2022 Events

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April 20th: Wrangling Your Plot

Join SJ Rozan for a craft topic that could level-up your next writing project. Novels, short stories, plays, scripts, and epic poems—all require an element other art forms don’t: PLOT.

We chooseto work in these forms, yet many of us find plot a difficult element to wrangle. S.J. Rozan, through a seminar given recently to the graduate students in the creative writing program at Lesley University, will explore why plot is difficult for some to wrangle and what to do about it. She’ll discuss:

• story vs. plot;
• the iterative process;
• outlining vs. not;
• plot and character;
• 3-part structure and 5-part structure;
• rising and falling action; and
• plot devices.

Registration details coming soon…

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May 18th: Writing for an Anthology

You’ve been asked to participate in an anthology. Great! But now what? If you’re used to writing long form, how do you now create a piece that adheres to short story form, blends in with the tone and theme of the book and makes a big splash?! Mystery authors Heather Graham, Rick Bleiweiss and Jennifer Dornbush (Desert Sleuth member)  share their tips, advice, and personal anecdotes on what it’s like to create a piece for an anthology. Their anthology, Hotel California, based on The Eagles album releases June 12, 2022 with Blackstone.

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June 15th: Tips and Trade Talk from a Literary Agent

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July 20th: Make your Book Marketing Fun and Easy with Brook Brush featuring Kathleen Sweeney

Stop dreading book marketing! Join Kathleen Sweeney for a fun live-walk through showing how to use Book Brush to create your own eye-catching marketing images, design book covers and create all things social media. We’ll explore animation tools, box set images and book trailers, too. Kathleen will share handy tips & tricks along the way and have time for Q & A, too. Learn why authors say Book Brush saves them both time and money.

Kathleen is the Manager of Marketing and Customer Service at Book Brush. She has over 20 years of marketing experience and has presented Book Brush How-To sessions to over 200 author groups. Kathleen thoroughly enjoys working with authors and helping them create eye-catching images and more with the Book Brush tools. She lives in central Illinois with her husband, three busy boys and two handsome cats. Her hobbies include eating tacos and turning socks right side out.

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August 17th: Set the Stage: Using Setting to Add Intrigue and Suspense

In this workshop, we’ll discuss how convert time and place into atmosphere. Time is more than an era and place is more than a physical location. Time and place reflect the culture, language, habits, standards, values, shared beliefs, customs, food, mores, pace of life, and so on—and most importantly, what your sleuth thinks of the setting. From cozies (typically a small town with a sweet and decent feel) to noir (dark and gritty, with a veneer of danger), each sub-genre of crime fiction comes with a set of reader expectations when it comes to setting. Think of your work here as world-building. We’ll also consider how to let decisions about your settings be driven by your characters’ behavior and personalities and how to use place to add intrigue and suspense.

Jane K. Cleland writes both fiction and nonfiction, including the multiple award-winning Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries [St. Martin’s & Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine] and the Agatha-award winning bestsellers, Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot and Mastering Plot Twists [Writer’s Digest Books]. Jane Austen’s Lost Letters, the 14^th in her series, was published last December. She is a member of the fulltime faculty at Lehman College, part of the City University of New York, a contributing editor for Writer’s Digest Magazine, and the chair of the Wolfe Pack’s Black Orchid Novella Award (BONA) in partnership with Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. She is a frequent workshop leader and guest author at writing conferences, association meetings, and MFA Residencies. Also, Jane offers free monthly virtual workshops on the craft and business of writing, and Mystery Masterminds, a series of small group virtual workshops. More details are available at www.janecleland.com.

Jane’s Social Media/Minotaur Books’ Social Media:
Website:  www.janecleland.com / https://us.macmillan.com/minotaurbooks/
Facebook: @JaneClelandBooks/@MinotaurBooks
Twitter: @janekcleland /@MinotaurBooks
Instagram:  @Minotaur_Books

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9/22-23: WriteNow! 2022: A Deep Dive in the Desert

If you missed WriteNOW! 2022, register here to pay and view the replays. If you already paid and want to rewatch, you can sign back in to rewatch any portion. View the WriteNow! 2022 Conference Page for more information.

One of the most interesting and unusual uses of art occurs in the forensic field.  Americans are fascinated with the real life drama and mysteries around them. The forensic artist is trained to draw composites from the memory of witnesses, sketch crime scenes for the courtroom, and reconstruct skulls of unknown homicide victims.  How do they do it? Find out from the woman who trains the artists.

You will learn:

• What’s a nice artist like you doing in a place like this?

Understanding identification based on perception
How art fits into law enforcement.

• Faster than a speeding pencil?

The power of the human mind and a pencil Vs the microchip and computers.          

• How many ways can you sketch?

Do it yourself mysteries-unlocking crime scenes.
The forensic artist’s toolbox  

• “…Things that go bump in the night…”

Facial reconstruction for identification 

• Speaking of age…

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November 16th: DEIJB (JEDI-B): This time is personal.

• We’ve heard the term.
• We’ve read it in the newsletters
• We’ve wondered what it means, and above all, what it means in our lives and for the fiction we write.

José H. Bográn is an international author, and member of the DEIJ-B Committee (also referred to within Sisters in Crime as JEDI-B), and he’s going to tell us all about it, answer questions, and offer tips for implementation. It’s time we see what the buzz is about.

José H. Bográn is an international author of novels, short stories and scripts for television and film. José was born in Honduras, the son of a journalist who ironically prefers to write fiction rather than facts. His genre of choice is thrillers, but he likes to throw in a twist of romance into the mix. As a freelance writer, he has several articles published in a wide range of topics in both English and Spanish.

Bográn is the Assistant Editor for their official e-zine, The Big Thrill, and writes book reviews of The Washington Independent Review of Books. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers of Color, Sisters in Crime, the International Thriller Writers, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society where he currently serves as Vice President.

Bográn signs his emails with the motto: “I never tell lies, I only write them.”

 Book: DARKSOUL, book #2 in the Dark Days novel

Sophie Keane is an assassin devoted to the criminal organization called The Hidden, but her loyalty is tested with an impossible mission: supply children to be used as test subjects for a new bio weapon.

José’s contact info:
Website: http://www.jhbogran.com/
Facebook: @JHBogran0
Instagram: @jhbogran
Twitter: @JHBogran

December 2022