The Magnolia Award Goes To . . .

By Chester Campbell

One of our own was honored last Saturday night at the 2009 Killer Nashville Mystery Conference dinner. The Magnolia Award, which is given annually in recognition of outstanding dedication and service to the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America (SEMWA), was presented to Beth Terrell, who blogs here on Thursdays.

The award was presented by Karen McCullough, president of the Chapter. Beth worked tirelessly for months helping put together the myriad of details required to get the conference and its program ready. Clay Stafford, conference producer, said Beth was the indispensable person he could not have done without.

Killer Nashville is co-sponsored by SEMWA and serves as the Chapter’s main educational event for the year. McCullough was host for a Chapter gathering at the hotel on Friday night.

Beth and I have been members of a Nashville writers group for the past 15 or so years. She is an accomplished mystery writer and a great editor. At our twice-monthly meetings, she can be counted on to offer both encouraging praise and focused criticism that suggests ways the story can be improved.

She works fulltime, and the effort required to get everything ready for the conference severely reduced the amount of time she could devote to her writing. During the days leading up to the opening of Killer Nashville, she was lucky to get in four hours of sleep.

In addition to all her other duties, Beth is serving in her second year as Vice President of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of Sisters in Crime. I nominate her for the Murderous Musings Tenacious Spirit of the Year Award.