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Alaska Sisters in Crime

...Where the Trail is Always Cold

Welcome to the social network for the Alaska chapter of Sisters in Crime. This is a place for members, mystery and crime writers and readers, and friends to visit, plot literacy projects, and have fun. Please join us!

Latest Activity

EJ Essic EJ Essic joined Alaska Sisters in Crime. Leave a Comment for EJ Essic. May 6
Virginia Reed Virginia Reed left a comment for Jessica Simon May 4
Virginia Reed Virginia Reed joined Alaska Sisters in Crime. Leave a Comment for Virginia Reed. May 4
Lynne Lynne added the blog post 'I love Alaska! I love my neighborhood!' Apr 23
Lloyd Lloyd joined Alaska Sisters in Crime. Leave a Comment for Lloyd. Apr 16
Simon Wood Simon Wood added 2 new blog posts. View Simon Wood's blog posts Apr 9
Karen J. Laubenstein Karen J. Laubenstein added 3 photos. View Photos
Anchorage - March 2008 Self Portrait Gov-Palin-2006 Official
Apr 2
Did you know
There are 65 forum topics on Alaska Sisters in Crime Apr 2

WELCOME to ALASKA SISTERS IN CRIME


We hope this will be your new e-home. Also check out our main site www.aksinc.org.

Sign-in and set up your page. REGISTER to navigate our site. Registration protects our member's privacy. Instructions to add your photo are below right. Doubleclick a member photo or name to go to their profile.

Use the FORUM to start discussions or respond to them. Registered members have your own webpage, photo album, video and music players, blog, and comment section. Toggle whether these display on this main page or stay private on your webpage. Join a group if you're interested. We have a reading group, writing group, and more.

If you have questions about this site, e-mail karen@aksinc.org. You can also find help here.

We're really glad you're here! Keep communicating what you'd like to see. It's yours!

Dana Stabenow's Blog

more ‘maniacs with books, another podcast, plus

First up is Susan Alameda holding up A Cold-blooded Business in front of the theatre sign in Ashland, Oregon. A gorgeous place with a great Shakespeare Festival, I’ve been there myself a couple of times. Once I saw a production of Titus Andronicus scary enough to freeze my blood, and another time I [...]

Alaska Sisters in Crime news

Next month Alaska Sisters in Crime’s monthly meeting will feature journalist Sheila Toomey, she of the Lucious Lobe, aka the Alaska Ear, as guest speaker. No one who remembers her column on the closing of the downtown Alaska Bush Company will want to miss out on hearing her talk about her years [...]

The Lady Killers blogs

Making your characters talk proper

Jane here, picking up on what Rhys said earlier this week about the problems of getting the language right in a historical mystery. Some say that I and other writers with settings in the Roman Empire have it easy. We...

Talking historical...what's up at the Louvre

Cara here on Friday but wish I was in the Louvre today to see this exhibit of the Prints and Drawings of Gabriel de Saint-Aubin 1724–1780 According to www.louvre.fr "Gabriel was a unique chronicler of bohemian Paris under the reign...

From Mary Anna--Astronomy and music, all in one package

I'm enjoying my fellow Lady Killers' posts on history and historical fiction, and I really should chime in, since I have a lot of thoughts on the matter. However, this week, I feel the need to revert to adolescence. :-)...

Type M for Murder - authors

Sunday Guest Blogger

Sharon Rowse here – and I’d like to start by saying how pleased and honoured I am to be the first guest blogger on this site. Thanks to all of the TYPE M FOR MURDER gang for inviting me. I’ve been rereading the last few week’s posts in preparation, and was quite taken with the discussion of bookstore signings, what works and what doesn’t. I particularly liked Charles and Vicki’s comments on just enjoying the fact that you’re an author doing a signing (how cool is that?), and Rick’s experience of putting that philosophy into practice.

The timing was perfect – I had my first local book signing this afternoon. To put it in context, I’ve been doing readings and conferences, but my only other bookstore signing was in mid-January, just after THE SILK TRAIN MURDER came out. That was in Seattle, and with a combination of snow (in Seattle yet!) and a long weekend – the store was entirely empty except for me and the very nice staff for the first two and a half hours of the three hour signing.

I didn’t take it personally (mostly) but I was a little wary about today’s signing, which was at the Chapters in Langley, about an hour outside Vancouver. I’d been dropping in and chatting with staff at various local bookstores (before I figured out that wasn’t a particularly productive way to promote) and they asked me to do a signing. Today suited both our calendars; then after the signing I planned to take my mother, who lives in Langley, out for dinner because tomorrow is Mother’s Day.

Well, tomorrow is Mother’s Day, and this is a big box book and gift store. With a Starbucks. The store was jammed – for three straight hours - with focused shoppers. Like shooting fish in a barrel, except – did I mention they were focused? I was standing beside a table near the front door. Half the shoppers went down the other side of the aisle (about twelve feet away.) The other half came my way, but without making eye contact, and hurried on by. Hmmmm. Attempts to stop people and talk about my book are not likely to be welcomed.

On to plan B. I had bookmarks with me – one side has a book cover and brief plot summary, with an author photo and review highlights on the other. And because they are designed by my very talented graphic designer sister-in-law, they look great. Plan B involved holding out a bookmark, smiling and asking “would you like a bookmark?” to anyone who passed by or stopped to browse the table of fiction books in the middle of the aisle. Most took one and some were clearly pleased. Usually they walked off reading the blurb, and when they flipped it over the heads would whip around to compare me with the photo. You could almost see the thought process “oh, that’s the author!”

And people came back. Some right away, some did their browsing, then came back and stopped at my table and asked about the book. And they bought. Despite the fact that it’s a hardcover book, and that Canadians are generally more reluctant to buy hardcovers than their counterparts in the US. (A few readers did decide to wait for the paperback edition.) One reader was so enthusiastic when she purchased the book that the cashier later came over and bought one also. And the store manager was so thrilled with the success of the signing, she’s asked me to come back again the day before Father’s Day. Works for me!

I thoroughly enjoyed the signing – largely because I didn’t go in worried about making sales, I think. Charles, Vicki and Rick are right - I was just there to talk about my book, and thrilled to do so. And I gave bookmarks to everyone, without trying to guess who might actually buy, until nearly the end when I was running low on them. I found that my guess as to who might buy was wrong about half the time. Good to know. Next time, I’ll just bring more bookmarks.

To close, I have to say that as a fellow historical writer, I’m still chortling over Donis’ post from yesterday. “Live, damn you, live!” OK, Donis, I can’t top that! And since I’m editing the next John Granville/Emily Turner book, you know what I’ll be yelling at the laptop screen tomorrow…

'P.E.O.', Followed by 'Writing Historicals'

I always think I know what I'm going to write about when I sit down to make my weekly contribution, but then I go over my blogmate's previous entries and end up writing about something totally different because my little mind is so engaged by the plethora of interesting ideas that have been put forward.

I was going to write about P.E.O. Know what that is, Dear Reader? I didn't either, until a couple of years ago, when I was asked to go to a P.E.O. meeting and talk about my book, of which I only had one at the time. P.E.O. is a fraternal (or should I say sororital?) philanthropic organization of women from all over the U.S. and Canada which gives out educational loans and grants to women so they can complete their studies or return to school after a gap in their educations. The point, and I do have one, is that I missed my regularly scheduled entry last week because I was up in Carefree, Arizona, attending a P.E.O. convention, which coincidently led to my getting three or four book gigs on the side.

The reason I bring this up is because I'm finding that some of my more successful promotional efforts seem to occur when I'm not preaching to the choir of fellow writers. I have a friend who sells large numbers of books every year at her local zoo fund-raising event. I know of a woman who writes about a cat-loving sleuth and shills shamelessly to cat-fancier organizations. I just got an e-mail from mystery author Larry Karp who told me he does very well with music-box and ragtime music afficianados. I'm fascinated by the original ideas people come up with for marketing themselves. It's very important to be imaginative.

That's what I was going to write. But now I must say a word about writing historicals, doing research, and immersing yourself in your time period. At this point, I'm the only one of the four of us who writes a series of historical mysteries (though I'm intrigued by Charles' upcoming stand-alone). I love to travel, when I get the chance, and I think that the desire to explore the unfamiliar which interests me about exotic locales is the same thing that fascinates me about exotic eras. I can actually go to a foreign place and time and live there for a while.

Writing a historical is a very useful way for an author to comment on current events in a way that is illustrative and non-preachy and won't get you beaten up. A lot of science fiction is used in the same way.

A young lady actually said to me once, "if it happened before I was born, it doesn't interest me." Oh, foolish youth! Don't you know that the past isn't over? If I may wax philosophical, which I often do, Eckhardt Tolle said, "even the past happened in the present." There is no past - just one big now. When I do the research for my early 20th Century-era novels, I am amazed at how the same things keep happening over and over again. Remember the old Pinkerton logo of the open eye with the slogan "We Never Sleep" under it? The logo for the human race should be an eye with an eye-patch over it and the slogan "We Never Learn."

Right now, I'm researching the beginning of World War I in the United States. In the spring of 1917, Congress passed the Sedition Act, which made it illegal to write or say anything in public that could be construed as critical of the war or of the U.S. government, even if it was true. (I'm not making this up.) President Wilson authorized a civilian organization called the "Secret Service", whose members kept tabs on the people in their communities and reported any 'unpatriotic' activities to the Justice Department. Hundreds of people were sentenced to prison, including a U.S. Congressman who was sentenced to ten years for anti-war sentiments.

My joy as a historical novelist is to take those bare facts, apply them to the lives of the characters I've created, and make them real and immediate. I think being a a historical mystery writer, or a historical novelist of any ilk, is like being a Voodoo queen. You get to animate the dead. I'm like Dr. Frankenstein, toiling over my creation and yelling, "Live, damn you, live!"

It's time when it's time

Charles here, reasonably sober.

Faithful readers of this blog will recall that last week Rose and I went to see Salman Rushdi and Umberto Eco speak at the University of Rochester. I would love to say that it was one of those transcendental experiences that changes your life forever, but then if it was and I realized it already and was willing to blob about such a intimate, personal transformation, it couldn’t have been that special after all. But still, it was a good time. And I took from it a piece of writing knowledge I’d like to share with you. Aren’t you lucky.

In the discussion, the moderator noted that both authors write books that require lots of historical research (especially true for Rushdie’s newest and much of Eco’s fiction). The moderator asked how the authors knew when they had done enough research and that it was time to write. I could tell that this was a question neither man expected since neither had a witty retort at the ready and both actually paused to consider the question. The answer – paraphrased and combined from comments both men made – went something like this: You know.

Okay, that sounds flippant but that’s not what I meant. It works like this. You research and you research and you research more until, when you come across something new in your research, you sort of knew it already. It’s as if you had submerged yourself into the era you are researching so well and so completely that when you encounter something knew you are like, ‘well, yeah, of course, it has to be that way.’ Think of it like this – let’s assume you know the era we live in quite well (a big assumption for some of you, but just play along). Word comes out of Bangalore that a new computer program will allow you to send simulated voice emails over your phone to someone’s website. “Okay,” you’re saying, “I can see that. What’s the big deal?” The big deal is that it’s not a big deal for you – you know this era and innovations that are in line with the era are no big shock. But let’s say you’re researching 14th century Italian monasteries and you come across a description of a typical day in the life of a novice and you say, ‘well, yeah, of course, it has to be that way.’ Now you’re ready to write.

This is a short list (in no order) of the books I’ve read while researching the book I’m writing:

Fubar: Soldier Slang of World War II, by Gordon L. Rottman
The Lost Masters: World War II and the looting of Europe’s Treasures, by P. Harcerode & B. Pittaway
Silent Wings at War: Combat Gliders in World War II, by John Lowden
Nazi Plunder, by Kenneth D. Alford
Anzio, by Lloyd Clark
World War II Infantry Tactics (1): Squad and Platoon, by Dr. Stephen Bull
Yank: Reporting the Greatest Generation, by Barrett McGurn
Europa Turing: Automobilführer von Europe, by Hllwag Bern
Four volumes of the Time-Life series on World War II (The Resistance, Partisans and Guerrillas, The Neutrals, The Home Front: Germany)
Operation Dragoon: The Allied Invasion of the South of France, by William B. Breuer
Berlin Diary, by William L. Shirer
The Beardless Warriors, by Richard Matheson (yes, the author of I Am Legend)
Up Front, by Bill Mauldin
Nobody Comes Back, by Donn Pearce (outstanding)
Fakes & Forgeries: The True Crime Stories of History’s Greatest Deceptions, by Brian Innes
Articles of War, by Nick Arvin (brilliant, BTW)
Command Decisions: The ANVIL Decision, by Maurice Matloff
G.I., by Lee Kennett (essential if you are writing about this era)
Pilot Training Manual for the CG-4A, By Headquarters AAF, Office of Flying Safety, March 1945
PLUS, 4 books on the plots to kill Hitler, a half dozen books on life in Nazi Germany, a short monograph on the SS, a stack of photocopies of plates showing uniforms from WWII, a notebook filled with sketches and notes taken when I field tested an M-1 rifle, NONE of which I can find right now (but for which, I assure you, I will be searching for all night).

Why do I tell you all this? Because Rusdie and Eco are right. When you are researching for a book on historical fiction, you start writing when you know.

Guess what?

I know.

Not 100%, that's impossible. Not even 50%. Maybe not even 2%.

But I know.

Femmes Fatales

Road Work

I'm not much of a traveller. I like being in new places. It's that part about getting there and back that bugs me. For the last two weeks, I've been on the road with book-related events, so I thought I'd...

I Become Famous

At some point last Wednesday, I slipped over the line from being my regular, lived-in self to becoming Famous. I spent the day on the set of "True Blood," the HBO series made from my Sookie Stackhouse books. HBO wanted...

No, I am not my heroine

by Donna "Donna! Where are you?" Even through the fuzzy cell phone reception I could hear that Marcia Talley's voice was a bit frayed. "I'm on I-270. Tony says we'll be there in ten minutes." "What are you doing on...

<span style="font-size: 1.2em;"><span style="color: #339900;">Earth-Related Readings

by Kris Two years after the original publication of Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey, the first Earth Day was celebrated, on April 22, 1970. While there's no way to say for certain, I’d like to think that the first event...

Roundtable question #2: What is the funniest question you'v ever been asked?

You get weird questions at signings and events, odder questions than even fiction writers could come up with. The thing is, whether it's about your writing or your life, sometimes readers' questions come out of the wild blue yonder and...

Naked Authors BLOG

And How Do You Noodle?

from Jacqueline

With a deadline fast approaching, it’s a wonder I can do anything but use my writing time to add to my manuscript, racing forth towards the magic 100,000 words from which – with a bit of luck, my sixth novel will be hewn. But here I am, at Naked Authors, grateful for the interruption in my train of thought.



Aw, heck, why don’t I just admit it – at this stage in the game, my so-called creative mind seeks out distractions like a forest seeks out fire after forty years of drought. And it’s amazing what I can come up with.



Cleaning the keyboard is a favorite distraction. Ever since I took a painting class a few years ago and discovered that one of those flat brushes was just the right size to skim between the keys to collect fluff, breadcrumbs, chocolate fragments and even splinters of walnut, I have had that brush close to hand so that I can get down to some serious computerwork at a second’s notice.



Walking the dog doubles as “thinking time” and ever since I read in The Tao of Equus, that time spent with horses jump-starts creativity, I have justified every moment spent in the saddle, no matter how close that deadline.



Washing the dog is a good one. There I am, working away, crafting my sentences, bringing the movie in my head to the blank page, when ... what was that whiff that just caught the end of my nose? Sally, the senior citizen of the house has just walked into my office and is clearly in need of a bath. Never mind that no one else can smell “dog” and she’s never been one of those whiffy dogs anyway, it’s as good a time as any to get out the bucket, hose, shampoo and towels and lather the old girl into submission – oh, what deadline?



On Tuesday my folks arrived from England to stay, and decided to stay at my brother’s house because they knew I had a deadline looming. Nice of them. I should add that my brother lives around the corner, so it’s important, because they’ve come all this way, for me to drop in on them, just to check, after all, you never know, do you?

I have used excuse after excuse not to write when I know I should be writing, when it’s the thing I most want to do but for some reason noodling around in the depths of prevarication seems to be the only thing I can accomplish with any level of expertise.
Now, why is that? Why do we fart around when we should be working?

And here’s the interesting thing: When I had a full-time job and only dreamed of what it must be like to be a full-time writer, I never wasted one second. There was no setting aside that moment before I hit the page running, there was no excuse for not settling at my desk – I had so little precious writing time, that I wasted not one second.



My saving grace is that, ages ago I read the best book on writing on the market – in my humble opinion: On Writing by Stephen King. It’s the only book I have ever read by Mr. King, because I can’t read horror – it scares me too much – but to my mind, it is the best. You’ve probably heard me quote this before, but Mr. King maintains that a writer can complete the first draft of a novel in twelve weeks, based on a minimum daily output of 1200 words. Right there and then, my output goal became 1200 words, and seeing as I wrote my last novel in two months, sometimes I write a bit more. So, I noodle and I brush the keyboard, and I ride a horse and I wash/walk the dog – but I always feel as if I have to answer to Mr. King if I write less than my daily due.



And right now, because I clocked up the magic number today, I’m off for a cup of tea. Oh, that’s another one – stopping for yet another cup of tea ....



What’s your favorite writerly method of prevarication? (And Paul, that shoulder is way too painful to count – hope it heals soon.)

Happy Mother's Day. Ooops, better stop writing and nip out for a card ....

A Good Book and Bad Reviews --- Take the Challenge

James O. Born
I’ve been on a good fiction reading binge lately. When I say “good”, I mean a wide range of different genres and authors. I don’t mean it was all good fiction. In fact, some of it was difficult to slog through so I chucked the books and moved on through by TBR pile with an occasional manuscript or ARC someone sent me thrown in. I covered a lot o ground. It’s like when I skim through shows I’ve recorded on my DVR and erase many without watching them. It’s a feeling of satisfaction to have cleared up something you intended to do. In my case, read one of the many books I have on a bookcase now dedicated to only to books I want to read.

One book in this recent orgy of reading (I have to make it sound at least a little interesting) really stuck out in my mind and came to my attention in the most important and common way: a friend’s recommendation. Jay Lake, noted fantasy writer whom I’ve mentioned on this blog in the past told me about a science fiction writer named John Scalzi who’s books he thought I’d like. My love of science fiction is no secret and an easy enough habit to feed.

I picked up Ghost Brigades, Scalzi’s second novel and the second in a trilogy that starts with Old Man’s War. The first thing that stood out for me is that the novel, despite being the second in a series, really stands on its own well. The next thing I realized was that the novel sucked me in completely from setting to characters.

A true science fiction, set far in the future, Ghost Brigades is at once a story of man’s adaptation of technology that straddles the line of God’s and man’s domain and the story of the conflict between humans and other aliens interested in the inhabitable planets of the universe. The intrigue and military operations could be enough to make this book fun and riveting but it is the relationships and fates of the many alien and human characters that make it stand out in the crowded world of novels.

I know some crime fiction fans look down on science fiction fans the way literary writers look with distaste at crime writers. Ghost Brigades is another example of that flawed thinking. I wish I read more crime fiction written as well as this novel. Just as I advocate punching snooty literary writers I now proclaim that snooty crime writers should be beaten as well.

Scalzi has an interesting blog . A week or so back he posted some of his negative Amazon reviews and challenged other authors to follow suit. He believes we should show we can get past bad reviews. He offered a great graphic:



I will take him up and offer this:

From Amazon for Field of Fire :
This book had a good set of blurbs, from Michael Connelly and John Camp, so I bought it. The premise had some promise, but it doesn't pan out at all, and frankly as I got further into the book, I was waiting for it to end. When it did finish, the ending was pretty much what you would expect, improbable and not very satisfying.



Ouch. Gotta move on.

I extend Mr. Scalzi’s offer as well. If you’re an author, let’s see some bad reviews. C'mon, it'll feel good.

The Naked Quiz

By Cornelia Read

Still deadlining like crazy. So I've been thinking of some questions to throw at you guys.

1. You have been assigned to buy a baseball cap for the Dalai Lama. Which team's hat do you feel would be most appropriate, and why?



2. If mechanical dependency were no object, would you rather own this VW:


Or this woodie?:


(Is dependency even a word, outside the drug world? I'm so confused.)


3. If you could find out what really happened in the case of one single true crime, which crime would it be?




4. A tiny genie shows up on the beach while you're napping. She pokes you in the shoulder and wakes you up. You are offered a million dollars, but you must give it to a single charity (magically, every dollar will actually go toward helping those whom the charity was founded to help). Which cause do you support?


5. Tiny Genie is pleased with your choice. She allows you to pick one of the following, which will run perfectly and never need any expensive mechanical support.

Do you want the Porsche 356A:


Or the Jaguar XK 150?



6. You can banish one song from all radio stations forever. Which song is it?



7. Which do you generally find the most annoying:

Poets


Or clowns?


8. If you could choose one book to read all over again, for the very first time, which book would it be?



9. Two men want to date your teenage daughter:



Keith Richards




and Dick Cheney.



Which one do you shoot first?

About ALASKA SISTERS IN CRIME

ALASKA SISTERS IN CRIME is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) statewide organization for readers, writers, and fans of mystery and crime fiction and all of its associated genres (historical, romance, juvenile, and more).

The organization is dedicated to raising awareness of women's contributions to mystery and crime fiction. AKSinC promotes education and literacy throughout Alaska through workshops and conventions, donations to libraries, Authors to the Schools/Authors to the Bush programs, Alaska Reads, young writer's events, monthly speakers, helping women writers learn about and become published authors, mystery events, fundraisers for the Suzan Nightingale Literacy Fund, and so much more.

Our projects are coordinated by our members and volunteers. AKSinC sponsored Left Coast Crime 2001 and the Bouchercon 2007 World Mystery conventions in Anchorage.

This social network is FREE.
Annual AKSinC membership dues are $20, with dues helping support the chapter. National dues are $40 ($55 Alaska special for both if paid through AKSinC).

This is a way for Alaskan writers and readers or those whose hearts are in Alaska--to participate with Alaska Sisters in Crime and its programs, keep in touch with what's happening in Alaska, and get involved in some worthwhile projects and online writing/reading opportunities.

We want to continue the Authors to the Schools programs and with the authors who have participated. Our member authors can share their knowledge of publishing; our readers can share their reviews of books and come to know their favorite authors; and our Alaska authors can find a home here to help with writing, research, editing, feedback, promotion and marketing, and more.

Any member can start a group and invite others to their group, with their own URL, and have their own forums, discussions, notices, and coordinate projects and meetings through that group from this website. Check out what's available right now and join any of the groups that interest you.

Again, we're thrilled to have you involved.

LINKS
Alaska Sisters in Crime main home page.

LITERACY STATISTICS - Although no recent literacy rate surveys exist for Alaska, the Division of Adult and Vocational Education uses a figure of 82,000 -- which is high considering the 2006 Alaska population estimate is 670,053 (about 7% growth since 2000). 25 percent have bachelor's degrees (2000). 10 percent live below the National poverty level. 16 percent are Alaska Native or American Indian (2005); 5 percent Asian; and nearly 1 percent Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Alaska has 571,951.26 square miles but only 1.1 persons per square mile (2000).

NATIONAL LITERACY STATISTICS -
42 million American adults can't read at all;
50 million read at only fourth or fifth grade reading levels. The number of functionally illiterate adults increases by approx. 2.25 million each year.
20 percent of all graduating high schoolers are functionally illiterate;
70 percent of all prisoners in state and federal prisons are illiterate;
85 percent of juvenile offenders are functionally or marginally illiterate; and
43 percent of people with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty. [Source: National Institute for Literacy]
 

AKSINC MEETINGS AND EVENTS-Online events will also show up here.

UPCOMING MEETINGS 2nd Tuesdays

TUESDAY -- May 13 at 6:30 p.m.
A NIGHT ON THE CRIME BEAT: Anchorage Daily News asst. city editor and compiler of the Alaska Ear column, Sheila Toomey, will be our guest to regale us with her adventures (and that's an understatement) covering crime for the Anchorage Daily News. Don't miss it! Last meeting before our summer hiatus. Guest speaker, Alaska Mystery Writer's Convention 2009--DEATH BELOW ZERO committee to set up (wanna join?), BOOK SWAP and more. FREE!!! Hope to see you there!

Northrim Bank conference room, 3011 C Street, Anchorage. Use the "A" Street entrance to far right by bank drive-in. Topics: Many thanks to author Deb Vanasse and the Alaska Scientific Crime Lab manager for coming to speak at the April meeting.

ACTIVE PROJECTS-We NEED you to help if you can! Anthology-Authors to the Bush (and other points on the road system) entitled A STRANGER CAME TO TOWN: MYSTERY AUTHORS EXPLORE ALASKA; Reading Rendezvous 2008; just completed the Iditarod village checkpoint distribution of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and companion books for younger readers for the Big Read via Target's Teacher on the Trail; Fall 2009 Alaska Mystery Writer's Convention in Anchorage (limited registration); Authors to the Bush (and other points on the road system) 2008-Author Donna Moore is the first to participate; Young Writing Challenge (Girl Scouts or similar groups statewide)-needs volunteer to coordinate this; monthly newsletters; social network; and dues-paying membership drive.
Questions: e-mail info@aksinc.org

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Blog Posts

A Good Day

I like it when something good unexpected happens. My editor just sent me a note that editor and author, Ed Gorman, had been in touch to say he'd read my books (bought with his own money) and wanted to let me know he really liked my work. For those who don't know, Ed is a genre fiction legend. He's written crime, horror, westerns and everything in between, so it means a lot when someone of that ilk goes out of their way to say something good. I'm really touched. Obviously, my editor being an edi… Continue

Posted by Simon Wood on May 1st, 2008 at 1:44pm — No Comments (Add)

I love Alaska! I love my neighborhood!

This morning is the perfect morning. The temperature will climb into the sixties by late afternoon, but right now, this very minute, the world is caught and held in a deliciously frozen moment of time. The sun is already high in the sky at 6:30, gleaming golden onto the frosted land. Shadows are still long and lean on the landscape, but it won't be long before they shrink away to nothing under the force of light. Fierce and brilliant, the rays of the sun pour energy and potential across the grou… Continue

Posted by Lynne on April 23rd, 2008 at 8:28am — No Comments (Add)

I’m a Laureate Author

On April 18th, I’m being made an author laureate of San Francisco Public Library along with some of SF's other crime writers including Cornelia Read, Eddie Muller and David Corbett to name just a few. I’m not sure what this award means, but I’m hoping I’m getting free parking within city limits for life. :-)

Posted by Simon Wood on April 9th, 2008 at 2:53pm — No Comments (Add)

Housework is Dangerous

I don't like to clean. Having someone to do all that for me is one of my fondest dreams. Someone to scrub and dust and sweep and mop... Why oh why must I do it all myself? Not that I do. Remember that kid from the Peanuts comic strip? Pigpen? Oh yeah, that's me. I'm good with big ideas and massive plans. The minutiae often escapes me. My dust bunnies run amok, mating and proliferating, then mutating into dire beasts as they start becoming infected with cabin fever and seasonal affective disord… Continue

Posted by Lynne on March 14th, 2008 at 12:31pm — No Comments (Add)

A Night with the Secret Service

"We're named the Sisters in Crime and we have a secret service agent locked in a bank after hours," Karen said. Does anyone find anything suspicious about that? Apparently Agent Randy Coine didn't. How about that Karen was the only one with the keys? Agent Coine withstood our interrogation admirably and was a great source about the history and duties of the Service. When we got down to cases, he confirmed why one of the locals warned me off of a smuggling plot I once blabbed about. I'd recomme… Continue

Posted by Jessica Simon on February 28th, 2008 at 11:01am — No Comments (Add)

Forum

April 2004 AKSinC Newsletter

Meeting Updates A NIGHT WITH THE CRIME LAB. The speaker for the April 8th meeting will be Orin Dym, Forensic Laboratory Manager with the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory. Join us at the... Continue

Tagged: april, newsletters, 2008, aksinc

Started by Karen J. Laubenstein Apr 1

YOUR BOOKS - What you're reading

I'm in the midst of Stephen King's ON WRITING. Awesome book, but somewhat bittersweet because those of us who were in his creative writing classes at the University of Maine, the one year he taught... Continue

Tagged: king, writing, stephen

Started by Karen J. Laubenstein Apr 1

2008 Thriller Award Nominees - awarded at Thrillerfest July 12

Here are the finalist nominees for the 2008 Thriller Awards. The winners will be announced this summer at Thrillerfest 2008 at the Grand Hyatt in New York City during a gala banquet on Saturday, Ju... Continue

Tagged: awards, thrillerfest, 2008

Started by Karen J. Laubenstein Apr 1

National Sisters in Crime Books in Print changes
3 Replies

There are many debates going on throughout the National Sisters in Crime and local chapters about the printed Sisters in Crime Books in Print that comes out annually. National Sisters in Crime rece... Continue

Tagged: sinc, books, in, bip, print

Started by Karen J. Laubenstein. Last reply by Karen J. Laubenstein Mar 14.

Trivia that makes good book notes

What details do YOU know about people who deal daily with crime, from law enforcement to first responders? For example, did you know that most ENT's wear polyester to be able to remove the stains, ... Continue

Tagged: forensics, writing, details, research, trivia

Started by Karen J. Laubenstein Mar 14

BOUCHERCON 2007 Slideshow - Photos by Karen Laubenstein

Here are photos from Bouchercon 2007. The larger album is at the link for Bouchercon Photos (above). Enjoy!

DEB VANESSE and ALASKAN AUTHORS BLOG - www.alaskanauthors.com

MEMOIR MAKING

I had a wonderful dinner last night in Girdwood, at Alaska's famous Double Musky restaurant. Stunning scenery, savory food, great company - a new friend and one I'd known years ago. In the way things happen here, my new friend knew my old friend, and she re-connected us.

My "old" friend, who's very young at heart, came to Alaska in 1954. She and her husband homesteaded Stony River from 1960-1970, building not just a home for their family of seven but also a town so folks didn't have to send their kids to Wrangell to school. Gail Sheehy wrote about her in Passages. Now she's prepping to tell her own story by taking an online class in memoir writing with 12 people from across the country.

"Hands down, your stories are the best in the class," I said.

She laughed. "My classmates seem to think so," she admitted. In contrast memoirists who hype their tales, crossing the fuzzy line between creative nonfiction and fiction, my friend says she's having to tone some stories down a notch or two. "Otherwise no one would believe them," she explained.

I pressed for an example and had a good laugh over Uncle Tony, a careening fuel drum, and a red bathrobe - not all in the same tale. I won't give up the details - they're hers to tell. But this will be one to read. I can pretty much guarantee it.

POLAR POLKA


Suspend disbelief and enjoy Cherie Stihler's new reverse counting book, Polar Polka (Sasquatch,2008). Fanciful arctic animals join a polar bear polka band as pieces of iceberg break away and polar bears rally to save the day. Vibrant art by Erik Brooks brings the story to life, incorporating lots of active details that encourage kids to study every page.

If you think polar bears are getting lots of attention this reading season, you're right. And unfortunately reverse counting of these great white beasts is what scientists are actually doing. Just yesterday we learned that of fifty-plus animals tagged and studied this spring, only one was a yearling, which means the cub survival rate may be plummeting.

At the end of her book, Stihler offers a list of easy ways kids can help fight global warming. Big people, too, might want to heed the warning and jump on the iceberg, so to speak, before it's too late.

WINSTON OF CHURCHILL


Polar bears are big news these days. Are they threatened? Endangered? Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin is calling for a spendy conference to showcase scientific evidence that they're doing more or less fine despite the threat of global warming. Politics and science collide.

In Jane Davies Okimoto's new picture book Winston of Churchill, illustrated by Jeremiah Trammell (Sasquatch Books, 2008), polar bear activist Winston isn't concerned about what list he ends up on. He just wants his ice. Like his World War II namesake, cigar-chomping Winston rallies his comrades, organizing a polar bear protest to draw attention to his warming world. Along the way, he realizes that he must make a change or two of his own.

Trammell's delightful illustrations bring the polar protesters to life, and Okimoto wraps a simple explanation of global warming into the story. Okimoto's not Alaskan, and neither is Winston - the acclaimed polar bear town of Churchill is in northern Manitoba. But this book gives a nice introduction to a serious issue that affects us all.

Kelli Stanley's Blog

Minor League Noir


The minors have their moments. If not for the fabled Pacific Coast League (and Lefty O'Doul's San Francisco Seals), the Yankees would never have had DiMaggio, one of the classiest men in baseball.

Now, Chicago Syndicate (1955) is not the B-movie equivalent to Joltin' Joe -- unlike the Yankee Clipper, it clearly belongs in the minor leagues, not in the same class as Out of the Past or Double Indemnity. It's a sometimes cheesy little noir, a police procedural enlivened by some terrific on-location cinematography in Chicago, good performances by Dennis O'Keefe and Paul Stewart, and some maraca shaking moments with Xavier Cugat and his then-wife, sultry singer Abbe Lane. But, like any good minor league game, you can glean some gold among the dropped balls and wild pitching.

The Windy City makes a grittily glamorous backdrop for any crime drama ... Al Capone cut his teeth here, after all, and Chicago Syndicate--while hardly a minor classic of Chicagoland setting like City That Never Sleeps (1953)--nevertheless manages some location shots that rank with the best.

The story revolves around the city's effort to stamp out "The Syndicate" -- a mob controlled to cool villainous perfection by character actor Paul Stewart. As Arnie Valent, one of the legions of gangsters who love good ol' Ma (Jimmy Cagney took this part to the next level in White Heat), he rubs out his accountant--a man named Kern--because Kern was about to turn over his books to the authorities ... reasonable procedure when you're a gangster.

Since it's 1955, and law and order, emphasis on order, was in vogue, the police department and IRS get together with Chicago's millionaire hotel-owners and hit them up for financing. Who knows? Maybe that scene was a coded protest against the military-industrial complex, but I kinda doubt it. Anyway, the boys with the dough come through, and the boys with the plan decide to find Dennis O'Keefe, because by this time they need some noir street cred to keep the movie going.

O'Keefe supplies it, with his two-fisted portrayal of an accountant and war hero who wants to make a lot of money -- another virtue in the '50s that strangely enough is still around today. So the authorities promise O'Keefe--as Barry Amsterdam (don't confuse him with Morey)--$60,000 smackers if he infiltrates Valent's gang, becomes his accountant, and gets the goods on him.

I guess $60,000 used to go a lot further.

Along the way, Barry gets involved with Kern's daughter (Allison Hayes), who is calling herself Sue Morton and apparently trying to sleep her way to the top of the gangster chain (in order to get revenge for her murdered father ... you figure it out). We also get treated to some sensationally fun Cugat material, particularly "One at a Time," the number sung by bad girl (and Valent's girlfriend) Connie Peters, played by Cugat's fourth wife (the one before Charo), Abbe Lane.

The best cinematography and direction is saved for the end: Valent chasing Barry through one of those gorgeously industrial noir landscapes of machinery and equipment, this time underground in Chicago. Director Fred Sears normally handled B-westerns, as did his cinematographer, Henry Freulich [though Freulich was Director of Photography of the gorgeously filmed Lost Horizon (1937)], and they reached a highpoint with this sequence. Reminiscent of similar locations in He Walked By Night (1948) and D.O.A. (1950)--the film is well-worth watching, if only for the climax.

But other pleasures abound, too ... lines like Allison Hayes snarling "All right. Let's stop playing footsie" to Dennis O'Keefe; Abbe Lane's drunken, histrionic bad girl (Valent: "You're drunk." Connie: "What have I got to be sober about?"); Paul Stewart's elegant bad guy/girlfriend-beater with the mama complex . Early on, he delivers a line with chilling misogyny: "Everything improves with age. Except women."

Stewart outclasses O'Keefe here; Dennis seemed to phone in the role, though he's able to tap some of that dual charisma that enabled him to play both heroes and villains so effectively, and makes him effective as a spy. But Stewart was a member of Welles' Mercury Theater--he's featured in the infamous "War of the Worlds" broadcast, and Welles' magnum opus, Citizen Kane (1941). He also sports great noir credentials: one of the murderers in the now-restored (thanks to the Film Noir Foundation) The Window (1949) and one of the villains in Kiss Me Deadly (1955).

And let's not forget Cugat. He entertainingly mopes around as Benny Chico while carrying a torch for Connie (played by Mrs. Cugat).

So this is a sample of minor league noir ... despite some errors and fumbled plays, a solid game of entertainment. You won't find it in books on the best -- you won't even find it on DVD! But if you can catch it on TCM or at a film festival, look out for Chicago Syndicate ... an honest little noir with not a steroid in sight.

And Happy Birthday to Orson Welles! Today is the Great Man's birthday ... celebrate and eat a ham. :)


Next week ... more Top Ten Noir, and some history thrown in ...

It, I'm Tag!


So there are two of these tag things zooming around the ever-lovin' blog-o-sphere (which today looks remarkably like those Sea-Monkey ads you used to see in comic books ... but I digress).

And, thanks to the vagaries (and vagrancy) of Google Alerts and my own insane schedule, I didn't realize that my dear and witty pal Sophie Littlefield had tagged me with another one. So here goes ... this one's for Sophie, and the rules are as follows:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

OK. Well, the nearest book from my laptop is a copy of ... Nox Dormienda. I keep it around to remind me of why I'm getting a hunchback from sitting at the computer all day, emailing fellow eccentrics, plotting parties, blogging blatherings and swooning for signings. I'm attempting to send my child off to boarding school without it getting beat up too badly, so I slave away ... but enough of me.

So here's page 123:

"You will be called when it is time. And as always, find comfort in the redemption, the blood shed by our master and god. Ad astra in aeternum! Mors ianua vitae!"

Well, well, well. There's actually not a lot of Latin in the book, but good ol' 123 picked out a juicy bit. What that translates to is "To the stars for eternity! Death is the doorway to life!"

Just a bit of mithraism ... a fascinating ancient religion that was neck and neck with Christianity for a quite a while. Very popular with soldiers. And spooky-cool underground temples, one of which features in Nox.

So, who am I gonna call? Coming right back at Bill ... and Alexandra ... and Robert ... and Jason ... and Julie. Gee, that felt just like the magic mirror in Romper Room! :)

Have fun, all!

Tag, I'm It


This is a tag. This is only a tag.

We interrupt this blog to disclose six random factoids about the author. Said author was tagged by noir writer and pal Bill (LOST DOG) Cameron ... we repeat, this is tag, and only a tag ... if it were a real blog post, you'd hear the sound of Bogart bitterly muttering "It's the stuff that dreams are made of" ...

So here are the six random facts, and following Bill's example, I will attempt to list them with a solemn air. Or a sober air. Come to think of it, solemn might be easier ...

Random Fact #6: I had two ponies (at different times) when I was a little girl. One was a pinto, one was a Shetland. These were not "my little ponies," either. In fact, the Shetland hadn't been gelded yet, and one time when my mother was feeding him, she found two hooves on her shoulders.

Random Fact #5: I first sang in public at the age of five at a concert of a Mexican guitarist whose name, alas, escapes me. I warbled "Que Sera, Sera." How I got on stage, I don't remember, but it took me a good many years to get off of it. My favorite role in college was as the Courtesan in The Comedy of Errors ... it was an awesome costume, and I won the role with a Mae West impression (and yes, I can still sound like Mae if plied with enough bourbon).

Random Fact #4: I love pigeons. In fact, I love all animals, though I have an aversion to earwigs. Pigeons (the common Rock Dove) have actually contributed a great deal to civilization (other than pigeon poop). Would that the same could be said of a few people I've known ...

Random Fact #3: I co-exist in the DC Universe. Back when we had a comic book store -- Robin Williams and Anton LaVey were both customers--our business was illustrated in an issue of Batman (my absolute favorite superhero and one of my favorite fictional characters) in which the Darknight Detective visits San Francisco. I was an Overstreet Adviser, on the DC Retailers Board, and Denny O'Neil called us "his favorite store in his favorite city." I still collect (old) comics, though my habit has been severely curtailed by my career. Other geek-type factoids: I own a copy of every Detective Comic from 1958-1985 (pre-Crisis); my oldest issue is Detective #40, from 1940 (first Joker cover; first appearance of Clayface), and I can remember not only all the pre-Crisis Earths and who inhabited them, but the members of the Legion of Super-Pets.

Random Fact #2: I drove Greer Garson home from a Dallas production of "Sweeney Todd"; I walked through the San Francisco Wax Museum with Jason Robards; I've talked politics with Justine Bateman and Robert Downey, Jr (and Leif Garrett). I've been a foot away from Billy Joel's socks (OK, that was the Stormfront tour).

And finally ... Random Fact #1: In order to help pay my way through college, one summer I sold phone advertising for massage and escort services. Talk about student debt.

So now the madness (and fun) continues ... I get to tag six more people.

The vict-I mean, winners, are:

CJ
Laura
Jennie
JD
Sophie
Lee

As for the rules--

The rules are as follows:

Link to the person that tagged you - i.e. me.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself in a blog post.
Tag six people.
Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their post.
Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

Noir, like James Bond, will return!

Linking to the World

Mystery Writers of America Information on the Edgar Awards and organization for mystery writers, professionals in the crime writing field, aspiring crime writers, and devotees to the genre. MWA provides scholarships for writers, sponsor MWA:Reads (youth literacy program that used to be Kids Love A Mystery), sponsor symposia and conferences, and membership is open to the public.
Mystery Links (posting link to the links page rather than putting all mystery/crime links here)

WHO Dunnit
- dedicated to the arts and craft of the mystery lists mystery conferences and events.
The Mystery News Calendar of mystery-related conventions and events, separated for 2008 and 2009.


The Poisoned Pen bookstore has online ordering and also has a listing of crime conferences and other calendars.

BOOKS by AKSinC Members (not inclusive)

DANA STABENOW
Novels (see NEW REVIEW in FORUM)



NEW: * Prepared for Rage (February 5, 2008-St. Martin's Minotaur)
(read an excerpt)
* Blindfold Game

* Kate Shugak Series
o A Cold Day for Murder
o A Fatal Thaw
o Dead in the Water
o A Cold-Blooded Business
o Play With Fire
o Blood Will Tell
o Breakup
o Killing Grounds
o Hunter’s Moon
o Midnight Come Again
o The Singing of the Dead
o A Fine and Bitter Snow
o A Grave Denied
o A Taint in the Blood
o A Deeper Sleep
* Liam Campbell Series
o Fire and Ice
o So Sure of Death
o Nothing Gold Can Stay
o Better to Rest
* Star Svensdotter Series
o Second Star
o A Handful of Stars
o Red Planet Run

Dana's edited or contributed to many anthologies and as guest author for magazines and journals. She writes monthly columns in Alaska Magazine.

SUE HENRY


Jessie Arnold series
NEW: Degrees of Separation (April 2008) Hardback (more info. in FORUM)
* Murder on the Iditarod Trail (1991)
* Termination Dust (1995)
* Sleeping Lady (1996)
* Death Takes Passage (1997)
* Deadfall (1998)
* Murder on the Yukon Quest (1999)
* Beneath the Ashes (2000)
* Dead North (2001)
* Cold Company (2002)
* Death Trap (2003)
* Murder At Five Finger Light (2005)
* Degrees of Separation (2008)
Maxie and Stretch series
* The Serpents Trail (2004)
* The Tooth of Time (2006)
* The Refuge (2007)

Sue also publishes short stories in anthologies, most recently SISTERS ON THE CASE: CELEBRATING TWENTY YEARS OF SISTERS IN CRIME edited by Sara Paretsky.

KATHY HUGHES, LINDA BILLINGTON, MEGAN RUST, DANA STABENOW, BETTY MONTHEI, and Others - foreword by Libby Riddles.
* Alaska Women Write: Living, Loving, and Laughing on the Last Frontier.


DEB VANASSE


NEW: o Off the Beaten Path Alaska with Melissa DeVaughn 2008
o A Totem Tale
o Alaska Animal Babies
o Under Alaska's Midnight Sun
o A Distant Enemy (now back in print!)
o Insider's Guide-ANCHORAGE and Southcentral Alaska


MARCY GENTEMANN
o Copper Tales

MEGAN RUST
Taylor Morgan Series
o Dead Stick
o Coffin Corner
o Red Line

SANDI SUMNER
o Women Pilots of Alaska: 36 Interviews and Profiles

DONNA FREEDMAN
o Foxy's Tale: The True Story of a Champion Alaskan Sled dog (with Edward White)
o City Smart: Anchorage

Donna was a very active AKSinC member and reporter for the Anchorage Daily News until she moved Outside. She's still at AKSinC when she visits Alaska.


KAREN J. LAUBENSTEIN
Project Archaeology Intrigue of the Past Series
o Discovering Archaeology in Alaska
o Discovering Archaeology in Idaho (pending publication)
o Discovering Archaeology in Mississippi
o Discovering Archaeology in Northern California
edited and rewrote to grade level:
o Discovering Archaeology in New Mexico
o Discovering Archaeology in Idaho
o Discovering Archaeology in Wyoming
o Discovering Archaeology in Oregon
o Discovering Archaeology in Arizona
Princeton Review Smart Junior Series (Random House)
o Archaeology Smart Junior (6-8 grades)
2007 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention program book
Ghostwrote several nonfiction and fictional books. Managing editor for Federal agency quarterly news journal.
 
 

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CHANGING YOUR PROFILE PHOTO
1. From your PROFILE page, click on Change My Profile Photo.
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