Get a Clue Editor’s Note Molly Weston.....................3 The mission of Sisters in Crime is to promote the Catriona’s Letter professional development and advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry. Catriona McPherson...............4 Catriona McPherson, President Chapters ............................5 Leslie Budewitz, Vice President Susan C. Shea, Secretary How Did You Become a SinC Member ..8 Lori Roy, Treasurer Library Liaison The Peace Corps Affected My Writing Carolyn Dubiel, Barbara Fister, Monitoring Chair Carolyn Mulford ..................9 Clare O’Donohue, Bookstore Liaison Martha Reed, Chapter Liaison Everything in Moderation Simon Wood, Publicity Laura Brennan ...................10 Frankie Bailey, At Large Julie Hennrikus, At Large Beth’s Bits G. M. Malliet, At Large Beth Wasson ....................13 Hank Phillippi Ryan, At Large Laura DiSilverio, Immediate Past President Crimelandia ........................13 Molly Weston, inSinC Editor Laurel Anderson, inSinC Proofreader SinC Monitoring Project Report 2014 Gavin Faulkner, inSinC Proofreader Barbara Fister ...................14 Marisa Young, inSinC Proofreader Sarah Glass, Web Maven/Social Media A Lost Sister Restored: New Vera Caspary Reprints Beth Wasson, Executive Director A. B. Emrys ......................16 PO Box 442124 Lawrence, KS 66044-2124 Best Source for Inspiration: The Quickening [email protected] Katherine Ramsland, PhD .........18 785.842.1325 (P) • 785.856.6314 (F) Getting the Facts Straight ©2015 Sisters in Crime International Leslie Budewitz ..................20 We Love Libraries! Andrea Smith....................22 Awards & Nominations inSinc is the official publication of Sisters in Crime International and is published four times a year. • One-year dues are $40 for professional US and Canada writers and $35 Gay Toltl Kinman .................24 for non-professionals (add $5 for other countries). Two-year dues are $80 and $70; lifetime, $500 and $350. Address and all other changes can be made by members on Save the Date.......................24 www.sistersincrime.org. If you do not use a computer or need a user name, please contact Beth Wasson at the address above. Information in inSinC is submitted or reprinted from sources listed in each article. Where required, permission to reprint has Events & Happenings ................25 been granted and noted. SinC does not investigate each submission independently and articles in no way constitute an endorsement of products or services offered. No mate- The Docket .........................26 rial may be reprinted without written permission from Sisters in Crime. 2 inSinC March 2015 ¡ ¡ Editor’s Note Sisters in Crime Past Presidents Sara Paretsky 1987-88 by Molly Weston Nancy Pickard 1988-89 Margaret Maron 1989-90 Susan Dunlap 1990-91 Carolyn G. Hart 1991-92 P. M. Carlson 1992-93 hew! Does your Linda Grant 1993-94 calendar turn as Barbara D’Amato 1994-95 Elaine Raco Chase 1995-96 quickly as mine? It Annette Meyers 1996-97 Sue Henry 1997-98 seems we were just Medora Sale 1998-99 enjoying the holi- Barbara Burnett Smith 1999-00 Claire Carmichael McNab 2000-01 days and now tax Eve K. Sandstrom 2001-02 Kate Flora 2002-03 season is staring us in the face! Before we get Kate Grilley 2003-04 to the taxes, though, let me tell you about several things some of us Patricia Sprinkle 2004-05 W Libby Hellmann 2005-06 are working on behind the SinC scenes. Our Membership Com- Rochelle Krich 2006-07 Roberta Isleib 2007-08 mittee is hard at work looking for ways to recruit new members Judy Clemens 2008-09 and re-connect with former Sisters and Misters. If you have ideas Marcia Talley 2009-10 Cathy Pickens 2010-11 for these important tasks, please send them to Frankie Bailey who Frankie Bailey 2011-12 Hank Phillippi Ryan 2012-13 chairs the committee at [email protected]. Laura DeSilverio 2013–14 This issue is brimmed full of articles that, hopefully, will entertain, inspire, motivate, and educate you. We are lucky to have so many folks who are willing to share their expertise with us—and they Deadline & Submissions do it willingingly and without renumeration. When you see any of Deadline for articles for the them at a conference or workshop, I hope you’ll join me in offering June issue of inSinC is April 15. Include name, your thanks. email, mailing address, and phone number with submissions. Send Speaking of authors in this issue, I’ve been truly fortunate with columns, articles, high-res photos, almost everyone I’ve asked to write for inSinC to agree—and so ideas, praise, and story ideas via email to many who’ve volunteered with pitches for articles. Sisters in Crime Molly Weston is blessed with experts who are willing to share. Keep the ideas [email protected] 919.362.1436 coming! I’d love to work with more of you. As always, I look forward to meeting more Sisters and Brothers at conferences and workshops during the year—and especially at Bouchercon 2015 in Raleigh. That’s right next door to me! Meanwhile, happy writing! Molly 3 inSinC March 2015 ¡ ¡ Dear Siblings, it again. January is certainly the time for writing and reading. And Catriona’s “Happy New Year!” I want to Letter resolutions. say, because I’m writing this in January even though you’re read- This year I’m resolving, for ing it in March. And I think the the second time, to read some Romans were onto something Dickens. And, since third time’s with their calendar, when the the charm, I have every inten- year did start in March, so I’m tion of failing and trying again going ahead: Happy New Year! in 2016. I’m also resolving to write down the author, title, It’s not that March makes a bet- publisher, publication date and ter first month than January. No, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity and where the Romans really nailed Lefty category of every book I it was deciding that the year was Not telling. made up of about three hundred read. Yes indeed, next year, fill- ing in my nomination forms for days, starting in spring and end- As for writing resolutions, this is awards at Left Coast, Malice and ing in December with a big feast. the year I write three books and Bouchercon will take mere min- Then, they decreed, there was a launch three books. Different utes, with no rummaging. bunch of completely bleh days books. Making six in the air that didn’t really count, when Now to some resolutions I might overall. (It’s a long story.) And so you’d do better to stay wrapped keep. I need to find a way to read my only resolution is to get to in a duvet, binge-watching enjoyably off a screen. I don’t Hogmanay [ed. note: New Year’s Castle. (I might be paraphrasing think I’ll ever fully switch to Eve in Scotland or a gift given the history books slightly.) e-books (as long as my eyesight on Hogmanay] having met my deadlines, still friends with all So, this greeting comes from doesn’t force the issue in years three of my publishers (that’s one end of the bleh days to the to come) but it’s getting more part of the story), still married, other, with hopes that Sisters in difficult to blurb or moderate and not having broken down and the snow zones are seeing green panels as a paper person in an sobbed during Q&A at a reading. shoots poking through the melt electronic world. So, 2015 might Another related resolution is to be the year I cave in and get a and Sisters in the storm paths see 2015 as a great big crazy treat gadget. (This will seem like such have come through them with of a year, not a problem. Or at a non-issue to so many of you, trees standing and roof tiles least a problem it’s an honour to but I am gadgets’ number infinity attached. Here in California, my have. bougainvillea and hibiscus sur- fan. Don’t care for them, whether vived four nights below 40, with it’s food processors or electric So how about you? What are fleece blankies wrapped round. toothbrushes. If it’s got a battery your reading and writing resolu- or a plug, I’m out.) tions for 2015? Are they intact in Of course the other great thing March? If not, you do know you to do in winter when it’s too dis- I’d be interested to hear how can go Roman and start again? I gusting to venture outside (four recent converts learned to love might be right there with you. nights below 40!) is curl up with their devices. Would I be secretly a lap-top and spin tales, or curl relieved to hear if anyone tried Love, up with a spun tale and unwind to learn to love them and failed? Catriona 4 inSinC March 2015 ¡ ¡ ews r N te p a h C Central Virginia sinc-centralva.wix.com/ sinc-centralva inC-Central Virginia partnered with the Mys- teries by the Sea Chapter in Tidewater to publish Sthe anthology, Virginia Is for Mys- teries. The group served on pan- els and signed books at a variety of events recently, including the Poe Birthday Bash, Festival of the Book, and the Suffolk Mystery Authors’ Festival. The Sisters and Mister have been invited back to the Poe Birthday Bash again this year to present a panel on writing mysteries and to sign the anthology. This project has been Dr. Hal Poe (cousin of Edgar Allan Poe) has his copy of a great partnership between the Virginia Is for Mysteries signed by the authors. two smaller chapters in eastern Virginia. The two chapters are currently working on the second anthology and have been invited to participate in RavenCon in Richmond in April.