Last weekend, you read about the release of Diane Fanning's new book, PUNISH THE DEED. If you live in the Houston area, next weekend is your opportunity to meet the author and ask questions about her Lucinda Pierce mystery series. Join Diane for her booksigning event at Murder by the Book, 2342 Bissonnet, in Houston, Texas, this coming Saturday, April 4 at 4:30pm.
PUNISH THE DEED--because no good deed goes unpunished.
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This Saturday at 2:00 p.m. PST, listen to WCI's Susan Murphy-Milano on TRUE CRIMES, an online broadcast devoted to true crime. "I am the daughter of a
Chicago Violent Crimes Detective," Susan told TRUE CRIMES. "My father murdered my mother before taking his own life."Susan found her parents' bodies.
"I will not rest until those who abuse and kill are held accountable."
And so Susan has turned tragedy into her life's work. As a nationally recognized women's advocate, she was instrumental in the passage of the
Illinois Stalking Law and the Lautenberg Act. A voice for victims, Susan has championed the rights of battered women and children, in court cases and in coordinating exit strategies with safe houses and bodyguards.The
nonfiction author and violence expert has reached women far and wide, through publications such as Woman's Day, Family Circle, and U.S. News & World Report. Susan has also made appearances on Oprah, 20/20, American Justice, CNN, 48 Hours, and Nightline.In spreading the word and her work through media appearances, Susan has received a flood of correspondence from wives of officers across the country—women with no place to turn for assistance, all because a husband or boyfriend was a respected law enforcement officer. There is no excuse for violence, Susan says, especially in a police officer's home.
Why aren't departments seeking a zero-tolerance policy on domestic violence committed by police officers? Is it too embarrassing? Family members rarely come forward to report these crimes and if they do, they are often victimized even more by their abusive officer spouse or boyfriend.
"He was going to kill me," said a Boston police officer's wife. "How can you let him keep his gun and stay on the street?"
"When a police department does not take action, we, the families of officers, feel powerless and worried about our own lives and the safety of their kids. All this does is further victimize us, when will it end?" (Wife of a New York State Trooper)
"You know the words on the side of police cars, 'We Serve And Protect,' let me tell you every time I see that I'm sick with grief. It doesn't apply to me. It should read, 'hey, we serve and protect our own'!" (Another woman married to an officer)
The women say that when they notified police, investigating officers were reluctant to pursue the cases. Evidence was mishandled. Some of the women were pressured by other officers or top brass to drop their complaints.
"I was treated like a criminal, I was trying to get some help here," said another.
The silence surrounding cops who abuse and murder their spouses has been deafening. Until
Drew Peterson was finally thrown into the spotlight, with one wife dead and the other presumed killed, such cases rarely made the news. But just this week there was another shocking
case in the headlines. Who do you call when your husband, the police officer, is beati
ng the hell out of you? You contact Susan Murphy-Milano. Listen to the live broadcast tomorrow on TRUE CRIMES with renowned author Burl Barer (pictured right) and attorney Don Woldman.TRUE CRIMES
Links to listen: http://outlawcrime.com or http://www.mrcigar.com/live.asx
Saturday, November 8 2:00 p.m. PST Also, you can tune in to Susan on Tuesday evenings for Justice Interrupted, the "Crime Investigation Radio Network," which she co-hosts with WCI's Stacy Dittrich and Robin Sax.
Susan Murphy-Milano Any second thoughts Stacy may have had about her decision were shoved aside this past spring, when Stacy's agent received a call from the Academy Award-winning producer of the movie The Devil Wears Prada (based on the novel of the same title). Hollywood is interested in a screen adaptation of The Devil's Closet, which is first in the series of CeeCee Gallagher thrillers. The protagonist was patterned after Stacy, who was a detective specializing in sex crimes.
What this means for readers is that Stacy's novel smacks of the kind of authenticity that comes from pages written by someone who's actually carried a badge and gun and fought crime on the streets—a good gal who understands duty and knows how to take down the bad guys without having to unholster her duty weapon. Like Stacy, I come from a family of law enforcement, so I can vouch for Friday's review from our Sex-crimes Prosecutor that Stacy "captured the essence of what someone on the front lines of crime is really like."
You don't want to miss this book, the first in a series. Stacy's next CeeCee novel, Mary Jane's Grave, is scheduled for publication in 2009. Her first hardcover true-crime book will hit shelves following Murder Behind the Badge, another true-crime title expected within a year.
Stacy's next sign
ing for The Devil's Closet will be on Saturday, October the 11th, at the Barnes & Noble in Westlake, Ohio. If you're in the area, stop by from 2:00 to 4:00 that afternoon for an autographed copy. But get there early. According to one of the fans who attended yesterday's signing in Mansfield, "lines were out the door." The 200 copies the store had in stock sold out very quickly.
"For a debut novel," B&N store manager Rich Krizan said, "it was a great success—one of our best."
Krizan was quick to add that a new shipment is expected this week and that the author will be stopping by the store to sign copies for those who didn't get one yesterday.
If you make it to the Westlake signing on the 11th, send your photo with Stacy to womenincrimeink@yahoo.com and we'll post it, like this pic from yesterday's signing, with fan Jo Ann Krausman. Thanks to Jo Ann for sending this in, and congrats, Stacy!
By now it's no mystery. Kathryn Casey's first crime novel is a breakout hit. SINGULARITY landed in bookstores June 24, and reviews are hot. The latest comes from the August issue of Vanity Fair, which lists Kathryn's novel under "Hot Type," along with other current titles Vanity Fair considers "great new books." And in Sunday's Baltimore Sun, SINGULARITY
received high marks from a reviewer taken with the heroine, a woman Texas Ranger. Protagonist Sarah Armstrong has "the makings of a robust and long-lasting series character," said the Sun.
A reviewer for The Tampa Tribune agrees. Calling Armstrong a blend of James Patterson's Alex Cross and Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta, the critic raves "Not since 'Postmortem' has a crime author crafted such a stellar series debut."
Publisher's Weekly calls SINGULARITY "riveting" and Booklist says it's "an impressive fiction debut."
SINGULARITY will make Deadly Pleasures magazine's list of Best Novels of 2008.
Tonight, Kathryn will be autographing copies of SINGULARITY at Murder by t
he Book in Houston. The event begins at 6:30, with a party to follow across the street at Under the Volcano. If you're in the area, come by and join fans and other WCI contributors as we raise a glass for Kathryn Casey and her red-hot crime fiction debut, SINGULARITY.
This week marked the release of Michele's latest book, HEARTLESS, and t It's been a fast couple of weeks for Michele, who was recently 
he party starts tonight in New England.
From a venue announcement of tonight's event:
She's BOOKED, TALKIN', but NOT revealing her sources. Michele McPhee is Boston’s "true crime" radio talk host, author and reporter and she’s booked for 96.9 WTKK ’s "Heartless Paperback Release Party." M
"This party should be a blast," Michele says. "Live radio. Drinks. Fast cars. Autographed books. What's not to love?" The flags are down. If you're in the area, cruise on by and check out the party. Here's your invitation.
Policewoman / Novelist Stacy Dittrich is in California this weekend, attending the nation's largest annual event in publishing: BookExpo America. Held this year at the Los Angeles Convention Center, BEA is a four-day gathering of power players in the bookselling industry. This year, BEA was expecting to draw 30,000 publishers, b
ooksellers, librarians, and authors, including crime fiction masters Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane, who will both be speaking. Also in attendance is our own Stacy Dittrich (pictured right), whose first crime novel debuts this fall. A
t the publishing showcase each year, booksellers trot out celebrities with their tell-alls. Actor Alec Baldwin (below) spoke to attendees on his upcoming book, A Promise to Ourselves: Fatherhood, Divorce and Family Law. Joining Baldwin on the panel was basketball great Magic Johnson who has a book coming out next year. Magic's first book, What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS, was removed by a school
in 1996. According to PEN, a champion of the rights of authors and journalists, freedom of expression is under fire now more than ever, with government posing the greatest threat. During yesterday's program at BookExpo, PEN co-hosted "Something to Hide: Writers and Artists Against the Surveillance State," part of PEN's Campaign for Core Freedoms. PEN (Poets, Ess
ayists and Novelists) has joined forces with other influential human rights groups to combat government
In such causes, marks made by the power
of the PEN are indelible. PEN supported WCI contributor Vanessa Leggett during her fight with the Justice Department. The feds jailed Vanessa in an unsuccessful attempt to seize her records and identify her confidential sources.WCI's Private Investigator Donna Weaver knows firsthand about governnment interference. Donna holds the FBI responsible for her husband's mysterious disappearance and presumed murder in 1983. For a book on her quest for justice, Donna has teamed with New Times columnist Bob Norman. In researching her story, Bob accompanied Donna to the Bahamas to search for answers as well as her husband's body, which has never been found. (Above, Donna and husband Gary feed their twin daughters.)
The literary agent for Donna's story is attending BEA this weekend. And a busy agent she will be. Claire Gerus is shopping the book proposal for Bob Norman and Donna in addition to representing Stacy Dittrich, also a client. (WCI's Robin Sax, an L.A. County prosecutor, is yet another author Gerus represents. With BEA meeting in Los Angeles this year, Robin was able to join Stacy and Gerus for dinner last night.) This year's venue was timely for Stacy, whose detective series has caught the attention of the Academy Award-winning producer of
"It's very exciting and a little intimidating," Stacy told the Mansfield News Journal in a recent article announcing new developments in the veteran police officer's writing career. Donna's attitude is slightly more tempered. "I'm praying for a miracle--that Claire finds us a home. I know it doesn't usually happen that fast, but it could happen, right?"
Industry insiders who have weathered a turbulent year in publishing are less than enthusiastic. "I would anticipate a somewhat more subdued mood than in past years," HarperCollins publisher Steve Ross told reporters, speaking of "shake-ups and shakeouts and impending changes bad and good" in the book business. "I also expect the usual jockeying for possession of `The Next Big Book,'" he added, "since there are no clear candidates."
Stacy? . . . Donna? . . . Are those your hands we see waving in the air? . . . Have fun at BookExpo, "Where the world gathers to get a great READ on the industry."
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In 2006, Gang Land News carried the headline "The Party's Over for Paciello," a mob informant who traded Miami nightlife for Club Fed. Chris Paciello's party days might be over, but festivities for the film based on his life are just beginning. Tonight in Miami Beach, WCI's Michele McPhee will be the guest of honor at a soiree celebrating the production launch of UNMADE MAN, the feature film based on her best-selling true-crime book Mob Over Miami
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opranos co-star Joseph Gannascoli) plays real-life thug Chris Paciello, a former member of Brooklyn's "Bath Avenue Crew," a particularly violent cadre of Bonanno crime family henchmen. When Paciello left New York in the early '90s, he tried to reinvent himself in the club scene in Miami, where he 
became a "South Beach King," running the glitziest nightspots and dating women like Madonna (pictured together at right) and hanging out with stars like Jennifer Lopez and supermodel Naomi Campbell. Back home in New York, Paciello was the type of character real underworld figures had no respect for, but had occasional use for: "the type of man commonly found on the edges of organized crime, a fringe character who got some peculiar thrill or sense of power through his shady connections," Gay Talese wrote of another unmade Bonanno associate thirty years before Paciello assumed his own supporting role with the crime family. These types were never trusted "when situations were particularly dangerous," Talese added in Honor Thy Father: "types like [him] usually collapsed under pressure and could be coerced by the police into turning informer." History repeated itself with Paciello, who became a government witness.
"If Paciello did everything the government says he did," one of the former Club King's publicists told the Village Voice, "then he deserves an Oscar." Any acting awards won't be going to Paciello, 
who is doing his time at an undisclosed federal prison.
Michele McPhee (pictured left) was police bureau chief at the New York Daily News when she started covering the story. To learn how Michele became one of the nation's handful of women organized crime reporters, see her interview with South Beach Magazine.
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After the Ink Blotter chat today, tune in to The War on Crime's radio program between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. EDT. WCI's Policewoman/Novelist Stacy Dittrich is a guest on this week's show. Listeners can call in during the live broadcast: 347/838-9781. Visitors can also participate in an interactive discussion board. Sunday is your day to sound off. Meet us here at the Ink Blotter at 4:00 p.m. EDT then click over to http://www.thewaroncrime.blogspot.com/ and 
listen to Stacy. Other guests include CNN's Nancy Grace, and Susan Murphy-Milano, author and advocate for battered women. Today the women are discussing cases including the murder of Amy Giordano; the disappearance and suspected killing of Stacy Peterson; the recent appellate court decision concerning the 1982 conviction of former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal; and Women in Crime Ink. The War on Crime's Levi is hosting. They're taking calls now.Just because we're Women in Crime Ink doesn't mean we stay in front of our computers all the time. Far from it. Here's today's point of view from contributor
Diane Fanning--and it's not her screen saver:
Where in the world is Diane? She's a featured author at the Best Southwest Bookfest in Texas. Thursday night, Diane participated in a panel entitled "Booked on Crime: Working Together for Justice." Fellow panelists included UT Professor Dr. John W. Stickels of the Innocence Project of Texas . . . Kerry Max Cook, author of Chasing Justice: My Story About Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row . . . and Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins.
The panelists spoke on their work with the wrongfully convicted and what can be done to bring justice to those failed by our system. The motto of the Innocence Project is "Justice is truth in action." We're proud to have one of our contributors participating in that action.
The conference is open to the public. Events through Saturday.
For details, visit http://www.bestsouthwestbookfest.org/. See Diane's post on Kerry Max Cook here.
MURDER PROSECUTOR
FORENSICS SPECIALIST
WELCOME TO THE INK WELL: Women in Crime Ink's reservoir for story ideas and general commentary.
Keep this space filled with your thoughts so contributors can dip their cyber quills into whatever crime or media issues interest you.
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