Sleuths' Ink meets the 2nd Saturday of each month at The Library Center on S. Campbell in Springfield, MO. The business meeting starts at 10:30 a.m., and the speaker presentation starts at 11:00 a.m. (Meeting place is subject to change now and then. Please check here for updates.) 

August 2026 Speaker, Caroline Giammanco: How to Write a Character Driven Story

Caroline Giammanco is an author and public school English teacher. She grew up in Douglas County, Missouri and moved to Arizona to attend the University of Arizona where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with an English minor. She lived in the West for twenty years before returning to the Missouri Ozarks.

Since childhood she has loved science fiction and paranormal stories, and this fueled her interest in writing her Into the Night short story collections. Also influenced by O. Henry, she is known for giving her stories unexpected twists.

Her Westerns draw heavily on her love for the terrain and culture she developed while living in Arizona and New Mexico.

She has also written two non-fiction books related to her experiences teaching in a maximum-security men’s prison for two-and-a-half years.

Caroline lives on her farm in Douglas County with her husband, Keith. She has two sons, two stepdaughters, and three adorable grandchildren.

April Speaker, David Lane WIlliams: Solving He said/She said cases

 

David Lane Williams is a paramedic and police officer veteran with assignments including patrol in high-need areas, helicopter rescue, pre-hospital advanced life support, mental health liaison, and Special Investigations Unit detective.

 

 Williams is a monthly columnist with Killer Nashville Magazine. He teaches criminology at the University of Arkansas, and he is a bestselling author on topics related to violence prevention and victimology. He and his family have settled in the Ozark Mountains, where they offer a haven for donkeys and horses who previously endured a rough life.

 

March 14th: Speaker: Krista Rolfzen Soukup: Building Your Brand

 

Krista Rolfzen Soukup is a literary publicist, marketing consultant and owner of Blue Cottage Agency, founded in 2009.

She has a passion for helping writers and authors successfully promote their work and establish their platform. Through her expert guidance, knowledge of the publishing industry and vast experience, she has successfully supported writers and authors across the country and Europe. 

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Marketing and has over 35 years of experience in sales, promotions, and marketing. Visit her website at BlueCottageAgency.com.

 Join us at The Library Center on S. Campbell in the Auditorium. TIME:  10:30 for Business Meeting

11 for Speaker.

November Meeting/ David Reed Presents: Identifying Cyber Threats.

 You cannot protect yourself until you learn to recognize the enemy and their tactics

Bio: David C. Reed is a veteran and a retired criminal investigator who channels real-world experience into taut, hard-edged storytelling that grips from the first line and cuts deeper with every page. His work is steeped in authenticity, grit, and the raw choices that reveal the best and the worst of us.

He spent forty years in law enforcement, sixteen of them leading a major crimes unit. If you went dead in his city, your ghost now haunts the pages of his novels.

His recent books,  Cold, Dark, and Silent and The Blockade Runners— draw from actual police cases. His next release, The Elite Watch, arrives soon.

 

Join Sleuths' Ink Saturday, Nov. 8th at the Library Center in Springfield, MO. We wll be in ROOM B for this month.  

Time is 10:30  

Sleuths' Ink Members are WINNERS

 Several of our Sleuths' Ink Members were big winners at the Ozark Creative Writers Conference.  Check out the stash of certificates in the picture  below.  

Congrats to from left to right.  Margarite Stever, Lois Curran, Lynn Combs (seated in front) Shirley McCann, Micheal Lee, Venessa Ceresale, Ruth Weeks, and Jen Kennings.  

Let's do this again next year. 

If you've never attended this conference, we highly recommend coming next October when they will be celebrating their 60th year of OCW.  

JULY SPEAKER/J.C.Fields - Writing the Short Story

 J.C. Fields is a multi-award-winning and Amazon best-selling author. Many of his fourteen published novels have been awarded numerous gold, silver and bronze medals in the Reader's Favorite International Book Awards contest.  

Over the past several years, many of his numerous short stories have been featured on the YouTube Podcast Fear From the Heartland, a part of the Chilling Tales for Dark Night network.

After a decade as an independent author, he signed a publishing contract with Vinci Books. Vinci Books is a world-class publisher created to offer independent authors the best of self-published and traditional publishing.

His passion for helping new authors reach their dream of publishing is reflected in his activity with numerous area writing groups and serving on the boards for the Between the Pages Writers Conference and the Ozarks Creative Writers Conference.

He lives with his wife, Connie, in Southwest Missouri.

Join us July 12th at the Library Center on S. Campbell at 10:30