Fall is falling, temps are dropping, and we’re all gathered around our homefires, writing up a storm — and hoping it’s not too stormy where you are! A few highlights:

Several of us attended the 23d annual Flathead River Writers Conference in Kalispell in late September. A weekend filled with advice on craft and publishing, hands-on workshops, critiques, and inspiration — just what we needed! Planning’s already begun for the 24th conference, Sept 27-28, 2014. Join us!

CHRISTINE SCHIMPFF-CARBO has landed a two-book deal with Atria Books/Simon and Schuster for her mystery Unbreakable Wild set in Glacier National Park and featuring a lead investigator from the Department of the Interior. The book will debut under the name Christine Carbo in early 2015.

MARIE F. MARTIN had a very successful promotion on Harbored Secrets this last month.  After that Amazon notified her of two typos.  E-gads.  They are now fixed and the corrected version uploaded.  She is working on a revision to a story she wrote years back.  If it goes well, The Pinkum Creekers will be her next story available on Kindle some time next summer.

KAREN WILLS’ new novel, Remarkable Silence, An Archaeological Thriller,  will be on sale on November 29 on Kindle. The book illustrates the dangers of blind faith and its effects on the world.

LESLIE BUDEWITZ participated in the Humanities Montana Festival of the Book in Missoula in early October. In an hour devoted to Montana mysteries and thrillers, she talked about Death al Dente and gave a short reading, followed by Keith McCafferty of Bozeman and Gary Cook from Polson. She also participated in a panel discussion with four other Montana novelists — Keith McCafferty, Emily Jane Miller, Peter Rock (now living in Portland), and Russell Rowland (who grew up in Billings one  street over from Leslie!). Talk ranged from research in the novel to food in fiction — Leslie’s favorite topic — to discussions of pace, place, point of view, and plot The Festival celebrates fiction, nonfiction, and poetry with a Montana focus — the perfect place to discover new books!

And you can hear Leslie on the radio!  The Write Question, a weekly half-hour interview program of KUFM – Montana Public Radio, featured Leslie on October 17; the interview is still available for streaming or download as a podcast here.

Crime Rib, the second book in the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, now has a publication date: July 1, 2014. Meanwhile, Leslie’s scribbling away on the first book in her Seattle Spice Shop Mysteries, tentatively titled Spiced to Death and set for release in March 2015.

Saturday November 2, Drs. Betty Kuffel and Kathleen Lewison, two Whitefish physicians will present at a health education event open to the public at The Springs at Whitefish, 1001 River Lakes Parkway. The event is jointly sponsored by North Valley Hospital. Dr. Lewison is an OB/GYN women’s healthcare specialist with the Alpine Women’s Center. Her topic is: Health Effects of Menopause. Dr. Kuffel is an author and internal medicine specialist who has recently published Your Heart – Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease in Women, Men and Children. Heart disease is preventable but remains the leading cause of death in adults. Risk factors, differences in heart disease between women and men, along with healthy choices and weight control will be presented. There will be a book signing following the program.

Watch for this month’s publication of the Health Link for Montanans magazine. There will be a feature article on heart disease prevention and an interview with Dr. Kuffel.

If you are an early bird, tune in to KGEZ AM 600. Dr. Kuffel has been invited to participate in a radio segment and talk about heart disease prevention and her new book.

Fall is a great time for reading — and especially for reading Montana Women Writers!