Rocky Mountain Chapter / Mystery Writers of America Deadlines Short cuts: RMMWA authors tell you Next meeting: THURSDAY, March 12 how 6:30 PM Location: Colorado Auto The big gap between the six-word novel and the 40,000-word Dealers Association novella is filled by short stories. Do you write short stories? Should 290 East Speer Blvd. you? How? And where do you sell them? Denver, Colorado The March meeting will present a panel of three of our prolific authors to talk about techniques, readers, and markets. March 2020 Catherine Dilts is the author of the Rock Shop Mystery series, while her short stories appear regularly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. She wrote two novels for the multi-author cozy mystery IN THIS ISSUE series Secrets of the Castleton Manor Library. Working in the world 2 Upcoming Meetings of hazardous substances regulation, Catherine’s stories often have 3 from the Chapter environmental or factory-based themes. Others reflect her love of the President Colorado mountains. 4 A day with Rhys Bowen 4 Member News R.T. Lawton is a retired federal agent with 25 years of 5 Monthly meetings now streaming live! experience working the street, from riding the go-fast boats with 6 Mystery Minute Customs off the midnight Miami coast to hunt smugglers running in 9 Lovesey contest for debut from the Bahama Banks, to running down a fugitive in Jamaica. He’s crime writers shared his experience with surveillance in workshops for writers, 9 MWA anthologies including right here at RMMWA. With more than 140 published 10 Meeting Recap Continued on page 2 WHERE: Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, 290 East Speer Blvd. (corner of Speer and Grant) in Denver. Limited free parking is available and CADA is fully accessible with an elevator. WHEN: Thursday, March 12. 6:30 p.m. conversation and networking; 7:00 dinner, 8:00 program. COST: $20 for members, $25 for guests & everyone at the door. RSVPs are necessary. Please pay via PayPal on the website by Monday, March 9 to ensure your reservation. You may also email our catering director Sue Hinkin at [email protected] if you plan on paying at the door or have special dietary requests. MENU: Mustard-soy marinated salmon with Thai cucumber salad and jasmine rice. Mini bite-sized desserts. Iced tea, water, and coffee. Beer and wine are available for sale. CARPOOL: Colorado Springs area RMMWA members carpool to the monthly Denver meetings. This is a fairly informal process. We meet at a rendezvous point, decide how many cars we need, who wants to drive, and go from there! Riders pay the driver(s) for gas. If you would like to join the carpool, email Catherine at cadilts@msn. com and she’ll add you to the loop. If anyone is interested in a carpool from the Fort Collins area, please contact Margaret Mizushima at [email protected]. UPCOMING MEETINGS Continued from page 1 short stories, he has sold (as of last fall) 44 to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and has six e-books for Kindle and other e-readers. Manuel Ramos is the author of ten novels and a short story collection. He has received the Colorado Book Award (twice), the Chicano/Latino Literary Award, the Top Hand Award from the Colorado Authors League, and Honorable Mentions from the Latino International Book Awards. His first novel, The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz, was a finalist for the Edgar® award. My Bad: A Mile High Noir was a Shamus finalist. He is a co-founder of and regular contributor to the award-winning Internet magazine La Bloga (www.labloga.blogspot.com), which deals with Latino literature, culture, news and opinion. His latest crime fiction novel is The Golden Havana Night: A Sherlock Homie Mystery. Moderator Suzanne Proulx wrote four novels featuring a hospital risk manager. Her short story, “If You Say So,” is featured in The Best American Mystery Stories of 2019, which came out last October. Thursday, April 9 Former prosecuting Denver D.A. Mitch Morrissey is on the cutting edge of crime solving. A career prosecutor for 33 years, Morrissey was elected District Attorney of Denver, Colorado for three terms from 2004-2017. Morrissey introduced the first DNA evidence used in a criminal trial in Denver, and is internationally recognized for his expertise in DNA technology, applying that technology in criminal prosecutions. He has trained law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges throughout the United States, in the Middle East, Central America and Canada. Prior to leaving office, Morrissey spearheaded the Denver Cold Case Project, which reviewed more than 4,200 unsolved sexual assaults and murders in an effort to use DNA technologies to solve old cases. In addition, he and the Denver Police Crime Lab introduced the use of DNA to solve burglary cases and other property crimes. During his tenure as Denver District Attorney, Morrissey became the leading proponent in the United States of using Familial DNA Database Searches to solve violent crime. After years of prosecuting criminals, Morrissey turned to solving cold cases using DNA technology. Through genetic analysis, UDC was able to provide investigators with information leading to the identification and arrest of criminals years after the fact. Join us for a fascinating discussion of how DNA is used to ID perpetrators of violent crimes, and how that evidence is used in courtrooms across America to put violent felons in prison or bring closure to families who have spent years wondering if their cases would ever be solved. Mitch had a television show, Dialogue Denver DA, and continues to be interviewed on television, radio and by print media. His support for familial DNA searching was the topic of an episode of 60 Minutes. Deadlines March 2020 Page 2 Upcoming Meetings (continued) Thursday May 14th Program: Angie Hodapp and Terrie Wolf, Working with Agents Thursday June 11th Program: Laura Manuel, A Day in the Life of a Police Officer Thursday July 9th Program: Mark Songer, Forensic Document Examination and Handwriting Analysis froM THE CHAPTER PRESIDENT Stay in the loop As many of you know, our RMMWA Yahoo communication loop has gone away, and we’ve replaced it with [email protected]. But only about half of our members have signed up, which concerns us since we plan to use this loop more in the future to communicate news, make announcements, and stay in touch. If you haven’t signed up already, send an email to MWA- RM+[email protected] and ask to subscribe. Or go directly to the group and ask to join at: https://groups.io/g/MWA-RM. You’re welcome to use the group to make announcements about new releases, signings, and events, but the hope is that this list can be used for conversations. If you have a question about writing or publishing, many people in our chapter might have the answer. While you’re at it, join the National MWA discussion list, open to all MWA members. Send an email to EMWA+[email protected]. Signing up will not only allow you to ask questions and join in discussions with your fellow MWA members, but it will also give you access to the databases associated with it, including a list of libraries looking for speakers. If you have questions or need assistance, contact me at [email protected]. I’m happy to help link you in. All best, Margaret Mizushima MWA discount for Kauai Writers Conference The November 2020 Kauai Writers Conference is now open for registration. With a faculty of some thirty-five prominent authors, literary agents and publishers, it is considered by many to have become the most important writing and publishing conference in the US. We offer a discounted rate to members of Mystery Writers of America, to help make it affordable to the most dedicated writers. To receive this, you may enter WG789 when asked for a code on the check-out page. www.kauaiwritersconference.com We hope to see a number of folks from the Mystery Writers of America on Kauai this fall. Please feel free to let us know if we can help you with any questions. Deadlines March 2020 Page 3 A day with Rhys Bowen Voices in your head Turn Cardboard Cut-Outs into Authentic Characters A Croak & Dagger Writers’ Workshop Saturday, April 4, 2020 Unitarian Church Social Hall, Carlisle at Comanche 3701 Carlisle Blvd NE, Albuquerque NM Croak and Dagger, the New Mexico chapter of Sisters in Crime, hosts a writers’ workshop focused on making contemporary, historical and “difficult” characters believable. Featured Speaker: Rhys Bowen Agatha Award Winner, Best-Selling Author Planned speakers/Panelists also Include Joseph Badal & David Morrell Planned Sessions Include: *The challenges of different times and places *Screenwriters and the tech team help actors develop a character *Characters with psychological issues that put voices in their heads *Focused research: character building without going down the rabbit hole Registration 8:00 Workshop 8:30-6:00 Optional Dinner 6:00 to 7:30 $55 (plus $15 extra for optional catered dinner with Rhys) $10 discount for Croak and Dagger members Register at www.Croak-and-Dagger.com MEMBER NEWS Mike meets his caricature Bruce Most, Mike McClanahan The Hanging of Mike McClanahan Mike McClanahan, long-time member of the Denver Press Club, achieved lasting fame last month when his caricature was placed on the DPC’s Wall of Fame. Here’s Mike, along with his caricature. A number of MWA members showed up to drink, celebrate, and praise. Among them were past RMMWA president Chris Goff, Don Beckworth, Scott Brendel, Tom Farrell, Christine Jorgenson, Jedeane Macdonald, Bruce Most, and Suzanne Proulx.