Our local chapter will be celebrating it's 5th Anniversary this coming Thursday, and award winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan will be there to discuss her latest novel, The Wrong Girl. This promises to be an exciting and entertaining event that you won't want to miss.Join us at the Kansas City Central Library on November 21st at 6:00 PM. The program starts at 6:30 following a reception. Admission is free. Free parking is available on Baltimore Avenue in the Library District parking garage. RSVP at Kansas City Library or call 816-701-3407.
NBC Plans Another 'Murder, She Wrote' Series
NBC has plans to revive a beloved mystery series. Murder, She Wrote will be filmed with a new star, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer. The original series, which starred Angela Lansbury in the lead role of J.B. Fletcher, mystery writer, ran for 12 seasons and was a favorite among TV viewers. It was one of the first TV series that gave the main role to an actress over the age of 50.The new series will star Octavia Spencer, as a hospital administrator and amateur sleuth who self-publishes her mystery novel.
Angela Lansbury has stated that she is opposed to the revival of the series with the original name, although she was approached and offered a role in the new show. According to her, the series "will always be about a Cabot Cove and this wonderful little group of people who told those lovely stories and enjoyed a piece of that place, and also enjoyed Jessica Fletcher, who is a rare and very individual kind of person."
Now comes word that the new series may not even be called Murder, She Wrote. In addition, Deadline reports that the character will not be named Jessica Fletcher. It's enough to send a detective back to his or her notes to re-interview the witnesses and suspects. We'll keep you posted.
Writing Awards and Contests
The Claymore Award is accepting entries for 2014. Submissions must be received by April 30, 2014. Any unpublished crime novel is eligible. The winner will be announced on August 23rd at Killer Nashville.
If you've already published a crime novel this year, consider submitting it for the Silver Falchion Award. Previously only open to attendees of Killer Nashville, the award is now open to non-attendees. The award is presented to the author of the best book published during the year.
Submissions for the Edgar, mystery fiction's most prestigious award, are open until November 30th. Check with your publisher if you think you may have a work to submit. The awards will be announced at the annual MWA banquet on May 1, 2014.
Unpublished novelists still have time to enter the St. Martin's Minotaur/MWA First Crime Novel Competition. Your entry must not have been published or under contract with a publisher. deadline is one minute before midnight on December 16, 2013.
Time to sharpen those writing skills with another contest, compliments of literary agent and query shark Janet Reid. The competition is open now until Sunday at 7 AM EST. Entries must be 100 words or less and include the following words.
straw
butterfly
wing
sage
peach
Check the link for complete rules, or risk becoming shark bait!
Councilman Wants to Cut Library Budget, Calls Patrons 'hippies and junkies'
Lafourche Parish in Louisiana needs a new jail. And Lindel Toups has just the answer for how to fund it. Cut the local library budget.
After all, they don't need the money. The patrons are, in his words, "junkies and hippies" who only use the library to "look at drugs and food stamps on the internet." But that's not the biggest problem he sees with the library. Their greatest offense is that one of the branches has a program to help Spanish speakers learn our language.
That's a problem? Most people want newcomers to learn English, but Mr. Toups has a...shall we say...a simpler solution.
"Let that son of a bitch go back to Mexico."
To be fair, Councilman Toups is just trying to use the taxpayer's money efficiently. According to him, "We’re giving the public the chance to raise the jail money without raising taxes. Any blind man can see that.”
Of course, even a blind man knows that spending money on education, including libraries, reduces the need to build jails in the first place. But Mr. Toups may have a more personal reason for spending money on a new jail. The old one is in fact overcrowded, and he won't want his son and grandson to have to live in poor conditions.
Seems the councilman's family members were arrest in 2009 for drug possession, so they may get a chance to see the new jail firsthand. Something to look forward to, perhaps. Who says there isn't a silver lining behind every dark cloud?
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