Watch out agents, editors and publishers. I'm coming for you.

I've started compiling a new list of agents, editors and publishers to submit to. I have two novels which are going out -- a David Blaise detective novel I wrote in 2011 and which has gone through my critique group and re-written, and a stand alone Rachel Edelstein suspense novel, although there is a non-suspense Rachel novel waiting in the wings. I wrote that last November.

So, publishing world, be on the lookout. Established agents and new agents, traditional publishing houses (large and small) and independents, even Amazon imprints . . . I'm coming for you hard this year.  And you are going to love what I've got for you.

You have been warned.

Thanks for reading.

Cutting the cake: A celebration of SinC with Rhys Bowen

The Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime yesterday was proud to host a day with bestselling author Rhys Bowen as we celebrated the 30th anniversary of SinC.

And Rhys, as you can see, was happy to take a stab at cutting the first piece of the anniversary cake. She was a very good sport.

Plus, since I drove her around all day, we had a lot of time to talk. She offered me wonderful suggestions on improving my craft and on getting an editor and publisher for my work.

Thanks, Rhys, for everything.

And thanks for reading.

Bestselling British author Rhys Bowen

I am truly looking forward to the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime hosting renowned British author Rhys Bowen this coming Saturday, Feb. 25.

Rhys will speak at our monthly meeting at about noon at Barnes and Noble in Indianapolis, before heading over to a tea we are sponsoring in her honor from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the College Park community clubhouse in Indy and then back to B&N for a book fair and book signing at 5 p.m.

A portion of the proceeds from sales at B&N that day will benefit the programs of the Speed City SinC.

Rhys is a wonderful award-winning writer -- and a prolific one. Below is a list of her titles, not including In Farleigh Field, which comes out next week.

 Royal Spyness Series In Order:

Her Royal Spyness (2007)

A Royal Pain (2008)

Royal Flush (2009)

Royal Blood (2010)

Naughty in Nice (2011)

The Twelve Clues of Christmas (2012)

Heirs and Graces (2013)

Queen of Hearts (2014)

Malice at the Palace (2015)

Crowned and Dangerous (2016)

On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service (August 2017)

Molly Murphy Series In Order:

Murphy's Law (2001)

Death of Riley (2002)

For the Love of Mike (2003)

In Like Flynn (2005)

Oh Danny Boy (2006)

In Dublin's Fair City (2007)

Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (2008)

In a Gilded Cage (2009)

The Last Illusion (2010)

Bless the Bride (2011)

Hush Now, Don't You Cry (2012)

The Family Way (2013)

City of Darkness and Light (2014)

The Edge of Dreams (2015)

Away in a Manger (2015)

Time of Fog and Fire (2016)

The Ghost of Christmas Past (November 2017)

Constable Evan Evans Series In Order:

Evans Above (1997)

Evan Help Us (1998)

Evanly Choirs (1999)

Evan and Elle (2000)

Evan Can Wait (2001)

Evans to Betsy (2002)

Evan Only Knows (2003)

Evan's Gate (2004)

Evan Blessed (2005)

Evanly Bodies (2006)

Hope to see you some time on Saturday.

Thanks for reading.

I'll be Mother: A tea with bestselling author Rhys Bowen

I was fortunate last year to be elected president of the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime for 2017. And while to some, Sisters in Crime may sound like a group of recovering female prison convicts, it is, in fact, an international organization of writers of crime and mystery. I am very proud to the chapter's first male president. 

So I am a mister/sister, and this year the organization, the voice for excellence and diversity in crime writing for decades, is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

The Speed City chapter of SinC is hosting internationally renowned author Rhys Bowen at a British tea and at a book signing on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Barnes and Noble book store on the north side of Indianapolis.

I am currently reading In Farleigh Field, a mystery Bowen set in England in 1941. Full of British upper class intrigue and spies, the novel officially launches on an Amazon imprint next week.

I read her Twelve Clues of Christmas back in December and was both surprised and delighted by the high-spirited young heroine, Georgiana Ranook. As the main character in Bowen's Her Royal Spyness series, Georgie, who was 35th in line to the British throne, was fun to read and discover. What also surprised me was that I was so into the book, which was set in the early 1930s in western England, that I didn't figure out the clues to the mystery until Rhys hit me over the head with them, despite the title of the book.

In addition to the book signing and book fair at B&N at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Speed City is also hosting Bowen with a British tea from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., also on Saturday. Co-sponsored with the College Park Book Club, the tea is in the College Park Community Clubhouse on Fordham Road in Indianapolis, in the shadow of the College Park pyramids.

It's at the tea when we will officially celebrate 30 years of Sisters in Crime.

I hope you can come out to one or more of the events on Saturday. It will be fun and I'm looking forward to it -- and to meeting a world-class mystery writer. And when the time comes, I will try to make sure that, as I pour Rhys her first cup of tea, I say, "I'll be mother."

Thanks for reading.