Nominations for 2026 Board
Bios | Rules | Bylaws Revisions | Committees | Voting
who’s behind the names on the ballot
Candidate for President – 1 year
CLAIRE A MURRAY has served as Desert Sleuths vice president (2022) and president (2023- 2025) and is running for a 4th term as president. She says:
“I did not plan on running for President again. Nor had I expected to last year, as I thought two years would be enough to accomplish some goals and move on. But … as with several others on the board, what I planned for and what happened weren’t the same.
“I enjoy being your President, as I have met and gotten to know so many of you more deeply. And I’ve branched us outward, collaborating with Arizonan members of Mystery Writers of America as well as Anthology, Inc. to broaden Desert Sleuths exposure in our area. Of course, none of this was possible without the cooperation and support from the Board of Directors and members who came forth to participate.
“For 2026, I want to keep us on that path while engaging more members with our many activities and help develop their skills not just as writers, but also as collaborators and leaders who will work with others to encourage reading and good writing.”
On the personal side, Claire writes crime/mystery, fantasy, and sci-fi; hosts her own and SinC National write-ins; writes book reviews for Kings River Life Magazine; and participates in critique groups. She was/is lead editor of 2023’s SoWest: Wrong Turn and 2025’s SOWEST: DANGER AWAITS! Claire belongs to four SinC chapters, Mystery Writers of America, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. Two of her published short stories earned Honorable Mention and two won 3rd Place. She is completing a suspense fantasy novel and has two other novels (one a trilogy) in progress. Play the Hand You’re Dealt is her short story collection.
Candidate for Vice President – 1 year
SUZANNE FLAIG is the current vice president and newsletter editor of Desert Sleuths. She has been a Desert Sleuths Sisters in Crime member since 1998 and in past years has served as president, secretary, anthology editor, and WriteNow! chair. She holds membership in three Sisters in Crime Chapters, the Pennwriters, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and the Mesa Writers Guild. Suzanne is the author of the Missy Jenkins musical mystery series and two short story collections. Many of her short stories have been published in anthologies, including the Desert Sleuth anthologies. She has also served as editor for DS anthologies. Her unpublished Amish mystery received first place in the 2025 Pennwriter’s Novel First Chapter contest.
Candidate for Treasurer – 1 year
MARGARET BURNISON has been treasurer of Desert Sleuths for the past five years. She was instrumental in converting our finances to MonkeyPod and maintaining and submitting monthly reports to the appropriate agencies. She will continue to monitor and maintain DS finances in a timely manner.
Candidate for Secretary – 1 year
MARY ADLER, a former attorney and teacher, has written the Oliver Wright WWII Mystery Trilogy set in northern California. Her short stories and articles appear in anthologies and journals. Her current work in progress is a mystery series set in contemporary Sonoma County. She is active in the Short Mystery Fiction Society, the Redwood Writers Branch of the California Writer’s Club, and Sisters in Crime Guppies. She also copyedits for Kings River Life Magazine, and loves to Beta read mysteries.
Candidates for Members-at-Large
BECKY JARNES – 2 years
REBECCA (aka Becky) JARNES works as a nurse anesthetist at a small Critical Access Hospital while writing mysteries in her spare time. Her current manuscript is a finalist for the Claymore Award for Best Unpublished Mystery, and she is completing edits on her next novel. She holds a degree in mass communications with a minor in creative writing, though her path to fiction was anything but direct. She is a member of Sisters in Crime/Desert Sleuths, Willamette Writers, and Mystery Writers of America. https://rebeccajarnes.com/
LAURA MACKENZIE – 2 years
LAURA MACKENZIE has served on the Desert Sleuths Board as a Member-at-Large for the year 2025 and would like to continue to serve this organization in that capacity. She has learned how the board operates and understands the significance, indeed importance, of committed members to keep offering the desert sleuths community solid behind the scenes contributions. Laura is confident she has already shown commitment to the organization by volunteering to keep the website updated and moving ahead since January 2023. She humbly asks you to trust her to continue the board work by voting for her as a Member-at-Large.
Rules
The rules governing elections are contained in Article IX, Elections and Voting of our ByLaws, available here.
Bylaws revisions
The Bylaws are Desert Sleuths’s governing rules. Among other things, they regulate voting procedures, protect chapter assets, and identify the roles of and restrictions on the Board. Periodically, we examine and revise them to keep up with changes from National SinC and to streamline chapter management.
The procedure is for the Board to approval Bylaws revisions (done), present them to the membership for approval (coming), and—if approved by the membership—present them to National SinC for final approval before we can adopt them.
Our current Bylaws are at
Bylaws for Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter, Inc.. We will email the revised Bylaws approved by the Board, and identify the major changes, in a special mailing by 9/15/25 from our Gmail account.
Please review those revisions, then come back here on or after September 24th and vote!
Committees
Nominating Committee Members: Mary Adler and Paula Barr Skillicorn (co-chairs), Patricia Curren, Roberta Gibson
Bylaws Committee Members: Mary Adler (chair) and Debra Goldstein, assisted by Claire A Murray, Margaret Burnison, and Sue Flaig.
Voting
The voting form will be linked here from midnight, Wednesday, September 24th through 11:59 p.m., Saturday, October 4th. Results will be announced at the October chapter meeting and in the November newsletter.
Voting will go live at midnight 9/24/25.