COPS & WRITERS:
HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
Have we got a Crime Panel for you--a former prison warden and two cops! If they can’t answer your questions, who can?
Please join New York Times Bestselling author Robin Burcell, and award winning writers James L’Etoile and Adam Plantinga for a wide ranging discussion of police procedurals, creating law enforcement characters, and how authors get the authentic details right—or really wrong. Gunpowder or cordite; revolver vs. semi-auto; clip vs. magazine; is it a gun, or piece, or service weapon…
Get the facts and enjoy a great discussion.
MEET OUR PANELISTS!
Robin Burcell
New York Times Bestselling author Robin Burcell moonlighted as a cop for nearly three decades, while working as a mom fulltime. She wrote police procedurals and international thrillers, until Clive Cussler asked her to co-write with him in the Fargo series (where the good guys sometimes skirt the law, but always save the day). Connect with Robin on Facebook or Twitter.
Adam Plantinga
Adam Plantinga’s first book, 400 Things Cops Know, was nominated for an Agatha Award and won the 2015 Silver Falchion award for best nonfiction crime reference. It was hailed as “truly excellent” by author Lee Child and deemed “the new Bible for crime writers” by The Wall Street Journal. It was also described by one Amazon reviewer as “kind of interesting but maybe a little bit overpriced.” His most recent book, also nonfiction, is Police Craft. Plantinga was a Milwaukee police officer from 2001 to 2008. He has been in law enforcement for twenty-one years and is currently a sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department assigned to street patrol. His debut novel, Nothing Like Easy, about an ex-cop caught up in a prison riot, is scheduled to be released by Grand Central Publishing in late 2023. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and daughters. Find out more about Adam at www.adamplantinga.com
James L’Etoile
James L’Etoile uses his twenty-nine years behind bars as an influence in his award-winning novels, short stories, and screenplays. He is a former associate warden in a maximum-security prison, a hostage negotiator, facility captain, and director of California’s state parole system. He is a nationally recognized expert witness on prison and jail operations. He has been twice nominated for the Silver Falchion for Best Procedural Mystery and Best Thriller, as well as The Bill Crider Award for short fiction. His published novels include: Dead Drop, Black Label, At What Cost, Bury the Past, and Little River. L’Etoile’s Black Label was recently picked up by Harlequin/Harper Collins in a mass market deal. The book garnered a Silver Falchion Award for the Best Book by an Attending Author at the 2022 Killer Nashville Conference. The Devil Within and Face of Greed are both set to release in 2023. You can find out more at: www.jamesletoile.com.
Crime Time at The Pleasant Pheasant
Please join host Chris Dreith for Crime Time at The Pleasant Pheasant bookstore in Woodland as local crime writers discuss our experiences with the writing, publishing, and marketing processes.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or struggling through your first draft, it’s a great chance to network with your tribe and maybe get a few questions answered. Come enjoy the company of others who can’t resist the lure of (fictional) crime!
The Pleasant Pheasant has graciously offered to host our meeting, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy browsing their shelves, finding a book (or two or three) that need to come home with you!
Space is limited so please register if you plan on attending.
The Pleasant Pheasant
1059 Court Street, Suite 109
Woodland, California 95695
530-722-6077
https://www.pleasantpheasantbooks.com
Meet the Author with Keenan Powell
Please join us as Keenan’s discusses her latest book, IMPLIED CONSENT.
Lawyer Maureen Gould has a dark secret and a need to prove herself. When a young woman walks into her office with a Hollywood #metoo case, Maureen spots the chance for redemption.
Enter the opponent: Maureen’s father, Frank Gould, a man as evil as the movie producer he defends. While Frank pulls every dirty trick known inside the courtroom, someone behind the scenes is engineering Maureen’s defeat. Doors are slammed in her face. Disturbing photographs are “discovered.” A witness dies mysteriously. Clearly someone means to silence her.
Will Maureen muster the strength to free herself from the past, reveal the truth, and win justice for her client?
Keenan Powell is the author of the Maeve Malloy Mysteries, a three-book series, and numerous short stories. She belongs to Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She writes a legal column, Ipso Facto, for the Guppies newsletter, First Draft, and blogs with Miss Demeanors.
Despite being one of the original Dungeons and Dragons illustrators, art seemed an impractical pursuit – not an heiress, wouldn’t marry well, hated teaching – so she went to law school. The day after graduation, she moved to Alaska.
When not writing or practicing law, Keenan can be found embroidering or studying the Irish language.
Learn more about Keenan at www.keenanpowellauthor.com.
Building a Community of Practice for Writers
Please join us for USA Today Bestselling author Karen Odden’s newest workshop: “Finding your People: Developing your Community of Practice as an Author.”
As the publishing industry has changed this past decade, authors are increasingly required to handle their own community outreach, including marketing, PR, their website, book launches and zoom events, and social media. Furthermore, Covid forever altered the way authors connect to readers, to libraries, to bookstores, to professional groups, and to each other.
With personal anecdotes and industry knowledge, Karen shares her journey toward discovering a “writing community mindset” and discusses some specific, professionally productive and emotionally fulfilling ways to engage with the writing community, to both find support and give back.
Karen received her Ph.D. in English literature from New York University and subsequently taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Her first novel, A Lady in the Smoke, was a USA Today bestseller and A Dangerous Duet and A Trace of Deceit have won awards for historical mystery and historical fiction. Down a Dark River introduces readers to Inspector Michael Corravan, a former thief and bare-knuckles boxer. The sequel, Under a Veiled Moon, is a 2023 nominee for both the Lefty and Agatha awards.
Prior to receiving her Ph.D. in English, she worked in publishing at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and McGraw-Hill, as a Media Buyer for Christie’s auction house in New York, and as a bartender at the airport in Rochester, where she honed her listening skills. She is a member of Sisters in Crime (National), Desert Sleuths (SinC Arizona) and Mystery Writers of America.
Karen lives in Arizona with her family, and she loves to hike the Sonoran Desert.
For more information about Karen go to www.karenodden.com or connect with her on Twitter @karen_odden and Facebook @KarenOddenWriter
Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Developmental editor and bestselling author of HER NAME IS KNIGHT and THEY COME AT NIGHT Yasmin Angoe will be visiting from South Carolina to spend three packed days with writers.
This is your chance to go in-depth on your pages through group AND individual sessions with Yasmin, as well as spend uninterrupted time writing in a beautiful setting with fellow crime writers.
The Capitol Crimes Writing Retreat is limited to 15 attendees. Don't delay! Participants will receive individual critiques of up to 10 pages from Yasmin, an individual consultation with her about the work, five in-depth craft sessions, and time to write and share work with fellow attendees.
Lodging and meals are included at the beautiful Mercy Auburn Retreat Center. Learn more here.
We are the Sacramento, California chapter of Sisters in Crime. We promote the ongoing advancement, recognition and professional development of women crime writers.