MIRROR MIRROR...WHO'S THE NEXT TO DIE?

This entry comes from one of the featured authors at this year's conference, Cher'ley Grogg and when you are finished reading, make sure to leave a comment, I am sure she will answer you back.

 

A novel set in the present day Chicago and Chicago in the year 1923. A serial killer is on the lose now and the case is eerily similar to a cold case from 1923.

 

Prologue

 

     The nose that pressed against the glass at O'Hare International belonged to an normal looking man who kept his eyes glued to the plane as it landed smoothly and taxied up to the terminal.

       He looked like any professional commuting from city to city, nothing remarkable stood out.  Nothing remarkable, except for his intense stare, the way he lowered his chin, and the pucker of his mouth as he pressed his upper lip over his lower lip. He did this when he was concentrating hard, like some people stick their tongue out the side of their mouth when performing a difficult task. His lip action forced the flesh of his lower lip between his teeth. He ignored the pain as he bit the inside of his lip and his concentration remained unbroken as his clenched fist caused his fingernails to dig into his soft, smooth palms.

  His heart quickened as he waited for Maria Gonzales to file out with the other
passengers. They looked like cattle going to slaughter. He could be watching for any of
them. She deserved the title of Miss New Mexico, and she deserved more. He'd give he

more. If she would accept it, he'd give her more.

 

Make sure you hop over to her website to see more, http://cherley.webs.com/guestbook.htm

Meet the volunteers

Today we want to introduce you to the group of ladies that are helping us put on the C3 Conference.

These ladies jumped; well maybe jumped isn't the right word but they walked; very slowly, towards being volunteers to help put this confernce together.

With all of their knowledge and expertise, they have brought great ideas to the meetings and have also taken on responsiblities that most people would have run away from.

Deliah Lawrence is not only an author but she is our Master Scheduler and Author Liason. She will work with the authors and the on-site book store to make sure that the titles that the attending authors want to sign will be there when they arrive. She is also working on putting together the schedule of sessions/panels that the authors will sit on. This is a huge undertaking and we want to salute her for taking on this huge role.

Cynthia Lauth is our registration coordianator. She tirelessly works the registration part of our website. She contacts the authors when they have forgotten to make their meal choice or have forgotten to press the submit button to enter their choice of payment.

Juli Monroe is our Intrigue Pub twitter guru. She is on Twitter everyday putting the word out and making sure that @IntriguePub is being seen by the people that need information about our conference.

Ann Arbaugh is our volunteer coordinator. She will be working with our volunteers and recruiting volunteers. She will be one of the people you will see running around during the conference making sure that our guests are being taken care of properly.

We have all gotten so excited about this conference that we meet regularly to talk about the new things that are happening or that we want to happen.

This group of dedicated workers will be there to meet and greet you on Friday and they will be easy to spot. They will all have one their C3 shirts.

See you in September!

Memoriable First

I’m Ann Arbaugh and I’m happy to join Intrigue Publishing and the C3 Board as the Conference Volunteer Coordinator.  

My first professional experience with Conferences was back in 2006.
Austin’s wife, Denise, was the Maryland Writers Association Conference Coordinator.  She put out a call for volunteers and I stepped in. I thought I’d be helping with a small task, but Denise really needed someone to organize all the volunteers. No problem, I said.  

Sometimes it’s better not to know how big a job really is becaue you don’t have time to talk yourself out of it.  

There were many communications about which volunteer to assign to what position, how many people were needed, and many other details that needed attention. Yes, there were even a few emails from Denise.  She was afraid I’d back out.

Not a chance. 

The weeks passed quickly. 

Conference day was filled with meeting new people, running up stairs, and making sure everyone was in place. The facility didn’t have catering, so we took care of the food on our own.  I had to make regular runs between coolers and our rooms, bottled water filling my arms, making sure that our moderators didn’t run dry. 

I sat in on several sessions for minutes while catching my breath. 

At the end of the day, we relaxed at a cocktail hour. Everyone who worked the conference was tired. I felt like I’d been in a whirlwind all day. My brain was fried and I wondered how I did as a first-time volunteer coordinator.  

Then Denise came up and repeated what one attendee told her – “This was your best conference ever.” 

That’s all I needed to hear. 

Since that time, I’ve attended many local conferences and retreats in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Each one was put together by a great team of volunteers. 

Flash forward to August 2012 and a short email from Denise asking if I’d like to help Intrigue Publishing with the C3 Conference. Being cautious, I asked for more info. I checked the website and was very impressed. 

Three days...Lots of sessions... Hunt Valley Inn... And Jeffrey Deaver? Seriously? My reply email said “sign me up”. 

Every C3 meeting makes me more excited about the Conference. Ideas are coming together. My job, so far, is to add ideas and thoughts regarding our volunteers. My real work begins in a few months. 

For now, I’m going to sit back and pick up another Deaver novel.

My assignment is to read several books by each of our guests by the time September arrives. 

Why don’t you pull up a chair and join me.

Which authors will you be reading?