Prolific Mystery Author to Speak at July Meeting

Amanda Flower, an award-winning mystery author, will be joining us via Skype at our monthly meeting on July 11 at the Greenbrier Library in Chesapeake from 6-8 p.m. Amanda is the author of several mystery series for adults and children, and she will be sharing lessons learned from her journey as a writer.

Amanda started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had her classmates in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. She also writes mysteries as USA Today bestselling author Isabella Alan. In addition to being an author, Amanda is a librarian in Northeast Ohio.

Check out some of Amanda’s latest titles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ask a Cop at June Meeting

Retired police officer Tim Jones will answer questions about the particulars of police work and homicide investigations.

If you want to write about cops and killers, you need to get your facts straight. Join us on Monday, June 13, from 6-8 p.m., when we welcome Mystery by the Sea member and retired police officer Tim Jones as a guest speaker. Tim will answer all of your most urgent questions about police work and homicide investigations.

(Please note: Our June meeting will NOT be held at the Greenbrier Library in Chesapeake. Instead, we will be meeting at 805 Live Oak Drive, Suite 104, Chesapeake, VA 23320.)

Tim, a recently retired Virginia Beach Police Department homicide detective, has 27 years of law enforcement experience, 25 of which were in Virginia. While serving with the Chesapeake Police Department, he spent one year in Uniform Patrol, three in the Warrant/Fugitive Unit, three in Crimes Against Persons, three in Vice and Narcotics, and one year undercover. He served three years as a special agent (primarily undercover) for the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. During his last 12 years he was a Virginia Beach Police Department Investigator and worked at the Training Academy, Robbery Squad, and Homicide Unit.

During Tim’s career he was recognized by several Virginia Circuit Courts as an expert in narcotics investigations, crime scene investigations, gangs, human trafficking, murder for hire, and medico-legal death investigations. His extensive investigative and undercover experience has enabled him to be a consultant for various crime shows including The New Detectives, The Prosecutors, The FBI Files, and The Wire. Tim has also taught at numerous police academies across the state of Virginia. He holds a B.S. in sociology. Currently he is working on some ideas for screenplays.

Virginia Beach Publisher to Speak at May Meeting

John Koehler (Courtesy photo)

We are pleased to announce that John Koehler, president and publisher of Koehler Books in Virginia Beach, will speak at our May meeting, to be held Monday, May 9, from 6 – 9 p.m. at the Greenbrier Library in Chesapeake. John will answer questions and offer insight about publishing trends and author duties after publication.

In John’s own words: “I plan on coming to tell the amazing writers of Sisters in Crime the SECRET UNTOLD REASON FOR BOOK SUCCESS:

Write a great book!

Boom. That’s all folks. All done….

Oh, and then all the other stuff they want to know about marketing and promotion, distribution, when it is okay to self-publish, why are publicists so !@#@!! expensive, what exactly a publisher DOES, why you only see one shoe on the side of the road, and many more compelling subjects.”

John is the founder of Koehler Books and runs the company’s day-to-day operations. He earned a BFA in Communications Arts and Design from Virginia Commonwealth University and attended graduate studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

John’s professional career includes being senior art director of a major advertising agency and running a design studio. He is an award-winning graphics designer and the author of five books.

John lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is active in his church. He has helped run a ministry dedicated to helping children with disabilities, a cause to which he is still very much dedicated. John made an international splash in 1991 by winning the Boomerang World Championship in Perth, Australia, and was a member of the Foster’s Boomerang 2000 Team, a touring troop that taught professional athletes and others the gospel of boomerangs.

Local Author’s Reception April 23 in Suffolk

Join several authors from Virginia is for Mysteries: Volume II at a Local Author’s Reception on Saturday, April 23 from 12-3 p.m. at the Suffolk Public Library, located at 2000 Bennetts Creek Park Road. The afternoon will include book signings and light refreshments. For additional info, visit Suffolk Public Library Flyer-Virginia is for Mysteries – April 2016

Member Selected as Finalist for Readers’ Choice Award

Mystery by the Sea member Allie Marie’s novel, Teardrops of the Innocent: The White Diamond Story, has been nominated for the 2015 New England Readers’ Choice award from the New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

The contest recognizes excellence in published romance fiction and the contest is judged exclusively by readers, librarians, and booksellers.

Congratulations, Allie Marie, and good luck!

Scenes from Coastal Crime Fest 3

Mystery by the Sea held Coastal Crime Fest 3 on Saturday, March 19, at the Russell Memorial Library in Chesapeake. Our annual writers conference caters to mystery writers and is free and open to the public. Stay tuned to the blog for more info on next year’s conference. Until then, enjoy some photos from this year’s conference! (Photos courtesy of member Ken Wingate.)

Mike Owens discussed the topic of psychic distance.

Retired police officer Tim Jones answered audience members’ questions about the particulars of homicide investigation.

Networking with fellow authors was a big part of the conference.

 

Scenes from the Museum of Contemporary Art

On March 15 Mystery by the Sea, including members featured in Virginia is for Mysteries Volume II, gathered at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach for an evening of art and words. (Photos by member Ken Wingate)

Rosemary Shomaker took her turn reading from the anthology.

As did Maria Hudgins

And Yvonne Saxon

 

Mystery by the Sea members are always plotting, but just what are they plotting?

Free Mystery Crossword

Love crosswords? Love mysteries? You’re in luck! One of our group members created a crossword using clues from our latest anthology, Virginia is for Mysteries Volume II. Click here to check out the crossword and test your knowledge of the short stories included in the book.

Scenes from Slover Library

Authors from Mystery by the Sea, along with “sisters” from the Central Virginia chapter of Sisters in Crime, were part of a writers panel on March 12 at Slover Library in downtown Norfolk. The topic the panel addressed was “Writing short stories versus novels.” (Photo by Ken Wingate)

 

Berkley Prime Crime Author to Speak at April Meeting

Cozy mystery writer Kathy Aarons, author of the Chocolate Covered Mystery series (Photo courtesy of author’s website)

We are excited to announce our April meeting will feature a Skype call with cozy mystery writer Kathy Aarons. Kathy lives in Southern California and will talk about her writing journey and what it takes to land a contract with a major publisher.

Join us on April 11 from 6-8 p.m. at the Greenbrier Library in Chesapeake in the upstairs conference room. Meetings are free and open to the public.

Kathy’s latest book, Truffled to Death, the second installment in her Chocolate Covered Mystery series, is available now for purchase on Amazon and through traditional retailers like Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million. The third book in her series, Behind Chocolate Bars, is due out in October and is available for preorder on Amazon.

To keep up to date on Kathy’s latest releases, follow her on Facebook or on Twitter.