On Monday, April 21, 2025, Vinnie will be one of the readers at the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s watercooler meeting. If you’re a member, tune in via Zoom at 4 p.m. Pacific Time. Vinnie will be sharing the start of her story “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” originally published in Gabba Gabba Hey: An Anthology of Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Ramones (Fahrenheit Press). This story was selected by Barb Goffman to be reprinted in Black Cat Weekly. It is available for $.99 online at all the usual vendors of e-books.
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This Wednesday, April 9th, at 10:30 a.m. Vinnie will join other authors in Santa Cruz Ghost Stories to discuss the inspirations for our tales: Porter Memorial Library, 3050 Porter Street, in Soquel.
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March 12-16, 2025, Vinnie will be at Left Coast Crime 2025 in Denver! You can find her:
TH: Leading her “Stash the Stiff” Author/Reader Connection, 1:15-2
F: Moderating “The Joys & Challenges of Writing Short Fiction” with panelists Susan Alice Bickford, Kerry Hammond, Tom Larsen, and Francelia Belton.
Sat: Participating as a panelist with Catriona McPherson, Audrey Lee, and Mary Birk on “Psychological Suspense,” moderated by Ellen Kirschman.
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Join the launch for Gone Fishin’, the Eighth Guppy Anthology, on Feb. 17th. The anthology contains Vinnie’s story “Downward Dog.”
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Join the NorCal Sisters in Crime for their Fall Showcase at Orinda Books, an opportunity to learn about new crime fiction and to hear the authors read. There will be 11 authors featured.
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Santa Cruz Ghost Stories
A panel presentation with authors Nicole Anderson, Vinnie Hansen, Ed Weingold, Ed Sams, Victoria Kazarian, Helene SImpkin Jara, and Nancy Lynn Jarvis.
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Get Shorty: How to Pursue a Short Story
A free Coastal Cruisers Zoom presentation with Vinnie Hansen in conversation with Thena MacArthur. Register with the above link.
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A Mind for Mystery
An MWA NorCal Event
September 7, 1:30-3 PM, San Jose Public Library
Vinnie Hansen, Heather Haven, Leslie Karst, & Laurie R. King (m), will talk about how they work, how they got started, and what a person needs today to make it in the mystery world. At the Dr. Martin Luther King Library, 150 E. San Fernando St, room 255.
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On Thursday, August 22, at 7 pm, Vinnie will be in conversation with fellow Level Best Book author Karin Fitz Sanford as she launches Running on Empty, her second Wine Country Cold Case Mystery at Copperfield’s in Santa Rosa. Who knows, the re-release of One Gun might be available by then, too. If you live in the area, please join them. For more details, open the link.
https://www.copperfieldsbooks.com/event/karin-fitz-sanford-vinnie-hansen
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April 27th is Independent Bookstore Day! Come on down to Bookshop Santa Cruz to celebrate, starting at 9 a.m. with FREE coffee from Verve! See which reads local authors–myself included–recommend. There will be a scavenger hunt! Prizes! Fun! Books!
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Left Coast Crime: Seattle Shakedown is just around the corner, April 11-14th. On Thursday, Vinnie will be offering her first ever Author/Reader Connection called “Stash the Stiff.” In the evening, NorCal Sisters in Crime will have its hard launch of Invasive Species, which contains her story “Coming Attractions.” BTW if you missed the April 6th event (see previous post), you missed a really fun video production put together by Terry Shepherd and Danna Wilberg! On Saturday 10:15-11 Vinnie will be moderating the panel “The Whole Story in a Single Sitting: Short Fiction that Satisfies” with the terrific cast: Chris Dreith, Smita Harish Jain, Steve Steinbock and Merrilee Robson. On Sunday 10:15-11, she’ll help to close up shop by sitting on the panel “Is It Indie or Is It . . .”
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Please put Saturday, April 6, 2024, on your calendar for the soft launch of Invasive Species, the new anthology from the NorCal Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Vinnie’s story, “Coming Attractions,” features some truly creepy futuristic invaders. You can join the fun via Zoom. Sign up here. The presentation runs from 1-2:30.
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As part of Santa Cruz Libraries’ Mystery Month, Vinnie will be participating in two events, a presentation by authors published in Santa Cruz Noir: October 19th, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at Branciforte Library and Thrills and Chills, a mystery panel, on October 21st, 2-3:30, at Capitola Library. Other panelists include Laurie R. King, Peggy Townsend, and Jack Erickson with Ron Cook moderating. Please note that the event at the Capitola Library can be attended in person or via Zoom but requires registration. See the library’s page.
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Vinnie Hansen will be in-conversation with New York Times bestselling author Karen McManus, August 3, 2023, 7 p.m. at Bookshop Santa Cruz. View the full details here.
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Local friends, check out this upcoming event!
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The NorCal Chapter of Sisters in Crime has two showcases each year for authors with new publications. These are fun events where I’ve often discovered books to add to my to-read pile. Please join us in person at our Spring Showcase, or, if you can not be in Orinda, the event will be broadcast via Zoom. Sign-up in advance is required. Twelve authors will be reading/presenting. The tremendous ladies not shown in the image below are: Heather Haven, Katherine Bolger Hyde, Leslie Karst, Claudia Long, T.E. MacArthur, Nannette Potter, Cindy Sample, and Susan Shea.
Vinnie’s story “Room and Board” will be included in this gorgeous anthology, The Dark Waves of Winter, alongside works by greats like Lawrence Block. With a perfect noir touch, the book will launch on Friday the 13th (of January) in Hermosa Beach in the spot where the finale of “Carrie” was filmed with bloody Sissy Spacek marching down the long, exterior staircase!
No longer a school, 710 Pier Avenue is now the site of the Hermosa Beach Museum. The launch event begins there at 6 p.m. Vinnie and several other authors will be on hand to read delectably dark tales that defy the notion of a warm, sunny beach.
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Archived Virtual Events:
Mystery Writers of America NorCal panel: “In Short Order: Short Stories from Inception to Ink,” featuring Vinnie and John Floyd
March 11, 2023
Click here to view this presentation.
Bookshop Santa Cruz One Gun launch, featuring Vinnie in conversation with Susan Bickford
June 28, 2022