This column appears in the latest issue of MRJ: Volume 25: No. 4, Sports Mysteries.
by Janet A. Rudolph (Berkeley, California)
Another wonderful issue. We've had three previous issues on Sports Mysteries, and I think this SPORTS MYSTERIES issue (Vol. 25:4) is the best. It's hard to imagine that this is the final issue for Volume 25-and that I've been publishing Mystery Readers Journal for 26 years! Yikes! That's a long time.
Mystery Readers Journal gets better and better and that's because of the great contributors and support of the mystery community. We've had some wonderful themes over the past 25 years and more to come. A very special thank you to Kate Derie, Editor extraordinaire!
RENEWAL: It's time to renew for 2010 and this
year you have two options. Mystery Readers Journal is going green. You can renew to receive the four hardcopy issues of MRJ in the mail as you've always done—or you can go green and receive a PDF edition of all four issues of the journal at a cost of less than half of the hardcopy. (You can always print it out at home if you feel like it.) You'll be able to download the PDF of the issues
as they are published. I will send you a code/link to the PDF. Spare the trees and save some money.
THEMES IN 2010: We've changed our line-up of themes for 2010. Hope that's OK with everyone. Themes for Volume 26 (2010) will be AFRICAN MYSTERIES; PARANORMAL; ISLANDS; and HOBBIES, CRAFTS & SPECIAL INTERESTS. Paranormal will include vampires, ghosts, "woo-woo" etc. Islands means tropical or offshore islands, not big islands such as Manhattan or Great Britain. Hobbies, Crafts and Special Interests will include knitting mysteries and the like but can also apply to the hobbies of the detectives. Cooking and other past theme topics won't be included, but query me if you'd like to write an AUTHOR! AUTHOR! essay.
MYSTERY FANFARE is my mystery blog, and I hope you've visited or will visit soon, at mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com. I do news, reviews and interviews of interest to mystery readers. I also do a lot of thematic mystery lists, and this year my Christmas Mystery list was so long that I had to break it down into five different postings.
One of the new features on the Blog is PARTNERS IN CRIME: writers who write with other writers. So far we've had guest blogs by Bill Crider, Mark Zubro, Charlotte Elkins and Charles Todd (both Charles and Caroline). In the new year, we will have many other guest Partners in Crime bloggers including Jeffrey Deaver and some of the authors who contributed to Watchlist (Vanguard, Jan. 2010). This two-book thriller (The Chopin Manuscript and The Copper Bracelet) is the collaboration of twenty-two of your favorite crime writers. Jeffery Deaver conceived of the characters and put the plot into motion and Jim Fusilli lent a sharp editorial eye. Authors include Lee Child, Joseph Finder, Lisa Scottoline, Gayle Lynds, P.J. Parrish, David Corbett and many others. Jeffery Deaver writes the final chapter in each novella.
David Cole, who has been interviewing Canadian crime writers for the "Cool Canadian Crime" series on Mystery Fanfare, will continue his series in the New Year with more Canadian authors.
Be sure and send me news and info to include in Mystery Fanfare. Have an idea? Let me know. Email me at: Janet@mysteryreaders.org.
AT HOMES are literary salons with guest authors at my home in Berkeley, CA. All are welcome, but space is limited, so be sure and RSVP if you'd like to attend. Jan. 14, 2 PM: Charles and Caroline Todd. Jan. 28, 7 PM: Jeri Westerson. Apr. 7, 7 PM: Peter May. If you are an author going on tour in the next year and plan to be in the Bay Area, drop me an email at janet@mysteryreaders.org.
TWITTER AND FACEBOOK: Although I'm on Facebook, Mystery Readers International doesn't have a fan page. Do we need one? Love all my friends, and I try to keep up. Just look me up at Janet Rudolph. For Twitter, you can follow me at www.twitter.com/JanetRudolph. I'm a major tweeter, and I tweet and retweet about mysteries, chocolate and teambuilding.
CHOCOLATE: I also blog at Dying for Chocolate: recipes, news and reviews for the chocoholic. Feel free to sign up or follow via RSS feed. This past year I was a judge at the San Francisco Chocolate Salon, and I have
made friends with many food bloggers through
my blog, Twitter and Facebook. In 2010, DyingforChocolate.com will also have guest blogs and recipes from mystery authors who include chocolate in their novels.
CONVENTIONS: Lots of convention crime on
the West Coast in 2010. LEFT COAST CRIME will
be in Los Angeles, March 11-14. I'll be the Fan Guest of Honor, and I'd love to see you there. BOUCHERCON will be in San Francisco, Oct. 14-17. Lots of other mystery conventions, so be sure and check out Mystery Fanfare for up to the minute info.
MURDER ON THE MENU/TEAMBUILDING
UNLIMITED: Still doing interactive mystery events, although this past holiday season my companies did a lot more Charity Challenges: Trikes for Tots, Bears that Care, Operation Military Giving. We also did a lot of gingerbread houses and cookie decorating and donating. It definitely was a Season of Sharing. I have another blog, TeamBuilding Talk, for my business at murderonthemenu.blogspot.com.
Another year, another decade. What's in the future? More good mysteries. Wishing you a happy, healthy and mystery-filled New Year!
—Janet
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