I know all the Chicks and most mystery writers reading this are already members of Sisters in Crime, but did you know you can join as a reader, bookseller, or librarian? And you don’t even have to be a woman?
Their mission statement reads, “Sisters in Crime was founded in 1986 to promote the ongoing advancement, recognition and professional development of women crime writers.”
That’s it. That’s all they want to do. Of course, they do so much more. There are chapters in Canada and London and in almost every state. Here’s the complete list.
Our very own Cynthia Kuhn launched our vibrant Colorado chapter in 2015. I didn’t know Cynthia at the time, but a friend, Peg Brantley, invited me to come along to their organizational meeting. We both vowed, driving to it, that we’d be happy to join, but no way were we going to volunteer for anything. Spoiler alert—we left as the inaugural Programming Chairs. Honestly, that meeting was so much fun I absolutely had to be fully immersed with these women!
The beauty of starting an organization from scratch is that you get to design your role exactly how you want.
Peg and I decided our meetings would be on Saturdays because we watch football on Sundays. I recall a bit of pushback from Cynthia until she accepted that this was indeed a hill we were willing to die on.
We’ve been involved in lots of groups over the years, so we knew how easy it was to blow off a monthly meeting, vowing to attend next month instead. We also knew there were twelve months in a year and that’s a lot of speakers, so we decided to schedule ours for a full day four times a year. We’re a statewide organization so we have people coming from all corners. We wanted it to be worth their while to drive across the state.
We also decided we wouldn’t call them “meetings” because meetings are boring. The Colorado Chapter of Sisters in Crime holds “quarterly events.” Pretty fancy, huh? We also have field trips to museums or Escape Rooms or K9 exhibitions; we have a January Kick-Off-the-Year party; and we meet for guest speakers like our fellow Chick Ellen Byron, Nancy Picard, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.
We meet at a library and have a morning speaker talking to us about the craft or business of writing. We break for lunch (and lots of gabbing with our Sisters and Misters), then reconvene in the afternoon to hear from industry professionals. After the event, many of us convene elsewhere to continue the party over a glass of wine or pizza.
Here are just some of the fascinating folks we’ve heard from and/or topics we’ve covered in the afternoon: psychologist talking about stalkers; CBI Communications Director; FBI profiler; gun expert; arson investigator; polygraph expert; private/professional soldiers who extract people from kidnappers and pirates; forensic anthropologist; human trafficking task force personnel; private investigators; all kinds of cops with all kinds of expertise; crime scene analysts; forensic biologist; retired NCIS director; attorneys; county jail officer; retired Chief of Police; DA investigator; poisons experts … my notebook is filled with fascinating tidbits to help with my writing and satisfy my curiosity.
Peg and I completed our term with Programming, but recently got sucked back in, because—truly—it’s a fun job.
But the reason I’m telling you all of this is because we’re rounding up speakers for our November event and we thought it would be helpful to our membership to hear from a chiropractor in the morning. My chiropractor, to be precise. I’ve known him for at least 20 years and he’s very practical so I knew he’d have tips and tricks to help a group of writers keep our hands, wrists, and backs healthy so we can write every day.
I also knew that when I asked if he could save the last thirty minutes to teach us how to kill someone, he wouldn’t report me to the police. Of course, writers need to know this stuff so our bad guys can be realistically bad, and our good guys can defend themselves and thwart danger.
When I saw him this morning, he did a little jig and shouted, “I’m so excited about this!”
So, if you find yourself in the Denver area on November 16th and want to know how to kill someone with your bare hands, let me know.
Do you belong to your local Sisters in Crime chapter? Do you have any regular meetings—I mean events—that you look forward to attending? If you could launch any organization, what would it involve?
Chicks on the Case 
😍 Love Sisters in Crime…and seeing the Colorado chapter grow has been such a joy! I’ll never forget that first planning meeting where we almost got kicked out of the library for laughing too hard. Little did we know how much work it would be, but it was definitely worth it! What an amazing group. Grateful to all who participated over the years–and hooray for all the officers who have volunteered their time and energy. (Special confetti blast for serving multiple terms! Super cool.)
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I’m so thankful I went to that meeting, Cynthia. My life would be a million times less bright if I’d never met you!
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Aw right back at you, B!
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The Colorado chapter always sounds so amazing when I hear people talk about it!
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Wait. What? People talk about us??
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Sisters in Crime CO is so great!! You all are doing an amazing job on the programming. (I may steal a few of your ideas for Sisters in Crime New England.) Thanks, Becky! (And Cynthia, of course xo)
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Steal away! They weren’t all under my watch, of course, but we have a really vibrant crime fiction community in Colorado and Peg and I tend to stick our noses in all kinds of places most people won’t. Our county coroner does a monthly “Evening with the Coroner” event that I go to as often as I can and I pounce on the speakers—and even some of the attendees—I hear there. All so fascinating. And my list of speakers from my Citizens Police Academy is a mile long!
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I doubt I’d now be a mystery author if not for Sisters in Crime. Their events, workshops, classes, and most of all, warm and generous members helped me get to the point where I actually finished my first manuscript and then had the knowledge and perseverance it took to get it published. So yay you, Becky, and all the others that make up this fabulous community!
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Agreed, Leslie! Even if all I ever did was meet my fellow Sisters and never attend any workshops or classes, I’d still be light-years ahead of where I was. The members of SinC are all so very generous with their time, advice, and encouragement. I always try to be the same to new writers, knowing how much help I’ve always received.
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Becky!!! That’s brilliant! I LOVE you’re having your chiropractor speak! Oh man, we have all kinds of med providers here in L.A. We may have to steal your idea.
I had the best time leading my workshops for SinC CO. Sadly, it was 2021 and Covid kept a lot of people away but the rest of us had a great – I hope! What a wonderful chapter you have. Well done, Cyn and Becky!
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It was so much fun when you came to speak, Ellen! As I recall, you were treated to some gorgeous weather too. And a fire drill.
Our last event we had a psychologist talk about our mental health, so this time we wanted to do our physical health. And he’s hilarious and helpful and he gets writers, he really gets them!
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Your workshop was wonderful, El! People who attended were raving about it/you afterwards. 🙂
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Having a chiropractor speak is brilliant. We should definitely borrow that idea, El! I don’t get to make it out regularly to the L.A. chapter in person (the drive!), but I think it’s fascinating that the meetings are now held at a TV and film studio.
And, of course, I love Sisters in Crime! That’s how I got pulled in to be on the board and volunteer for so many different things!
P.S. I recently spoke to the OC chapter, and that was a lot of fun.
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The drive is exactly the problem for so many meetings. We have a really good Mystery Writers of America chapter here too, but they meet for dinner and a program on a Thursday evening in Denver, which is a real pain for me to get to. It’s only about 20 miles away, but during rush hour? Ugh. And if there’s weather? Double ugh.
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That IS exciting! Did you make jokes about giving him a “crack” at a whole new speaking career? I wouldn’t be able to resist!
I SO wish I could be there! Sounds iiiiiiiiincredible!
[scurries off to check airfares]
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Do it!! Get your butt out here! If you do, I’ll allow you to swing puns willy-nilly all over the place.
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Haha! TEMPTING!!!
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Have fun at the presentation! I’m a member of my local SinC chapter, Speed City Sisters in Crime. Alas, I’m not active. Perhaps one day.
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Speed City SinC is such a cool name! I wish we could have come up with something catchy for our chapter. I’m always jealous of the Desert Sleuths chapter, too.
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My chiropractor is so gentle I’d never thought about her as a murderer! The first chiro hubs went to actually climbed on top of him and did some wrestling type move. It worked! J could instantly stand up straight. Although hubs said, “I think in some cultures we’d be considered married now!”
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That’s hilarious, Vickie! My chiro and his wife share the practice, but it’s amazing how different they are when they give adjustments. But it seems you’ve forgotten the first rule of mysteries … EVERYONE could be a murderer! I can’t be in public for too long before I’ve cast everyone I see into a murder mystery.
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SinC Sister here. Hopefully my book will eventually be fully written and published.
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I love that you had a chiropractor to give tips about staying healthy while writing. Last year the keynote speaker at my knitting retreat was a chiropractor who spoke about common injuries for knitters – he even wrote a book with exercises to avoid those injuries. I’m sure your chiropractor has treated many patients who spend too much time on computers & was able to give you good advice!
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