News From Sisters in Crime New England
January 2025
Happy New Year,
The New England chapter of Sisters in Crime is poised to enjoy a successful year. The new board brings on members who have already shown themselves to be imaginative and hard-working, and are already working on programming and other ideas. This happy state of affairs is due in large part to the work of Kate Flora, our outgoing president who will remain on the board for another year.
SinC New England is once again a co-sponsor of Crime Bake, New England’s premiere crime fiction conference, and this will appear in the program booklet and other promotional materials. Judith McIntosh has been working on a writers’ retreat scheduled for the spring, and we’ll have more information on that soon. The Speakers’ Bureau continues to receive requests for programs on a variety of topics, and Leslie Wheeler is always ready to add more and reach out to other venues. If you have a published book and are not yet on the Speaker’s Bureau be sure to sign up.
The point of Sisters in Crime is to promote and support crime fiction by women, and that has created an organization that is open to all sorts of ideas. We want to hear yours. The best projects or programs I’ve ever worked on have been group efforts, with everyone tossing in ideas, asking questions, making suggestions. There’s always room for another way to look at things, and if it isn’t used right then, it may well show up at another time. I invite all members to think about what they want in an ideal setting and let’s see how close we can come to that. This is your organization and whatever we do should reflect that. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you.
Susan Oleksiw
2025 Sisters in Crime NE Board of Directors!
Executive board:
Susan Oleksiw President
Nicole Asselin Vice President
Lisa Mathews Secretary
Kit Irwin Treasurer
Jenna MacIntire Membership Director
Kate Flora Past President
Board members:
Kim Herdman Shapiro Director of Public Relations
Gabriela Stiteler Newsletter Editor
Becky Sue Epstein Program Coordinator
Leslie Wheeler Speaker’s Bureau
Judith A McIntosh Library Liason
Members-At-Large
Ellen Grogan CT
Gabriela Stiteler ME
Kelly Norris Central / Western MA
Emily Arsenault Central / Western MA
Maureen Boyle SE. MA
Kim Herdman Shapiro NH
Joann Mead RI
Trish Esden No. VT
Karen Lakis So. VT
Monthly Meeting Reminder
Want to learn a little more about what upcoming events? Interested in learning more about SinC NE?
We welcome members at our board meetings are the first Monday of the month. You can find more information on our website here.
Hello, everyone,
As we head into a new year, it seems appropriate to cast a backward glance at 2024. We had a total of thirty-five events this year, which is the most we’ve had in a long time. With the pandemic several years behind us, more and more libraries are clamoring for events, and the contacts we’ve made through our presence at both the New England Library Association’s (NELA) annual conference, and that of the Massachusetts Library Association (MLA) have been important in getting out the word. A number of our events have taken place at Vermont libraries, thanks to the good work of Trish Esden and Karen Lakis in reaching out to libraries in their state, and energizing VT authors. Hats off to both of you! One of our events was at a bookstore (Tatnuck), and we had our very first event at a VT pub, which apparently was such a success that the owners want to do another one. So, the Speakers Bureau is in great shape as we approach 2025.
Now for the list:
What: "Mystery Making"
When: Wednesday, February 5 at 1:00 PM
Where: Shirley Meadows, part of 2LifeCommunities
27 Hospital Road
Devens, Massachusetts 01435
Who: Tilia Klebenov Jacobs, Bonnar Spring, and Sharon Healy-Yangwill brainstorm on their feet to create a brand new mystery, using suggestions from the audience.
What: “Mystery Making”
When: Tuesday, March 11 at 6:30 PM
Where: Norwell Public Library
64 South Street
Norwell, MA 02061
Who: Authors, Katherine Fast, Connie Johnson Hambley, and Leta Serafim will brainstorm on their feet to create a brand new mystery using suggestions from the audience.
What: “Mystery Making”
When: Wednesday, March 26 at 12:30 PM
Where: Peter A. Torigian Senior Center
79 Central Street
Peabody, MA 01960
Who: Katherine Fast, Connie Johnson Hambley, and J.A. McIntosh will brainstorm on their feet to create a brand new mystery, using suggestions from the audience.
What: “May Is for Murder Festival”
When: Saturday, May 17 at 10:30 AM
Where: Bigelow Free Public Library
54 Walnut Street
Clinton, MA 01510
Who: In this mystery author festival, Katherine Fast, Max Folsom, Carol Goodman Kaufman, Toni Kelner, Karen Lakis, Frances McNamara, Leslie Meier, Maureen Milliken, Dale T. Phillips, Sarah Smith, Janet Raye Stevens, and Sharon Healy-Yang will sit at tables where they will meet and greet festival attendees, and sell signed copies of their books.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Leslie
Happy New Year from one of the Sisters in Crime New England Winter Gatherings!
CRIME BAKE 2025 - JANUARY UPDATES
Save the date for Crime Bake 2025 and stay posted on Instagram or Facebook for more details on how to apply to teach a Master Class, more information about the Al Blanchard Award, the 2025 theme, and programming details.
Do you have suggestions, questions, or ideas you'd like the Crime Bake 2025 committee to hear? Reach out to Gabriela Stiteler at gstitelerwriter@gmail.com.
AL BLANCHARD AWARD CONTEST
As Chair of the Al Blanchard Award Contest, Leslie Wheeler would like to remind everyone that the 2025 contest begins on January 15th and ends at midnight on April 30th. Submission guidelines and other details will be available on the Crime Bake website starting January 15th. For updates, follow Crime Bake on Facebook and Instagram. This year’s judges are Bruce Coffin, Robin Hazard Ray, Emily Ross, Zakariah Johnson and Leslie Wheeler; the new submissions wrangler is Janet Parkinson.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Crime Spell books is open for submission from January 1 through March 31 for the annual anthology, SNAKEBERRY: BEST OF NEW ENGLAND CRIME WRITING 2025. The anthology is open to all writers who currently live in the six New England states, but the stories do not need to be set in New England. Stories may be written in the following genres: mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, historical, and horror and must be between 1,000 and 5,000 words.
See more information about submissions at the Crime Spell website HERE.
SISTERS NATIONAL AND NEW ENGLAND MEETUP
Janet Parkinson will host an in-person meetup for SinC New England and national members on Saturday, Jan. 4, from 1-3 pm. It will be at Caffe Nero, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI. Sisters and misters are welcome to stop by any time and stay for as long as they like.
NEW RELEASE AND CLAYMORE TOP PICK
Tilia Klebenov Jacobs and Norman Birnbach wrote a book during covid, named it STEALING TIME, and launched it this November. A time-travel jewelry heist set over a 1980 weekend in Manhattan, the book is garnering incandescent reviews while selling steadily on Amazon and elsewhere. STEALING TIME is also a Claymore Top Pick winner. Tilia and Norman are both graduates of Oberlin College, where they knew each other but slightly.
NEW RELEASE!
Book 3 in Frances McNamara's Nutshell Murder Mystery series, JOY STREET JAIL MURDER IN A NUTSHELL, will be out in January. When a man found drunk on a sidewalk in Boston’s West End is taken to Joy Street Jail, he’s found dead in the morning. Frustrated by the shoddy police work Medical Examiner Magrath is near resigning his job. But Frances Glessner Lee and Magrath’s staff are determined to find the truth. There are secrets buried in the depths of the settlement houses and tenements of the vibrant section of the city and they have to be exposed to exonerate the young policeman. You can find more HERE.
NEW RELEASE!
Ang Pompano’s Agatha-nominated WHEN IT'S TIME FOR LEAVING returns this winter from Level Best Books, followed by the highly anticipated BLOOD TIES AND DEADLY LIES. This engaging series blends traditional mystery with action, humor, and family drama, following Al DeLuca, his sharp-witted partner Maxine Brophy, and Big Al—the father who disappeared for 28 years, only to reappear and hand Al the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency.
NEW RELEASE!
Christine Knapp's Book 4 of the Modern Midwife Mysteries, MURDER AT FIRST LIGHT, will be released by Gemma Halliday Publishing 1/7/25. You can find more on Christine's website HERE.
NEW RELEASE!
Clea Simon’s latest amateur sleuth, BAD BOY BEAT (Severn House), will be issued in paperback on January 28. This “newspaper noir” (BOLO Books) “sets a tense mood that keeps readers on edge,” according to Kirkus.
NEW RELEASE!
Writing as MJ Finn, Martin Felelon's first financial thriller, THE REGULATOR, is out. A powerful financial institution crumbles, leaving chaos in its wake— one woman stands in the way of those who want to bury the truth. Kate Adams uncovers a chilling plot involving foreign operatives and U.S. Senate insiders. Her life in danger and the walls closing in, she must rely on her wits and courage to survive. Torn from recent headlines, you will enter the world of high finance and politics. You can find more information HERE.
G.M. Malliet's "Cold Cases" in which victims haunt a rustic Overlook-like resort hotel, trying to earn their "get of purgatory" cards, appears in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine in the January/February 2025 issues. She blogs about the story at Trace Evidence HERE.
She also has a story called "The Unwanted Guest" appearing in the March/April 2025 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. You know what they say about guests and fish smelling after three days? Try decades of being landed with the car and feeding of Mary Queen of Scots and her entourage.
Janet Raye Stevens and Sharon Healy-Yang will present their multimedia program She Can Do It: Real/'Reel' Women & Midcentury Mysteries at the Burlington, MA library January 29th, as part of the library's January celebration of mystery, Sleuthing in the Stacks.
Janet also has a new short mystery out. "The Suitcase" takes librarian-turned-time-cop Beryl Blue to 1922 Paris, where Beryl and her new partner must figure out what connects a train, a sobbing woman, and a missing piece of luggage to the rogue time traveler they're chasing after. More HERE.
NEW RELEASE
Allison Keeton of Maine, formerly of the Connecticut chapter, is elated for Level Best Books to publish her debut novel, Blaze Orange, Book One in the Midcoast Maine Mystery series, in January 2025. In BLAZE ORANGE, Raven Ouellette takes a break from Thanksgiving preparations to walk her dogs in the woods when she stumbles upon the remains of a new neighbor. Raven can’t resist digging into her neighbor’s past, despite her husband’s warnings. With secret hiding places, love triangles, leftover turkey, a prize-winning owl photograph, and her marriage in peril, will solving the mystery lead to her neighbor’s killer, or cost her everything she loves?
On Wednesday, January 15th, Dale T. Phillips will give a Zoom presentation for the Cape Cod Writers Center's monthly meeting, Writers Night Out called "How to be a Successful Indie Writer." This session will explain what you need to decide how to publish, including copyright, contract/agreement legalities, potential red flags, and useful resources. We'll explore getting your manuscript publish-ready, understanding genre, why you need an editor, cover design, and formats. We'll compare the various companies to publish with, and how to get a start on marketing, along with tips for success.
Christine Bagley is delighted to rejoin Crime Spell Books as co-editor and co-publisher as new submissions for their new anthology, SNAKEBERRY begin on January 1, 2025. She would like to remind everyone that the new deadline to submit your stories is now March 31, 2025. You can find submission information HERE.
On January 29th at 7:00 pm in the Burlington (MA) Public Library, Sharon Healy Yang and Janet Raye Stevens will be doing their multi-media presentation "She Can Do It: Real/Reel Women in Midcentury Mysteries." Come to see them use film clips, anecdotes, and readings from our mysteries to reveal the exciting influences on their writing from both the real and "reel" world.
Karen E. Olson’s A DEFIANT WOMAN, the sequel to her Modern Tudor Mystery, AN INCONVENIENT WIFE, in which Hank Tudor’s second wife Nan returns after eight years when their daughter is kidnapped, has sold to Pegasus Crime for publication in Spring 2026.
Happy New Year to all members and a warm welcome to our newest SinCNE members:
Storm Coleman, Lorenzo Petruzziello, Honore Ervin, Hannah Pimpis, and Patrick Russell!
Reminder: Memberships run the calendar year, so if you joined before Oct. 2024 and haven’t renewed, your membership officially expired. But there’s still time… We have wonderful programs lined up for 2025, and we know you'll want to take part. You have until the end of the January to renew, at which point you'll lose members’ access to the website. Please put this at the top of your New Year's resolution list. It’s likely the easiest resolution you'll ever keep!
And remember, all SinCNE members are required to maintain their membership in Sisters in Crime National. SinC National currently has a separate registration/payment process from SinCNE--just drop by their website athttps://www.sistersincrime.org/page/renew-your-membership.
Sisters in Crime New England
President: Susan Oleksiw
Vice President: Nicole Asselin
Secretary: Lisa Mathews
Treasurer: Kit Irwin
Membership Director: Jenna MacIntire
Public Relations Director: Kim Herdman Shapiro
Program Coordinator: Becky Sue Epstein
Speakers Bureau Coordinator: Leslie Wheeler
Library Liaison: Judith McIntosh
Newsletter Editor: Gabriela Stiteler
Immediate Past President: Kate Flora
Snail Mail: c/o Sisters in Crime New England
PO Box #104, Mashpee, MA 02649-0104
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