This March’s meeting we’re get two great speakers for the price of one!  We’re pleased to welcome two long-time police offers from Tacoma, Greg Hopkins and Robert Luke.

Greg is recently retired from the Tacoma place department, where he served 31 years, and he is currently working for Port of Tacoma Security and acts as the Executive Director of the Hilltop Action Coalition where he continues to work with Tacoma area residents on neighborhood safety issues.

Robert is the Community Liason Officer for the Tacoma Police Department, where he has worked for 16 years. Over the past 12 years, Robert has been instrumental in driving out gang and drug activity (reducing crime by 60%).

With a combined 60 years of experience between these two long-time police officers, Greg and Robert have alot to share about fighting crime in a major urban market like Tacoma.

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP here at Eventbrite (doing so helps us prepare by knowing how many will attend).

When

Saturday, March 12th at 6:00 PM.

Where

Duke’s at Southcenter. (Find a map here).  Remember to RSVP if you plan to attend.

Speaker Bios

Greg Hopkins

Greg Hopkins recently retired from the Tacoma Police Dept after 31 years of service. During his career he was assigned to Patrol Division, School Liaison Division, where he had “Harvey the Talking Motorcycle” speaking to over 30,000 elementary school children about safety, and was assigned to Community Liaison Division, starting and coordinating the Drug House Elimination Task Force where he worked for 15 years dealing with gang and narcotics problems. This problem solving model has been replicated across the United States in helping communities deal with drug and gang problems.

He received numerous unit commendations and awards and also was awarded the Tacoma Police Dept Medal of Valor for heroism.

He is currently working for the Port of Tacoma Security Dept and is also the Executive Director of the Hilltop Action Coalition continuing to work with neighborhood residents on community safety issues.

Robert Luke

Robert Luke is currently working for the Tacoma Police Dept with 16 years of service; he also worked for the Kirkland Police Dept for 9 years prior to Tacoma and the Eagle County Sheriff’s office (around the Vail area) for 5 years before that, totaling 30 years of law enforcement experience

During his career he was assigned to Patrol Division, firearms instructor, field training officer and was assigned to the Community Liaison Division. During the past 12 years Robert has crafted the Neighborhood corrections initiative ( partnership between DOC and Police), Rewrote the SODA, SOAP orders and had the lead on the Housing first program

For the past he 12 years he battled in Tacoma’s  Hill Top area driving out the deeply rooted gangs and drug activity,  reducing crime by over 60%. This problem solving model and tenacity has creating a better living environment for thousands of people..

This month’s meeting should be a good one, as two northwest publishing experts speak and answer questions about the rapidly changing book-publishing scene from a Northwest perspective.

Also, for this month’s meeting we are returning to our old haunt, Duke’s at Southcenter.   See you there!

Here are the details. As always, remember to one-click register for the event at Eventbrite (it helps us to get an accurate attendee count).

The Changing Northwest Publishing Scene

Speakers: Rosemary Jones & Phoebe Matthews

Description: Regional and small press publishing is exploding. More writers are inspired to work with local publishers and some are even venturing into the business themselves. Explore the opportunities for new markets as well as a possible home for old works. Rosemary Jones is the web editor for Book Publishers Northwest (www.bpnw.org), a 30-year-old trade association for publishers in Washington, and a professional member of Science Fiction Writers of America. She has written two novels for Wizards of the Coast in their best-selling Forgotten Realms line while her short stories have appeared in a half dozen anthologies in the past two years.  Phoebe Matthews is the award-winning author of the Mudflat series and the upcoming Turning Vampire series. Her novels have been published by Scholastic, Dell, Avon, Silhouette, Holt, and others. Together Jones and Matthews co-authored a series of books on collecting books published by Schroeder and are partners in Lost Loves Books, a new e-publisher.

Location: Duke’s at Southcenter (map here)

Date and Time: Saturday, February 12th, 5-7 PM

Please register here if you plan to come (it takes two seconds and it gives us accurate attendee counts)

UPDATED: Please note the location is now BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse (directions can be found here).

Ok, holidays are about over, so that means its time meeting time again!

And for this January we have a real treat. Our speaker is Neil Low, Seattle police captain and mystery author.

The meeting will be on January the 22nd at 6 PM at the’Southcenter Duke‘s BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse. If you plan on attending, please RSVP here

Through the use of a little Unreasonable Persuasion, NW Mystery author and Seattle police captain Neil Low is fighting crime in novel ways and earning the support of local mystery fans along the way. Released by Tigress Publishing on September 18th, Unreasonable Persuasion ended September as the #1 best selling mystery trade paperback sold in Seattle (Independent Mystery Booksellers Association).

The Alan Stewart Mystery Series novels offer a unique glimpse into Seattle’s past. From shady hotels to catacombs under Chinatown and real-life local murder mysteries, Low expertly weaves elements of Seattle’s colorful past into the exploits of 1940’s Seattle Private Investigator Alan Stewart. Since his debut novel Thick as Thieves (Tigress Publishing, 2008), Neil has been receiving solid praise and attention. Noted true crime author Ann Rule strongly endorsed Low’s debut, ‘No one can write about cops and robbers like a real police officer. When they are good they are very, very good, and Captain Neil Low is very good as he magically captures another era in his new book.’ Thick as Thieves, the first installment in the Alan Stewart Mystery Series ended 2008 as the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association’s #3 trade paperback sold in Seattle. Low’s follow-up novel Sign of the Dragon (Tigress Publishing, 2009) ended 2009 at the #2 position.

Neil is currently the Night Duty Commander for the Seattle Police Department.

http://www.neillow.com/

Once again, if you plan on attending, please RSVP here so we can get accurate count of attendees:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1159378733