AUGUST 25 MEETING FEATURED SPEAKER: Laura Baugh on Social Media for Writers

FEATURED SPEAKER
Laura VanArendonk Baugh
DATE:  August 25, 2018
TIME:  12:30-1:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Barnes & Noble, 8675 River Crossing Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46240
TOPIC:  “Social Media for Writers”

Laura VanArendonk Baugh

Laura VanArendonk Baugh is an Award-winning Author of Epic and Urban Fantasy, Historical Fiction, and Mystery  Laura writes captivating epic and urban fantasy, historical fiction, and mystery, as well as non-fiction on animal training & behavior. Many people known to have exceptional taste think it’s pretty cool stuff.

Discoverability, branding, and marketing are critical to the success of a traditionally published or self-published author, but there is still a startling amount of unhelpful or just plain wrong information being shared. Laura VanArendonk Baugh will discuss technical aspects of branding and marketing, with walk-throughs for setting up and maintaining an author website (including caveats for common mistakes and dangerous pitfalls for the novice) and tutorials for some of the scariest bits of marketing (learn to love the camera!).

According to Laura's own biography:

Laura was born at a very early age and never looked back. She overcame her childhood deficiencies of having been born without teeth and unable to walk, and by the time she matured into a recognizable adult she had become a behavior analyst, an internationally-recognized animal trainer, a costumer/cosplayer, a chocolate addict, and of course a writer. Now she is an award-winning writer of speculative fiction, mystery, and non-fiction. Her works have earned numerous accolades, including 3-star (the highest possible) ratings on Tangent‘s “Recommended Reading” list. She admits a mental turning point in her career when she realized she could buy that sexy red Tesla with income from her books!

For more information about Laura, visit her website lauravanarendonkbaugh.com.

Writing with a BANG! Gun Expert Paula Beeson Featured at May 26 Meeting: GUESTS INVITED

PAULA BEESON:  “Gun Basics for Writing: Authentic Pistol-Packin’ Prose"

Saturday, May 26, 2018

12:30p.m.- 1:30p.m.

Barnes & Noble, 8675 River Crossing Blvd, adjacent to Keystone at the Crossing.


            Paula Beeson is an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor. As owner of the Kokomo-based Safe Shotz, LLC, Paula offers individual and group classes, teaching gun-conscious citizens the correct way to handle a variety of firearms — including pistols, rifles and shotguns — with an emphasis on safety and responsibility.

            During her presentation for Speed City Sisters in Crime, Paula will discuss the types and purposes of various firearms, their proper handling, safety precautions, and what to expect and how to react when firearms are drawn. She will demonstrate how to look down the sights, rack the slide, cock or de-cock,and tell whether a weapon is loaded or unloaded.  She will provide the audience with non-usable replicas for a hands-on experience.

            Paula invites members to bring two minutes of their best “pistol-packin’ prose” to share aloud
during the program. She will follow each reading with a critique, informing the writer whether
their prose was on target or where they missed their mark.

            Paula has more than 35 years’ experience with firearms. She is an NRA Range Safety Officer, as well as a 4-H and Indiana Department of Natural Resources Hunter Education Instructor. Check out her website at www. safeshotz.com and her Facebook page, www.facebook.com/safeshotz, where you will find
all kinds of safety-related topics.

            And … DON’T FORGET: Bring two minutes of your best scene involving a gun!

March 24 Meeting: Author Dianne Drake Speaks on Writing Realistic Medical Scenes

Dianne Drake, author of 50 medical romances -- and counting -- will be the featured speaker at the March 24 monthly meeting of the Speed City Sisters in Crime.  She will talk on "Writing Medical Scenes and Keeping it Real."

Visitors are always welcome at the monthly Speed City meeting.

Dianne Drake, a former critical care nurse and anesthetist, has been a writer almost her entire life. Starting off as a child — as many of writers do — she penned her first piece of creative writing when she was six years old. It was a poem titled If I Had a Pony. Although that particular piece of writing never made it out of the barn, it was the vehicle that caused her to realize how much she loved setting pen to paper to create stories, which then carried her onward to where she’s at today.

Dianne is the author of 50 novels (mostly medical romances) … so far … published by Harlequin and Mills & Boon. In addition, she has written nine nonfiction books and countless articles for magazines such as Family Circle, Woman’s Day, Better Homes & Garden and Seventeen.

Dianne also is a generous teacher and coach. In her "spare" time, she makes fascinating road trips with her husband of 34 years, Joel Despain, and takes us along by sharing her adventures on her blog and Facebook. For her presentation for the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime on March 24, she will delve into her medical background and talk about writing medical scenes and keeping it real. 

Saturday, March 24, 2018
12:30p.m.-1:30p.m. 
Barnes & Noble
8675 River Crossing Blvd, 
Indianapolis, IN 46240

June Meeting Features Author Larry Sweazy

Speed City Sisters in Crime Saturday will hold it's June meeting this Saturday, June 24, at the Barnes and Noble bookstore at River Crossing Boulevard in Indy's north side. Here's the schedule:

9 a.m. -- Play writing workshop

10 a.m. -- Critique group

11:30 a.m. -- Business meeting

12:30 p.m. -- Speaker

As always, Guests are encouraged and welcome.

This month our speaker is local author -- and chapter member -- Larry Sweazy. An accomplished writer, Larry will be sharing about his writing, getting published and his job as a professional indexer. 

Larry has won the WWA (Western Writers of America) Spur award for Best Short Fiction in 2005 and for Best Paperback Original in 2013.  He also won the 2011 and 2012 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction for books the Josiah Wolfe series. He was nominated for a Derringer award in 2007 (for the short story "See Also Murder"), and was a finalist in the Best Books of Indiana literary competition in 2010.  

Larry was awarded the Best Books in Indiana in 2011 for The Scorpion Trail. In 2013, Larry received the inaugural Elmer Kelton Fiction Book of the Year for The Coyote Tracker, presented by the AWA (Academy of Western Artists). 

He has written 13 novels — Where I Can See You, See Also Deception: A Marjorie Trumaine Mystery, A Thousand Falling Crows, Escape from Hangtown, See Also Murder: A Marjorie Trumaine Mystery, Vengeance at Sundown, The Gila Wars, The Coyote Tracker, The Devil's Bones, The Cougar's Prey, The Badger's Revenge, The Scorpion Trail, and The Rattlesnake Season. 

 In addition, Larry has served on the faculty for the Midwest Writers Workshop and as a faculty member for the Indiana Writers Center, and conducts writing workshops at libraries and other locations throughout the Midwest. And in his spare time, he has written indexes for 875 non-fiction books in many different subjects. He and his wife, Rose, live in Noblesville.