a "one stop shop" for information about Chapter activities. Come see our new look at www.chessiechapter.org.

Spearheaded by Vice President Donna Andrews, Chesapeake Crimes II, the newest collection of short stories by some of our members will be published by Quiet Storm at the end of April, just in time for Malice Domestic. We plan a third anthology. Stay tuned for details.

The Board of the Chesapeake Chapter is always interested in feedback from our members, so if you have suggestions for speakers, programs, venues ... just about anything, please let us know.

Until then, see you in March!

Marcia Talley
President
marcia@marciatalley.com

Sad News

We are deeply saddened to report that one of our most beloved members, Barbara Burnett Smith, was hit by a car and killed on Feb. 19^th while she and her husband were visiting San Antonio, Texas. Barbara was rushed to the hospital, but her injuries were too severe.

Barbara was president of Sisters in Crime national from 1999-2000, a regular attendee at the Malice Domestic conference, and had just begun a new mystery series, the first of which, Bead on Trouble, was published by Berkley in January. We will miss her bubbly personality and her talent as a writer.

Kids Love A Mystery

Kids who hate reading may love reading mysteries. That’s the hope of member Chris Freeburn who is organizing a Kids Love A Mystery (KLAM) conference at New Creek Elementary School, in New Creek, W.V. on March 11.

Freeburn wants to give each child a mystery during the day-long festivities aimed at promoting reading. “We’re trying to get books that interest children,” she said. “The teachers hope that mysteries might be that one area that will grab the attention of kids who don’t like to read.”

She has collected 131 books so far, many from chapter members. She needs 32 more, especially books aimed at kids in first grade and kindergarten.

“I live in a low-income area,” she said. “The parents know the importance of reading, but there aren’t enough resources. People around here are touched that people they don’t know are donating books to help their children. It’s very encouraging to the parents and teachers who have been struggling to get books and to encourage kids to read.”

During the conference, adult mysteries will be handed out to parents, too. “If the child sees the parent read, the child will be more interested in reading, too,” Freeburn said.

The Chessie Chapter board has donated $400 to this KLAM conference, with the expectation that the funds could purchase approximately 50 children’s mysteries.

Freeburn will not be at the March SIC meeting to collect donations, so anyone wanting to donate books should email her at chris@chrisfreeburn.com. She’s also seeking promotional materials from children’s authors to hand out, such as bookmarks, postcards and posters.

Freeburn is the official KLAM representative of the Mystery Writers of America Mid-Atlantic chapter. Anyone who wants to run a KLAM event at their school or library should contact her.

Monitoring Project Needs Your Help

Nearly 20 years ago, Sisters in Crime formed with the goal of ensuring female mystery authors got equity in the marketplace. Twenty years later, the battle continues.

“In the early days, only about twenty percent of mysteries reviewed were by women authors,” chapter President Marcia Talley said. “Now it’s closer to 50/50, which is good, except women are writing more mysteries than men. So while we’ve made tremendous strides in getting women writers reviewed by national newspapers, it’s still a struggle.”

Sisters In Crime has long tried to persuade national newspapers and magazines to review more books of female authors by providing evidence that book reviewers are neglecting women mystery writers, considering the number of books they publish compared to men.

“If we point out the inequities, maybe someone will do something about it,” chapter Vice President Donna Andrews said. “We just want to get our fair share.”

And getting a fair share of reviews would definitely affect sales, publishing contracts, and shelf space at stores, Andrews said.

“Publishers buy what people buy. People buy what they hear about,” she said.

Enter the Monitoring Project. SIC members nationwide regularly monitor newspapers, magazines and websites, counting the number of mysteries reviewed (including suspense and thrillers) that were written by women versus men. The Monitoring Project is seeking more members to adopt publications that regularly review mysteries, especially local papers. Members interested in participating should contact Andrews at vicepres@chessiechapter.org.

Anthology News

Clint Gaige, editor and publisher at Quiet Storm Publishing, has announced that Chesapeake Crimes II will be published by the end of April. The anthology will include the following short stories by chapter members:

“Smart Enough” by Mary Nelson (writing as Goody Cantwell)

“A Senior Discount on Murder” by Noreen Wald (writing as Nora Charles)

“A Rose by Any Other Name” by Leone Cirporin

“Rear View Murder” by Carla Coupe

“The Last to Know” by Elizabeth Foxwell

“Dying for a Clue” by Chris Freeburn

“Murder at Sleuthfest” by Barb Goffman

“Death in the Aegean” by Peggy Hanson

“The Bartender” by G. M. Malliet

“The Pink Sweater” by Sherriel Mattingly

“Death in Woad Blue” by Valerie O. Patterson

“The Cozy Caprice” by Judy Pomeranz

“Mother Love” by Harriette I. Sackler

“Driven to Distraction” by Marcia Talley and

“The Blonde in Black” by Sandi Wilson.

Many of the anthology’s 15 contributors will participate in local area group signings, including at the Malice Domestic conference in April.

Member News

Our chapter is well represented in nominations for Agatha awards this year. The winners of the best works of 2004 will be announced at the Malice Domestic conference in April. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Donna Andrews’ We’ll Always Have Parrots was nominated for an Agatha Award for best novel.

Adding to the Agatha competition, Sujata Massey’s The Pearl Diver also was nominated for best novel.

Laura Lippman’s By a Spider’s Thread was nominated for an Edgar award for best novel of 2004 by Mystery Writers of America and an Agatha Award for best novel. The Edgar winners also will be announced in April.

Patricia Harwin’s Arson and Old Lace was nominated for an Agatha award for best first novel.

Two chapter members received nominations for best short story, and both of these stories appeared in Chesapeake Crimes. Maria Lima’s “The Butler Didn’t Do It” will compete against Elaine Viets’ “Wedding Knife” in the Agatha best short story category.

Jack French’s Private Eye-Lashes: Radio’s Lady Detectives has been nominated for an Agatha for best nonfiction book.

In non-Agatha news, Elizabeth Foxwell is producing and hosting a new weekly radio show called “It’s a Mystery.” The hour-long show will feature interviews with authors, booksellers and others in the mystery field, as well as details on new and classic whodunits and mystery-related news, especially about events in the Northern Virginia area.

Starting on February 28, “It’s a Mystery” can be heard on Mondays at 11 a.m. on WEBR in Fairfax, Virginia, which is transmitted via cable on channels 37 and 7 on Cox Cable in Fairfax and on channel 27 on Comcast Cable in Reston. WEBR also may be heard online at www.fcac.org/webcasting/webcast.htm.

Because Foxwell is producing the show on a volunteer basis in her limited free time, she implores local authors not to contact her asking to appear on the show. She is familiar with the release schedule of many authors, and she will take that information into considering when booking show guests. For more information, go to www.elizabethfoxwell.com/ItsaMystery.html.

Agatha award-winning author Rosemary Stevens, now writing as Rosemary Martin, will have the first book in a new light-hearted 1960’s mystery series released on April 5 by Signet. Stevens will participate in Crime Wave at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville on March 19^th to promote the book, titled It’s a Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod Murder. Copies will be available at the festival, even though it will be before the official release date.

Stevens’ first formal signing for the groovy new series will be at Creatures ‘n Crooks Bookshoppe in Richmond on April 9 from 2 – 4 p.m.. She also will be on a panel at Malice Domestic in which each author will dress as their sleuth. Get ready to see Stevens in go-go boots, turquoise eye shadow and false eyelashes!

Who Killed Schwami Schwartz burned up the bestseller charts in January. The book by Noreen Wald, writing as Nora Charles, was number two on IMBA’s best seller paperback list and number five on Poisoned Pen's bestseller list. It is the second book in Wald’s Senior Sleuth Mystery Series.

Mary Ellen Hughes has sold three books featuring the owner of an arts and crafts store to Berkley Prime Crime. The books will be marketed as the Crafting Corner series.

Member Patty Suchy is pleased to announce that she’ll host a historical mystery tour in June. Get details at www.novelexplorations.com or call her at 1-866-204-2768 (PIN 4675).

Member Spotlight:
Dawn Dowdle

In order for our chapter members to get know each other better, Criminal Tendencies plans to spotlight a member in each issue. We are pleased that Dawn Dowdle has agreed to be our first spotlight.

How do you get lots of new mysteries shipped to you free every week straight from the publisher? Become a tenacious online reviewer like chapter member Dawn Dowdle of Manassas.

Dowdle aims to read a new mystery every three days, and if she likes a book, she’ll post a review on Amazon’s and Barnes and Noble’s websites.

“I like to promote books I enjoy,” she said. “It’s hard for authors to get their names out there. I try to help.”

Dowdle’s been reading mysteries for many years. But it wasn’t until just a few years ago that she started reviewing them online. Since 2003, she’s posted a review of every book she’s read and liked. Dowdle doesn’t spend time writing negative reviews.

“I’ll read the first 50 to 75 pages of a book, and if I don’t like it, I’ll stop. I don’t have time to read books I don’t like,” Dowdle said.

She’s not kidding. Her bedroom bookcase is bursting from more than 200 unread books, and more keep coming all the time. She estimates she reads about two books a week, some just for her own pleasure, others as part of an online cozy book group she runs, and more still that she reads for Web Mystery Magazine, for which she writes several blurbs a month.

As of mid-February, Dowdle had 195 reviews posted on Amazon.com. Her favorite book styles include cozies and mysteries involving universities, crossword puzzles and all things culinary. She came to the attention of publishers when she started contacting publicists to have books shipped to her for review.

“I wanted to read more books, but I couldn’t afford them, and my library doesn’t get them that fast,” she said.

And like many chapter members, Dowdle is writing her own mystery, a cozy titled Murder is Elementary. The protagonist is an elementary school substitute teacher, a job Dowdle had done herself. But Dowdle doesn’t need to sub much nowadays, thanks to income from a book editing business.

“My business evolved from my love of reading mysteries,” Dowdle said. “I used to send my reviews to authors. I’d make note of content issues, and then authors started telling me I should be a copy editor. Last March, Sleuthediting was born, and business is booming.”

In some ways, Dowdle’s life is like a dream come true. Between her editing business, her online reviews and her book groups, she gets to spend most days reading books. And she’s even gotten some from favorite authors.

“Claudia Bishop sent me a stack of her books autographed,” Dowdle said. “I’ve sometimes had to purge my shelves, I have so many books. But the books from Claudia Bishop, I’ll never give away.”

Next Meeting

Join us on Saturday, March 5 at 12:30 to hear an exciting talk from Peter E. Blau, a Sherlock Holmes expert with specific knowledge of the role women have had in keeping Sherlock Holmes in the public eye, as well as the female characters Mary Russell and Irene Adler.

The meeting will be at That’s Amore located at 150 Branch Road, SE
Vienna, VA 22180
703-281-7777.

Send reservations to:
Sandy Balintfy
3333 University Blvd. W #212
Kensington, MD 20895-1833

Next Newsletter

Please send news by May 8, 2005 to Barb Goffman at chessienews@chessiechapter.org or by snail mail to 4903 Edgemoor Ln. Apt. 604 Bethesda, MD 20814