Virginia Is For Mysteries, Volume II Launch: A Good Time Was Had By All!

Libbie Mill Library hosted the Virginia is for Mysteries launch
On Saturday, February 27, Libbie Mill Library hosted the launch of Virginia Is For Mysteries, Volume II. We were the first author event at the new library!

 

The launch included a panel presentation on Pathways to Publication, moderated beautifully by Mary Burton. Panelists included both traditionally published and independently published writers of short stories and novels. I served on the panel along with Meriah Lysistrata Crawford, Kristin Kisska, Adele Gardner, and Teresa Inge. We represented a wide range of genres: romance, fantasy and horror, historical fiction, memoir—and of course, mystery!
Vivian Lawry at Virginia is For Mysteries launch
Besides those on the program, a number of Sisters in Crime contributors attended, along with more than seventy others.
Sisters in Crime Central Virginia at Virginia is for Mysteries launch party
L-R: standing, Yvonne Saxon, Meriah Lysistrata Crawford, Kristin Kisska, me, Ken Wingate, Heather Weidner, Rosemary Shomaker; seated Teresa Inge, Adele Gardner, Maggie King, and Lee Wells
Virginia is For Mysteries: Volume II launch (Photo from Sisters in Crime--Central Virginia
Virginia is For Mysteries: Volume II launch (Photo from Sisters in Crime–Central Virginia)
The audience was thoroughly engaged and asked lots of good questions—before buying books and devouring the cake!
Virginia is For Mysteries book launch cake
All the authors present signed books on request.
Vivian Lawry signing her book at Virginia is For Mysteries book launch
We were especially pleased that Sherlock showed up—and tolerated being womanhandled with great stoicism.
Virginia is For Mysteries book launch with Vivian Lawry, Kristin Kisska, and Sherlock
Visit the SinC-CVA website and the individual authors’ websites to see more photos and read more about the event.

 

Do join us for all the fun at the next event!

Virginia is for Mysteries: Volume II is out!

I’m excited that Virginia is for Mysteries: Volume II is available!

Virginia is for Mysteries: Volume II
Now available!

You can find it at your bookstore of choice. (Barnes & Noble is releasing the book later this month.)

IndieBound

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million

I’m honored to have my story “War and Murder at Nimrod Hall” in the anthology. My story is set at historic Nimrod Hall. Over on the Virginia is for Mysteries blog, I shared how Nimrod Hall inspired me. 

Nimrod Hall main buildling
Nimrod Hall

I hope you can join the authors on Saturday, February 27, at Libbie Mill Library for an author panel and book celebration. Thank you for all your support!

Festival of the Written Word, November 7th

Writers Conference poster: Festival of the Written Word, November 07, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Midlothian Library
Festival of the Written Word, November 7, 2015

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ll be at The Festival of the Written Word on November 7th, where I’ll speak on a panel with a title something like “When Romance Meets Mystery.”

The Festival of the Written Word is a celebration of the power and beauty of writing. Embrace your creativity and immerse yourself in literacy, ideas and imagination. The festival will include live readings, writing tips, panel discussions with local authors and food vendors. It’s an activity that the whole family can enjoy.

Authors scheduled to speak at this year’s event:

  • Dean King
  • Cathy Maxwell
  • Howard Owen
  • Heather Weidner
  • Vivian Lawry
  • Fiona Quinn
  • Lana Krumwiede
  • Brian Rock
  • Nancy Wright Beasley
  • Greg Smith
  • Kitty Snow
  • Susan Hankla
  • Guy Terrell
  • Raymond Lescault
  • Jean Anderson
  • Brant Huddleston
  • Bill Blume
  • Sally Kirk
  • Wynn Mercere
  • Sadeqa Johnson
  • Stacy Hawkins Adams

I hope to see you there!

Don’t forget Chesterfield County Public Library’s Murder at the Library on October 30th.

Chesterfield County Public Library Murder at the Library fundraiser October 30
Murder at the Library hosted by Chesterfield County Public Library and Sisters in Crime

Virginia is for Mysteries, Volume II Preorders Available Now

Virginia is for Mysteries Volume II available for preorders
Virginia is for Mysteries, Volume II Preorders Available Now
I’m excited to share that Virginia is for Mysteries, Volume II is available for preorder. The collection includes my story “War and Murder at Nimrod Hall” and stories by a talented group of authors

 

This is a sequel to “Death Comes to Hollywood Cemetery,” which appears in Virginia Is For Mysteries. It follows Clara as she escapes war-torn Richmond in 1862 only to encounter wounded soldiers and spies in Bath County.

 

Preorders are the way that the big stores judge how many to order. It’s an opportunity to support local authors and reserve your copy. Virginia is for Mysteries, Volume II releases on February 1, 2016.

 

Preorder here

The Road to the James River Writers Prize

I don’t enter contests. The Sandra Brown Prize for Short Fiction was awarded for “Good Works” based on manuscripts accepted for publication that year in descant.

descant literary journal writing contest

But this spring, when the James River Writers Best Unpublished Novel Contest call for submissions came, the timing was right. I was wrapping up a manuscript I started years ago, and the deadlines were exactly what I needed to finish it off.

James River Writers and Richmond Magazine have announced the winners in the 2015 Best Unpublished Novel Contest and Nettie’s Books was a finalist. Thank you JRW and Richmond Magazine!

One year during my Nimrod writing week, I took an afternoon off to go to Clifton Forge. There was a store there (now gone) that claimed to sell antiques, but it was the sort of place where everything was jumbled together and thick with dust. I found 3 diaries written by a middle-aged local woman, which I snapped up immediately for no reason except that I am enamored of diaries.

three old diaries
Diaries that inspired Nettie’s Books

If you have diaries, journals, or family letters you would be willing to part with, let me know! I have a file cabinet labeled “Other People’s Lives” for just such treasures.

I hesitated before deciding to buy the scrapbook because of its size—15.5 in. x 11 in.—and poor condition, but looking at the sorts of clippings it contained, I couldn’t resist.

scrapbook with sketch of boy and girl and text, "Jumbo Scrap Book"
Scrapbook that inspired Nettie’s Books

My first thought was to write a short story in which the same woman who wrote a diary about the weather, the garden, cooking, and playing bingo also kept a scrapbook about news of the weird and death. The fact that the earliest diary was 1965-1969 and the clippings were decades older was no impediment.

Scrapbook page with newspaper clippings
Click for a closer view of the scrapbook

scrapbook pages with newspaper clippings

And then the story grew. The result is Nettie’s Books, set in Bath and Alleghany Counties, 1930-1935. The book begins when Nettie is thirty years old. My next goal is to get it published. I’m hopeful that winning this prize will help with that!

 

“Beast and the Beauty” is in Clare Literary Magazine

Painting of eyes looking at viewer
Art throughout Volume 16 of Clare by Katie Chandler.

There’s been a lot of great news lately. I’m delighted to share that my short story “Beast and the Beauty” is in the Spring 2015 issue (Volume 16) of Clare Literary Magazine, a publication of Cardinal Stritch University.

You can read “Beast and the Beauty” and the full issue for free by CLICKING HERE.

Thank you to the Editorial Team at Clare Literary Magazine.

Beast and the Beauty
Click the text to read the rest of “Beast and the Beauty” in Clare Literary Magazine.

 

VIRGINIA IS FOR MORE MYSTERIES

I have a story in the upcoming collection Virginia is for More Mysteries (Koehler Books, April 2016) titled “War and Murder at Nimrod Hall.” This is a sequel to “Death Comes to Hollywood Cemetery,” which appears in Virginia Is For Mysteries. It follows Clara as she escapes war-torn Richmond in 1862 only to encounter wounded soldiers and spies in Bath County.

Virginia is for Mysteries and Virginia is for More Mysteries
Look for “Death Comes to Hollywood Cemetery” in Virginia is for Mysteries, out now from Koehler Books.

You can find Virginia is for Mysteries on IndieBound, Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.

Newsflash!

The time has come to become a real blogger. Watch this space to read Tips For New Writers.

Tip 1. Write every day.

You may be thinking, “Impossible!” Bad attitude. It’s easier than you think if you don’t get too rigid about what you consider to be “writing.” It needn’t be a whole story, poem, or even thought. You can record hints of stories. You can do it in a notebook. In a pinch, you can simply list words that appeal to you. Do this until it becomes such a habit that a day without writing brings on a guilt attack. And you are on your way.