Tag Archive for: Stiletto Gang

Interview with Stiletto Gang member, Cathy Perkins!

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 By Lynn McPherson

I’ve had the privilege of getting to know one of my fellow Stiletto Gang members a little better over the last few weeks.

Cathy Perkins is not only an award-winning author, but also a contributing editor for The Big Thrill, International Thriller Writer’s monthly publication. On top of that, Cathy has worked on the blog and social media for the ITW Debut Authors, and coordinated for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

While I’ve had a life-long love affair with reading, I didn’t start writing until fairly recently. This probably isn’t how most people start, but I had a lengthy consulting job in a city about 90 miles away. I’d listen to music and daydream during the commute. Pretty soon the daydream had dialogue and I thought, hmm, this is turning into a good story. That particular book lives in a box in the closet, but I was hooked on writing, creating worlds and characters. 


Why mystery?

I’ve always loved mysteries and suspense—figuring out the who-dun-it puzzle, delighting when the author keeps me guessing or on the edge of my seat, wondering what will happen next. When I started writing, my stories and characters had secrets, obstacles, and a race to uncover the villain. I’m going to slide a second favorite part of writing in here. I love bringing the characters to life, figuring out what makes them tick, and throwing the challenges of the plot and relationship at them.  So much fun. It’s probably the best part of writing.


What is your writing process and how much time do you spend planning your books?

Like most authors, my stories start with a “what if.” Once an idea takes hold, the plot and character evolve together. I’m a plotter, so the first thing I do when I think the idea has possibilities is sketch an outline of the plot. That outline grows and evolves as my characters’ personalities and motivations flesh out. Things that of course they’d do, add layers or subplots as the story unfolds. 


How important is setting in your novels?

I’ve been told the setting in my stories is another character. My goal is always to place the reader in the scene, to create a place readers can see and feel, even if they’ve never been to South Carolina, eastern Washington, or the Cascade Mountains. The challenge is to create that bubble without slowing the pace of the plot. 

Toni McGee Causey has been a fabulous mentor and offers a terrific perspective on setting and point of view. What the character sees in the place says more about the character than the physical location. I try to keep that in mind—how my characters react to their location/setting and why it matters—as I write.


You are a contributing editor for The Big Thrill, International Thriller Writer’s monthly publication. Do you find yourself editing as you write? Or do you write first and edit after?

I have a rather strange way of putting my stories together. If something isn’t working when I’m sitting with my computer, I switch to pen and paper. Writing by hand uses a different part of my brain and I can roll with the scene. When I type those handwritten pages, I make a first edit pass for flow and word choice. But I generally finish the first draft before doing my heavy-duty editing passes. Of course, my wonderful editor will always have suggestions on how to make the story better…


Do you have a favorite author you read for inspiration?

So many favorites! 

This may sound strange since I’m currently writing at the lighter end of the mystery spectrum, but right now, I’m reading at the introspective end of the mystery/suspense/thriller genre – Jonathon King, John Hart, and pushing even further into women’s fiction, Mary Alice Monroe and Kristan Higgins. Of course, I always have dozens of books on my e-reader to choose among. 


What’s next?

Good question… 

I’ve been battling an aggressive cancer with an equally aggressive treatment regime. Chemo brain is a thing. As a result, not much writing has occurred this summer. When all this hit, I was halfway through Peril in the Pony Ring, the next book in the Keri Isles series. (Keri organizes her first event for the town of Liberty Falls and of course there are complications.) I also had the next Holly Price novel outlined (Holly is back in the Tri-Cities. Her best friend Laurie pulls her into another mystery that naturally has financial overtones.) My editor nudges me periodically about turning that one in….  Once I can string a few coherent sentences together, it’ll be a challenge deciding which one to work on first.

Learn more about Cathy here:

Facebook http://facebook.com/CathyPerkinsAuthor

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cathy-perkins 

Website www.cperkinswrites.com 

Clicking Our Heels – Summer Vacation Preferences

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CLICKING OUR
HEELS – SUMMER VACATION PREFERENCES

Can you
believe summer is almost over? Three more days and no more white shoes or white
pants! Before summer ends, the Stiletto Gang members thought we’d share our favorite
summer vacations – indoors/outdoors, beach/mountains, or staycation.

Debra H.
Goldstein:  The Beach! Something
about the white capped swirling water and glistening sand is my nirvana.

Anita Carter:
Definitely outdoors. One of my favorite vacations was when my husband and I
traveled to Hawaii for 10 days. We island hopped. We had the best time at the
beach and hiking through the mountains and around the volcanos. I’d love to go
again.

T.K. Thorne:
I have to see the ocean regularly or something inside doesn’t get fed. Also, I
live on a mountain, so I get my tree and fresh air fix every day.

Debra
Sennefelder: Staycation. I really don’t like summer weather. I much prefer
air conditioning.

Kathryn Lane:
My husband and I spend the summers in the mountains of northern New Mexico near
Taos, where we enjoy outdoor adventures as well as watching wildlife drift by
from our cabin deck.

Dru Ann Love:
I like sightseeing various locations, so outdoors. Staycations are good as well.

Kathleen
Kaska:  It’s the beach for me –
anytime.

Robin
Hillyer-Miles: Beach or staycation!

Lois Winston:
I much prefer a warm getaway in the winter, but I’m not a beach person. I love
exploring museums, ancient sites, and foreign cities.

Linda
Rodriguez: Anymore, I’m a stay-at-home person most of the time, thanks to
health issues. In summer, you’ll find me inside in the air conditioning or
sitting on my spacious porch, spinning or knitting and chatting with my
neighbors.

Shari
Randall: I’m a culture vulture, so I’d love to somewhere with great museums
and theater. I live near a beach, so I’ll admit it, I’m spoiled.

Mary Lee
Ashford: My summer vacation preference would be outdoors with a beach and a
book! Staycations are fun but since I’ve been working from home since March
2020, I am more than ready to see some walls that aren’t my own.

Gay Yellen:
Mountains. Hiking in a cool mountain forest is the best break from summer in
the city.

Lynn McPherson: I love the beach and the mountains. I’m home most of the
time so when vacation time rolls around I’m ready to go explore new places.

Cathy Perkins: What is a vacation these days? When I can travel again, definitely the beach!

Clicking Our Heels: Summer Vacation – Beach, Mountains, On the Road, or Simply a Staycation?

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Last month, the Stiletto Gang members shared where each most wanted to go when the world opened up again. Now, with summer here, people are making vacation plans. As always, each of us has a different idea for our perfect summer vacation – beach, mountains, on the road, or staycations.


Bethany Maines – Outdoors someplace sunny.  Could be the
beach or the mountain or my backyard, but I want ice cream, a nap, and some
sunshine.

Gay Yellen – Mountains. Hiking in a cool mountain forest
is the best break from summer in the city.

Mary Lee Ashford – My summer
vacation preference would be outdoors with a beach and a book! Staycations are
fun but I’ve been working from home since March 2020, so I am more than ready
to see some walls that aren’t my own. (1/2- Sparkle Abbey)

Shari Randall – I’d love to
go somewhere with great museums and theater. I live near a beach, so I’ll admit
it, I’m spoiled.

Linda Rodriguez – Anymore, I’m
a stay-at-home person most of the time, thanks to health issues. In summer, you’ll
find me inside in the air conditioning or sitting on my spacious porch, spinning
or knitting and chatting with my neighbors.

Anita Carter – Definitely outdoors. One of my favorite
vacations was when my husband and I traveled to Hawaii for 10 days. We island
hopped, had the best time at the beach, and hiking through the mountains and around
the volcanos. I’d love to go again. (1/2 Sparkle Abbey)

Debra H. Goldstein – I’m a beach
person – even if viewing the waves lapping the sand from an airconditioned
room. Of course, now that Broadway is going to be opening at the end of Summer,
I wouldn’t mind making a trip to New York part of my summer vacation.

T.K. Thorne – I have to see the ocean regularly or
something inside doesn’t get fed. Also, I live on a mountain, so I get my tree
and fresh air fix every day.

Debra Sennefelder – Staycation.
I really don’t like summer weather. I much prefer air conditioning.

Kathryn Lane – My husband and I spend the summers in the mountains
of northern New Mexico, near Taos, where we enjoy outdoor adventures as well as
watching wildlife drift by from our cabin deck.

Dru Ann Love – I like sightseeing various locations, so
outdoors. Staycations are good as well.

Kathleen Kaska – It’s the
beach for me – anytime.

Lois Winston – I much prefer a warm getaway in the winter,
but I’m not a beach person. I love exploring museums, ancient sites, and
foreign cities.

 

 

 

 

 

You Lie Down with Dogs, You Wake Up in Hot Water: Metaphors Aren’t Antisocial—But They Don’t Always Mix Well

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I
love metaphors. When I come across a great one while reading, I write it down
as a reminder to spend time crafting them. Here are some musings on metaphors.
Mixing metaphors—combining two unrelated idioms—is considered a grammatical faux pas. But in the right
circumstances, mixing metaphors fosters a more creative comparison, makes your
readers think, and may even produce chuckles.

·      Don’t
eat with your mouth open for business.  

·      I’ll
ride shotgun in the backseat.

·      Earl
tucked tail and left in a cloud of smoke.

·      When
life hands you a lemon, make an ice cream sundae.

·      Shape
up or sink like a stone.

·      Don’t
count your chickens before you put their eggs in your basket.

·      Beating
around the bush may get you in deep water.

·      Cross
that bridge after you’ve burned it.

·      The
quiet before the storm preceded a blast from the past.

·      Wake
up and smell the writing on the wall.

·     
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll wake up
in hot water.

Finally,
what would a tip on mixing metaphors be without mentioning the master
metaphor-mixer, Yogi Berra? Here are a few of my favorite Yogisms:

·      “Pair
up in threes.”

·      “Why
buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel.”

·      “The
future ain’t what it used to be.”

·      “No
one goes there [restaurant] anymore; it’s too crowded.”

·      “Baseball
is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical.”

·      “When
you come to a fork in the road, take it!”

 

I’m
a Texas gal. Except for an eighteen-month hiatus living in New York City after
college, I lived in the Lone Star State continuously for fifty years. Since
then, Texas has been hit and miss—a little hit, but a heck of a lot of miss.
There was a time when I thought I would happily die in Austin, Texas. But circumstances
and weather—especially weather—changed that. Now I spend most of the year on
Fidalgo Island in Washington State with a view of the bay and the mountains.
When I get homesick, my husband and I listen to Willie Nelson. Soon we are
dancing the two-step, imagining we are at our favorite honky-tonk in Tokyo,
Texas, where the mayor is believed to be a dog. Who wouldn’t miss that?

 

I
write the awarding-winning mystery series: the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series
set in the 1950s and the Classic Triviography Mystery Series, which
includes The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book, updated and released
by Lyons Press on November 1, 2020. My Kate Caraway animal-rights
mystery series includes Run Dog Run and A Two Horse Town.
Eagle Crossing is scheduled for release in 2022.

 

Look
for Sherlock Holmes of Baking Street,
an anthology by notable authors and Sherlockians. I’m honored to have a Holmes
short story included.

 

        On my website, you can also find my Five-Minute Writing Tips and blog posts about publishing,                 marketing, birding, and quirky things that come to mind. Kathleen Kaska

 

Just released in May—Sherlock Holmes of Baking Street. I was honored to be asked to contribute a Holmes short story or essay for this anthology. I’d always wanted to try my hand at writing a Holmes pastiche. Finally, this was the nudge I need. My story is “The Adventure at Old Basingstoke.” Also included is my recipe for scones since the theme of the anthology is baking. 

 

 


Four Cuts Too Many – I Need Your Help, Please by Debra H. Goldstein

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Four Cuts Too Many – I Need
Your Help, Please by Debra H. Goldstein

Eleven days to go! If you had told me in 2011, when my
first book, Maze in Blue, was published, that a decade later, I’d have
six published original titles, one turned into my agent ready to go, two mass
market runs, audio and e-books of three of my novels, and more than forty short
stories published, I would have laughed.

I’m not laughing now. Instead, I’m anxiously awaiting the
release of Four Cuts Too Many, the fourth book in Kensington’s Sarah
Blair series (already available on pre-order). Although I’ve enjoyed doing zoom
events, I’m hoping there will soon be opportunities to meet in person with
readers. There’s something special about that in general. Even more, when a
Facebook or friend from the past appears at a signing.

 

It’s been over a year since I’ve been on the road doing
promotion. The pandemic created a difficult time to have a new title come out.
I was six weeks into my book tour for Three Treats Too Many when the
world shut down. At that point, the sales were leading the same point of sale numbers
that my first two books had achieved at that point. I was excited. One reason
is because I donate a significant portion of the royalties from pre-orders and
the first month of sales to charity (and I’m doing so again).

 

Like many others, I became an author with a new book having
to find a way to let people know the book was out there. Facebook, Twitter, and
other social media outlets became the promotional norm. I adapted.

 

I’m ready to adapt again. I don’t have a choice. The world
is reopening, but Four Cuts Too Many won’t be the new book on the block
when the restrictions on congregating are lifted. That’s why I need to get the
word out now about the book. Anything you can do from sharing this blog to
pre-ordering a copy will be deeply appreciated. Numbers count. When this book
comes out and I turn the next one in, the decision will be made whether I’m
offered a new Sarah Blair contract. I hope so because there is more of Sarah
and her friends that I’d like to share with readers.

 

An author friend of my calls this shameless promotion. I
think of it as being honest with friends. What do you think?

 

Four Cuts Too Many:

 

Sarah Blair gets an education in slicing and
dicing when someone in culinary school serves up a main corpse in Wheaton,
Alabama . . .
 
Between working as a law firm receptionist,
reluctantly pitching in as co-owner of her twin sister’s restaurant, and
caretaking for her regal Siamese RahRah and rescue dog Fluffy, Sarah has no
time to enjoy life’s finer things. Divorced and sort-of dating, she’s
considering going back to school. But as a somewhat competent sleuth, Sarah’s
more suited for criminal justice than learning how many ways she can burn a
meal.
 
Although she wouldn’t mind learning some knife
skills from her sous chef, Grace Winston. An adjunct instructor who teaches
cutlery expertise in cooking college, Grace is considering accepting an
executive chef’s position offered by Jane Clark, Sarah’s business rival—and her
late ex-husband’s lover. But Grace’s future lands in hot water when the
school’s director is found dead with one of her knives in his back. To clear
her friend’s name, there’s no time to mince words. Sarah must sharpen her own
skills at uncovering an elusive killer . . .
 
 Includes quick and easy recipes!

 

Pre-order from your favorite INDIE (a great way
to support them, too), https://www.amazon.com/Four-Cuts-Sarah-Blair-Mystery/dp/1496732219
or Four Cuts Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein, Paperback | Barnes
& Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)  

                                     

Bidding Farewell to a Dear Friend by Debra H. Goldstein

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Bidding Farewell to a Dear
Friend by Debra H. Goldstein

This year, I said good-bye to my personal library. Our
aging physical infirmities and our old house no longer matched. Our new house,
which we can’t believe we built during the pandemic, is perfect for us.
Although there is a guest bedroom and bath upstairs, everything we need is on
the main level.

 

I have a garden room office that lets me have natural light
and look at trees when the writing isn’t going well. My husband, on the other
side of the house, has a man cave that features a television covering an entire
wall. We meet in the middle to eat but have an unspoken rule that those two
rooms are our private sanctuaries – off limits to each other.

 

When we were building this house, I knew from the floor
plans that it lacked the space for me to move my entire library. My library,
which was arranged alphabetically by author, contained sections for biography,
mystery, general literature, children’s, young adult, theater, Judaica and
other religious studies, how-to-books, law books, writing reference books, crime
reference books, cookbooks, and my TBR bookshelf (which usually spread to my
dresser). There were thousands of books. I identified my library as being a
part of me.

 

Giving away my library was akin to giving away one of my
children. I have good memories of when my daughter was 6 and had to count
something for school that would be at least 100. I gave her a pad and pencil
and told her to count books. When I suddenly realized she’d been quiet for too
long, I found her nearing 2000. We decided she could stop counting. My memories
include loaning books to people that introduced them to new authors or answered
questions they posed to me. There were also special

ones that commemorated
events – like the Dr. Seuss one everyone gets for graduation or books that contained
the first published poems of my children.

 

Without flinching, I parted with my dining room furniture
which we’d purchased as a wedding present to ourselves, bedrooms sets, dishes,
pots and pans, and various other pieces of furniture, but the books remained.
It was easy to offer my children any books they wanted to take and to let a
dear friend raid the mystery section. The trouble came with what to do with the
remainder. I vowed to take the children’s books that I might read to my
grandchildren or that they might want to read in the future. I also put aside a
handful of the writing and crime resource books, as well as a few books of
poetry my father and I read together when I was a child. Then, I started making
phone calls. A librarian friend told me about a library in an economically
challenged part of Alabama that had an excess of space, but a limited
collection and a lack of funds. When I called, I knew it was a match made in
heaven.

 

I had movers pack the books I wasn’t keeping in boxes that
could be lifted. Neatly stacked, they filled my dining room and spilled into my
living room. The librarian sent her husband, who owned a flatbed truck, and her
daughter to pick up the books. In the end, most were added to their collection
or were put on a bookmobile. Very few were marked for the Friends of the
Library sale. The empty bookcases found a home, too.

 

It’s been six months and I still feel the loss, but I’m
glad that in a sense, I’m now sharing a part of who I am with others.

Welcome to the Gang

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Welcome to the Gang

by Saralyn Richard

Once in a while, a new mystery author puts on her stilettos and joins the crew. The Stiletto Gang is happy to welcome Barbara Kyle, and we know you will enjoy hearing from her on the third Wednesday of each month.

Today, I’m sharing an interview with Barbara. After you’ve read about her many talents and adventures, I know your appetite will be whetted for her first blogpost tomorrow.

Saralyn: Barbara, you’ve had several enriching
and fulfilling careers on the path to becoming an author. Can you tell us a
little about your days as a film, TV, and stage actor, and how that career
influences your life as a writer?

Barbara:  I loved being an actor. On
stage I did a lot of classical theater: Shakespeare and Shaw and Moliere. On TV
I starred in the daytime drama High Hopes, and in the series The
Campbells I had a lovely continuing role as a feisty pioneer innkeeper who
never quite won the heart of the dishy Doctor Campbell. In film, a favorite
role was in a made-for-TV movie about the hostage crisis in Iran when Jimmy
Carter was president. I played the president’s wife, Roselynn Carter. That was
an honor. Later, when I turned to writing fiction, it felt like a natural
extension of acting. I mean, I’d been playing characters written by someone
else for years, so I thought: why not create characters myself, in fact create whole
stories? 


Saralyn:  Your Thornleigh Saga
series is set in Tudor England. What is it about that time and place that
captured your imagination?

Barbara:  The trigger was Sir Thomas
More. He was Henry VIII’s chancellor and friend, but he famously went to the
scaffold to die rather than submit to Henry’s tyranny. That story always fascinated
me. Sir Thomas More had a couple of wards – that’s an historical fact – so I
decided to create another, fictional ward for him and make her the heroine of a
novel. So that’s how Honor Larke came to “star” in my first historical novel, The
Queen’s Lady. Honor becomes a lady-in-waiting to Henry VIII’s first wife,
Catherine of Aragon, and then comes into conflict with Sir Thomas, the man
she’d once revered. By the way, the situation of wardship in that historical
period is fascinating; I wrote about it in this article: Wanted: Rich Orphans: The Tudor Court of Wards.

Saralyn:  When you wrote THE QUEEN’S
LADY, did you know that it would be the start of a series? Did you have an
outline in mind for all seven books?

Barbara:  Not at all – it was quite
a zig-zag path to the series. Penguin published The Queen’s Lady and its
sequel, The King’s Daughter, but after that my editor there moved on, so
I turned to writing thrillers. Then, a few years later, I got a note from that
editor saying she was now editorial director at Kensington Books and wanted to
re-publish those first two books plus sign me to write more. Eventually, the
series grew to seven books that follow three generations of Honor’s family, the
Thornleighs (Honor married seafaring merchant Richard Thornleigh), through
three turbulent Tudor reigns.

Saralyn:  What was it like to switch
from historical novels to thrillers?

Barbara:  The funny thing is, all
my books are thrillers, even the Thornleigh Saga books. Life and death
stakes, implacable antagonists, lethal deadlines – these dynamics drive all my
stories, from the historicals to The Experiment to, most recently, my
novel of suspense, The Man from Spirit Creek. It seems I can’t help it!

Saralyn:  I’ve participated in some
of your author mentoring classes online, and I’ve appreciated how knowledgeable
and organized you are. What particular joys do you find in helping other
authors to achieve success? 

Barbara:  One of the true joys of my
life is cheering the success of writers I’ve mentored. Many of them have become
award-winning authors. Writers usually tap easily into their innate talent, but
talent and instinct only take you so far. When instinct gets stuck, it’s time
to open the toolbox of techniques, and I love showing writers the tools that
can help them get moving again. Anyone who’s interested will find lots of tips
in my videos on my YouTube channel Write Your Page-Turner, and my book Page-Turner. I firmly believe that perfecting
craft is an enriching, life-long journey for all writers.

 

 

Barbara
Kyle
is the author of the bestselling Thornleigh Saga series of historical
novels (“Riveting Tudor drama” – USA Today) and of acclaimed thrillers.
Over half a million copies of her books have been sold. Her latest is The
Man from Spirit Creek, a novel of suspense. Barbara has taught hundreds of
writers in her online classes and many have become award-winning authors. Page-Turner,
her popular how-to book for writers, is available in print, e-book, and
audiobook. Visit Barbara at www.BarbaraKyle.com 

Award-winning author, Saralyn
Richard was born with a pen in her hand and ink in her veins. A former
educator, she loves connecting with readers. Her humor- and romance-tinged
mysteries and children’s book pull back the curtain on people in settings as
diverse as elite country manor houses and disadvantaged urban high schools.


Visit Saralyn at http://saralynrichard.com, on her Amazon page at https://www.amazon.com/Saralyn-Richar…, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Palmcirclepress

Clicking Our Heels – Dream Locations For Writing

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Clicking Our
Heels – Dream Locations for Writing

Every writer
harbors a dream of the perfect place to write – today, the Stiletto Gang lets
you into our secret desires.

Sparkle Abbey:

Mary Lee Ashford – For me, a dream
location for writing would be a spot close to water such as a beach
or a lake, but I also need to be close to books. And coffee. So, maybe
a cottage by the sea within walking distance of a coffee shop
would be perfect! 

Anita Carter – Dream location would be anywhere near a
beach. It would be amazing to live in an oceanside cottage for a few months
while working on a book. I can hear the crashing waves right now!

 

Lynn McPherson – My dream location is in a small seaside town, somewhere with a
small desk by a big window that opens up, overlooking the ocean and allowing
the salty breeze to flow through.

 

Shari Randall – My dream location is a cabana on the beach of a Greek island,
fully stocked with cold drinks and snacks, a sunset to look forward
to every night, and a catamaran on call. A girl can dream!

 

Juliana Aragon Fatula – A beach view in a five-star hotel with nice
sheets and pillows and room service, free wifi, off season with no other
guests, quiet, peaceful, comfy.

Dru Ann Love – Just a nice corner with little distraction, beside the TV on in the
background.

Julie Mulhern
– There’s
an enormous picture window with a great view.

Robin
Hillyer-Miles – I
am a spoiled woman. We have an in-ground pool with a birdcage enclosure
surrounding it. I tend to write better while sitting by that pool. 

T.K. Thorne – Like a remote tropical island close to the ocean, or the
top floor of an old house on the bay, or a luxurious condo somewhere high
overlooking the ocean.  Give me water!

Kathryn Lane – It’s
a cabin in the mountains of northern New Mexico, near Taos. As long as the
cabin is warm, cozy, and I can periodically peek at the beautiful view, my
writing juices flow.

Paula Benson – Oddly enough, I’ve always imagined a dream location for
writing as an office building. Growing up, I imagined working for a movie
studio and having an office to go to for my work. Going to work at an office
where you get paid for your fiction writing. That’s my dream location

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clicking Our Heels – Conferences We’ll Be Attending

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Clicking Our Heels – Conferences We’ll Be Attending 

The Stiletto Gang is on the move! Here are some of the conferences we plan to attend.


Mary Lee Ashford (1/2 of Sparkle Abbey) – I attended Left Coast Crime in Vancouver and Malice Domestic in Bethesda this spring. And I’m planning to attend Novelists, Inc. in Florida and Bouchercon in Dallas this fall.

A.B. Plum – Going to Denmark for the summer this year.

Debra H. Goldstein – I was at Killer Nashville in August and I plan to be at Bouchercon, Sleuthfest, and Malice Domestic. Sadly, I have a conflict and won’t be able to make it to Left Coast Crime in San Diego, but I will be at the Southern Book Festival in October.

Lynn McPherson – I’m going to Thrillerfest in New York in July. I’m am extremely excited and can’t wait!


Bethany Maines – Yes, but I don’t think the National Public Works conference is quite what you had in mind.

Kay Kendall – In March I attended Left Coast Crime in Vancouver, Canada, and come October I will

be at Bouchercon50 in Dallas, Texas.

Shari Randall – I’ll see everyone at Bouchercon in Dallas! I’m packing my red boots!

Dru Ann Love – Yes, I’ll be at Malice, Bouchercon and New England Crime Bake.

T.K. Thorne – I went to Left Coast Crime this year for the first time and had a ball. Possibly Bouchercon this year, but not sure.

Judy Penz Sheluk – Signed up for Left Coast Crime San Diego.

Linda Rodriguez, Julie Mulhern, J.M. Phillipe, and Cathy Perkins are on conference hiatus in 2019.