On the road to Yosemite

Part of last weekend’s getaway to Yosemite, which stretched into Tuesday, included a stop in Fresno to speak to the San Joaquin chapter of Sisters in Crime, a national organization that offers networking, advice, and support to women writing in the mystery field. I talked about self-promotion and marketing, and it was a great time. Despite most of the membership being comprised of mystery readers, not serious working writers, there were plenty of good questions, and the give-and-take was terrific. My thanks to Carrie Padgett, former president and present events chair, for inviting me. And thanks to the club for the movie-themed gift basket, which included a DVD copy of City Slickers and an assortment of that “horrible” candy so popular among theater-goers: Dots, Hot Tamales, Junior Mints, etc. Yum. (By the time we got the Junior Mints out of the 100-degree temps in Fresno and into the cooler mountain air, the candies had melted and re-hardened into a square, minty loaf. But hey, Junior Mints are good whether eaten in their natural disk shape or sliced into bars.)

Since I’m the founder of the Blind German Mechanics, the San Luis Obispo County scion society of the Baker Street Irregulars, and everyone seemed to enjoy my curmudgeonly style, it was suggested I return to Fresno next year to talk about Sherlock Holmes. I look forward to it.