Tuesday, December 2, 2014

JANO 2015 Writing all done!

Thank you to all the participants! Well done on your writing!
2015 was grand. Enjoy your victories -- and starting editing. ;)

ANNOUNCING AN EXCITING NEW PRIZE FOR ALL JANO PARTICIPANTS WHO WRITE 50,000 WORDS THIS MONTH!

If you "win" JANO by writing 50,000 words in the next 31 days, then your name will be entered into a drawing for $100 cash prize. We will hold the drawing from all the 50,000 word winners at the party February 7th.

Thank you to our generous anonymous donor who made this additional prize available for this year!

Join in the fun. Participate by joining the janowriters yahoo. email group and start your keyboards clicking. It is free to join and you too could have a rough draft of a novel and $100 by February.

Happy writing!

About Jano
During January, 2010, Sleuths’ Ink held it’s first-ever JANO challenge. Modeled after the popular National Novel Writing Month in November, JANO begins in, you guessed it, January.
Participants are challenged to write a 50,000-word novel during January. Join us and kick off the new year with a novel in progress! 

Two good reasons we picked January 2015: 
1) You get an extra day to write. To complete 50,000 words during January, you only need to write 1,613 words a day.

2) The holidays are over. Winter has set in. What  better way to spend a long, dreary month than writing a novel?

Over the past few years, participants from across the nation entered our challenge. Many of them reached their 50,000 goal, with a few actually receiving a contract for their completed JANO project.

To celebrate JANO members’ successes, Sleuths’ Ink will sponsor a party February 7, 2015. Details are forthcoming. As always, during the party, prizes will be awarded to our JANO 2015 participants.  See categories below.  In addition, we're giving away a $100 grand prize to one lucky JANO participant at our annual December holiday party.  The winner of this grand prize must be a Sleuths’ Ink member in good standing as of February 1, 2015 and must have written a minimum of 25,000 words in 2015.


PRIZE CATEGORIES FOR JANO:
JANO Categories:
  1. First to 50,000 words in January
  2. Second to 50,000 words in January
  3. Third to to 50,000 words in January
  4. Best Title
  5. Best First Paragraph 
  6. Most Unique Character Name
  7. Best Blurb – 100 words or less  

KEEP IN MIND: a Blurb is often used in your query letter to sell your story to an editor or what is found on the back of the book to grab your potential reader’s attention.
 

  • Participant MUST have written at least 10,000 words to be eligible for prizes
  • Must be on the janowriters yahoo email loop.
  • No acceptances after MIDNIGHT January 31, 2015 deadline. NO exceptions!!!
Attendees of the Wrap-Up Party judge the last four categories on Saturday February 7th, 2015 and prizes awarded accordingly. You do not have to be in attendance to win, but we encourage everyone within driving distance to come join the FUN!


PLEASE JOIN US FOR JANO 2015!

Sleuths' Ink will hold its SIXTH Annual JANO in 2015 beginning January 1. Please join us and kick off the new year by writing a new novel or adding new words only to a work in progress. 

Rules: There may be no actual writing on your JANO novel until January 1, but you may plot your novel and create character sketches before January 1, 2015. On that date, write like mad (no editing) the entire month in order to reach the 50,000-word goal.  This year seven prizes will be awarded to JANO participants. All donations are greatly appreciated.

JANO is sponsored by Sleuths’ Ink, a mystery and suspense writers’ non-profit organization in Springfield, Missouri. Contact: S.K. Jarkins  JANO 2015 Chair jano2015 [at] yahoo [dot] com

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Body of Evidence

Sleuths’ Ink is pleased to announce:

 Body of Evidence

 Workshop Presented by
 Ron Yoder,
Southwest Missouri Forensics
 Former Greene County Deputy Medical Examiner

Topics Include:

Basics of Homicide Investigation
and Related Autopsies
 
Learn what you need to make your writing more factual and realistic.
 
TIME AND PLACE
 
October 11
9 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
The Library Station,
Santa Fe Room
for more information
email:  sleuthsink95@gmail.com
 Registration $10
Deadline October 4th
Space Limited
 Mail Check to:
 Sleuths’ Ink
6911 N. 23rd Street
Ozark, MO 65721
Snacks, Coffee & Tea included
Speaker subject to change without notice.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Mark Your Calendar: Writing Basics Workshop Opportunity August 30th

This is a heads-up about a Workshop on Writing Basics:
Details: August 30th at the Springfield Library Center on South Campbell, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30-5:00 p.m. in the Kid's Story Room. Sharon Kizziah-Holmes and Kathleen Garnsery, presenters. Price is thirty dollars registration fee.

For more information: contact Sharon Kizziah-Holmes skizholmes@ymail.com or Kathleen kgarnz@yahoo.com.

Note: While this is not a Sleuths' Ink event, Sharon and Kathy are Sleuths' Ink members.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Guest Blogger, Shirley McCann

http://www.amazon.com/Anonymously-Yours-Shirley-McCann-ebook/dp/B00J9QO8HW/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395923895&sr=1-4&keywords=shirley+mccannAnonymously Yours has gone through several rewrites over the years. What started out as a YA novel finally evolved into more of a cozy mystery for readers of all ages. Truth be known, it was actually the first book I ever wrote. I’d put it aside for many years, thinking it was time to move on and forget about it, but something wouldn’t let me do that. Every once in a while, I’d pull it back out and work on it a bit.

Then when I pitched the book to an Avalon editor who seemed very interested in it, my hopes of publishing it escalated. I sent in the first three chapters, and was soon asked for a full. But as most of us know, Avalon is no more, and the book didn’t make it to publication.

It was during a Savvy Authors pitch that I once again attracted the interest of two editors. I won’t mention the second one, but I’m so happy to be associated with The Wild Rose Press. I loved the experience of going through several editing phases to make the book as perfect as could be.  I’m enclosing an excerpt below. Please enjoy.
EXCERPT:  The blood drained from my face. My body numbed from the shock of Justin’s words. There had to be some mistake! How could the police have found nothing at Michael Black’s house this morning? I was there! I had witnessed a woman’s lifeless body slide onto the living room floor in a crumpled heap.
It didn’t make sense.
Despite the warmth of the day, a shiver shook my body. If Michael Black’s wife had died ten years earlier, then who did I see at that house?
Something was terribly wrong. But what could I do? How could I explain a missing corpse?
 
Here's the link if you'd like to purchase a copy.  Reviews are always welcome. 
 
 
Anonymously Yours
 
Got Time? 13 Solve It Yourself Mysteries
 A Collection - 13 Short Mysteries
 The Necklace - A Middle Grade Mystery
 Facebook Page
Twitter
 
 

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Mark Your Calendars-- Sleuths' Ink Speaker

Dr. Larry Shaw will speak to Sleuths' Ink at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, April 12th.

Dr.  Shaw was introduced to Chiropractic care in 1958. Entered Chiropractic College in 1964 and moved to Buffalo, Missouri to start his practice in 1967. Early on he became aware that a license to practice is just "practice" with a seed of knowledge to start you on your way.

Thirsting for more knowledge in other areas of helping people to heal, he studied Kinesiology, and then Acupuncture under 5 masters at Columbia Institute of Acupuncture, and later under Eric Tao, one of the "Old barefoot doctors of China in the 40's through the 60's."

He studied Orthopedics at the Cleveland Chiropractic College and mastered Applied Kinesiology under the supervision of the father of that science, Dr. George Goodhart who originated applied kinesiology in 1964, He also studied under Dr. Walther who wrote the book Applied Kinesiology. Dr. Shaw added blood work and electrocardiographs to his practice and some things he felt were necessary, but didn't fall under description of the license.

He professes his greatest realization was that Acupuncture paralleled Chiropractic with the philosophy of both being almost identical. The only difference was Chiropractic addressed the spinal system and Acupuncture addressed the "electromagnetic system". He learned to do things with Acupuncture that could not be done with Chiropractic alone.

Dr. Shaw retired in 1995 due to bad health, hence his quest for better health progressed. He continued to study Acupuncture, and is quoted as saying, “I learned more about the science of Acupuncture in the last 18 years than I did in all my years of practice.” Currently Dr. Shaw has discovered holographs which have helped to improve his health, and at 81 years young he says he has never felt as well in general in his life.

For those of you with a curiosity about UFO’s, Dr. Shaw will also be sharing his personal extraterrestrial experience with us his

Saturday, March 1, 2014

***Lisa Medley***


Sleuths' Ink Highlight of our fantastic members, starting with Lisa Medley. Her debut novel releases March 3, 2014 in the boxed set 
and stand alone June 2, 2014.

We are honored to have Lisa ... drum roll, please.

Writing Reapers Was All A Mystery To Me
I didn’t originally sit down to write a book about reapers. Reapers aren’t sexy. Reapers are death. And skeletal. And…grim. I first tried writing about vampires because, well, VAMPIRES. When I gave my first 30K of my first real novel attempt to my BFF, her reply was, “It’s good, but what makes it different?”
      Erm, nothing. Same old story. Same old (okay, old but HOT vampires). I needed something that hadn’t been reincarnated for the umteenth bazillionth time. Something that might stand out in a crowded field of paranormal monsters in love.
      I chose reapers. And then I set out to make them better. Still human looking but human DELUXE! Lots of dark potential there. I sat down and got to work making a world for them to live in, threw in some demons, an evil fallen angel and the Reaper Series was born.

      Reap & Repent is Deacon and Ruth’s story.
Once I started writing, it didn’t take long for Deacon and Ruth to take over. I wasn’t telling their story. They were telling their story. About halfway through, I realized we all three needed a plan and finally sat down and organized all of the sticky notes, which had previously been decorating my car dashboard, writing cave desk and notebooks. I typed them up and printed them out.
      HOLY COW, I had a plot! So THAT’s how that happens.
      From that point on, I put Deacon and Ruth in peril, threw roadblocks in their way, and let their love grow until I reached the end, some eighty thousand words later.
      And THE END ends with one of my favorite things.
      BACON.
      If you’d like to see how it all plays out, here’s your chance. Book one of the reaper series, Reap & Repent, is available now. Here’s a taste, (follow the link).


Reap & Repent Blurb:
Deacon Walker is a burned out loner, whose two hundred years as a reaper have left him empty inside. But when he meets Ruth Scott, a gorgeous shut-in with unusual gifts, he’s forced to set his career complacency aside to train her for a destiny she never knew existed. Soon the two will face the ultimate test: a battle against demons determined to destroy humanity, one soul at a time.



Lisa Medley writes reapers. The grim kind. Her urban fantasy romance, Reap & Repent is available now in a Harlequin E Box Set with three other Harlequin debut authors. A lover of beasties of all sorts, she has a farm full of them in her SW MO home including:  one child, one husband, two dogs, two cats, a dozen hens, thousands of Italian bees and a guinea pig. Not so in love with the guinea pig. She can do ten pushups IN A ROW and may or may not have a complete zombie apocalypse bug-out bag in her trunk at all times. Just. In. Case.






Reap & Repent is available March 3, 2014 in a Harlequin E Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance Box Set with the works of three other amazing new Harlequin authors! Reap & Repent will be available for single-title release June 2, 2014.

Reap & Repent Preview


Prologue from Reap & Repent:
Prologue

What does a guy have to do around here to get some service? Deacon Walker marveled as he glared at the undulating queue of grotesque reapers in front of him.

For all that’s holy, move the hell along already.

It had been a long week, and it wasn’t over yet. He needed to make at least one more pass through the hospital circuit before he could call it a day. He could already feel the tug of a freshly departed soul. Again. People were dropping like flies lately.

He massaged his brow, trying to soothe his exhausted patience as the line inched forward at a snail’s pace.

He was worn thin. Over the past few weeks, three demon soul poachers had popped up in his fair city of Meridian like poisonous mushrooms after a hard rain. While it wasn’t unheard of for one to slip out from Hell every now and then, three was a nightmare.

When it got topside, a demon’s M.O. was to steal a human body, poach a few souls from the dead and dying, and then make its merry way back to Hell, taking its host’s soul along for the ride. The only way to save the souls a poacher was carrying was to behead the host with a scythe. Not a pretty thing to do, but the poor suckers were too far gone by then to survive anyway. No human could withstand the pressures of being ridden by a demon. And it was worth it to save a handful of souls, not to mention inconveniencing the demon.

Deacon refused to lose any souls from his territory. At all.

So far the score was Deacon, 3. Demons, 0.

As a reaper, carrying souls to Purgatory for judgment was his job and he wasn’t about to cede his territory to poachers who used up their hosts like they were disposable Tupperware. So now, in addition to his normal day job, he also had to keep an eye out for more demon invaders.

While demons burned through most human hosts in a matter of days, some in a matter of hours, they had discovered long ago that under the right circumstances they could ride a reaper. Of course, they couldn’t just worm their way in like they did with humans—they had to be invited. But once a deal was struck? They were in.

And reapers? Yeah, they could hang on for decades inside a reaper. Deacon knew that fact firsthand.

His stomach twisted at the thought, but he shook it off, looking ahead with a heavy sigh.

Seriously, this line? Still. Not. Moving?

God, he needed a freakin’ vacation. Extended. He dragged a hand through his hair in frustration as his mind flipped through postcard-esque locations of reapings past. He snarled at the thought of New Orleans in summer. He would definitely want to go someplace cool—cool as in frigid, not hip. He was sick of the heat, and it was only the beginning of summer in the semitropical Midwest.

Come to think of it, he was sick of a lot of things.

This place was high on the list. It was as hot as…well, Hell actually. Or at least what he imagined Hell to be, although he’d never actually been there. Thank God.

Steam rose from random cracks in the stone floor of the underground station, veiling the place in a humid sulfur stench.

He pushed forward, finally making his way to the front to deposit his cargo of souls. He didn’t bother chatting. In. Out. Move on. It was a motto that served him well.

Mission completed, he hustled through the crowd, forgoing the bar-side frivolity of some of the more socially inclined reapers and their small talk about their glory days in the field or—even better—the missteps of the newest reapers. Newbies often tested their limits to humorous if not disastrous effect at least once in their early careers. That was exactly why new reapers had mentors or at least worked in teams. From all the laughter, he could tell that the stories were good ones. It didn’t tempt him.

He slapped his palm against the black granite monolith and flashed out of Purgatory to what he prayed was his last stop of the day.



BUY LINKS: Reap & Repent is available March 3, 2014 in a Harlequin E Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance Box Set with the works of three other amazing new Harlequin authors! Reap & Repent will be available for single-title release June 2, 2014.


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Thursday, February 13, 2014

JANO 2014 CATEGORY WINNERS

JANO 2014 is over and the winners are listed below. 
 
 
First to hit 50,000 words - Sharon Smith
Second to hit 50,000 words - Shirley McCann
3rd to hit 50,000 words - Allison Merritt
1st Place - Best First Sentence - Cecily White
2nd Place - Best First Sentence - Tina Riffey
Best Title - April Fantastic, You're Out of This World - Avery Cornelius
1st Place - Most Unique Character Name - Cecily White
2nd Place - Most Unique Character Name - Vera Jane Schultz
1st Place - Most Unique Setting - Cecily White
2nd Place - Most Unique Setting - Kari Lynn Halley
1st Place - Best Cliff Hanger - Sharon Keeling Davis
2nd Place - Best Cliff Hanger - Avery Cornelius
1st Place - Best Blurb - Sharon Keeling Davis
2nd Place - Best Blurb - Tierney James
1st Place - Author's Favorite Line - Sharon Keeling Davis
2nd Place - Author's Favorite Line - Sharon Smith
 
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS AND PARTICIPANTS

March Meeting

    Schyrlet Cameron-  Schyrlet is half of the writing team CC Brown. CC Brown is the pseudonym adopted by the two sisters,  Schyrlet Camero...