MAKE IT REAL, Authors!

By Krista Lynn

On October  1^st,  Michele Drier made it clear. Draw your readers in by making the “story real enough to connect with them.” Do your research and give just enough real-world information to engage your readers. And what is the best way to pull them in with interesting information? Write good dialogue!

 “Dialogue is emotion,” she said. She emphasized that books are about people and what they say in the story shows their true character. In a good mystery, dialogue develops the characters, shows how they feel about each other, while their discourse helps define the plot, and unveil the clues. Through well-crafted conversations, the reader may discover the very solution to the mystery. For Drier, it’s all about the interaction between the people in the story - and that interaction is forged in dialogue.

“Words hold emotion,” she said, and explained that it’s important to choose words carefully. Being a former newspaper reporter and editor in the time of the old-style typewriter with triple-carbon copies where every typo meant a major re-do, she admits that technology has made this is a great time for writers. Computers and word processing is a blessing, but also allows writers to be sloppy about word choice – it’s so easy to type quickly, hit the backspace or delete and keep going at a fast pace. The downside is that authors are not always so careful about what their words are. She cautioned that frequent review of their work with a critical eye is essential to understand “what the reader is getting out of it.”

In response to questions about her books, Drier described her popular Vampire series and her Amy Hobbes mysteries. It was clear that Drier practices what she preaches. In each of these books, she infused a real-world topic, i.e. Chernobyl in a story about nuclear weapons in one book of the Vampire series, and the challenge of the drought in California in the Amy Hobbes mystery, Delta for Death.

All in all, the “Dialogue” at today’s meeting was engaging and edifying and…REAL!

Next SJ Sinc Meeting

NEXT  SAN JOAQUIN

SISTERS IN CRIME MEETING

Michele Drier is our speaker--going to talk about dialogue.

Scene of the Crime

Yosemite Falls Restaurant      On Ashlan, West side of 99     EARLY START at 10:00 am

SATURDAY Oct. 1, 2016. – Please come early by 9:45 so we can start on time and you can look at books

 Members - $16.50      Visitors - $21.50

  

**NOTE:  We will be served a choice of  California Burger, Soup & Salad Combo, or

                                                                                                        Spaghetti & Meatballs with bread.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

RESERVATION PROCEDURE

RSVP by Wednesday before the meeting

If you can, we highly encourage you email your reservation instead of phoning it in, Thanks.

Please EMAIL TO reservationsforsisters@outlook.com.

NOTE:  please put your lunch choice on subject line

Do not log on to the website, simply send email to the above address.

IF YOU CAN NOT EMAIL Please call 559-431-0360 

AND LEAVE VOICEMAIL

with your name & choice of lunch.

Dial carefully, there is no greeting announcing SJ SinC.

Program

AUTHOR MICHELE DRIER

 In October we will hear Michele Drier. Her topic is, "Can we talk?" She is going to talk about dialogue, one of the most important experiences of life, in reality or fiction. Michele is the author of the Amy Hobbes Mysteries and the Kandesky Vampire Chronicles

 Michele Drier, a fifth generation Californian, was born in Santa Cruz, California to a family that migrated west to San Francisco in 1849. Unfortunately, they never found gold, nor did they buy (and hang onto) any California land, but books and writing are in her blood. Her mother named her Michael, after author and actress Blanche Oelrichs, who wrote under the name of Michael Strange. Her maternal grandmother belonged to a writing club in San Francisco in the early part of the 20th century and wrote poems and jingles— one of which won her a travel trailer during the Depression. Before she began her third career as a genre novelist, she had a two-decade stint as a reporter and editor for daily newspapers, and also spent about 20 years as a non-profit CEO. She’s a member of the Society of California Pioneers and Sisters in Crime and lives in California’s Central Valley with a cat, skunks, wild turkeys and an opossum (only the cat gets to come in the house, although the others have tried!).

 San Joaquin chapter of Sisters in Crime meets the first Saturday of the month at Yosemite Falls Restaurant (which is located at Ashlan & Freeway 99.)  10:00 AM.  Price includes lecture & lunch. 

AN OPENED BOOK BY TERELL BYRD

I have been reading a lot of big city mysteries lately. I do like hanging out with guys like Harry Bosch, Martin Beck and Sean Duffy. I decided it would be good to take a break and visit some gal pals who know about small town crime. My next three reads are Amy Hobbes, Tempe Crabtree and Bella Kowolski.

Edited For Death

by Michele Drier

Amelia Louise "Amy" Hobbes was a big city journalist. A policeman's widow, she married a cad the second time around. At the time of this story the cad has departed and she is the managing editor for The Monroe Press, a California foothill town newspaper.

Robert Calvert, a US Senator and native of nearby Marshalltown, has just died. Amy sees a chance to get out of the newspaper business by writing a book about the beloved war hero's life. Her best reporter, Clarice Stamm, is helping her with some research.

At this point the story takes a turn into the past. We see through letters, illegal diaries and other sources the actions of Robert Calvert during World War II. People start dying in Marshalltown from unnatural causes. The old Calvert family hotel is being renovated. The residents of the building are troubled by deeds from the past in the shape of villains in the present. What is going on? Will Amy and Clarice survive to finish the book? You will have to read it to find out!

This book is in the first person and the present tense. As a writer I can tell you that present tense is not easy to sustain. It took me about a chapter to adjust to living in the moment with Amy, but it soon faded and the story flows very well. Because of the passage of time, a story where people were involved in WWII is hard to write without making it a period piece. It was nice to read one more novel about people from the 'Greatest Generation' before they are all gone. Enjoy!

"Can We Talk?' Michele Drier's topic for the SJ SinC meeting

In October we will hear Michele Drier. Her topic is, "Can we talk?"

She is going to discuss dialogue, one of the most important experiences of life, in reality or fiction. Michele is the author of the Amy Hobbes Mysteries and the Kandesky Vampire Chronicles. Her biography is in this newsletter as well as an Open Book on her first mystery Edited For Death.

Michele Drier Bio:

Michele Drier, a fifth generation Californian, was born in Santa Cruz, California to a family that migrated west to San Francisco in 1849.

Unfortunately, they never found gold, nor did they buy (and hang onto) any California land, but books and writing are in her blood.

Her mother named her Michael, after author and actress Blanche Oelrichs, who wrote under the name of Michael Strange. Her maternal grandmother belonged to a writing club in San Francisco in the early part of the 20th century and wrote poems and jingles—one of which won her a travel trailer during the Depression.

Before she began her third career as a genre novelist, she had a two-decade stint as a reporter and editor for daily newspapers, and also spent about 20 years as a non-profit CEO.

She’s a member of the Society of California Pioneers and Sisters in Crime and lives in California’s Central Valley with a cat, skunks, wild turkeys and an opossum (only the cat gets to come in the house, although the others have tried!).

Scene of the Crime:

Yosemite Falls Restaurant On Ashlan, West side of 99 Starts at 10:00 am
SATURDAY October 1, 2016. – Please come early by 9:45 so we can start on time and you can check out the book table. LUNCH PRICES Members - $16.50 Visitors - $21.50

**NOTE: We will be served a choice of: California Burger, Soup & Salad Combo, or
Spaghetti & Meatballs with bread.

RESERVATION PROCEDURE

RSVP by Wednesday before the meeting.

If you can, we highly encourage you email your reservation instead of phoning it in, Thanks.
Please EMAIL TO reservationsforsisters@outlook.com.
NOTE: please put your lunch choice on subject line
Do not log on to the website, simply send email to the above address.

IF YOU CAN NOT EMAIL Please call 559-431-0360
AND LEAVE VOICEMAIL
with your name & choice of lunch.


Dial carefully, there is no greeting announcing SJ SinC