writing about Brisbane

Great news! The Brisbane chapter of Sisters in Crime is re-forming.

Women who love crime writing and live within cooee of Brisbane are welcome to come along to our first meeting.

NEW BRISBANE SISTERS-IN-CRIME MEETING
Where: Avid Reader bookstore, 193 Boundary St, West End
Date: Saturday 7 May 2011
Time: 12.30pm
Cost: FREE! (Lunch available for purchase from Avid Reader café)

Come along to chat about what you are reading, what you are writing,
and what you would like from your local chapter of Sisters in Crime Australia.

Sisters in Crime Australia (SinCOz) was inspired by the American organisation of the same name, founded in 1986 by Sara Paretsky (creator of Chicago PI VI Warshawski). It exists to celebrate and promote women’s crime writing.

SinCOz has been running since 1991. It produces fantastic events and opportunities for crime writers, such as the Davitt Awards, the Scarlet Stiletto Awards, and the SheKilda Conventions. The Sisters in Crime Australia website explains what SinCOz is all about:

To bring together women crime writers, screen-writers, producers, booksellers, publishers, lawyers, judges, police, forensic specialists, librarians, academics, and critics but in the main, readers and viewers.
To discuss and analyse books, film and television shows, law and justice issues, new trends and critical issues of the crime genre.
To explore the contemporary issues at the heart of much crime fiction as well as dissecting its rich history.
To promote the professional development of women crime writers, especially emerging writers.
To provide opportunities for networking between writers, publishers and producers and between writers and their readers and viewers.
To have fun – and lots of it.

For more info, leave a question in the comments here, or like our page on Facebook.

There is a great interview with talented speculative fiction author and all-round good egg, Trent Jamieson, over at fangbooks.

Trent talks about setting stories in your home town:

We’re all here, as writers to tell the stories that are important to us, and Brisbane is very important to me. From the brown, and slightly ominous coils of the Brisbane River to the flashing transmitters atop Mt Coot-tha, and the knitting needle bunches of the Kurilpa Bridge Brisbane is full of stories (and the possibility of adventure, explosions and love).

Certainly, one of the striking features of Trent’s Death Works series is the amazing sense of place: from the awesome and ominous One Tree underworld stemming from Mount Coot-tha, to the white-shoe brigade business culture informing the management of Death, Trent draws on his hometown to create rich and fantastic realities.

You can also win copies of Trent’s terrific books. All you need to do is leave a comment ON THE FANGBOOKS BLOG by Friday afternoon 15 April explaining why you think Australia makes for an interesting setting for a book (or not!).