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, emerging writers, fans of mysteries and crime stories, and other writers of other genres. We are an inclusive organization. Whatever your gender, level of experience, or genre, you are welcome to join us!
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Current Events
Anthology Deadline Extended–see anthology page for details
February 15, 2023 Chapter Meeting & Presentation
Working with Book Bloggers, with Dru Ann Love & Kristopher Zgorksi
Are you interested in starting a blog of your own? Or trying to get your books on the radar of the book blogging community? We hope so—because across every social media platform, book blogs reach avid readers and publishing professionals, which provides incredible marketing opportunities to book reviewers and authors alike.
Dru Ann Love of dru’s book musings and Kristopher Zgorski of BOLO Books are two MWA Raven-Award-winning bloggers with thousands of followers. Reprising their highly praised and popular presentation from New England Crime Bake 2022, they will share some sure-fire ways to develop your own blog and/or get your book noticed by these increasingly valuable—but also increasingly busy—marketing outlets.
You will leave this session with beneficial insights that will increase your chances of positive and effective interactions with these unpaid resources, regardless of whether you are newbie or veteran of the crime fiction community. And if you’re starting a book blog, you’ll hear proven tips from the experts on how to succeed in this fun but challenging arena.
Dru Ann Love reportedly spends her working hours at the mysterious daytime situation. Her non-working hours are spent less reclusively on dru’s book musings, her award-winning blog where the “day in the life,” “get to know you,” and “word with the author” segments are prominently featured beside her short “my musing” reviews. She is an avid reader who loves traveling, sci-fi movies, and is happy to be in her element within the mystery community.
In 2017, Love was awarded the Mystery Writers of America Raven Award for “outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing.” Dru’s book musings was also nominated for the Anthony Award in 2015 for Best Critical or Non-Fiction Work and in 2018 for Best Online Content. Love was previously Fan Guest of Honor at Domestic Malice (2022) and will be Fan Guest of Honor at Left Coast Crime (2023) and Bouchercon (2023). She has been a member of both Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America since 2011. Website: https://drusbookmusing.com/
Kristopher Zgorski is the founder and sole reviewer at the crime fiction book blog, BOLO Books. In 2018, he was awarded the Mystery Writers of America Raven Award for “outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing.” Zgorski writes a column on digital crime fiction resources for every issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and his blog reviews are syndicated to his column in Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine. He has previously served on the board of directors for Malice domestic, a crime fiction convention celebrating the traditional mystery. Zgorski has been a member of Sisters in Crime since 1027 and was most recently the Fan Guest of Honor at Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in early 2022.
https://facebook.com/kristopher.zgorski
https://twitter.come/BOLOBooks/
https://instagram.com/bolobooks/
Preregistration required.
Register for the Virtual (Zoom) version: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/working-with-book-bloggers-virtual-presentation-tickets-498066830297
Register for the in-Person version: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/working-with-book-bloggers-in-person-presentation-tickets-499503898607
Please note: If you’re not a member of Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths, you can attend up to 2 chapter presentations before we’ll ask you to please join the chapter. This permits us to have guests while maintaining the overall programming as a membership benefit.
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February 2023
Return to in-Person Meetings
and New Meeting Time
Please don’t worry if you’re not ready for in-person meetings yet. We are going hybrid from February through April and look forward to seeing you, whether virtually or in person, for an exciting lineup to expand your skills and knowledge of the world of writing.
Please note that we are adjusting the meeting time back by a half hour to accommodate our member meeting plus program within the facility’s availability.
Member Meeting: 5:30 p.m.; Presentation: 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
See our program lineups month-by-month under the 2023 Events page.
2023 Events
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Past Events
How to Make Your Dialogue Sing, with Maggie King
Dialogue can be one of the trickiest elements of writing fiction – but done right, it can grab your reader’s attention from page one. Discover how in Maggie King’s craft workshop, How to Make Your Dialogue Sing.
Dialogue should always do one or more of the following: provide information; reveal aspects of characters and their relationships with each other; create mood, conflict, and tension; and move things along, advancing the plot.
Maggie explores these essentials of dialogue for writers of every fiction genre. Topics include:
- Characterization
Maggie King - How to make dialogue realistic
- Dialogue tags
- Action beats
- Formatting internal thoughts
- Proper use of punctuation
- Balancing between dialogue and narration
- How to use slang, dialect, and profanity
- And more
Beginning and seasoned authors will benefit from Maggie’s practical advice and specific examples. In no time, they can improve their technique and increase their chances of success in the marketplace. And their dialogue will sing!
Maggie King is the author of the Hazel Rose Book Group mysteries. Her short stories appear in theVirginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, Death by Cupcake, and Murder by the Glass.
Maggie is a member of James River Writers, International Thriller Writers, and Short Mystery Fiction Society, and is a founding member of Sisters in Crime Central Virginia, where she manages the chapter’s Instagram account. In addition, she serves Sisters in Crime National as a member of the Social Media team. Maggie graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.S. degree in Business Administration, and has worked as a software developer, customer service supervisor, and retail sales manager. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, Glen, and cats, Morris and Olive.
Website: http://www.maggieking.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaggieKingAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormaggieking/
Buy link for Laughing Can Kill You: https://bookshop.org/p/books/laughing-can-kill-you-maggie-king/17789945
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WriteNow! 2022 – Deep Dive in the Desert
Craft + Publish + Market
Our annual writers conference–named the Best Writers conference in Arizona by The Writer Magazine (2020)–is back with a fantastic lineup for authors and readers alike. It’s virtual. It’s low cost. It’s here!
If you missed the conference, register here to view the replays.
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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: