Our weekend at Cedar Key was filled with sun, crowds, and brisk sales. Several of us need to replenish our stock!
Many thanks to Lisa Malice, who was the lead in organizing this trip for the chapter.
October Meeting: Avoiding Emotional Clichés
Saturday, October 2nd.
In-person Location: Fruitville Public Library, 100 Apex Road, Sarasota, FL 34240. (Just east of I-75). The meeting will also be broadcast live via Zoom. RSVP for the meeting to receive the Zoom link.
10:30 – 11:30 – FLGC SinC Chapter Business Meeting
11:30 – 12:30 – Presentation by best-selling author Annette Dashofy
12:30 – 2:30 – Group lunch to follow at Gecko’s Grill & Pub.
Do your characters burst into tears when they’re sad? Smile when they’re happy? Yell when they’re angry? Do they get weak in the knees when they’re frightened? If so, it might be time to take your writing to a higher level. In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn to spot these and other clichés as you discover how to delve into even the simplest emotions, allowing your reader to bond more deeply with your character’s heart and soul.
Bio:
Annette Dashofy is the USA Today best-selling author of the Agatha Award nominated Zoe Chambers mystery series about a paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township. Annette is the vice president of the Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime Chapter and is on the board of directors of Pennwriters. She and her husband live on a farm in Washington County, Pennsylvania with their very spoiled cat, Kensi. TIL DEATH, the tenth in the series was released in June 2020.
September Meeting: Tori Eldridge
Cedar Key Seafood Festival FLGC SinC Vendor Booth
Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime will host a vendor booth as part of the
51st Annual Cedar Key Seafood Festival! This is a great opportunity to reach out to new readers in a relaxed atmosphere. Cedar Key is 2.5 hours from Tampa/3.5 hours from Sarasota, so this is a weekend trip.
To join as an author or volunteer, go to our Meetup event or sign up on our site here.
Silver Linings
Bouchercon, one of the largest mystery conventions held, was canceled this year due to the ongoing COVID crisis. But there are silver linings hidden in the cloud of depression. This Time for Sure, the anthology for the canceled convention, is available on 8/25 with stories by several leading lights of mystery, including G. Miki Hayden, Charles Todd, Alex Segura, and our own Martha Reed! The book is a hardback, and 100% of the net profits benefit the New Orleans Public Library.
The Bouchercon folks have also announced that they will be broadcasting an author discussion one night, and the Anthony Awards the next:
On Friday, August 27:
7 pm ET / 6 pm CT / 5 pm MT / 4 pm PT / Midnight GMT Bouchercon 2021 presents Alafair Burke in conversation with James Lee Burke, hosted by Heather Graham and Introductions from Rachel Howzell Hall.
On Saturday, August 28:
7 pm ET / 6 pm CT / 5 pm MT / 4 pm PT / Midnight GMT Bouchercon 2021 presents the 52nd 2021 Anthony Awards Ceremony! Only previously registered attendees will receive an Anthony ballot.
Check the Bouchercon site for more information as the dates draw closer.
Seeing Friends Again
The Florida Gulf Coast SinC celebrated its first post-COVID-19 hybrid Zoom Room/In-person meeting with a breakfast brunch at the Oxford Exchange in Tampa, FL on June 5, 2021. Thirteen members attended in-person with another 14 participating online. James McGowan from BookEnds Literary Agency presented: “What Do Agents Do, and How Do I Find One?”
In July, we return to Zoom only with a meeting on Saturday, July 10, 2021 from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
J.J. Hensley, a former police officer and former Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service will present his program: The Secret Service – Fact and Fiction.
Be sure to RSVP through our MeetUp site to get the meeting’s Zoom link.
Program: Copyright Basics for Authors
Now on YouTube: Murder by the Book
Missed seeing the play when we were performing it live at the Southwest Florida Reading Festival? It’s now on our YouTube channel! Check it out, and subscribe to see the future videos we have planned!
Enter the Post-Festival Raffle!
$125 worth of gift cards and prizes will be awarded!
Earn up to 25 raffle chances for your responses to 5 questions based on interactions with our virtual booth.
Visit our festival site at https://eventhub.shop/readfest/sistersincrime to learn more.
Saturday: Dead End Jobs
Tune in this Saturday for Dead End Jobs. Four Sisters in Crime authors will discuss how their day jobs affect their stories and their characters. The panel will air live at 2 PM, Saturday, March 6th, on the Sisters in Crime Virtual Booth for the Southwest Florida Reading Festival.
To see the entire schedule for the virtual booth, click here.
