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Indiana writers, featuring our 2009 Holiday Party guests
Our annual Holiday Parties feature members of Indiana's mystery/suspense writing community. Our 2009 event is scheduled for Saturday, November 21, 2:00 - 4:00 pm. It's a great opportunity to connect with some of our state's great writers, and to get books signed for holiday gift-giving. This page starts out with information about this year's guest. Scroll dow
Our guests this year are:
Susan Crandall's first novel Back Roads won the RITA Award, given by the Romance Writers of America, for best first book of 2003. Susan's latest is Seeing Red (2009), about the aftermath of a kidnapping. Publishers Weekly describes it as a "tense thriller" and "a persuasive picture of a family distored by unhealed grief and unrevealed secrets." Susan was just interviewed in the Indianapolis Star; click here to read the interview on the Star's website. Author's website: www.susancrandall.net
Phil Dunlap is the author of five historical novels set in the American West. Three of his books are part of a series that can be described as historical police procedurals about Deputy U.S. Marshal Piedmont Kelly; the latest novel in this series is Blood on the Rimrock (2008), a finalist for the Indiana State Library's 2009 "Best Book of Indiana" fiction award. This year, Phil also won an Eppie Award for Best Historical/Western Fiction for Saving Mattie, his first Christan Western. Author's website: phildunlap.com
Kit Ehrman's four novels - all of which are now available in paperback - feature horse trainer Steve Cline. In Triple Cross (2006), Steve is working at Churchill Downs when a chance encounter triggers a series of events that spiral out of control and plunge Steve into the world of the ultra rich, where greed and revenge and ambition lead to a power play that culminates in a bloody triple cross. Triple Cross is the winner of the 2007 "Best Book of Indiana" Award in the fiction category, and was also an IPPY and Foreward Magazine Book of the Year medalist. Author's website: kitehrman.com
Terence Faherty's latest books are The Confessions of Owen Keane (2005), a collection of stories featuring the failed seminarian, and In a Teapot (2005), a short novel featuring Hollywood private eye Scott Elliott. The latter was nominee for the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award for Best Novel of 2005. Terry has won two Shamus Awards for the Scott Elliott series and a Macavity Award for his Keane series; he's also been nominated for Derringer, Dilys and Edgar Awards. Author's website: terencefaherty.com
Tony Perona's two novels feature Nick Bertetto, a former investigative reporter turned stay-at-home dad. As Angels Whisper (2005) opens, Nick is driving the kids carpool when a homeless man stumbles into his path with a clue to the disappearance of an Indiana state legislator. We review Angels Whisper on this website. Author's website: tonyperona.com
Brenda Stewart's first novel is Power in the Blood (2005), a book that draws on Brenda's own professional experiences as a forensic sculptor. When children discover a skull in a sinkhole, forensic sculptor Lettie Sue Wolfe reconstructs the face of the deceased. She is shocked to find the face of her childhood friend's sister, who disappeared thirty years earlier. Author's website: www.brendarobertsonstewart.com/mystery.html
Larry D. Sweazy's short story, "The Promotion," won the Spur Award, given by the Western Writers of America for best story of 2004. Last month, Larry's first novel was published by Berkley; The Rattlesnake Season is the first of four books featuring Texas Ranger Josiah Wolfe under contract. Author's website: larrydsweazy.com
And last but not least, our friend and colleague Austin Lugar will be attending. Austin and I have a new book out this year, Organizing Crime: The Mystery Company's Guide to Series. This book takes over 3100 titles in over 350 popular, active mystery series and puts them in order. These handy checklists will help you manage your reading and your book collection. This guide also includes 42 "Five Great" lists, categorizing mysteries to help you find new series that will become favorites.
We have copies of books by all these authors in stock. Use the search box at the top of this page to check our inventory, or call us at 317-705-9711 or 800-643-6737 to place your order.
Listed below are previous year's guests, all members of our state's writing community:
Garthia Anderson, author of Spellbound in Seattle which was published in 2003. Moni reports that it's "an unusual mystery involving the search for the source of a magical bloodstain on Petra Field's living room rug. In order to remove the stain, Petra, the very untalented daughter of two talented wizards, is forced to deal with a wizard named Vorador. Sparks fly as their journey takes them into alternative worlds." Author's website: www.garthiaanderson.com
Dick Cady's first novel, The Executioner's Mask, was our top-selling book of 2004. Sonny Ritter, a down on his luck lawyer, is asked to assist in a last-ditch effort to stop the execution of a killer. As Sonny digs up the dirt, he begins to receive threats, including false arrest and a car chase through a corn field. As Sherry noted in our newsletter, "the characters are very well drawn, the mystery believable and intricate, and the setting true Indiana." Dick's new novel is Champions (2008), set in the world of heavyweight boxing.
Thomas D. Cochrun, former news director at WISH-TV, is the author of two suspense novels in the Tim Calvin series, The Sanibel Arcanum (1994) and The Sanibel Cayman Disc (1999). In the latter, Calvin is jarred out of his mid-life pondering on Sanibel Island by a series of threatening intrigues. A retired KGB agent who is brokering bio-weapons threatens Calvin's family and his beloved Sanibel.
Beth Crawford is the author and publisher of three novels, SILENT STORM, SILENT RAGE and SILENT SHADOWS. In SHADOWS, a Chicago homicide detective comes to Brownsburg, Indiana, where the strangled body of a woman is found in a shopping center parking lot. Beth speaks frequently about the publishing business, and especially about her own home-grown approach to publishing.
Jeanne M. Dams writes two series, one a historical series set in South Bend at the turn of the century and featuring Hilda Johansson, a young Swedish woman working in the home of the Studebaker family. Jeanne's other series is about Dorothy Martin, a retired teacher and Indiana native who's now living in England. Jeanne's 2004 novel is WINTER OF DISCONTENT. It's the ninth in the beloved Dorothy Martin series. Author's website: www.jeannedams.com
Marlis Day's first three novels feature Margo Brown, a language arts teacher at an Indiana middle school. Her latest book is The Secret of Bailey's Chase, her first novel for younger readers. A ten-year-old orphan is sent halfway across the country to live with relatives in a small midwestern town. She finds a girl just her age. Strange doesn't begin to explain the magical and mysterious events that happen from the moment the girls meet, nothing making sense until they meet a Gypsy woman. She warns them to only use their power for good, swears them to secrecy, and warns them of evil forces that will be their enemies.
Brandt Dodson is the author of four novels featuring Indianapolis private detective Colton Parker, beginning with Original Sin (2006). Dodson was born and raised in Indianapolis, and comes from a long line of police officers. His latest novel is White Soul (2008), a standaone novel about a police officer who infiltrates a gang in Miami. Author's website: brandtdodson.com
Greg Ellis asks "what if the pathologists or detectives are the perpetrators of the homicide they are investigating? Pathology resident Dr. Madison Gray confronts this question when she rotates onto the MedExaminers Service." DEAD OF JUNE, a first novel, is published by 1st Books Library; visit www.1stbooks.com and do a search at this site for more information about Ellis and this book.
Sara Hoskinson Frommer's Death Climbs a Tree (2005) is the sixth novel in her Indiana-based series about symphony orchestra manager Joan Spencer. In this novel, one of Joan's best violinists announces that she can't play the orchestra's children's concert because she has to sit in a tree to protest environmentally unfriendly construction. Author's website: www.sff.net/people/SaraHoskinsonFrommer
Wes D. Gehring is a professor of telecommunications at Ball State University and the author of numerous books on the movies. His biographies of Hoosiers in Hollywood include volumes on James Dean and Carole Lombard. He's the author of two mysteries involving the movies: The Charlie Chaplin Murder Mystery (2006) and The James Dean Murder Mystery (2008).
Roberta Gellis' career spans five decades and several genres -- romance, mystery, science fiction/fantasy, all of which she does well. Her 2003 mystery is LUCREZIA BORGIA AND THE MOTHER OF POISONS, a historical novel about the notorious poisoner. She's also the author of three medieval mysteries beginning with A MORTAL BANE. Roberta Gellis is one of Jennie's all-time favorite authors, and she recommends the books for their rich (and accurate) historical settings and the ingenuity of the quick-witted characters. Author's website: www.robertagellis.com
Lou Harry is the arts and entertainment editor at Indianapolis Business Journal. He's the co-author of Kid Culture: The Hip Parent's Handbook to Navigating Books, Music, T.V., and Movies in the Digital Age -- not just a great resource for parents, but an entertaining read and a nostalic experience itself in and of itself. I especially enjoyed the appreciations of Where the Wild Things Are and Schoolhouse Rock. Lou's IBJ blog: ae.ibj.com
Michael Koryta’s second novel, Sorrow's Anthem, was published in 2006. It continues his series featuring Cleveland private eyes Lincoln Perry and his partner/mentor Joe Pritchard, a follow-up to Koryta's 2004 first novel, Tonight I Said Goodbye, which won the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of American Best First Novel Contest. Author's website: michaelkoryta.com
Monette Michaels' latest novel is The Case of the Virtuous Vampire (2005), which she describes as Perry Mason meets woo-woo, first in a series that answers the question "Where do preternaturals go when they have a legal problem?" This book was a 2006 Eppie Award finalist. Author's website: home.att.net/~medraper/
William J. Palmer, a professor of English at Purdue University, is the author of three novels "based on newly-discovered secret journals of Wilkie Collins," most recently THE HOYDENS AND MR. DICKENS. The reference book Detecting Men notes that the author "shares his name with England's most notorious poisoner, Dr. William Palmer, hanged for his crimes in 1856. Author's website: www.sla.purdue.edu/academic/engl/HomePages/Palmer/palmer.html
Lorri Sankowsky is the co-author of Ghost Hunter's Guide to Indianapolis (2008). She is a former co-director of the Indianapolis chapter of Indiana Ghost Trackers, a local paranormal investigation group. In addition to details on many sites, the book includes several useful appendicies that provide information on organizations, events, internet resources, etc. of interest to ghost hunters. Author's website: indianapolisghosts.com
D.R. Schanker's first novel, A CRIMINAL APPEAL, was a nominee for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel of 1998. The novel introduced Nora Lumsey, a young lawyer working as a clerk for an Indiana Court of Appeals judge. She's working on an opinion that convicts a deaf ten-year-old of killing a woman, but against her better judgement, she gets involved in the case. Schanker's second novel is NATURAL LAW, a "portrait of a community in which drugs, sex, basketball and murder accord social equality."
Jeff Stone’s 2006 novel, Snake, is the third in his Five Ancestors series of historical suspense novels set in 17th century China. The first and second in the series, Tiger and Monkey, were both published in paperback this year. The books are written for middle school readers, but readers of all ages are enjoying Jeff’s combination of kung fu, action and adventure. Author’s website: fiveancestors.com
S.D. Tooley aka Lee Driver is the author of two series. As Tooley, she writes a series about Detective Sergeant Samantha Casey, who has "an advantage over other cops. The dead speak to her, tell her secrets about their life and death. But sometimes what she learns can get her killed." As Lee Driver, she writes series featuring private detective Chase Dagger, "who seems to inherit the most unusual cases." Author's website: www.sdtooley.com
Wanda Lou Willis is a local folklore historian who's written two books about haunted Indiana: Haunted Hoosier Trails (2002) and More Haunted Hoosier Trails (2004). Both books are organized geographically so that you can find haunted sites in your county, and both books are illustrated. She also appeared in the recent film Central State: Asylum for the Insane. Author's website: www.wandalouwillis.com
Ian Woollen's first novel, Stakeout on Millennium Drive (2005) takes readers into a bizarre Indianapolis world of intrigue and suspense, peopled with street-smart, on-the-edge characters. The book won the 2006 Fiction Award from the Indiana Center for the Book in the Best Books of Indiana competition.
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