From the President NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER Michele Drier

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You ve seen we re rolling out a new software program called Wild Apricot. It may seem a bit daunting, but stick with us, it has some great features.

With dues come some benefits, as well. One of the benefits is the ability to apply for (and receive!) grants from National.

1 NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2017 From the President Welcome back! I hope all of you survived our last blast of summer in the week leading up to Labor Day. I hid in the house, drapes drawn and air on but used those days to write! As temperatures cool and fall activities gear up, we re ready for a new year. You ve seen we re rolling out a new software program called Wild Apricot. It may seem a bit daunting, but stick with us, it has some great features. One of the things it does is allow us to keep track of you, our membership. Not that we re looking over your shoulder, but membership dues are the bedrock of our annual budget. With dues come some benefits, as well. One of the benefits is the ability to apply for (and receive!) grants from National. Over the past four years, we ve received grants for the biannual Writers Workshop and for our anniversary celebration for Sisters in Crime s 30 th year. If all of our members aren t current for both National and chapter dues, we re ineligible to receive grants. There s also reduced rates for workshop attendance and your book cover front and center! We have a carousel of members book covers on our home page and your dues must be current in order to have yours highlighted! While switching to Wild Apricot, we re reviewing everyone s status. We have a full and interesting line-up of speakers, presenters and socials for the coming year. Please see the following page for a listing. Happy fall are any of you gearing up for NaNoWriMo? Michele Drier Capitol Crimes is the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime

2 Laura Garwood from Indigo, with an editing and publication management agency, is our guest speaker. She s a professional Collaborative Editor who will give us insight into the different types of editing, how to collaborate with an editor and best practices. Our paranormal panel created and hosted by Danna Wilberg creenwriter Walter Klenhard who writes for the Hallmark Channel is our Holiday Luncheon at Dash of Panache, 217 Vernon Street, Roseville. There ll be an announcement and reservation sign-up in September. Check out their website for pictures! issues in forensics Retired Sacramento Sheriff s Lt. Chris (Kip) Joachim who will talk about new The Innocence Project NASA law enforcement A panel on Promoting and Marketing A panel/event for readers Our end-of-term luncheon at El Tapatio on Sunrise Avenue And our special workshop is a Writers Retreat with Halle Ephron information on this in the newsletters. Attendance will be limited.. Look for

Laura Garwood was born with a book in her hand. At the age of eight, she won a school-wide book-cover illustration contest, and she started telling people she wanted to be an "author-slashillustrator.

3 Laura Garwood was born with a book in her hand. At the age of eight, she won a school-wide book-cover illustration contest, and she started telling people she wanted to be an "author-slashillustrator." Since then, she has dropped some of the visual-art dreams, but she still loves books with a passion. She received a BA in English from UCLA and an MA in book publishing from Portland State University, and after a brief stint in a publishing house started her editing and writing business more than a decade ago. Outside of work, she enjoys chasing her three young children, playing Yahtzee with her new husband, being active outdoors, and fostering kittens. You ve read and re-read your manuscript. You re on your fifth revision and still the story doesn t work, or you ve found nagging errors. The truth is that every book goes to print with errors, whether it s brought out by the biggest New York publishing house or launched by a self-publishing author. Laura will talk about how to apply professional editing techniques to your work, and how to make each revision count. Because another truth is that even books that are good can be made better.

7 In August I had the opportunity to attend the 24th Mystery and Crime Weekend at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, England. This year's theme was "Another Crime, Another Place: the role of location in crime fiction". The conference included presentations on topics ranging from soil forensics to Iceland and a Saturday dinner murder mystery written by Ann Cleeves. I met so many nice people, including the well-known Scottish writer Val McDermid, who kindly posed for a photo with me. There were about 120 very friendly and social attendees; writers, publishers, agents and readers. When I was asked if I was a writer, I took that as my cue to present our beautiful Capitol Crimes 2017 Anthology promotion post cards. When I pointed out how our mystery stories integrate place and crime, people were very interested. And the fact that the cover designed by Karen Phillips has a lovely picture of our own Tower Bridge was another selling point. It was a great event! HOORAY ME!!!!! I will be awarded the National Council of Negro Women's 2017 Women in the Arts Excellence Award for my outstanding work in the field of Literal Arts. The awards luncheon will be held Saturday November 18, 2017, in the Hilton Doubletree Hotel from I am truly honored to be recognized for my work in mysteries. I wish to thank all my Capitol Crimes sisters who have purchased my novels.

Linda Joy Singleton is excited to announce the October 1st release of the first

9 , and had a great time promoting Capitol Crimes and our anthologies at the Sacramento Library Local Author Fair on August 27. Linda Joy Singleton is excited to announce the October 1st release of the first three CURIOUS CAT SPY CLUB mysteries packaged as a 3- book box set. A fun gift to start kids reading mysteries!

10 , a Nostalgia City mystery #2 The second installment in my mystery series debuts Sept. 30. The setting is the same: Nostalgia City, an Arizona theme park that recreates an entire small town as it would have appeared in the 1970s. This time my protagonists, Kate Sorensen and Lyle Deming, travel to Nevada where Kate is accused of murdering a sleazy car dealer who is chairman of Reno s annual festival of rock and roll and classic cars. The idea for the main story element and the book title came from a New York Times article I read a few years ago. Many car dealers around the country put GPS trackers and kill switches in the cars they sell to people considered high-risk borrowers. Miss a payment sometimes by as little as a few days and your car is dead. In the novel, of course, you might be dead, too. The story moves from Arizona to Reno to Las Vegas and back and also explores the subject of counterfeit classic cars. I m currently lining up signings and talks in the northern Nevada area and would love to find something in Sacramento. My launch party will be Sept. 30 at Book Carnival, a mystery bookstore in Orange, Calif. If you re in So. California that weekend, stop by. The book is posted on Amazon for pre-orders at $3.99 for the month of September.

The Jake Bernstein FBI Series, available: TheWildRosePress/DonnaDelOro; Amazon; Kindle;Nook; Apple A BODYGUARD OF LIES: FBI agent Jake Bernstein goes undercover to investigate a naturalized American

11 The Jake Bernstein FBI Series, available: TheWildRosePress/DonnaDelOro; Amazon; Kindle;Nook; Apple A BODYGUARD OF LIES: FBI agent Jake Bernstein goes undercover to investigate a naturalized American grandmother suspected of war crimes during WW II. LIES IN WAIT: Jake goes undercover as a Lebanese American biotech scientist to thwart a deadly plot aimed for San Francisco. WHERE DANGER LIES: While recovering in San Diego from his latest undercover assignment, Jake is recruited to help a pair of young, inexperienced NCIs solve the murder of a Navy weapons specialist. His girlfriend gives him an ultimatum, which prompts him to examine his personal and professional goals.

Hiya, I've got some bits of news. comes out on the 8th of September, from Midnight Ink. I'm at Bloody Scotland guess where though, so the launch party is not until Friday 20th October, 7.

12 Hiya, I've got some bits of news. comes out on the 8th of September, from Midnight Ink. I'm at Bloody Scotland guess where though, so the launch party is not until Friday 20th October, 7.30 pm, Avid Reader, Davis. I'm also going to be at an event in the Davis branch library on Tuesday 17th October, with Rae James and Eileen Rendahl from our chapter, talking about what scares us best, since it's nearly Halloween.

13 Your new Treasurer would like to encourage members to register early for next year. A few of our upcoming events may be for members only. Dues for 2018 are $20.

16 Sacramento Chapter Officers Newsletter/Website Susan Williams

Tahoe Writing Intensive for the Novelist. For beginning to intermediate writers. September 14-18, 2016 South Lake Tahoe, California

Tahoe Writing Intensive for the Novelist For beginning to intermediate writers September 14-18, 2016 South Lake Tahoe, California A writing retreat doesn t get any better than this! Come and join author,