Robert Dugoni -- Murder in the Magic City 2014 Honored Guest

Robert Dugoni and me at Litchfield Beach

Robert Dugoni, one of MMC’s honored guests, is the New York Times bestselling author of The Jury Master, Damage Control, Wrongful Death, Bodily Harm, and The Conviction. For Murder One, he was selected as a finalist for the American Bar Association’s 2012 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. With Joseph Hildorfer, he wrote The Cyanide Canary, a nonfiction account of how EPA agents and a government team prosecuted a case against an environmental polluter. I met Robert at the S.C. Book Festival, wrote a short story with him, and traveled to attend his signings at Litchfield Books (near Myrtle Beach).

Murder on the Menu 2014

The tenth “Murder on the Menu,” sponsored by the Friends of the Wetumpka (Alabama) Library will follow “Murder in the Magic City” on February 9 at the Wetumpka Civic Center with authors from across the country. I look forward to attending both events this year for the first time as an author. Authors will include: Kaye Wilkinson Barley, Brynn Bonner aka Brenda Witchger, Jennifer Brooks, Don Bruns, Karen Cunningham, Flo Fitzpatrick, Kaye George, Bert Goolsby, Polly Iyer, James. M. Jackson, Toni L.P. Kelner, Linda Lovely, Mike Orenduff, Dee Phelps, Neil Plakcy, Denise Swanson, Jaden Terrell, Jane Tesh, and Ellis Vidler.

Murder in the Magic City 2014

Margaret Fenton

“Murder in the Magic City,” a mystery readers and writers’ conference presented by the Southern Sisters chapter of  Sisters in Crime, will take place at the Homewood Public Library, in Birmingham, Alabama, on February 8 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The guests of honor are bestselling authors Robert Dugoni and Julia Spenser-Fleming. The conference features author panels, food, refreshments, and a basket auction to benefit Shoals Animal Advocates. Margaret Fenton is the planning coordinator. In addition to her excellent efforts on behalf of the conference, Margaret has written short stories and the novel Little Lamb Lost (Oceanview Publishing 2009).

Bethlehem Writers Roundtable

In 2013, I am grateful for two featured stories published in the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, a monthly online publication of the Bethlehem Writers Group. Founded in 2006, this Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based community of writers has an annual short story competition. This year, the theme is “food stories” and the celebrity judge is Rebecca Forster. Entries must be original works of less than 2000 words submitted through the online form by no later than February 17, 2014. The fee for each entry is $10. My story, “Long in the Tooth,” placed third in last year's competition with celebrity judge Hank Phillippi Ryan.