Wendy Dingwall's Blog, page 4
October 1, 2011
Don Knotts Golden Donut Writing Contest
Wendy's "Golden Donut Writing Contest" Entry
The Challenge was to write a mystery about a specific picture in exactly 200 words including the title. For the purposes of the contest, hyphenated words count individually. The mystery was to have a true beginning, middle and surprise ending. I will list the link to the picture and the winning stories at the end of this paragraph. I can't legally post the picture on my site, but as you will see it's a picture of a house overgrown with vegetation. Not sure how accurate this next statement is, but someone said there were 4,000 entries and that all stories were good...It seems impossible to judge something like that. I wouldn't have wanted that job. My entry, titled It Was Only Right, will follow the link:
Click here for the Top 3 Golden Donut winning stories and the picture.
It Was Only Right
Hiding behind a trellis of dead vines, gardenias dying of thirst, and rapacious weeds is justified for a house grown fat and complacent with age, much like the inhabitants who moved away leaving it to decay alone.
Though ashamed of its ugliness, its heart still held memories of children—parents—pets….
After the accident, with their parents dead, the twins inherited enough insurance money to pay for college. It was a dream they’d given up when their father lost his job, stayed home drinking and flying off the handle at any little thing. He’d cut away at their self-esteem. Losing friends because there was no money to spend on decent clothes and cars and good times was embarrassing enough, but watching him abuse their mother, broke their spirits. She always made excuses. “Dad has a sin he can’t forgive,” she would say, but never explained.
Yes, the house was ashamed. It hid away the secret sin Dad could never forget: The triplet sister had been mentally retarded. He’d locked her away in a secret basement room until she withered away from loneliness and died. It was only right that the house should do the same.
September 28, 2011
October Happenings
Here's a link to the first page of the ForeWord magazine article featuring mysteries released in 2011. A reviewer's brief synopsis of Hera's Revenge was featured on the first page with cover art. :-)
Wendy Dingwall's October signing schedule follows:
Saturday, October 8th 10a-5pm
Oktoberfest
Sugar Mountain Resort
Sugar Mountain, NC
Contact: Kim Jochl, Events Director
Ph: 828-898-4521
Tuesday October 11th 10:30am-noon
Western Watauga Branch Library
1085 Old US Hwy. 421
Sugar Grove, NC 28679
Contact: Jackie Cornette
Ph: 828-297-5515
Saturday, October 15th 10:00am-4:00pm
Valle Country Fair (Arts, Crafts, Music, Food, Local Authors)
Valle Crucis Fairgrounds
Off of Hwy 194 in Valle Crucis (follow the signs)
Saturday, October 22nd 1-4pm
Art Walk
611 W. King Street
Boone NC 28607
(828) 264-9998
Sunday, October 23rd 10am-noon
Mountain Grounds
3990 Hwy 105, Suite 10
Banner Elk, NC 28604
Contact: Dale McCorvey
Ph: 828-898-5878
Sunday, October 30th 1pm-4pm
Art Walk (Local Arts & Crafts)
611 W. King Street
Boone, NC 28607
Contact: Lee Cunningham
Ph: 828-264-9998
September 26, 2011
My Awesome Experience at the Writer's Police Academy
From the time we arrived at WPA in Greensboro, NC on Thursday afternoon, until we left, Sunday noontime, it was a non-stop whirlwind of information.
I started with a tour of the Guilford County Detention Center (Jailhouse) in High Point, NC which was built in 1990 to house 274 inmates, but as of last year actually housed 423 inmates. They are currently awaiting the completion of a new facility. 85% of the inmates are pre-trial, the remaining inmates are serving short sentences. We learned some interesting statistics about the population and the guards, such as the amount of suicide attempts, some successful, some not, and the ratio of men to women, thier crimes and the recitivism rates. We learned about how the guards deal with working with criminals on a daily basis and their philosophy of treating all inmates with the same respect and forgetting why they may be in there and concentrating strictly on their behavior while they are inside. We learned how they handle unruly inmates, what types of protective gear they carried, and found that often one woman officer can control a floor of male inmates better than several men on the floor. (One more inclined to use brains than brawn.)There was much more, but you would have to take a tour to learn it all.
We were up at 5:30am so we could eat breakfast and be on the bus by 7:30am heading for the Guilford County Community Technical College (Law Enforcement & Firefighter Academy.)
There were writers from as far away as Ontario and Alaska, and the wonderful instructors came from as far away as Portland Oregon. It was indeed an honor to meet some of the best law enforcement people in the country.
Our day started with a tour of the Firefighters Training facility, their fire trucks and equipment. We learned how they train to put out all types of fires, like gas tank explosions, etc. We toured a burned building and learned first hand how difficult it is to see inside, as it's pitch black and the burned smell is very strong. If there were an actual fire the smoke would make it impossible to see, and the firefighters would easily become disoriented. We had to maneuver around charred stuff?, find a stairwell and go down and out to exit the building...scary.
One of my favorite classes was the: Viewing the Crime Scene in a Different Light. Among many other things, I learned why, when you are watching CSI programs and wondering why they are always walking around trying to find things in the dark, that they won't turn on the lights. The instructor, David Pauly teaches Applied Forensic Science at Methodist University and the Basic Crime Scene Photography Course at Sirchie industry facilities in Youngsville, NC, the largest supplier to the world in forensic investigative equipment. He showed us all the latest technological lighting equipment to see things like blood spatter, semen, etc.
Another of my favorites was learning how to fend of an abductor in the Women's Personal Safety and Self-Protection class. "Bad guys watch out -- mess with me and you might lose your hearing -- or worse" The Handcuffing and Arrest Techniques gave us valuable information so we could write the scenes properly, possibly humorously.
My roommate, Bev Pinske liked the Bioterrorism class the best. I liked it too, but my favorite, was The Role of Digital Evidence and solving crimes in cyberspace. Josh Moulin, Lieutenant Task Force Commander of the High-Tech Crimes Task Force located in Southern Oregon has a 100% conviction rate when it comes to solving cyber crimes. This task force of 10 is amazing! Anything a writer might wish to know about "hacking" and "cybercrimes" can be found through this website. It's a great resource.
My next, Yvonne Suarez mystery is a cold case, so I was glad to learn from Dave Pauly and Katherine Ramsland (Forensic Psychologist), why cases go cold and what determines whether they will be investigated, when and if new information comes to light.
We learned about Women in Law Enforcement, the role and actions of undercover agents and about DNA testing (what's realistic, and what strives have been made), and how to read the DNA strands. So much to remember and perhaps use in a future mystery.
We had lots of fun listening to the funny stories illustrating what not to do in police procedures and forensic investigations. And, we shared our time with many fun and creative writers. Many from Sisters in Crime, some veteran and popular writers in attendance had written 30 or more novels, so we first timers felt priviliged to be in their company.
What a great time, and a valuable one too. I highly recommend it. I hear that the Keynote Speaker for next year will be Lee Child....Woo Hoo!
A glance into the fire house at the fire trucks
The Fire Truck Emblem
Bev Pinske stands next to Yosemite Sam on the back of the fire engine.
Furniture to Burn. Not shown are the cars to burn.
Viewing the Crime Scene in A Different Light
Handcuffing and Arresting
Handcuffing and Arresting
Handcuffing Techniques
Writer practices arresting and subduing
Friday night at Embassy Suites, waitress delivers a Blue Martini and has matching nail polish. I just had to take a picture.
Watching police handle a hostage situation.
Sniper on stage after shooting the hostage taker.
One of the latest Digital Investigation Devices.
June 27, 2011
Interviewed by Judyth Piazza (the Italian Oprah)
To hear the interview click here:
http://thesop.org/story/20110625/judy...
May 4, 2011
Woo Hoo! Library Journal Review
May 1st 2011
Hera's Revenge: An Yvonne Suarez Travel Mystery
Canterbury House Publishing. 2011. c.213p. ISBN 9780982905425. pap. $14.95.
"Yvonne, super conscientious travel agent, plans the perfect Greek tour for her group, only to have corpses pop up almost immediately. And then a priceless little gold sculpture of Hera is stolen from the museum when her group is there. As the wide-eyed bunch explores Athens and beyond, Yvonne befriends handsome David, who assists her in this homage—both in tone and locale—to Mary Stewart’s The Moon-Spinners. ...An abundance of red herrings...the author’s love of Greece and her insights into a tour group’s dynamics make this light romantic suspense debut a welcome distraction for an armchair traveler. A series to watch."
May 2, 2011
Meet me at Barnes & Noble Asheville
Christy Tillery French, reviewer for Midwest Book Reviews, and author of the Body Guard series, says, “The premise for this mystery is a refreshing addition to the mystery genre. The author excels at interweaving interesting historical and mythological data into the plot. This, along with her visual descriptive, leaves the reader feeling as if s/he is actually touring the Greek Isles along with the group. …Yvonne Suarez is an intriguing character… The mystery is one readers will be challenged to solve, filled with twists and turns and plenty of red herrings.”
In Hera’s Revenge, when an airport employee turns up dead in baggage claim upon their arrival in Athens, the Pinkerton Travel group gets off to a rocky start. Yvonne’s corporate client, David Ludlow, needs a vacation from his stressful job, and this itinerary in the land of mythology, Greek philosophers and early democrats is just the ticket to a leisurely escape, until grumpy passengers, missing museum art, and deathly accidents plague their journey. A reluctant sleuth, Yvonne, pulls out all the stops to keep her clients safe and her tour on track.
Hope to see Asheville mystery lovers there!
