Desert Sleuths Chapter
of Sisters in Crime
An Organization for Writers, Readers, and Fans of Crime Fiction and Mystery
Welcome!
Our Desert Sleuths chapter is a proud member of Sisters in Crime, an international organization that promotes the ongoing advancement, recognition, and professional development of women crime writers. Sisters in Crime helps women achieve equality in the industry by raising professionalism, serving as the voice for excellence, and achieving diversity in crime writing.
The Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter is located in the Phoenix Metropolitan area and serves members throughout the State of Arizona and beyond! Our members include bestselling, award-winning authors as well as emerging writers, fans of mysteries and crime stories, and other genres. We are an inclusive organization – whatever your gender, level of experience, or genre, you are welcome to join us.
June Meeting: A Conversation with Historical Mystery Author Ann Parker
Ann was just nominated for a Macavity Award (again) for Best Historical: Mortal Music! Congrats Ann!!!!!
Ann Parker earned degrees in Physics and English Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, before taking up a career as a science writer. A native Northern Californian, she slings science and technical verbiage for a living during the day and writes fiction at night.
Ann’s ancestors include a great-grandfather who was a blacksmith in Leadville, a grandmother who worked at the bindery of Leadville’s Herald Democrat newspaper, a grandfather who was a Colorado School of Mines professor, and another grandfather who worked as a gandy dancer on the Colorado railroads. Ann is an inductee to the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame, and is a member of the National Association of Science Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Historical Novel Society, Women Writing the West, and Western Writers of America. Ann and her family reside in the San Francisco Bay Area, whence they have weathered numerous boom-and-bust cycles.
The first five books of her Silver Rush historical mystery series are set primarily in 1880 in the silver boomtown of Leadville, Colorado. The most recent two mysteries bring her protagonist, Inez Stannert, to San Francisco in the early 1880s. The series was picked as a “Booksellers Favorite” by the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association. The series is published by Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks. You can purchase Mortal Music at your favorite bookseller.
Chapter Business: 6:30 PM
Program: 7:00 PM
See your newsletter and reminder email for the Zoom link!
Monthly Meetings
On the third Wednesday of the month, we meet to hone our skills, learn how to get published, promote our work, and network with other crime fiction writers. Our guest speakers include professionals in the writing and law enforcement industries, including publishers, editors, and other authors.
6:30p-7:00 pm Business meeting and chapter check-in
7:00-8:00 pm Speaker
Meetings are held via Zoom. All members receive an email with the details in the monthly newsletter and a day or two before the meeting.
Covid-19 Guidelines from SinC National and AZ DHS
SinC National has published their meeting guidelines for this stage of the Covid-19 pandemic:
2021 In-Person Meetings Guidelines
The AZ DHS has as well:
Arizona Department of Health Services recommendations
Because the recommendations are still for unvaccinated people to mask up and continue social distancing, we currently do not have any in-person events planned. Your DS Board is discussing how and when to restart in-person events. The current plan is to include some support for remote attendance once we return to in-person meetings.