Mystery Writers of America - New York Chapter

Chapter meeting: Member spotlight on Tessa Wegert and Michael Bradley
2023-07-11 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join the meeting.
Meeting ID: 262 805 3239
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Chapter meeting: Crime Craft (crime WITHOUT murder)
2023-06-06 18:00 - 20:00
Join the discussion on Zoom.

Chapter meeting: Dinner and talk by marketing guru Eva Lesko Natiello
2023-05-22 17:00 - 22:00 | Slattery’s Midtown Pub, 8 E. 36th Street, New York, NY, United States
Speaker: NY Times bestselling author and marketing dynamo Eva Lesko Natiello at Slattery’s Midtown Pub, 8 E. 36th Street.
Topic: Marketing your book!
Tickets are $35. Price includes appetizers, buffet dinner and desserts. There will be a cash bar
Register at EventBrite.

Member readings at KGB Bar (also Zoomed)
2023-05-16 19:00 - 21:00 | KGB Bar, 85 E 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003
Join us to listen to member readings in person at KGB Bar or online.
Here’s the Zoom link.

The bios of the authors reading:
Joseph Amiel
Joseph Amiel is an internationally best-selling novelist (A Question of Proof, Deeds, Birthright and others), but recently has been writing short stories, some of which are collected in Death Can Delight:A Trio of Murderous Mysteries. He attended Amherst College and Yale Law School, but has not practiced law since the publication of his first novel.
David Bushman
David Bushman is the author of five books, including this year’s Murder at Teal’s Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks (Thomas + Mercer) and Forget It, Jake, It’s Schenectady: The True Story Behind ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ (Fayetteville Mafia Press). He spent twenty-five years as a television curator at the Paley Center for Media and before that was a TV editor at Variety. He is also cofounder and editor at Fayetteville Mafia Press, an indie publisher specializing in pop culture, true crime, and sports.
Gary Cahill
Gary Cahill writes short stories revealing themselves from the decidedly shady side of the street. His first effort, That Kind Of Guy, was published as a Black Mask selection in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. His second foray into the dark, Corner Of River And Rain, appeared in Short-Story.Me Genre Fiction and was an editor/publisher nomination for the storySouth Million Writers Award, honoring the best online short stories. Subsequent work has appeared in print, online, and audio formats with Pulp Empire, The First Line Literary Magazine, Pulp Magazine’s print anthology The Kennedy Curse, the fabulous Shotgun Honey, volumes I,II and III, the ahead of it’s time podcast, and the print omnibus of the lamented Plan B Magazine, and a featured cover story of rampant nefarity in Manhattan’s Chinatown and at a Cape Cod beach with Mystery Magazine, among other venues.He is currently prepping for an assortment of baking and cooking faceoffs, and is hoping to present as gritty, funny, horrific, and poetic in his victory, and/or concession, speeches.He can be found as a full-time staff member at the Weehawken N.J. Public Library, and hanging out at an Upside Pizza near you.
T.M. Dunn
PATRICIA DUNN, aka T.M. DUNN, is author of Her Father’s Daughter, a psychological thriller (Crooked Lane Books, July 18, 2023), Rebels by Accident (Sourcebooks Fire), and Last Stop on the 6 (Bordighera Press). Dunn has served as Senior Director of the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, where she holds an MFA in creative writing. She teaches and coaches aspiring and established writers. Dunn lives in Stamford, Connecticut where she is currently working on her next novel, with her rescue puppy Blanqui snuggled at her side.
Teel James Glenn
Teel James Glenn has killed hundreds and been killed more times–on stage and screen, as he has traveled the world for forty-plus years as a stuntman, swordmaster, storyteller, bodyguard, actor, and haunted house barker. He is proud to have studied sword under Errol Flynn’s last Stunt double and been beaten up by Hawk on Spenser for Hire TV show. He has published dozens of novels and his poetry and stories have been printed in over two hundred magazines including Weird Tales, Mystery, Pulp Adventures, Blazing Adventures and Sherlock Holmes Mystery. His novel A Cowboy in Carpathia: A Bob Howard Adventure won best novel 2021 in the Pulp Factory Award. He is also the winner of the 2012 Pulp Ark Award for Best Author. And he was a finalist for the Derringer short mystery award in 2022. and his novel “Callback for a Corpse” was a second place winner in the CWR Poll as best mystery.
A.J. Sidransky
A.J. Sidransky writes about ordinary people faced with extraordinary situations and events. His work has been well received by both readers and reviewers. Genres include mystery, thriller, and historical fiction. His work has been described as mystery wrapped in history and tied in a bow with a little romance. His publish works include, Forgiving Maximo Rothman, The Interpreter, and Stealing a Summer’s Afternoon. His next book, Incident at San Miguel, a thriller set during the Cuban Revolution will be released in May 2023. His name is pronounced Sid-RAN-ski. His preferred pronouns are he/him/his.

Chapter meeting: Member spotlight on Bernett, Weisfeld and Salzberg
2023-05-02 18:00 - 20:00
Three chapter members step into the Spotlight to discuss their work and join in a Q&A session. Daniella Bernett, Vicki Weisfeld and Charles Salzberg.
Click the Zoom link to join.

Chapter meeting: Crime Craft (historical crime)
2023-04-04 18:00 - 20:00
Gary Earl Ross leads the discussion. Click to join the meeting.

Chapter meeting: Member spotlight on Cioffari, Faherty and Glenn
2023-03-07 18:00 - 20:00
Join the monthly membership meeting via Zoom.
Three members will be in the spotlight: Philip Cioffari, JG Faherty and Teel James Glenn.

After tending to chapter business, we will have brief presentations by, and a discussion among, members Philip Cioffari, JG Faherty and Teel James Glenn. Discussion of their work will be followed by Q&A.

Member readings at KGB Bar (also Zoomed)
2023-02-21 19:00 - 21:00 | KGB Bar, 85 E 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003
There are five reader spots left for the February MWA-NY readings at the KGB Bar.
Those interested contact ajsidranskyauthor@gmail.com.
You get six to eight minutes to dazzle with your latest or greatest—your choice. Bring yourself and an audience!
This calendar item will be updated with the Zoom link.

Chapter meeting: Meet the new board
2023-01-24 17:00 - 18:30
Happy New Year, all!

Let’s start 2023 by thanking our outgoing board members and welcoming our new board.

Join us via Zoom on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. to hear about our plans for the year.

Hint: we’re planning more in-person events while maintaining our Zoom presence for the benefit of chapter members outside the immediate New York City area.

Live readings at KGB Bar (also Zoomed)
2022-12-13 19:00 - 21:00 | KGB Bar, 85 E 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003
Our next reading event at KGB Bar is coming up.
Join us to listen to the readings in person or online:
Where: KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St., NY 10003
Attend virtually: Register in advance for this event.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Winter Revels!
2022-12-01 18:00 - 21:00 | Bowery Road, 132 4th Avenue, New York, United States
The calendar says we’re mid-fall, but your tireless chapter board has been working on plans for our Winter Revels. Our annual holiday party takes place in early December and this year we have found a new venue: Bowery Road, 132 4th Avenue, just south of Union Square in New York. (To take a peek, visit https://www.boweryroad.com/). Join us on Thursday, December 1, from 6-9 p.m. for canapés, an open bar (alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks), and of course socializing with good friends.

Winter Revels
Date: December 1, 2022.
Time: 6-9 p.m.
Venue: Bowery Road, 132 4th Avenue, NYC.
Cost: $50 per person.
How to book: Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
Hurry! Registration closes on Wednesday, November 23, so we can give the venue a final count.

Can’t wait to see you and celebrate!

Chapter Meeting: Where Will Crime Head in the Next Decade
2022-11-02 18:30 - 20:00
Save the date: More details to follow soon.

Chapter Meeting: True Crime as Inspiration
2022-10-12 18:00 - 20:00
Hear updates on our chapter’s efforts, and then join fellow members for a lively discussion: True Crime as Inspiration—What Real Crimes Have Caught Your Imagination?
Join the meeting virtually.

Live readings at KGB Bar (also Zoomed)
2022-10-11 19:00 - 21:00 | KGB Bar, 85 E 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003
Our next reading event at KGB Bar is coming up, and reading slots are still open.
Share your work with your peers, friends and family.
Reach out to our organizer, AJ Sidransky at ajsidranskyauthor.com, if you’d like to claim a slot. You must read your own work—something old or new, not borrowed, but it can be ‘blue’ or any color you like.
Join us to listen to the readings in person or online:
Where: KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St., NY 10003
Attend virtually: Register in advance for this meeting.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Chapter meeting: Mix and Mingle Brunch
2022-06-11 12:00 - 14:00 | The Playwright Irish Pub, 27 West 35th St., New York, NY, United States
Registration is now open for our member luncheon. Join us at The Playwright Irish Pub in NYC. Register here.

Chapter meeting: Crime Craft discussion thickens the plot
2022-05-04 18:00 - 20:00
Register here.

Live readings at KGB Bar (also Zoomed)
2022-04-12 19:00 - 21:00 | KGB Bar, 85 E 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003
MWA NY Chapter members will read their work at KGB Bar. The event will also be live via Zoom. There are openings available to read. Interested members, let us know at aj@ajsidransky.com.

Chapter meeting: Crime Craft group convo on plotting
2022-04-06 18:00 - 20:00
The next chapter meeting will feature the second in the new series of Crime Craft discussions, this time on the theme of “C’mon Baby, Twist and Plot: Filling and Using the Idea Well.” The event is free but registration is required.

Chapter meeting: First Crime Craft discussion is on creating characters
2022-03-02 18:00 - 20:00
Moderator Gary Ross describes Crime Craft as a series of free-wheeling discussions about the craft of writing mysteries. They will be scheduled as chapter meetings throughout 2022. Mark your calendar for topic number one: The Art of Creating People. This meeting will be held via Zoom.

Virtual Crime Fiction Reading Series
2022-02-08 18:00 - 20:00
The first of our Crime Fiction Reading Series events is being held on Zoom. Registration is required. Here is information about our readers:
ANN APTAKER
Native New Yorker Ann Aptaker’s Cantor Gold novels have won the Lambda and Goldie awards. Her short stories have appeared in the Fedora II and III anthologies, the “Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir anthology Volume 1″ and the upcoming Volume 3, Switchblade magazine, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and the online zine Punk Soul Poet. Her novella, “A Taco, A T-Bird, A Beretta and One Furious Night,” is featured in season two of the Guns & Tacos crime fiction series. After a thirty year career as an art curator and exhibition specialist for museums and galleries, she was a professor of art history in New York. In between, Aptaker did a stint as an investigative report writer for a private investigations firm in Novato, California, before returning to New York. Aptaker now writes full time.
TEEL JAMES GLENN
Teel James Glenn’s poetry and short stories have been printed in over two hundred magazines including Weird Tales, Mystery Weekly, Pulp Adventures, Space & Time, Mad, Cirsova, Silverblade and Sherlock Holmes Mystery. His novel “A Cowboy in Carpathia: A Bob Howard Adventure” won best novel 2021 in the Pulp Factory Awards. He is also the winner of the 2012 Pulp Ark Award for Best Author. His website is TheUrbanSwashbuckler.com.
V.S. KEMANIS
V.S. Kemanis, attorney, dancer, choreographer and mother, has published five volumes of short fiction, the latest of which, “Your Pick: Selected Stories,” won the Eric Hoffer Award for best story collection. Her work has appeared in journals and magazines, including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and anthologies, most recently “Autumn Noir.” Kemanis taps her experience in New York’s criminal justice and court systems for her novels of legal suspense and courtroom drama. “Power Blind,” her sixth novel featuring protagonist Dana Hargrove, was released on Jan. 25. Kemanis served on the board of the New York Chapter of Mystery Writers of America from 2018 – 2021.
CATHERINE MAIORISI
Catherine Maiorisi is the author of the NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli mystery series featuring Corelli and her reluctant partner, Detective P.J. Parker. The four books in the series, “A Matter of Blood,” “The Blood Runs Cold,” “A Message in Blood,” and “Legacy in the Blood,” are available in ebook, paperback and audiobook format. Maiorisi has also published four romance novels, a general fiction novel, and several romance and mystery short stories. She is an active member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Visit Catherine at www.catherinemaiorisi.com.
JEFF MARKOWITZ
Jeff Markowitz is the author of five crime fiction novels, including the award-winning dark comedy, “Death and White Diamonds.” In October 2021, a puzzle-hunt based on his novella “Motive for Murder” raised more than $1 million for services to at-risk children and families in New York City. In 2022, Jeff has short stories due out in “Jewish Noir 2” and in “Mid-Atlantic Tales.” Markowitz spent more than forty years creating community-based programs, services, and supports for children and adults with autism, before retiring in 2018 to devote more time to writing. He is a past president of the New York Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
RICHIE NARVAEZ
A former president of the MWA New York Chapter, Richie Narvaez is the author of “Roachkiller and Other Stories,” “Noiryorican,” and “Hipster Death Rattle,” which has been optioned for a possible TV series on the CW. His YA historical novel, “Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco,” won an Agatha Award and an Anthony Award. He lives in the Bronx.

First chapter meeting of 2022: New board on plans for year
2022-01-19 18:00 - 19:30
Please join us for the first MWA New York Chapter meeting of 2022 to meet the new board and hear about proposed plans for the upcoming year. Register now to receive the link.

Revels! Live
2021-12-08 18:00 - 20:00 | The Playwright Irish Pub, 27 West 35th St., New York, NY, United States
REVELS! returns and will be held at The Playwright Irish Pub, 27 West 35th St., New York, N.Y. There will be a dinner buffet and cash bar. Cost is $25 per person.
Masks when not eating or drinking and proof of vaccination will be required, in compliance with current New York City COVID-safety mandates.
Please register before Nov. 22 via Eventbrite here.

Live readings at KGB Bar (also Zoomed)
2021-11-09 19:00 - 21:00 | KGB Bar, 85 E 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003
MWA New York’s reading series returns to the KGB Bar. Join these talented authors in person or online as the readings are broadcast live via Zoom.
Registration is required for the Zoom meeting (click).
Carole Bugge
Carole Bugge (C. E. Lawrence, Carole Lawrence, Elizabeth Blake) has too many pen names. She is the author of fifteen published novels, award-winning plays, musicals, poetry and short fiction. Her most recent thriller is the third Ian Hamilton historical thriller, Edinburgh Midnight, under the pen name Carole Lawrence. Death and Sensibility, her second Jane Austen Society Mystery, under the pen name Elizabeth Blake, hit the shelves August 10th. Cleopatra’s Dagger, a thriller set in New York’s Guilded Age, will be released in March of 2022. Her “Silent” series (Silent Screams and its sequels) follows NYPD profiler Lee Campbell in his pursuit of serial killers, and her Sherlock Holmes novels have been re-released by Titan Books. In another life, she was a professional actor, singer and improvisational comedian. A self-described science geek, she likes to hunt wild mushrooms, and enjoys playing Bach on the piano when no one is listening.
Website: CELawrence.com
Gary Cahill
Gary Cahill is a member of MWA-NY and Irish American Writers & Artists. His first written and published short fiction ran as a Black Mask selection in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Other work has been featured in print, e-pub, and audio with Pulp Empire, The First Line Literary Journal, the Big Pulp anthology The Kennedy Curse, volumes I, II, III and the print anthology from Plan B Magazine, a featured cover story in Mystery Weekly Magazine, and the ever-lovin’ Shotgun Honey, among others. He worked over 23 years at a music company in Hell’s Kitchen during the strife between the Irish gang the Westies and the Gambinos, and spent inordinate amounts of time at the midtown bar made famous in the HBO series The Deuce. He now works on staff at the Weehawken NJ Public Library. Pizza remains a passion.
Philip Cioffari
Philip Cioffari is the author of the novels: IF ANYONE ASKS, SAY I DIED FROM THE HEARTBREAKING BLUES; THE BRONX KILL; DARK ROAD, DEAD END; JESUSVILLE; CATHOLIC BOYS; and the short story collection, A HISTORY OF THINGS LOST OR BROKEN, which won the Tartt Fiction Prize, and the D. H. Lawrence award for fiction. His short stories have been published widely in commercial and literary magazines and anthologies, including North American Review, Playboy, Michigan Quarterly Review, Northwest Review, Florida Fiction, and Southern Humanities Review. He is a playwright member of the Actors Studio. He has written and directed for Off and Off-Off Broadway. His Indie feature film, which he wrote and directed, LOVE IN THE AGE OF DION, has won numerous awards, including Best Feature Film at the Long Island Int’l Film Expo, and Best Director at the NY Independent Film & Video Festival. He is Professor of English, a member of the MFA faculty, and director of the Performing and Literary Arts Honors Program, at William Paterson University. www.philipcioffari.com
Andrea Clark
Andrea has contributed to several collections no one has heard of, among them: Book: The Sequel (The Perseus Book Group), and I Remember When Mom: (Andrews McMeel) and wrote a retranslation of E.T.A. Hoffman’s Nutcracker published by Alfred A. Knopf. She has an AB from Smith College where she studied writing with Elizabeth Hardwick who scared her to death. After college, Andrea worked briefly at The New Yorker as a typist, where she kept hearing “Can anyone read Pauline Kael’s handwriting?” She analyzed scripts for producer David Susskind at MGM in New York. She has an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Her thesis film, “My Divorce,” won a 1996 Academy Award in the Student Film Category. She’s had the great good fortune to study mystery writing with Hallie Ephron at the Yale Writers’ Workshop. She lives in New York City with her husband, Matthew.
Carl Filbrich
Carl Filbrich enjoyed careers as an instructor and editor before he began writing mysteries. His latest novel, No One’s Daughter, will be published by Level Best Books in November.
James McCrone
James McCrone is the author of the Faithless Elector Series novels—Faithless Elector, Dark Network, and Emergency Powers—“taut” and “gripping” political thrillers (Kirkus) about a stolen presidency. His work, “Numbers Don’t Lie” appeared in the 2020 short-story anthology Low Down Dirty Vote, vol. 2, and his short story “Ultimatum Games” will appear in Rock and a Hard Place next month. His next book, working title Bastard Verdict, is a noir political thriller set in Scotland. He’s a member of Mystery Writers of America, Int’l Assoc. of Crime Writers, Int’l Thriller Writers, Philadelphia Dramatists’ Center and is the newly elected vice-president of the Delaware Valley Sisters in Crime chapter. James has an MFA from the University of Washington. A Pacific Northwest native, he lives in South Philadelphia with his wife and three children. You can learn more at jamesmccrone.com
Erica Obey
Erica Obey is the author of Dazzlepaint, as well as four other historical and paranormal novels, including the award-winning The Curse of the Braddock Brides. She is also working on a cozy series featuring a librarian and her AI sidekick, which could best be described as Knives Out meets Ready Player One. Erica has served as Chair of the MWA-NY Mentor Program and is the current Chapter President. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and taught college-level classes on fairy tale and fantasy, mystery fiction, and Arthurian romance, before she decided she’d rather be writing the stories herself.
Lori Robbins
Brooklyn-born Lori Robbins began dancing at age 16 and launched her professional career three years later. Robbins performed with a number of modern dance and ballet companies, including Ballet Hispanico and the St. Louis Concert Ballet. The opening work in her On Pointe Mystery Series, Murder in First Position, won first place in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for Best Mystery, was a finalist for a Silver Falchion, and is long-listed for a Mystery and Mayhem Book Award. Murder in Second Position will be released on December 7th. Her debut novel, Lesson Plan for Murder, won the Silver Falchion Award and was a finalist in the Readers’ Choice and Indie Book Awards. It will be re-released by Level Best Books in June, 2022. Short stories include “Accidents Happen” in Murder Most Diabolical and “Leading Ladies” in Justice for All. She is an expert in the homicidal impulses everyday life inspires.
Jeff Soloway
Jeff Soloway won the Robert L. Fish Award from the Mystery Writers of America and is the author of the Travel Writer mystery series for Penguin Random’s Alibi imprint. His short fiction has been published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Rock and a Hard Place, various MWA anthologies, and elsewhere. His story “Jerome” is forthcoming in the anthology Under the Thumb: Stories of Police Oppression, edited by S. A. Cosby.

Virtual chapter meeting on using experts
2021-11-03 18:00 - 21:00
“What Experts Do You Consult?” Pat Weich and Nev March will engage in a free-wheeling discussion on approaching experts for information in this virtual chapter meeting.

Please register for the Zoom meeting here.
Nev March
Nev March is the first Indian-born author to receive the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Award for Best First Crime Fiction. Her debut novel, “Murder in Old Bombay” is nominated for an Edgar Award as well as a Barry and Hammett Award for Excellence in Crime Fiction.
She has appeared in radio and podcast interviews, including NPR, and been featured in Mystery Tribune, Mystery Scene Magazine, CrimeReads, The History Reader and other publications. “Murder in Old Bombay” was selected as Amazon’s Editor’s Pick. The New York Times listed it as one of the “Best crime novels of 2020.”
After a long career in business analysis, she returned to her passion of writing fiction and now teaches creative writing at the Rutgers-Osher Institute. A Parsee Zoroastrian, Nev lives in New Jersey with her husband and sons.
Pat Gallant Weich
Pat Gallant Weich is a fourth generation native New Yorker, widow, and mother of a son. Her work has appeared in publications such as the Saturday Evening Post, Writer’s Digest, Vocabula Review, Mystery Scene Magazine, Games Magazine, Cup of Comfort for Christmas, Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul, etc. Her literary nonfiction can be found in Christmas Traditions (Adams Media/F & W Publications); A Cup of Comfort for the Grieving Heart; Migraine Expressions; Outrider Press; The Simple Pleasures of Friendship; Letters to My Mother; A Cup of Comfort for Writers, etc.
Her poetry has appeared in many anthologies, most recently in Riverside Poets. Her essay, “So long lives This,” is presented in Mystery Writers of America’s “How to Write a Mystery,” edited by Lee Child, with Laurie R. King. More of her work is slated to appear in several anthologies with projected release dates through 2022.
Ms. Gallant Weich was a finalist in the 1991 PEN Syndicated Fiction Project and has won the New Century Writer’s Award in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003. Her poem, “The Rain I Use to Love,” was up for the Grand Prize in the William Faulkner/William Wisdom Literary competition in 2018. She has been a contender for the Grand Prize many times and a finalist each year for the last 21 years.

Chapter meeting: Using elements of the genre in all kinds of writing
2021-10-06 18:00 - 20:00
Authors Leanna Renee Hieber and Philip Cioffari, authors who work outside the genre, explore the elements of mystery in all kinds of writing during the Zoom chapter meeting “The Mystery Instinct.”
Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright, artist and the award-winning author of Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels for adults and teens such as the Strangely Beautiful, Eterna Files, Magic Most Foul and the bestselling Spectral City series. She grew up in rural Ohio inventing ghost stories, graduating with a BFA in Theatre and a focus in the Victorian Era from Miami University. Her novella Dark Nest won the 2009 Prism Award for excellence in the genres of Futuristic, Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. Her debut novel, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker (the Strangely Beautiful series), hit Barnes & Noble’s bestseller lists, won two 2010 Prism Awards (Best Fantasy, Best First Book), the 2010 Orange County Book Buyer’s Best Award (Young Adult category) and other regional genre awards. The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess won the 2012 Prism Award (Best Fantasy). Books one and two are now available as STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL in a revised, author-preferred edition from Tor/Forge as is PERILOUS PROPHECY. DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul hit the Kid’s/YA INDIE NEXT LIST as a recommended title by the American Booksellers Association and a Scholastic Book Clubs “highly recommended” title and was a Daphne du Maurier award finalist. Leanna’s short fiction has been featured in numerous notable anthologies such as Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells and the Mammoth Book of Gaslight Romance. Her new Gaslamp Fantasy trilogy THE ETERNA FILES, is now available and complete from Tor/Forge. Her latest acclaimed novel, THE SPECTRAL CITY (Kensington Rebel Base Books), has been a #1 bestseller across several genres and platforms. Leanna is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers, as well as Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, She also works as a ghost tour guide for Boroughs of the Dead in New York City. More can be found at leannareneehieber.com.
Philip Cioffari‘s latest novel is IF ANYONE ASKS, SAY I DIED FROM THE HEARTBREAKING BLUES. He is the author of five previous books of fiction: a story collection, A HISTORY OF THINGS LOST OR BROKEN, which won the Tartt First Fiction Prize and the D. H. Lawrence award for fiction; and the novels, THE BRONX KILL, CATHOLIC BOYS, JESUSVILLE and DARK ROAD, DEAD END. He is also the writer/director of the independent feature film, LOVE IN THE AGE OF DION, which has won a number of film festival awards, including Best Picture at the Long Island Int’l Film Expo and Best Director at the NY Independent Film & Video Festival. Find him at www.philipcioffari.com.

MWA-NY at Brooklyn Book Fest
2021-10-03 10:00 - 17:00 | Brooklyn Book Festival, Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, New York
Meet members of the New York Chapter of Mystery Writers of America at the Brooklyn Book Festival in Cadman Plaza. We will be in Booth 208 from 10AM to 5PM.

Chapter meeting: Building series into universes
2021-07-07 18:00 - 20:00
Join authors Ann Aptaker, Daniella Bernett and Tim O’Mara to discuss the process of building out a fictional universe during the chapter virtual panel “Building a Fictional Series into a Universe.” The event is free but registration is required to receive a link to join the Zoom event. Click for information and to register.

Workshop on How to Write a Mystery
2021-06-21 14:00 - 15:00
An online panel and a workshop on How to Write a Mystery will be held on consecutive Mondays in June to celebrate the release of How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America. The program is co-sponsored by MWA-New York and the New York Library Society.
Panel, June 14 at 6 p.m.: Acclaimed mystery writers Jeffrey Deaver, Laurie King, Charles Todd and Caroline Todd will discuss crafting mysteries and their ever-shifting publishing landscape. In addition to discussing the new handbook and their craft, the panelists will offer writing prompts and exercises to do at home.

Click here to register for the June 14 panel.

Workshop, June 21 at 2:00 p.m.: This special follow-up workshop builds on the prompts from the panel and more. Sharpen your mystery-writing skills with additional prompts and exercises from How to Write a Mystery contributors Erica Obey and Charles Salzberg.

Click here to register for the June 21 panel.

Both events are free and open to the public. You can attend either one or both.

Buy How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America from the Corner Bookstore.

Online panel on How to Write a Mystery
2021-06-14 18:00 - 19:00

From Page to Stage with Edgar winners
2021-06-02 18:00 - 19:30
Use this link to register now for the MWA-New York discussion on writing mysteries for the stage by Edgar Award Best Play recipients Joseph Goodrich and Gary Earl Ross.
Register now and you will receive a Zoom invite the week of the event. This is a new procedure. Like all MWA-New York virtual events, the event is free. Registration is required for access.

Joseph Goodrich

Joseph Goodrich’s dramatic work has been produced by The Flea Theater (NYC), Jean Cocteau Rep (NYC), HERE Arts Center’s American Living Room Series (NYC), Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre (NYC), Portland Stage Company (ME), the Hudson Opera House, and Red Eye Collaboration (Minneapolis). Canada’s Vertigo Theatre produced his adaptation of Ellery Queen’s Calamity Town (2016 Calgary Theater Critics – Best New Script). Panic received the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Play. Park Square Theater in Saint Paul commissioned The Red Box and Might As Well Be Dead, the first Nero Wolfe mysteries adapted for the stage with the permission of the Rex Stout estate. He is the editor of Blood Relations: The Selected Letters of Ellery Queen, 1947-1950. His fiction has appeared in two Mystery Writers of America anthologies: The Rich and The Dead, edited by Nelson DeMille, and The Mystery Box, edited by Brad Meltzer. His writing has been published by Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Noir Riot. He is an alumnus of New Dramatists and a former Calderwood Fellow at the MacDowell Colony.

Gary Earl Ross

Gary Earl Ross is a retired University at Buffalo professor. His books include The Wheel of Desire, Shimmerville, Blackbird Rising, Beneath the Ice, and the Gideon Rimes mysteries Nickel City Blues, Nickel City Crossfire, and Nickel City Storm Warning. His plays (staged in the US, Canada, England, India, China, and Kazakhstan) include Picture Perfect, The Best Woman, Murder Squared, The Scavenger’s Daughter, The Mark of Cain, The Guns of Christmas, The Trial of Trayvon Martin and Matter of Intent, winner of the 2006 Edgar Award from Mystery Writers of America. Both The Scavenger’s Daughter and Matter of Intent have been adapted into transliterated motion pictures by CITOC Productions of Mumbai, India. Visit him at www.garyearlross.net.
