inSinC the Sisters in Crime quarterly December 2020 inSinC • December 2020 • Page 1 Mission Statement Promote the ongoing advancement, recognition, and professional development of women crime writers. inSinC The Sisters in Crime Quarterly • December 2020 Past Presidents 2020 — 21 Board Members Sara Paretsky ...............................1987—88 Nancy Pickard ..............................1988—89 S.G. Wong, President Susan Dunlap ...............................1989—90 Stephanie Gayle, Vice President Margaret Maron ...........................1990—91 Carolyn G. Hart ...........................1991—92 Faye Snowden, Secretary P. M. Carlson ................................1992—93 Jacki York, Treasurer & ACA Coordinator Linda Grant ..................................1993—94 V.M. (Valerie) Burns Grants & Barbara D'Amato .........................1994—95 Award Coordinator Elaine Raco Chase .......................1995—96 Annette Meyers ...........................1996—97 Tracee de Hahn, Membership Sue Henry ....................................1997—98 Development Liaison Medora Sale .................................1998—99 Kellye Garrett, Member at Large Barbara Burnett Smith.................1999—00 Edwin Hill, Education Liaison Claire Carmichael McNab ............2000—01 Eve K. Sandstrom ........................2001—02 Cynthia Kuhn, Monitoring Project Liaison/ Kate Flora ....................................2002—03 Authors Coalition Representative Kate Grilley ..................................2003—04 Vanessa Lillie, Publicity Chair Patricia Sprinkle ..........................2004—05 Alec Peche, Chapter Liaison Libby Hellmann ...........................2005—06 Rochelle Krich .............................2006—07 Shari Randall, Library Liaison Roberta Isleib ..............................2007—08 Barb Ross, Web Liaison Judy Clemens ..............................2008—09 Lori Rader-Day, Immediate Past President Marcia Talley ...............................2009—10 Cathy Pickens ..............................2010—11 Frankie Bailey ..............................2011—12 inSinc is the official publication of Sisters in Crime International Hank Phillippi Ryan .....................2012—13 (SinC) and is published four times each year. One-year dues are $50 Laura DiSilverio ............................2013—14 for professional US and Canada writers and $40 for non profession- Catriona McPherson ...................2014—15 als; lifetime, $500 and $400. Address and all other changes can be made by members at our website. Leslie Budewitz ...........................2015—16 Diane Vallere ...............................2016—17 Information in inSinC is submitted or reprinted from sources listed Kendel Lynn ................................2017—18 in each article. Where required, permission to reprint has been Sherry Harris ...............................2018—19 granted and noted. SinC does not investigate each submission Lori Rader-Day .............................2019—20 independently and articles in no way constitute an endorsement of products or services offered. No material may be reprinted without written permission from Sisters in Crime; contact Molly Weston. Most articles for inSinC are submitted by SinC members. If you are Next Wave Group interested in writing an article (or a series), check the SinC website 550M Ritchie Hwy #271 for guidelines. Severna Park MD 21146 © Sisters in Crime 2020 833.492.7463 • 410.544.4640 Fax inSinC Molly Weston, Editor Margie Bunting, Proofreader Article Deadlines Wrona Gail, Proofreader Jan. 10 for March Priscilla Gruenewald, Proofreader Apr. 10 for June Merrilee Robsons, Proofreader July 10 for September Arthur Vidro, Proofreader October 10 for December inSinC • December 2020 • Page 2 very time I go through the pages of inSinC to place Table of Contents them in order for the Table of Contents, I get a feeling From Molly ........................................ 3 Eof excitement. I'm exhilarated not only because I've finished my work, From S.G. Wong................................. 4 but because I know you'll be reading articles that will help you, inspire you, educate you, Grants & Awards and, often, just show you some unexplored paths. Valerie Burns .................................. 5 Even though we're still in a pandemic, our new board New SinC Award members have hit the ground running, and they're offering new opportunities for SinC members. Sandra Sherry Harris .................................. 6 Wong, our new president gives an overview of striv- ing for perfection, living with imperfection; Valerie Webinar Schedule Burns introduces two new members of the Awards Edwin Hill ....................................... 7 and Grants Committee; Sherry Harris announces the direction of her legacy (and it's a biggie!), Edwin Forensic Psychatrists — Hill outlines a new webinar schedule; Susan Hatters What they do & don't do Friedman, MD explains what forensic psychiatrists do and don't do, in real life vs. crime fiction; Jodé Susan Hatters Friedman, MD ......... 9 Millman gives the low down on audiobooks; Connie Berry illustrates how to create memorable characters; Legal Matters Susan Hammerman shows how the We Love Libraries Audiobooks program continues supporting local libraries; Ellen Kirschman, PhD brings her work counseling cops Jodé Millman ................................ 12 back to helping writers create optimism in their What I Love About Fiction Writing own lives; Kristen Houghton continues to inspire writers to use real-life crimes as basis for your crime Creating Memorable Characters fiction; Fedora Amis challenges chapters to replicate Connie Berry ................................ 14 the Perfect Page Party sponsored by the Greater St. Louis Chapter; Susan Rowland, PhD examines works We Love Libraries by Lucy Cross and Ngaio Marsh; and Gay Kinman summarizes awards and nominations. Whew! And Susan Hammerman ...................... 16 scattered among the pages are writing tips from YOU. Counseling Cops (And there are more to come in March!) Ellen Kirschman, PhD ................... 18 Happy writing! The Truth Behind Fictional Crime Molly Kristen Houghton ........................ 20 Perfect Page Party Fedora Amis .................................. 22 In her remembrance of barbara neely, Sara Paretsky said the Blanche White books are Fabulous Forewomen no longer in print. Leslie Budewitz was Susan Rowland, PhD .................... 24 happy to report they are now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook from Awards & Recognition Brash Books. Gay Kinman .................................. 26 inSinC • December 2020 • Page 3 Dear Siblings, ’m writing this letter the day after a wonderfully informative, fun, and successful SinC into Great Writing in October — our first time offering this event online and a great success by many measures. Lori Rader-Day, our immediate past president and Crowdcast host extraor- dinaire, did a truly bang-up job, making the day run smoothly despite a lot of moving pieces Ibehind the scenes. I attended the entire session and was so thrilled to see more than 600 Siblings in attendance. As many of you have experienced on our various webinars already, there was a very lively chat for this event as well, with plenty of LOLs and sharing and interaction. It always lifts my spirits to imagine the smiles behind the keyboards, especially when I see people greeting one another in the chat. If you were also at SiGW, then you witnessed the short ceremony where Lori and I were able to express our gratitude and appreciation to Debra Goldstein and Sherry Harris, who completed their respective terms on the national board. And of course, we then had the privilege of presiding over the passing of the “presidential seal’ — our very own impeccable and well-travelled Sealine. While we were disappointed not to be able to see everyone in person, as we usually do at the SinC Bouchercon breakfast, it was truly lovely to have so many of you with us virtually for this ceremony. You may also have noticed a funny little misstep by me: At the start of the ceremony, Lori patched me into the live cast, but I mistakenly thought I’d been beamed into the “green room.” Once there, as one does, I took the opportunity to primp a bit via my screen — not realizing everyone in attendance watched me do it. Not exactly the first impression I’d planned to make! At the same time, though, it was such a minor blip. It paled in comparison to what was truly important at that moment: gratitude for being a part of SinC and excitement at contributing to our continued leadership in the crime writing com- munity. Afterward, of course, I laughed and even tweeted about my mistake. My life is full of similar stories, where I planned one thing and ended up with another. I’m sure I’m not alone and I’m sure the number of such instances has multiplied for all of us since March. But if there’s one thing that’s helped keep me grounded in the face of mistakes like that (or worse!), it’s the “practice” of imperfection. Striving to be perfect has rarely netted me happy results, no matter how pretty the results may have looked from the outside. Instead, I strive to do my best, knowing that my best still means I’m human and very likely to mess something up along the way. (Note to self: A good sense of humour really helps, too.) Perfection can so often be the enemy of good or the enemy of progress. We all know this, as writers and creative people. There isn’t a person among us who’s ever written a perfect book on the first draft. And I suspect there are plenty