March 12, 2020 RMMWA Meeting
Short cuts: RMMWA authors tell you how
The big gap between the six-word novel and the 40,000-word novella is filled by short stories. Do you write short stories? Should you? How? And where do you sell them?
The March meeting will present a panel of three of our prolific authors to talk about techniques, readers, and markets.
Catherine Dilts is the author of the Rock Shop Mystery series, while her short stories appear regularly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. She wrote two novels for the multi-author cozy mystery series Secrets of the Castleton Manor Library. Working in the world of hazardous substances regulation, Catherine’s stories often have environmental or factory-based themes. Others reflect her love of the Colorado mountains.
R.T. Lawton is a retired federal agent with 25 years of experience working the street, from riding the go-fast boats with Customs off the midnight Miami coast to hunt smugglers running in from the Bahama Banks, to running down a fugitive in Jamaica. He’s shared his experience with surveillance in workshops for writers, including right here at RMMWA. With more than 140 published short stories, he has sold (as of last fall) 44 to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and has six e-books for Kindle and other e-readers.
Manuel Ramos is the author of ten novels and a short story collection. He has received the Colorado Book Award (twice), the Chicano/Latino Literary Award, the Top Hand Award from the Colorado Authors League, and Honorable Mentions from the Latino International Book Awards. His first novel, The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz, was a finalist for the Edgar® award. My Bad: A Mile High Noir was a Shamus finalist. He is a co-founder of and regular contributor to the award-winning Internet magazine La Bloga , which deals with Latino literature, culture, news and opinion. His latest crime fiction novel is The Golden Havana Night: A Sherlock Homie Mystery.
Moderator Suzanne Proulx wrote four novels featuring a hospital risk manager. Her short story, “If You Say So,” is featured in The Best American Mystery Stories of 2019, which came out last October.
A full dinner is served at our evening meetings including non-alcoholic beverages, coffee and dessert. Beer and wine are available for sale.
Location: Colorado Auto Dealers Association, 290 E. Speer Blvd., Denver, 80203
Cocktail hour: 6:30, dinner 7 p.m. Program follows.
Upcoming Programs
Thursday February 6th
Program: Sgt. Amy Wheeler
RMMWA Contact: Margaret Mizushima
Thursday March 12th
Program: Short Story Panel with RT Lawton, Catherine Diltz, Manuel Ramos and Suzanne Proulx (M)
RMMWA Contact: Chris Goff
Thursday April 9th
Program: Mitch Morrisey, Former DA who runs a company solving Cold Cases using DNA
RMMWA Contact: Chris Goff
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RMMWA Programs Online
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January 2017 Dale Lovin
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February 2020 Mystery Minute
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May 2019 Mystery Minute
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