January 10th Meeting -- Social Media for Writers

When: Saturday, January 10th, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon

Where: Southwest Chatham Public Library Activity Room

Please join Low Country Sisters in Crime for our January meeting, where we'll be discussing the basics of social media for writers. Bring your laptops, smart phones, and tablets with you, and we'll explore Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, and several other places where you can interact with other mystery writers, share your book news, and learn more about the world of crime fiction.

We'll also be talking about our upcoming celebration of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday on January 17th at The Book Lady Bookstore, upcoming mystery conferences in our area, and sharing all the great projects Low Country SinC has in the works.

Tina Whittle will be leading the round-table discussion. Come start 2015 off with a bang at the first meeting of the new year!

For more information, contact Tina Whittle at lowcountrysinc at gmail.com.

Maggie Toussaint Chosen for Kindle Scout Program

HUGE congrats Low Country Sisters in Crime member Maggie Toussaint, whose novel G-1 was chosen for publication through the Kindle Scout program! 

Amazon describes Kindle Scout as a "reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. . . Selected books will be published by Kindle Press and receive 5-year renewable terms, a $1,500 advance, 50% eBook royalty rate, easy rights reversions and featured Amazon marketing." You can read more about the program -- and learn how you can both nominate books and/or participate yourself -- at the Kindle Scout website.

You can read more about G-1 and see the other nine winners HERE. 

Formerly a contract scientist for the U.S. Army and a freelance reporter, Southern author Rigel Carson, the pen name of Maggie Toussaint, is a multi-published, award-winning author in suspense and mystery fiction. Her background in environmental science and toxicology, as well as years spent doing water research, provided the impetus for this new science fiction/ecothriller series set in a futuristic Earth. Visit Rigel at http://www.rigelcarson.com

December Meeting: Saturday, December 13th in Cyberspace

For December, instead of meeting in a physical space, we're sharing each other's company in the virtual world.

So when you're out and about on Saturday, December 13th, take a moment to recognize those individuals and businesses in your community who celebrate books and who support readers and writers, especially those of mystery and crime fiction. A smile and a genuine in-person "thank you" on behalf of yourself and Low Country Sisters in Crime is a great way to share our gratitude, but even if your Saturday involves staying home and sipping eggnog, you can participate.

And if you're so inclined, please share your gratitude with the rest of us through our online media. Don't forget to tag Low Country Sisters in Crime when you do so that we can share and repost! Here are some of our social media links:

Find Us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/LowCountrySistersinCrime

Find Us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/LowCountrySinC

Find Us on Google Plus:
https://plus.google.com/+LowcountrysistersincrimeBlogspot/posts

See you in the Cyberworld!

November 8th Field Trip to Patrick's Indoor Gun Range

For our November meeting, several of us will be gathering at Patrick’s Indoor Gun Range in Garden City, GA (just off I-95) for two hours of shooting and/or observing at the facilities indoor range. All fees to be paid by individual shooters, but it’s free to watch from the indoor observation area (with coffee and water available).

Saturday, November 8^th

10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon

Patrick’s Uniforms and Gun Range

2307 U. S. Highway 80

Garden City, GA 31408

Phone: (912) 355-0205

If you write characters who carry firearms -- whether as good guys, bad guys, or law enforcement -- then Patrick's Uniforms and Gun Range is an excellent resource. The folks there are top notch and can help you every step of the way whether you've been shooting for years or have never handled a gun before. Check out the website at http://patricksuniforms.com/index.php for more information (including prices and FAQs).

*Note -- this is a public facility, open to the public. Sisters in Crime members won't be the only ones there, and we have made no special reservations. If there is enough interest, we could discuss booking a group event here. But this meeting is open to anyone, including members of Sisters in Crime, to meet one another and the staff at Patrick's.

October Meeting Coming Up!

Lee Child -- Our first honorary lifetime member

We are so excited to welcome thriller author Lee Child into the Low Country Sisters in Crime fold. Vice-President Donna Kortes and I made a special presentation to Lee during his speaking engagement at the Lucas Theatre in Savannah, an event sponsored by the Savannah Book Festival.

From L-R: Donna Kortes, Lee Child, Tina Whittle

We appreciated the opportunity to share our Sisters in Crime mission, both nationally and regionally, with the book-loving people of Savannah, and we hope to see Lee in Savannah again real soon.

Perhaps Jack Reacher will hear about our fine community and decide to make a visit?

Fingers crossed!

Our September Meeting

Interested in learning more about crime fiction (and the people who write it?)

Then we cordially invite you to visit a meeting of

Low Country Sisters in Crime!

We meet the 2^nd Saturday of each month from 10-12 noon. Our next meeting will be

Saturday, September 13^th

10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon

In the Activity Room at the

Southwest Chatham Public Library

September Topic – Writers’ Police Academy

Tips and Tricks and  Insider Info

Lee Child is Coming to Town!

And we here at the Low Country Sisters in Crime have a special surprise for him! Here are the details:

What: Author Event with Lee Child
When: Thursday, September 11th at 6:00 PM
Where: The Historic Lucas Theatre in Savannah, GA (for directions, click here)

If you'd like to be a part of the action, tickets are on sale NOW!

Ticket Information:

Tickets for Child’s appearance are $15 and are available through Savannah Box Office in person, or by calling 912.525.5050, or online at www.SavannahBoxOffice.com.

Tickets are non-refundable but transferable.

Tickets are not available at the Savannah Book Festival Office.

For more information, visit their website at http://www.savannahbookfestival.org/lee-child/.

Scenes from The Book Lady's Double Header with Jenny Milchman and Tina Whittle

We celebrated the week of July 4th with a fantastic reading and reception with Jenny Milchman and Tina Whittle at The Book Lady Bookstore and Roots Up Gallery. This event -- the first sponsored by Low Country Sisters in Crime -- featured readings from both authors, plus wine and snacks among the art.

Leslie Lovell and Francis Allen, owners of the Roots Up Gallery, share their love of vernacular and folk art with attendees of the reception.

Jenny Milchman reads from her second novel, Ruin Falls

Tina Whittle reads from Deeper Than the Grave, coming in November

Reception & Reading with Jenny Milchman and Tina Whittle

AN EVENING OF BOOKS AND NIBBLES

AND ART

Please join The Book Lady Bookstore, Roots Up Gallery and Low Country Sisters in Crime for a reception and reading featuring Jenny Milchman and Tina Whittle.

Wednesday, July 2nd

Reception 5:30-6:30 

at Roots Up Gallery

Liberty Street (upstairs)

Reading and Discussion 6:30-7:30

at The Book Lady Bookstore

Liberty Street (downstairs)

Come enjoy light refreshments at the gallery, which features works of art from folk, visionary, outsider and regional artists. Meet Jenny and Tina and other writers in the Low Country area. Then gather downstairs in the bookstore for readings from Jenny's and Tina's latest works and talk on all things bookish and writerly.

There will be giveaways and other surprises. So join Joni and Chris, Leslie and Francis, Tina and Jenny, and the Low Country Sisters in Crime for an evening of mystery and art.

* * * * * *

Jenny Milchman is a suspense writer from the Hudson Valley of New York who lives for seven months on the road with her family in what Shelf Awareness called "the world's longest book tour."

Jenny's debut novel Cover of Snow was published by Ballantine/Random House in January 2013 and earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, as well as praise from the New York Times, San Francisco Journal of Books, the AP, and many other publications. It won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for best suspense novel of 2013, and has been nominated for the 2013 Barry Award for best first novel of 2013. Ruin Falls, Jenny's second novel, was published by Ballantine in April 2014 to starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal.

Tina Whittle’s Tai Randolph/Trey Seaver series — featuring intrepid gunshop owner Tai and her corporate security agent partner Trey — has garnered starred reviews in Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal. Published by Poisoned Pen Press, this Atlanta-based series debuted with The Dangerous Edge of Things, followed by Darker Than Any Shadow (2012) and Blood, Ash and Bone (2013). The fourth book in the series — Deeper Than the Grave — releases in November 2014.

A nominee for Georgia Author of the Year in 2012, Whittle's short fiction has appeared in The Savannah Literary Journal, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and Gulf Stream, which selected her story “Lost Causes and Other Reasons to Live” as the 2004 winner of their Mystery Fiction contest. When not writing or reading, she enjoys golf, sushi, tarot cards, and spending time with her family (one husband, one daughter, one neurotic Maltese and four bossy chickens).

Next Meeting: Saturday, May 10th from 10-12

Our First Official Meeting!

(L-R) Jim Jackson, Maggie Toussaint, Carolyn Males, Tina Whittle, Donna Kortes, Lois Lavrisa, C. J. Lyons

There we are, folks, looking for all the world like a police line-up! But when you get a bunch of mystery writers together, what do you expect?

Many thanks to the Southwest Chatham branch of the Live Oak Public Library System for hosting our April meeting -- they've kindly consented to do the same for May, so here's the official details:

May Meeting of Low Country Sisters in Crime

WHEN: Saturday, May 10th, from 10:00 until 12:00 noon

WHERE: Southwest Chatham Public Library

TOPIC: Donna Kortes will share information about the Savannah-Metro Citizen's Police Academy

We hope to see you there!

Welcome!

We're so glad you could join us here at the cyber home of Low Country Sisters in Crime. We are a group of crime writers-- fiction and non-fiction, hard-boiled and romantic -- all of whom call the Coastal Empire and Low Country of Georgia and South Carolina home (at least in spirit).

Take a minute to browse our authors' websites and blogs. Join Low Country Sisters in Crime on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and Pinterest. Or learn more about Sisters in Crime National at their websites.

Whether a reader or writer, librarian or bookseller, if you love your mystery with a twist of Southern hospitality, you're in the right place.