Friday, August 10, 2007

Do You Know 50 Ways to Catch a Killer?

by Joanna Campbell Slan

Sisters in Crime’s Forensic University of St. Louis

Do you know 50 ways to catch a killer?

If you don’t, here’s help: Sisters in Crime’s Forensic University of St. Louis, November 1-4, 2007, at the St. Louis Airport Hilton, St. Louis, MO.

My co-chair Michelle Becker and I invite all of you to meet us in St. Louis for an entertaining and informative two and a half days of intense education in the fine art of…well, catching bad guys. Our fabulous four headliners will be: Jan Burke, Eileen Dreyer, Dr. D. P. Lyle, and Detective Lee Lofland (retired).

During the day: You’ll be learning side by side with multi-published authors seeking to improve their knowledge of forensics and law enforcement techniques. Choose from sessions on forensic entomology, odontology, toxicology, and anthropology; DNA; the use of force; trauma and wounds; cold case investigations; forensic canines; bomb and arson investigations; undercover tactics; police procedure; medicolegal death investigation; interpreting impressions; writing realistic fight scenes; warrants and searches; interpretation of blood spatter patterns; and a history of forensic sciences.

At the end of each day: You’ll hear tips for incorporating what you’ve learned into your work.

On Friday night, choose from a variety of great outings: Pick up Texas Hold’em tips from “The Pianoman,” and try your luck at one of our local casinos. OR if you are a music lover go to Chuck Berry’s Blueberry Hill or visit a local jazz club. OR contact our Forensic U concierge to plan the perfect outing for you! (Don’t forget St. Louis is the home of a fabulous zoo, art museum, history museum, botanical garden, and the Arch, as well as the largest collection of mosaics in the world. Just tell our concierge what your interests are, and she’ll point you in the right direction. From belly-dancing to breweries, we’ve got it all.)

On Saturday night, join us for A Muddy Brew-Ha-Ha, the auction and party to benefit the Crime Lab Project Foundation. Bid on such items as a Jack Reacher toothbrush,
signed books by a variety of authors, critiques from published authors, consultation time with a forensic scientist, a brick from Edgar Allan Poe’s home, and deadly jewelry.

There’s never been a conference like this—and we’re halfway to our maximum number of attendees, so go online to http://sistersincrime.org/ForensicU to sign up.

See you in St. Louis!

Joanna Campbell Slan
Questions? Email me at joannaslan@aol.com

Joanna Campbell Slan is the author of numerous books on scrapbooking, including Scrapbook Storytelling and The Scrapbooker's Journaling Companion. She is also the author of I'm Too Blessed to be Depressed and Bless This Mess. Her first Kiki Lowenstein Scrapbooking mystery, Over Exposed will be published by Midnight Ink, Fall of 2008. In Summer 2009, watch for Scraplifted, the second in the series.

14 comments:

Joyce Tremel said...

Okay. I'm going to ask the question. Where/how in the world did you end up with a Jack Reacher toothbrush?

Anonymous said...

Joyce, a good girl doesn't kiss and tell.

Anonymous said...

You guys are aware that I'm on a quest to nab Jack Reacher, right? In fact, I'm pretty sure we're going to have him in custody and on trial for the CrimeBake conference in Massachusetts later this year.

Lee Child is going to play the part of Reacher and I'm assuming the role of the detective in the mock trial of Jack Reacher.

The Forensic University is really going to be one of the greatest conferences of its kind anywhere. I know I've planned some pretty intensive workshops and I can only imagine what some of the others will be like. The "A" list of experts appearing there is staggering. I can't wait.

Anonymous said...

Darn! Darn! Darn! I REALLY want to go to this, but it doesn't seem in the cards for me in November due to location. Can you relocate it to Pittsburgh? Wishful thinking...

Joyce Tremel said...

That's what I was thinking, Kristine. Anything out of town is not in the budget!

Anonymous said...

Come on folks. Save your pennies and join in on the fun!

Ramona said...

I'm confused. (No surprise there, I know.)

Is this forensics university the same thing as the police academy for writers I see tossed about?

Joyce Tremel said...

It's different, Ramona. If we ever did a police academy for writers, it would probably be less forensics oriented and geared more to how the every day police dept works.

On another note, if anyone hasn't seen Lee's blog post over at TLC, I suggest you check it out!

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

I had the opportunity to interview Lee Child for the Love Is Murder newsletter, so I gathered my courage and asked. You know, since I wasn't asking for anything for myself--but for a good cause--it wasn't as hard as you might guess. His webmaven Maggie was very kind and sent five!

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

About the price...have you seen our room rates? Or the conference cost? And remember, we're smack-dab in the center of the nation. Besides, St. Louis is GORGEOUS in the fall, and you can always count on great sports action. Plus we have a world-class zoo, science center, children's museum, botanical garden, art museum and history museum with Charles Lindbergh artifacts. Bring the family! There may never be another conference like this--because I might drop dead or get killed co-chairing it!

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

To learn more about who our faculty is go to http://forustl.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Hey Joanna. Was that Maggie Griffin you were speaking of in your post?

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Yes, sir. It sure 'tis. She's been a real sweetheart. I'm posting my interview with Lee Child on the http://midnightwriters.blogspot.com on Monday, August 20. Well, the first half at least.

Anonymous said...

Maggie is great. She's been pretty helpful to me from time-to-time.