Unpublished authors of fiction: here's your opportunity to get your short story published in our 2012 LIM Program Guide!

THE RULES

1. Only those authors who have never published fiction in any medium are eligible.

2. The story must be in the crime, suspense, thriller, or horror genres.

3. Maximum word count-5,000 words.  No minimum.

4. Manuscript must be double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, page numbered, with cover sheet that includes your name and contact information (especially e-mail).

5. Put the TITLE at the top of page 1 or in the header (after the cover sheet) but do not put the author's name or contact info on any page except the cover page so that judges do not know who wrote the stories until judging is finished.
6. Mail three copies of the manuscript to:

Susan Gibberman

Love is Murder Short Story Submissions

Schaumburg Township District Library

130 S. Roselle Road

Schaumburg, IL  60193

Deadline: entries must be postmarked no later than October 15, 2011.

Winner will be announced in November 2011. Good luck!-and remember, "You can't win if you don't enter!"

Love is Murder is pleased to announce the return of the "Those Were the Days Radio Players," who will perform on Friday evening, Feb. 3, at Love Is Murder 2012. This terrific ensemble was a huge hit at Love Is Murder 2011, and we're happy to welcome  them back for an encore. On the playbill for LIM Number 13: "The Undead" and vignettes from "Lights Out".

Those Were the Days Radio Players is a group of people who love old-time radio drama and comedy. To preserve this vanishing art form, they travel around the Chicagoland area performing scripts from old-time radio shows in much the same manner as they were performed in radio studios for broadcast to the listening audiences of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. The Radio Players were brought together in 1992 through the efforts of now-retired Chuck Schaden, whose program Those Were the Days airs on Saturday afternoons from 1:00-5:00 on WDCB-FM and is hosted by Steve Darnell. 

On that cold February Saturday at River North, more than a hundred people braved the minus-thirty degree weather to hear Chuck announce the formation of a group to present radio recreations. Wally Cwik and his wife Rosemary, who previously ran the Park Ridge Players, were asked to lead the TWTD Northwest Ensemble. Wally and Rosemary passed the torch to Ed and Barb Swanson a couple of years back, but remain involved with the ensemble. We're glad to have them back for LIM 2012!

Saturday Night Special

On Saturday evening, Feb. 4, Love Is Murder 2012 proudly presents "Lines A la Carte," by the Mixed Company Troupe-an interactive theatre experience where the audience is part of the action. An audience volunteer, with assistance from the director through a handy earbud microphone, gets a starring role in a dinner-theatre production where he or she is the only one with no idea what's coming next. Let the whimsy ensue...

Mystery writer and movie director Sasha d'Or delivers the goods, with the help of a talented ensemble cast and a dedicated sound team. The Mixed Company Troupe offers a unique brand of dinner theatre that keeps the laughs coming. We're pleased to welcome them to their Love Is Murder debut.

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Triskaidekaphobia means fear of the number 13. What's so scary about a number? Depends on who you ask. One tradition traces fear of 13 to the Last Supper, a Passover seder where Jesus dined with the twelve apostles. Twelve plus one equals thirteen... and two deaths subsequently occurred, both directly associated with that dinner. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to the Romans, which led to the Crucifixion, and Judas was so overcome with remorse that he hanged himself.

Norse myth has a similar story of death at the dinner table. Twelve of the gods were feasting at Valhalla-among them Balder, god of light, joy and reconciliation. The evil god Loki (number 13!) crashed the party and tricked Balder's blind brother into throwing a sprig of mistletoe at Balder's chest. Mistletoe was the only earthly thing fatal to Balder, and the touch of it killed him.

Thirteen was long thought to be the necessary number of witches for a coven. And tradition has it that the number 13 is lucky for one group of people-southpaws. Of course, left-handedness has its own folkloric connection with the unsettling... the Latin word sinistra, meaning "left," is the root word for "sinister."

  Watch for interviews with LIM 2012 Featured Authors beginning with the September newsletter