Dear Librarians and SinC Members, In this issue, I am sure you will enjoy the fabulous piece by Faye Snowden about her lifelong connection to libraries and librarians. Faye is an award-winning crime writer and serves as board secretary of Sisters in Crime National. A new We Love Libraries grant winner will be selected in April. Please find details and the link to apply below. |
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Authors in Libraries: Lifeline By Faye Snowden Libraries and librarians have been part of my life ever since I could understand the concept of story. I have vivid memories of sitting cross-legged on thinly carpeted floors during story hour. Nothing else existed except for the librarian’s voice. Not the chugging sound from a broken AC or the sticky kid next to me smelling of red hots, and especially not home which, believe me, was no place for a kid. The librarian was my guide to an exploration of different worlds. Soon I learned that librarians were more than nice ladies who read stories to little kids. I found that libraries contained books other than Ramona the Pest and Charlotte’s Web. While in junior high school, I remember roaming the long aisles and stumbling across Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Maybe it’s the first line that got me: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” From there, it was Sylvia Plath, and later Anna Akhmatova, especially the love poem, “The Guest.” My teenage heart brooded over two lines that went something like, “Tell me how you kiss / Tell me how you like to be kissed.” I don’t remember a librarian ever telling me that I was too young to read a certain book, or a book wasn’t for me. In college, librarians were my lifeline. They were there when I needed research materials for the strangely specific subject matter I selected for my papers. Years later as a writer, my questions continue, and some have become even more specific: Where can I find information on 17th century female pirates? What was a typical meal for a sharecropper in the south during the 1920s? Nowadays, things have changed substantially. Instead of story hour, I check out audio books online. In-person meetings with research librarians have transformed into online chats. And today, with the help of librarians, I not only travel to different worlds, I create entirely new universes. |
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Faye Snowden is the author of noir mysteries, poems and short stories. Her novels include Spiral of Guilt, The Savior, Fatal Justice, and A Killing Fire, a dark, southern gothic tale featuring homicide detective Raven Burns. A Killing Fire is first in a four-part series. The sequel, A Killing Rain, will be released in June, 2022. Faye has a master’s degree in English Literature. She has been awarded writing fellowships from Djerassi and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her short story “One Bullet. One Vote" was included in The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021 edited by Steph Cha and Alafair Burke. She is a member of Crime Writers of Color (CWOC), Mystery Writers of America (MWA), and Sisters in Crime (SinC) where she serves as Board Secretary for SinC National. She has participated in many writing panels, appeared as a guest lecturer in several university writing classes, and taught information technology courses at the university level. Today, Faye works and writes from her home in Northern California. |
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How Can Your Library Win a We Love Libraries Grant? Does your library need materials? Do you have a great idea for a library program? Apply for the We Love Libraries award! Find grant details and the brief grant application on our website. A WLL winner of $500 is selected every other month. |
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Do you have a great idea for an article in We Love Libraries News? Did your library put together an excellent display of mysteries that you would like to share? Submit your ideas and suggestions to Susan Hammerman, Library Liaison at |
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To find out more about all SinC offers, including live webinars, please visit our website. Thank you for all you do for your communities. Sisters in Crime loves libraries. Best wishes and happy reading! Susan Hammerman
Library Liaison Susan Hammerman, a former rare book librarian, is the Library Liaison and coordinator of the We Love Libraries program. Susan writes crime and neo-noir short stories. Her stories have been published by Mystery Magazine, Dark City Mystery Magazine, Blood and Bourbon, Mondays are Murder, and Retreats From Oblivion. |
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WLL and WLB News Editor: Gail Lukasik’s latest book, White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing, was named one of the most inspiring stories of the year by The Washington Post. She is also the author of the Leigh Girard Mystery series and the stand-alone mystery, The Lost Artist. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, such as The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and The Georgia Review. Gail appeared in the documentary, History of Memory, which is available on Amazon Prime. |
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Here's a spreadsheet with our members' 2021 books. This month's releases are in a separate worksheet. Sort the spreadsheet by author name, location, title, or release date. |
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Of possible interest to your patrons: |
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The Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award is an annual grant of $2,000 for an emerging writer of color. This grant is intended to support the recipient in crime fiction writing and career development activities. The grantee may choose to use the grant for activities that include workshops, seminars, conferences, and retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of the work. |
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Sisters in Crime will award researchers grants of $500 for the purchase of books to support research projects that contribute to our understanding of the role of women or underrepresented groups in the crime fiction genre. Applications are open through March 31. |
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Sisters in Crime hosts LIVE webinars each month. Webinars last 60-90 minutes depending on the topic and the audience questions! These webinars are open to all. |
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Looking for diverse books? For many years, SINC has curated Frankie’s List, an extensive list of crime novels by people of color and other marginalized groups. Frankie Y. Bailey, building on work by the late Eleanor Taylor Bland, began to compile a list of published Black crime writers over a decade ago. Frankie has expanded the list to include other WOC and LGBTQ+ authors. Here’s a link: https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/FrankiesList |
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Sisters in Crime is the premier crime writing association focused on equity and inclusion in our community and in publishing. Our 4,500+ members enjoy access to tools to help them learn, grow, improve, thrive, and reinvent if necessary. They also gain a community of supportive fellow writers and readers, both peers to share the peaks and valleys of writing, and mentors to model the way forward. |
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