Sisters in Crime (SinC), Upper Hudson Chapter (Mavens of Mayhem) is seeking new “Sisters and Misters” to help our chapter grow. We’re seeking committee members for monthly programming and the Murderous March Writers & Readers Confab. We also seek a treasurer, which includes a surprisingly low time-commitment despite its importance, and a social media/web maven.
Enjoy the best camaraderie by participating actively.
NEXT MEETING: JUNE 15TH, Bethlehem Public Library, 10:30
Our lively chapter, one of three in NYS, includes fans and writers — women and men who enjoy meeting, learning, and engaging around the craft, business, characters and field of mystery writing. Learn more and find our meeting schedule at www.upperhudsonsinc.com. Emaileleanor.kuhns@gmail.com, chapter president, to inquire about these volunteer roles.
Please share this with your writing and book club communities.
We’re adjusting monthly meeting times as follows, to allow for more engagement with each other and with each program’s content.
10:30-11:15 – Chapter meeting 11:15-11:30 – Overflow content and coffee break 11:30-12:30 – Featured Program (Always open to the public)
Special programs and field trips will be announced well in advance. Snow and other emergency cancellations will be posted on the website. It always pays to check the website before driving over: www.upperhudsoninc.com.
Murderous March participant feedback told us that there was too little time for each of the day’s events. We realized that we were rushing the monthly programs, too. So thank you, Confab commenters!
Coming up on May 19th: Researcher extraordinaire Michael Catoggio will offer us “Cleopatra’s Nose: Adventures in Research” starting at 11:30 am.Those of you at Murderous March will remember Michael as our panel’s delightful moderator and one of three workshop teachers. Michael felt that he had too much content for an hour, so Mavens President Frankie Bailey offered to solve his problem. Et voilà, we get to learn with Michael again! I suspect that this presentation will be sprinkled with engaging anecdotes. Don’t miss out.
Monthly program presentations are free and open to the public.
Writers’ Supports
Mystery writing group is starting up again. It will be led by Carol Pouliot (co-led by Frankie Bailey) on meeting-day Saturdays, immediately following the monthly program. Watch for description and dates/times from Carol.
Mavens of Mayhem and East Greenbush Community Library are offering six free writing sessions this summer. These are non-critical opportunities for writers of any level to write in any genre, in supportive company. Rhonda Rosenheck (published poet and humorist; unpublished short story writer) will host the structured sessions: 15 minutes of settling in; 90 minutes of quiet writing; 30 minutes of appreciative sharing. Free and open to the public. Bring your own snack and drink. Pre-registration is strongly suggested to ensure a place.www.eastgrenbushlibrary.org (Registration may not be available until May.)
The Mavens of Mayhem Chapter of the Sisters in Crime will hold its next meeting at 11AM on September 23rd at the Bethlehem Public Library in Delmar. The speaker will be Eleanor Kuhns who is the 2011 winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel competition. She received her master’s in Library Science from Columbia University, and is currently the Assistant Director at the Goshen Public Library in Orange County, New York. The topic is Genre Bending and will consist of an interactive program on popular genres answering the question:
Why do librarians put MY books in such crazy categories?
What is a genre? What is not?
How is a genre determined?
And what about the books that bend the genres?
The interactive aspect should appeal to librarians, writers and readers. Everyone is invited.
Join us for our monthly meeting to brain storm and share what we're reading. Bethlehem Public Library 10:30 Business (Members Only) 11:00 Open Discussion
The Mavens began the new year by welcoming back novelist K.A. Mitchell to our January 16th meeting. Mitchell presented a 2½ hour workshop packed with information on character creation and enrichment. She showed us how to use enneagrams to create believable and familiar, yet unique, types of people in our stories. Many thanks to Ms. Mitchell for the wealth of information she shared with us. We wish her great success with her latest novel Risk Everything On It.
Saturday, April 11th at 11AM, local author Frankie Bailey will be at the Schenectady County Public Library to discuss her latest crime novel “What the Fly Saw”, which is set in Albany! Frankie is a professor at the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany, and is the author of the mystery “The Red Queen Dies”.
And don’t forget! Our Mavens meeting on April.18,2015 will be having a guest speaker:
Bob Krug is a retired Colonie Police Officer who has worked for The Colonie Police Force for 26 years. He will be discussing some of the cases he has worked. Also comparing real life Police work to what we see on television. Q&A will follow.
Join us at Kinderhook Library Saturday March 7th at 4pm to listen to Mavens Susan Sundwall and Donna Lagone read from their work. Directions:
From the south
Take Route 9 north to the center of Kinderhook Village. Just before the main intersection, bear right at the village green onto Hudson Street (County Route 21). The library is on the right at the corner of Hudson and Sylvester Streets.
Alternatively, take Route 9H north. At the Elks Lodge, exit 9H to County Route 21. Take a right onto County Route 21 which becomes Hudson Street as you cross the bridge over Kinderhook Creek and enter the village. The library is on the left at the corner of Hudson and Syvester Streets.
From the north
Take Route 9 south the the center of Kinderhook Village. Turn left at the main intersection onto Hudson Street (County Route 21). The library is on the right at the corner of Hudson and Sylvester Streets.
Alternatively, take Route 9H south and exit at the County Route 21 exit. Take a right onto County Route 21 which becomes Hudson Street as you enter the village. The library is on the left at the corner of Hudson and Sylvester Streets.
An enthusiastic audience of crime and mystery writers and readers in the Capital Region braved frigid temperatures to gather in the Greenbush Community Library on January 31st to listen to six longtime Mavens members share their personal experiences and insights into what it takes to successfully become a published author in the genre. The afternoon’s panelists included:
Frankie Bailey, a professor of criminal justice at the University of New York at Albany and the author of 7 mystery novels (the newest, “What The Fly Saw” comes out next month) encouraged aspiring writers to join organizations like Sisters In Crime and Mystery Writers of America and to attend conference and workshops to be inspired and learn from the efforts of other writers;
Robert Knightly, former LAPD police officer and lawyer for the New York City Legal Aid Society, is the author of two police procedurals, “Bodies In Winter” and a sequel, “The Cold Room” spoke of the need to have confidence in your story and to persevere in spite of receiving rejections by potential publishers;
Eleanor Kuhns spoke of winning the coveted MinotaurBooks/MWA First Crime Novel Competition in 2011 for her Shaker-inspired “A Simple Murder” and outlined how she uses research in her writing;
Donna Lagone, current President and author of the recently published novel “Reflections” advised using the services of an agent as well an attorney to assist with the contractual matters required when working with publishers;
Susan Sundwall, gave the audience an overview of how she has handled the publication and sales of her Minnie Markwood comic-cozy series without using an agent; and,
Kate Laity, Associate Professor of English at the College of St. Rose, the author of “White Rabbit” and the Chastity Flame series, described how she writes and publishes in a number of different genres and admonished the audience to finish one’s writing projects!
Moderated by Jeanette Whitbeck and organized by June Kosier, the event was lively and engaging as well informative. And June’s exhibit highlighting the chapter’s authors was well worth taking a trip to the library in East Greenbush!
Sisters in Crime (SinC), Upper Hudson Chapter (Mavens of Mayhem) is seeking new “Sisters and Misters” to help our chapter grow. We’re seeking committee members for monthly programming and the Murderous March Writers & Readers Confab. We also seek a treasurer, which includes a surprisingly low time-commitment despite its importance, and a social media/web maven.
Monthly Program News
The Mavens of Mayhem Chapter of the Sisters in Crime will hold its next meeting at 11AM on September 23
Sisters in Crime, Upper Hudson Chapter
