News and Appearances

MINNEAPOLIS VISIT--Sept. 18-20, 2009

Joanna will be appearing at Scrapfest at Mall of America in Minneapolis to sign copies of PAPER, SCISSORS, DEATH (Book #1) and CUT, CROP & DIE (Book #2). Be sure to stop by the Archivers store at Mall of America, and visit me on Friday (September 18) from 9am to 1pm, and Saturday (September 19) from 9am to 1pm, on Sunday (September 20) from 11am to 3pm. On Friday after 2pm, she'll be signing at the Barnes & Noble store there at MOA. That evening at 6pm, she’ll stop by Uncle Edgar’s Mystery Bookstore in Minneapolis to sign books. In the evening on Saturday, she'll stop at a crop at Scrapbooks Too, 10518 France Ave S, Bloomington, Minnesota.

ONLINE AT SPOTTED CANARY--Sept. 17, 2009, and every Monday for six consecutive weeks.

Join Joanna every Monday at 8am EST, starting on September 21, at http://www.spottedcanary.com/ in "The Cat That Ate the Canary" Forum. She'll be dispensing clues that may win you prizes or a chance at IMMORTALITY. Yes, you could win the chance to be a character in Book #3 of the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mystery Series.

FREDRICK, MD--Oct. 3, 2009

On October 3, Joanna will visit "In the Streets" at the Frederick, Maryland city-wide festival--details will be in our blog, but she's planning to team up with Queenie D, who runs Queenie D's Book Club Blog. There will be prizes!

INDIANAPOLIS, IN--Oct. 15-18, 2009

Meet the Killer Hobbies Blog Sisters at Bouchercon, October 15-18 in Indianapolis IN. (Go to http://www.bouchercon2009.com/ for registration details.) On Thursday, Oct. 15 at 9am, Joanna Campbell Slan will moderate a panel featuring Margaret Grace and Betty Hechtman from our blog http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/ ! Then join us and learn the crafts we love so much: Visit the Bouchercon Craft Room on Thurs./Oct. 15 from 10:30am to 11:25am, Monica Ferris will teach "How to Make a Cross Stitched Bookmark"; 1:30pm to 2:25 p.m. Margaret Grace will teach "How to Make Miniature Flowers"; 3pm to 3:55pm Betty Hechtman will teach "How to Make a Crocheted Molly Pink Dishcloth." On Sat./ Oct.17, Joanna Campbell Slan will teach "How to Make a Scrapbook Page." Join us on Sunday, October 18 for the Book Bazaar--Joanna will be giving away copies of one of her Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mysteries.

Queenie D's Review of Cut, Crop & Die

It's not often you get reviewed by royalty. Queenie D gives her take on Cut, Crop & Die here http://www.book-club-queen.com/cut.html

Here's an interview we did together: http://www.book-club-queen.com/cut.html

I must admit, I shared a lot more about my characters with Queenie than I have in the past. I'm curious to hear what my fans think about my future plans.

After we corresponded by email, I learned she and I are almost neighbors! So I'm planning to visit with her and her friends at the "In the Streets" celebration in Frederick MD on September 26. Stay tuned for details.

On Thursday at 8 a.m. EST, check out the forum at http://www.spottedcanary.com/ I'll be announcing details of a new contest where the winner gets to name a character in Book #4 of the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-n-Craft Mystery series.

I'm heading out this Thursday for Scrapfest at Mall of America, Minneapolis. I'll be signing up at the Archivers store on Thursday, Sept. 18, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m, on Friday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m, and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. I'll also be stopping in at Scrapbooks Too for the evening crop Saturday night, as well as dropping by Uncle Edgar's to sign books. For details, visit http://www.booktour.com/ and put in my name.

Meanwhile, I'll try to get my Fall 2009 newsletter out to all of you. Be sure to sign up at my website http://www.joannaslan.com/Have a great fall!

The Real Deal

"Do you really scrapbook?"

That was the question I answered most frequently over my three days at ScrapFest, the nation's largest scrapbooking get together up at Mall of America. As I stood there in the Archivers' flagship store, all I could do was grin. I knew why folks were asking. They wanted to know if I REALLY knew what I was writing about in my book Paper, Scissors, Death or whether I was, gulp, a pretender.

Well, folks, let me be clear: I scrapbook. In fact, I scrapbook a lot. And my husband can tell you, I'm addicted! I have way too much paper and all sorts of toys. I have probably thirty albums. I know how to use PhotoShop Elements (some!). I have even taught scrapbooking here at CKU (Creating Keepsakes University), at what used to be called HIA (Hobby Institute of America, now combined with another convention to be CHA), on cruise ships, and in the UK. I also teach scrapbook journaling online for Writers Online Workshops. (I wrote the class for that one.)

Oh, and I am the author of seven scrapbooking "how to" books, and countless articles on the subject that have appeared in Creating Keepsakes, Memory Makers, Scrapbook Trends, ScrapBook inspirations, and the now defunct PaperKuts. So...yeah...I scrapbook.And you can see some of my pages at http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ Click through to the Archives and look at the free scrapbook magazine I've been producing for years. Coming soon...as some of you suggested...I'll put a gallery up on one of my websites!