Mystery Writers of America - New York Chapter

Chapter meeting: Crime Craft group convo on plotting
2022-04-06 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
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.

Virtual Crime Fiction Reading Series
2021-05-11 18:00 - 19:30
Join us for another thrilling night of chilling crime fiction read by our talented members R J Belsky, Elizabeth Crowens, Hilary Davidson, Teel James Glenn, James McCrone, Nev March, Linda Rawlin and Brian Silverman.
Albert Tucher is the host for the evening.
Author details appear below.
The event will stream live on the MWA Facebook page. ALL MWA New York virtual events are free.
Please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at your local indie bookstore.

Hockessin Bookshop
Kew and Willow Books
Cloak and Dagger

R.G. Belsky
R.G. Belsky is an award-winning author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His newest mystery, “Beyond the Headlines,” is being published in May by Oceanview. It is the fourth in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. The first book, “Yesterday’s News,” was named Best Mystery of 2018 at Deadly Ink. The second, “Below the Fold,” won the Foreward INDIES award for Best Mystery of 2019. The third Clare Carlson mystery, “The Last Scoop,” came out in May 2020. Belsky has published 14 novels—all set in the New York City media world where he has had a long career as a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star magazine and NBC News. He also writes thrillers under the name Dana Perry. And he is a contributing editor for The Big Thrill magazine.
Elizabeth Crowens
Elizabeth Crowens has worn many hats in Hollywood for over 25 years, is a black belt in martial arts, and is a contributor to Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Black Belt Magazine and of author interviews for Black Gate magazine. She has three award-winning alternate history/time travel novels, “Silent Meridian” and “A Pocketful of Lodestones” from the Time Traveler Professor series and “A War in Too Many Worlds,” which will be released in the summer of 2021. Awards include several by the Chanticleer Review, the Eric Hoffer Awards, the Independent Press Awards, Glimmer Train and a Leo B. Burstein Scholarship from Mystery Writers of America. She also writes in the Hollywood mystery genre and tends to inject her work with black humor. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Horror Writers Association, the Authors Guild and several Sherlock Holmes scions.
Hilary Davidson
Hilary Davidson is the bestselling author of six crime novels, including “One Small Sacrifice,” “Blood Always Tells” and “The Damage Done.” Her fiction has won two Anthony Awards and a Derringer Award, and her short stories have appeared in Thuglit, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Mystery Tribune and Beat to a Pulp, to name a few dark places. In her prior life as a journalist, Hilary was the author of 18 nonfiction books. Her seventh novel, “Her Last Breath,” will be published by Thomas & Mercer on July 1. Visit her online at www.hilarydavidson.com
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. His short stories have been printed in over a hundred magazines, including Weird Tales, Mystery Weekly, Pulp Adventures, Spinetingler, Mad, Fantasy Tales, Cirsova, Sherlock Holmes Mystery and Blazing Adventures. His latest novels are “A Cowboy in Carpathia: A Bob Howard Adventure” (winner of the best novel in the Pulp Factory Awards) from Pro Se Productions, “The Skullmask Chronicles” from Bold Venture Press and “Killing Shadow” from Airship27 Productions. He is also the winner of the 2012 Pulp Ark Award for Best Author. His website is: TheUrbanSwashbuckler.com
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.
James McCrone
James McCrone is the author of the Imogen Trager novels—”Faithless Elector,” “Dark Network” and 2020’s “Emergency Powers”—“taut” and “gripping” political thrillers about a stolen presidency. His work, “Numbers Don’t Lie,” also recently appeared in the 2020 short-story anthology “Low Down Dirty Vote, vol. 2.” He’s a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Association of Crime Writers, International Thriller Writers, Philadelphia Dramatists’ Center and the Sisters in Crime network. 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 http://jamesmccrone.com/
Linda Rawlins
Linda Rawlins is an American writer of mystery fiction best known for her Misty Point Mystery Series, including “Misty Manor,” “Misty Point,” “Misty Winter,” “Misty Treasure” and “Misty Revenge.” She is also known for her Rocky Meadow Mystery Series, including “The Bench,” “Fatal Breach” and “Sacred Gold.” Her independent novel, “Midnight Shift,” was released in 2019. Linda loved to read as a child and started writing her first mystery novel in fifth grade. She then went on to study science, medicine and literature, eventually graduating from medical school and establishing her career in medicine. Linda lives in New Jersey with her husband, her family and spoiled dog. She loves spending time at the beach as well as visiting the mountains of Vermont. She is an acting member of Mystery Writers of America. As a member of Sisters in Crime, Linda was the president of the Central Jersey Chapter for 2020 and 2019 and the vice president in 2018. Visit Linda at her website at www.lindarawlins.com and www.Facebook.com/lindarawlinsauthor
Brian Silverman
Brian Silverman’s writing career has spanned more than 30 years. He has written about travel, food and sports for publications including the New York Times, Saveur, Caribbean Travel and Life, Islands, New York and the New Yorker. From 2004 through 2013, he was the author of the annual Frommer’s New York City guide book series. He co-authored, with his father, Al Silverman, the acclaimed “Twentieth Century Treasury of Sports.” His short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Mystery Tribune, Down and Out Magazine and Mystery Weekly. His story “Breadfruit” was included in “The Best American Mystery Stories in 2018.” His story “Land of Promise” will appear in the “Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories 2021.” His first novel, “Freedom Drop,” was published in 2021. He lives in Harlem, New York, with his wife, Heather, and two sons, Louis and Russell.

Solomon talks on copyright law and her paranormal mysteries
2021-05-05 17:30 - 19:00
Susan Lynn Solomon will be joining us for our meeting on May 5. No one knows for sure whether Solomon’s legal career is what left her with a subtle sense of humor and an interest in exploring the paranormal in her mysteries. After a review of copyright law, she plans to discuss the research that led to her descendant-of-Salem-sleuth Emlyn Goode.

The event will stream on the MWA New York Facebook page.

All our virtual events are free.

Please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at one of the following links or at your local indie bookstore.

Hockessin Bookshop
Kew and Willow Books
Cloak and Dagger

Solomon is the author of short stories that have appeared in numerous literary journals. Many have been collected in “Voices in My Head” (Solstice Publishing).

Solomon is also the author of the Emlyn Goode Mysteries, both novels and novelettes. The first, “The Magic of Murder,” was a finalist in the Chanticleer International Book Award’s mystery and mayhem novel category and the 2016 Book Excellence Award. The second Emlyn Goode novel, “Dead Again,” was a finalist for both the 2017 McGrath House Indie Book of the Year and the 2018 Book Excellent Award. “Writing is Murder,” the third Emlyn Goode novel, was awarded first place in the mystery and mayhem category of the 2019 Chanticleer International Book Award.

Solomon’s latest non-mystery novel, “Abigail’s Window,” was awarded a gold medal as a finalist in the Readers Favorite novel competition, and the Chanticleer International Book Award gave it the grand prize as the best paranormal romance of 2019.

Chapter meeting: Author/former homicide detective Lissa Marie Redmond
2021-04-07 18:00 - 19:30
On April 7 retired Buffalo homicide detective and author of the Cold Case Series, Lissa Marie Redmond, will discuss her participation in the Bike Path Rapist Task Force. Join her on a tense hunt for an elusive serial killer. The event will stream on the MWA New York Facebook page.
All our virtual events are free.
Please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at one of the following links or at your local indie bookstore.

Hockessin Bookshop
Kew and Willow Books
Cloak and Dagger

Lissa Marie Redmond is a cold case homicide detective retired from the Buffalo Police Department. She lives and writes in Buffalo, New York, along with her husband and two kids. In addition to the Cold Case mystery series with detective Lauren Riley, she has published the stand-alone mysteries “Killing Krause” and “The Secrets They Left Behind,” as well as short fiction in anthologies like “Frozen Fairy Tales,” “Tales of Krampus” and “Buffalo Noir.”

Virtual Crime Fiction Reading Series
2021-03-16 18:00 - 20:00
Join us for another thrilling night of chilling crime fiction read by our talented members Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, Lori Duffy Foster, Jane Kelly, Lucy Kirk, Ed Leahy, S. Lee Manning and Gary Earl Ross. Albert Tucher is the host for the evening.
The event will stream live on the MWA-NY Facebook page. ALL MWA New York virtual events are free.
Please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at your local indie bookstore.

Hockessin Bookshop
Kew and Willow Books
Cloak and Dagger

Gloria J. Browne-Marshall
Gloria J. Browne-Marshall is an award-winning author, attorney, producer, playwright, radio/podcast host and a professor of constitutional law at John Jay College. Gloria has provided commentary for CBS, CNN, ABC, MSNBC and C-Span and radio commentary for BBC America, NPR and WVON. She is also the host of a weekly one-hour radio program, “Law of the Land,” on WBAI. Most recently, the Pulitzer Center’s Law and Justice Group awarded a grant to her for her play “SHOT-Caught a Soul.” Gloria has written many books, including “She Took Justice: The Black Woman, Law, and Power,” “The Voting Rights War: The NAACP and the Ongoing Struggle for Justice” and “Race, Law, and American Society: 1607 to Present.” She is also the recipient of honors such as the NAACP Ethel Lawrence Trailblazer Award, the Malcolm X Award from NAKO and many more! To learn more, visit www.browne-marshall.com.
Lori Duffy Foster
Lori Duffy Foster is a former crime reporter who writes from the hills of northern Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and four children. Her short fiction has appeared in the journal Aethlon and in the anthologies “Short Story America” and “Childhood Regained.” Her nonfiction has appeared in several magazines, including Healthy Living, Running Times, Literary Mama, Crimespree and Mountain Home. “A Dead Man’s Eyes,” the first in the Lisa Jamison mystery/suspense series, is her debut novel. Book two in the series, “Never Broken,” and her thriller, “Never Let Go,” will come out from Level Best Books in 2022. She is also author of “Raising Identical Twins: The Unique Challenges and Joys of the Early Years.” Lori is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Historical Novel Society and Pennwriters. She also sits on the board of the Knoxville (Penn.) Public Library. Visit her at www.loriduffyfoster.com.
Jane Kelly
Jane Kelly is a native of Philadelphia close to the Jersey Shore settings of the Meg Daniels mysteries from Plexus Publishing. Her fifth, “Greetings from Ventnor City,” was published in January 2020. She is also the author of the independently published “Widow Lady Mysteries” and “Writing in Time Mysteries.” Jane has an M.S. from Drexel University in library and information science and an M.Phil. in popular literature from Trinity College, Dublin, which she earned as a very mature student in 2008. Jane is past-president of the Delaware Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime and currently lives in the Philadelphia area.
Lucy Kirk
Lucy Kirk is a retired CIA operations officer and former chief of station. She spent more than three decades working in the CIA on assignments both in the U.S. and abroad. She focused on the USSR and post-Soviet Russia, an area of the world considered most significant to the national security interests of the United States. She currently teaches courses on espionage and the Cold War in New York City.
Ed Leahy
Ed Leahy was a finalist for the 2018 Freddie Award for Writing Excellence in Mysteries for Past Grief under the title “Bury the Past.” He’s a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers and he’s been published by New York Teacher Magazine. He’s a retired international issue specialist for the IRS with investigative experience. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in government and politics with a concentration in constitutional law. He serves on the board of directors of AHRC-NYC, an agency that serves children and adults with developmental disabilities.
S. Lee Manning
S. Lee Manning spent two years as an editor on Law Enforcement Communications before realizing that lawyers make a lot more money. A subsequent career spanned from the white-shoe firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore to working for the State of New Jersey to solo practice. From 2001 to 2007, Manning chaired New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, writing articles and appearing on local radio and television in the years leading up to its abolition in the state. An award winning short story writer, Manning’s debut thriller, “Trojan Horse,” reflects her lifelong interest in Russia and espionage. Her second in the series, “Nerve Attack,” will be debuting in September 2021. Manning currently lives in Vermont with her husband and two cats and is looking forward to the end of the pandemic and visits with her son in New Jersey and daughter in Los Angeles.
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 Buffalo, Rochester, Knoxville, New York and other U.S. cities; Kamsack and Battlefords, Saskatchewan, Canada; London, West Sussex and Manchester, England; Shanghai, China; Manipal and Lucknow, India; and Almaty, 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.

Spotlight on Hudson Valley chapter meeting
2021-03-03 18:00 - 20:00
Join us on March 3 for the third in a series of Zoom chapter meetings highlighting the states and regions of the New York chapter. The March meeting will feature a panel of four Hudson Valley writers discussing the use of location and atmosphere in their fiction as well as their other techniques they’ve developed for crafting an engaging mystery.

D. M. Barr
Carol Goodman
Emily Naymark
Rich Zahradnik
Moderated by Nancy Bilyeau

The event will stream on the MWA New York Facebook page. All our virtual events are free.

Please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at one of the following links or at your local indie bookstore.

Hockessin Bookshop
Kew and Willow Books
Cloak and Dagger

D.M.Barr

A former travel trade journalist and Realtor, D.M. Barr penned her debut novel, the satiric and kinky psychological thriller “Expired Listings” to warn fellow agents and the public of the dangers of residential resale. In 2020, Barr released the domestic suspense novel, “Saving Grace: A Psychological Thriller.” The current president of Hudson Valley RWA, Barr is a member of MWA, ITW and the programming chair on the board of Sisters in Crime/NY-Tri-State.

Carol Goodman

Carol Goodman is the author of 22 novels, including “The Seduction of Water,” which won the 2003 Hammett Prize; “The Widow’s House,” which won the 2018 Mary Higgins Clark Award, and “The Night Visitors,” which won the 2020 Mary Higgins Clark Award. Her books have been translated into 16 languages. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family and teaches literature and writing at The New School and SUNY New Paltz. Her latest novel is “The Sea of Lost Girls.”

Emilya Naymark

Emilya Naymark’s debut novel, “Hide In Place,” was published in February 2021 by Crooked Lane. Her short stories appear in the Harper Collins anthology “A Stranger Comes to Town,” “Secrets in the Water,” “After Midnight: Tales from the Graveyard Shift,” “River River Journal,” “Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017” and “1+30: THE BEST OF MYSTORY.” She has a degree in fine art, and her artworks have been published in numerous magazines and books.

Rich Zahradnik

“Lights Out Summer,” the fourth book in Rich Zahradnik’s Coleridge Taylor Mystery series, won the 2018 Shamus Award for Best Paperback Private Eye Novel. “A Black Sail” was named best mystery in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. He was born in Poughkeepsie, worked his first newspaper job in Peekskill and lives in Pelham, where he teaches kids how to write news stories and publish newspapers. He is on the board of the New York chapter of MWA.

Nancy Bilyeau

Nancy Bilyeau, who moved with her family to the Hudson Valley in August 2020, is the author of the 2019 historical mystery “Dreamland,” set in turn of the century Coney Island, and four other historical novels. She is a magazine editor and writer who currently works at the Center for Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College.

Virtual Crime Fiction Reading Series
2021-02-16 18:00 - 20:00
Join us for another thrilling night of chilling crime fiction read by our talented members Annamaria Alfieri, ​Ann Aptaker, Teel James Glenn, Leanna Renee Hieber, Emilya Naymark and Erica Obey.
The event will stream live on the MWA Facebook page. ALL our virtual events are free.Please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at your local indie bookstore.

Hockessin Bookshop
Kew and Willow Books
Cloak and Dagger

Annamaria Alfieri
Annamaria Alfieri is the pen name of Patricia King. Her first three historical mysteries are set in South America at different times and places. Of her debut, The Washington Post said, “As both history and mystery, ‘City of Silver’ glitters.” Library Journal said, “History comes alive under Alfieri’s sure hand.” Alfieri’s current series, set in British East Africa, begins in 1911. The Richmond Times-Dispatch described her “Strange Gods” as having “the flair of Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham, the cunning of Agatha Christie and Elspeth Huxley.” “The Idol of Mombasa” and “The Blasphemers” have followed. Her work in progress, “La Magica.” is set in Sicily in 1692. Patricia is a past president of MWA-NY.
Ann Aptaker
Native New Yorker Ann Aptaker’s Cantor Gold crime/mystery series has won Lambda Literary and Goldie awards. Her short stories have appeared in two editions of the crime anthology Fedora, Switchblade Magazine’s Stiletto Heeled issue, the “Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir” crime anthology and will appear in an upcoming issue of Black Cat Mystery Magazine. She is one of six authors invited to provide a novella for the second season of Down & Out Books’ Guns & Tacos series. Her flash fiction, “A Night In Town,” appeared in the online zine Punk Soul Poet, and another flash fiction, “Rockin’ Dyke Roll,” is featured in the Goldie award-winning anthology “Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices From The Gay Bars.” When not writing or indulging in her passion for art, there’s nothing Ann likes better than the pleasures of ice cream and old movies.
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, illustrator, storyteller, bodyguard, actor and haunted house barker. He appeared on all the New York soap operas, “Spenser for Hire” and in more movies that show up on Showtime and Cinemax then he wants to admit. His stories have been printed in over a hundred magazines including Weird Tales, Mystery Weekly, Pulp Adventures, Spinetingler, Mad, Fantasy Tales, Cirsova, Sherlock Holmes Mystery and Blazing Adventures. He is also the winner of the 2012 Pulp Ark Award for Best Author.
His website is: TheUrbanSwashbuckler.com
Leanna Renee Hieber
Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright, ghost-tour guide and the award-winning, bestselling author of gothic, gaslamp fantasy novels for Tor and Kensington Books such as the “Strangely Beautiful,” “Magic Most Foul,” “Eterna Files” and “The Spectral City” series. “A Haunted History of Invisible Women,” Leanna’s first foray into non-fiction, focusing on women’s narratives in haunted houses and ghost stories, will release in 2022 from Kensington. Her work has won four Prism awards and has been included in numerous notable anthologies such as “Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells” (Tor), and her books have been translated into many languages. She crafts unique gothic and steampunk accessories for Torch and Arrow and works as a ghost-tour guide for Manhattan’s Boroughs of the Dead. Hieber has been featured in film and television on shows like “Mysteries at the Museum.” For writers’ resources, free reads and more visit: http://leannareneehieber.com
Emilya Naymark
Emilya Naymark’s debut novel “Hide In Place” is out Feb. 9 from Crooked Lane Books. Her short stories appear in the Harper Collins anthology “A Stranger Comes to Town,” “Secrets in the Water,” “After Midnight: Tales from the Graveyard Shift,” “River River Journal,” “Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017” and “1+30: THE BEST OF MYSTORY.” She has a degree in fine art, and her artworks have been published in numerous magazines and books. When not writing, Emilya works as a visual artist and reads massive quantities of psychological thrillers, suspense and crime fiction. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family.
Erica Obey
Erica Obey pursued an academic career specializing in 19th-century women folklorists before she decided she’d rather be writing the stories herself. She is the author of five novels—including the award-winning “The Curse of the Braddock Brides,” as well as “Dazzlepaint.” Erica currently serves as the president of the MWA-NY chapter.

Spotlight on New Jersey chapter meeting
2021-02-10 18:00 - 20:00
Join us on Feb. 10 for the second in a series of Zoom chapter meetings highlighting the states and regions of the New York Chapter. The February meeting will feature a panel of New Jersey writers. Award-winning author of crime fiction R.G. Belsky moderates a discussion with novelist Mally Becker, award-winning author Jeff Markowitz and award-winning short-story writer and novelist Victoria Weisfeld. Read about our authors below.

The event will stream on the MWA New York Facebook page. ALL our virtual events are free.

Please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at one of the following links or at your local indie bookstore:

Hockessin Bookshop
Kew and Willow Books
Cloak and Dagger

Mally Becker

Mally Becker became fascinated with the American Revolution when she peeked into the past as a volunteer at the Morristown National Historical Park, where George Washington and the Continental Army spent the worst winter of the war. A former attorney, advocate for foster children and freelance writer, Mally lives with her husband in Warren Township, where they raised their son. She is a prior recipient of the Leon B. Burstein/MWA-NY Scholarship for Mystery Writing. “The Turncoat’s Widow,” which will be published on Feb. 16 by Level Best Books, is her first novel.

Jeff Markowitz

Jeff Markowitz is the author of five mysteries, including the award-winning dark comedy, “Death and White Diamonds.” His new book, “Hit or Miss,” was released in December. Part detective story, part historical fiction, part coming of age story, “Hit or Miss” is an Amazon Hot New Release in political fiction. Jeff is past president of the New York chapter of Mystery Writers of America.

Vicki Weisfeld

Vicki Weisfeld’s short stories have appeared in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Pulp Modern. Find her work in the anthologies “Busted: Arresting Stories from the Beat,” “Seascapes: Best New England Crime Stories,” “Murder Among Friends,” “Passport to Murder,” “The Best Laid Plans,” “Quoth the Raven” and “Sherlock Holmes in the Realms of Edgar Allan Poe.” Her novel, tentatively titled “Four Proofs of Courage,” is under contract with Black Opal Books. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, which awarded “Breadcrumbs” a best short story Derringer in 2017, and the Public Safety Writers Association, which gave a similar award to “Who They Are Now” in 2020. She reviews New Jersey theater for TheFrontRowCenter.com and books for the UK website, crimefictionlover.com. Online: www.vweisfeld.com.

R.G. Belsky – Moderator

R.G. Belsky is an award-winning author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His newest mystery, “The Last Scoop,” was published in May by Oceanview. It is the third in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. The first book, “Yesterday’s News,” was named Best Mystery of 2018 at Deadly Ink. The second, “Below The Fold,” won the Foreward INDIES award for Best Mystery of 2019. The next Clare Carlson mystery, “Beyond The Headlines,” will be published in May. Belsky has published 14 novels—and also has had a long career in the media as a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star magazine and NBC News. He also writes thrillers under the name Dana Perry. And he is a contributing editor for The Big Thrill magazine.

Virtual Crime Fiction Reading Series
2021-01-19 18:00 - 20:00
Join us for another thrilling night of chilling crime fiction read by our talented members R. G. Belsky, Daniella Bernett, Nancy A. Hughes, Jeff Markowitz, Lisa Regan, Mary Jo Robertiello and A J Sidransky.
All our virtual events are free and streamed on our Facebook page.
Please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at these or your local indie bookstore:

Hockessin Bookshelf
Kew & Willow
Cloak & Dagger

R.G. Belsky
R.G. Belsky is an award-winning author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His newest mystery, “The Last Scoop,” was published in May by Oceanview. It is the third in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. The first book, “Yesterday’s News,” was named Best Mystery of 2018 at Deadly Ink. The second, “Below The Fold,” won the Foreward INDIES award for Best Mystery of 2019. The next Clare Carlson mystery, “Beyond The Headlines,” will be published in May. Belsky has published 14 novels—and also has had a long career in the media as a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star magazine and NBC News. He also writes thrillers under the name Dana Perry. And he is a contributing editor for The Big Thrill magazine.
Daniella Bernett
Daniella Bernett is a member of the Mystery Writers of America New York Chapter and the International Thriller Writers. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in journalism from St. John’s University. “Lead Me Into Danger,” “Deadly Legacy,” “From Beyond The Grave,” “A Checkered Past,” “When Blood Runs Cold” and “Old Sins Never Die” are the books in the Emmeline Kirby-Gregory Longdon mystery series. She also is the author of two poetry collections, “Timeless Allure” and “Silken Reflections.” In her professional life, she is the research manager for a nationally prominent engineering, architectural and construction management firm. Daniella is currently working on Emmeline and Gregory’s next adventure. Visit www.daniellabernett.com or follow her on Facebook or on Goodreads.
Nancy A. Hughes
Nancy A. Hughes writes character-driven, crime-solving mysteries. A Penn State graduate, she followed her dream from a journalistic business writer career to a life of crime—fiction, that is. Her amateur sleuth/suspense mystery novels, published by Black Opal Books since 2016, include two series: “The Dying Hour” and its sequel, “The Innocent Hour;” and her Trust trilogy: “A Matter of Trust,” “Redeeming Trust” and “Vanished.” A sixth novel is anticipated in 2021. Service to her community is a steadfast commitment, serving as a VA and reading hospital volunteer. She lives with her husband in wooded south-central Pennsylvania and is a devoted shade gardener. She’s a member of MWA, ITW, Sisters in Crime and Penn Writers.
Jeff Markowitz
Jeff Markowitz is the author of five mysteries, including the award-winning dark comedy, “Death and White Diamonds.” His new book, “Hit or Miss,” was released in December. Part detective story, part historical fiction, part coming-of-age story, “Hit or Miss” is an Amazon Hot New Release in political fiction. Jeff is past president of the New York Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
Lisa Regan
Lisa Regan is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series, as well as several other crime fiction titles. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and master’s of education degree from Bloomsburg University. She lives just outside of Philadelphia with her husband, daughter and her Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip.
Mary Jo Robertiello
I haunt cemeteries. Being a mystery writer, I’m in love with the unfathomable. What’s more unfathomable than death and how people meet it? I live in my hometown, New York City. I love its change of seasons, its architecture, its skyline, its buzz, its food, its ethnic, age, sexual orientation, capitalist, socialist mix. Should I go on? It’s all in my police procedurals, “The Lemrow Mystery” and “Graphic Lessons,” as well as my website where I write a weekly blog, NY MYSTERIES. I attend a liberal church, am a member of a left wing political group, belong to a conservative social club and did part-time work in a museum that was founded by a staunch capitalist. Go figure! Maybe having had a socialist father and social climbing mother has something to do with it.
A J Sidransky
A J Sidransky has published four novels since 2013. The National Jewish Book Awards selected his first novel, “Forgiving Maximo Rothman,” as a finalist in Outstanding Debut Fiction in 2013. Next Generation Indie Book Awards selected “Stealing a Summer’s Afternoon” as a finalist for Best Second Novel in 2015. “Forgiving Mariela Camacho,” his third work, received the David Award, awarded by Deadly Ink! Writer’s Conference for Best Mystery of 2016. His next work, “The Interpreter,” was released March 28. It was shortlisted by Next Generation Indie Book Awards for Historical Fiction 2020. “Forgiving Stephen Redmond,” the final chapter in the Forgiving Series, will be released in January. A J Sidransky lives in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan with his wife. He is a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, born in the Bronx and a life-long Yankees fan.

Virtual REVELS Dec. 16!
2020-12-16 18:00 - 20:00
Our virtual party this year features games, prizes, flash fiction and drink recipes to enjoy from the comfort of home!

This season, members are invited to our Winter Revels, a free and entirely virtual way to celebrate with your mystery community. With chances to submit flash fiction, submit mystery-inspired drinks recipes and play games, the event holds lots to reward you for a long year!

To join: This virtual event will be streamed via Facebook Live. Make sure you follow MWA-New York on Facebook or you may not catch the stream.

Ahead of the event, we are also seeking your creative participation by Dec. 7 for:

mystery-themed cocktails
playing and solving some fiendish games
flash fiction (100 words max)
prize donations such as eBooks

Send us your theme cocktails: What would your favorite fictional sleuth (or villain) drink? Whether in a story you’ve written, or in a favorite read of yours, let us know what they’d imbibe! Send us the recipe, and include a photo of the drink if you can. We’ll put several of them together in a MWA Revels Drink Booklet, and our mixologist for this event, Sharon Linnéa (author of “The Bartender’s Guide to Murder” series) will demonstrate how to make several of them during the festivities. Virgin cocktail recipes happily accepted. Send your entry to revels@mwany.org with the subject line Revels Drink by Dec. 7. More details here. Cheers!

Play some reindeer games: How trivial is your mind? Find out with these five trivia games designed especially for MWA-NY by member Erik Arneson (also the author of “How to Host a Game Night”). Match classic novels to their publication dates! Decipher the titles of recent Edgar winners. Deduce which answers are lies in the Half Truth round. Sort the Edgar nominees from presidential assassins and pro wrestlers! And try your hand at identifying television cops and detectives! Play ahead of the event by visiting this link. Send us your answers by Dec. 7 to revels@mwany.org. All correct entries will be entered in a raffle for donated eBooks. (The more points you earn, the more entries you get!)

Submit your flash fiction!: We are accepting entries of no more than 100 words in response to the prompt: “Marley was dead.” Selected pieces will be read aloud by our host, MWA New York’s own Joseph Goodrich. Send to revels@mwany.org by Dec. 7.

Treat someone to a book!: Please consider donating eBooks or other easy-to-send raffle prizes. Let us know at revels@mwany.org. We will select winners’ names at Revels so you can handle fulfillment by email.

KGB Virtual Reading
2020-12-08 18:00 - 20:00
Join us for another thrilling night of chilling crime fiction read by our talented members. Jason Aaron, Doug Harrell, Don Helin, Nikhil Iyengar, Sharon Linnea, Catherine Maiorisi, Nev March, Paul Vidich. More details appear below. You can watch via the MWA-NY Facebook page.
Please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at one of the following links or at your local indie bookstore.

Hockessin Bookshelf
Kew & Willow
Cloak & Dagger

Jesse Aaron
Jesse Aaron served as a police officer in New York City and Connecticut. He has also worked as a stand-up comedian, voice-over artist, and radio jock. He currently resides in New York and is at work on his second book, “One Last Round,” which tells the story of a P.I. with terminal stomach cancer working on his last case.
Douglas Harrell
Douglas Harrell is a recovering engineer who has taken up mystery writing as a second career. He lives in Delaware, and has had four stories published in anthologies put out by Cat & Mouse Press. He loves weaving history and local lore into his stories, the most recent of which involves gangsters and art collecting on the Delmarva peninsula during Prohibition. Entitled “Hiawatha’s Smile,” it is in the collection Beach Mysteries. He is currently hard at work on a novel, but if he told you what it is about, you would have to be the next victim. Visit him at www.douglasharrell.com.
Don Helin
During his time in the military, Don Helin served at a number of stateside posts as well as overseas in Vietnam and Germany. He is the author of seven thrillers that draw from his military experience, including three tours in the Pentagon. He writes for TheBurg, a community magazine based in Harrisburg. His novel, “Secret Assault,” was selected as the Best Suspense/Thriller at the 2015 Indie Book Awards. His novel, “Long Walk Home,” won a Five Star review at Readers Favorite Awards and his latest novel, “Roof of the World,” was just awarded a Finalist in the 2020 Indie Book Awards. You can reach Don at: www.donhelin.com.
Nikhil Iyengar
Nikhil Iyengar’s debut short film “Borrowed Time” (Writer/Director) premiered at the MIAAC Film Festival in New York. He was a Top 5 Winner of the Avex Digital International short film contest, a finalist at the Austin Film Festival pitch competition, and a second rounder in the Austin Film Festival screenplay competition. His crime-fiction short story “Killer App” was published in Mystery Tribune. An avid traveller, he has visited over thirty countries across five continents and backpacked to two Olympics. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and lives in New York City.
Sharon Linnéa
Sharon Linnéa is the author of the bestselling Eden thrillers with Chaplain (COL) Barbara Sherer from St. Martin’s, which follow the exploits of female Army chaplain Jaime Richards. Her biography of Princess Kaiulani of Hawaii won the Carter G. Woodson Award and her biography of Raoul Wallenberg was described as “one of the definitive biographies of the Holocaust” by the Museum of Tolerance. She wrote the teen spy novel “Colt Shore: Domino 29” as Axel Avian and the Hollywood mystery “These Violent Delights.” Sharon has been a book editor at William Morrow, Arundel and Taplinger and an editor at three national magazines, as well as a celebrity ghost. In her youth she wrote “Spidey Super Stories” for Marvel. “Death in Tranquility,” the first in the Bartender’s Guide to Murder series, came out in September. The second, “Death by Gravity” launched this month.
Catherine Maiorisi
Catherine Maiorisi lives in New York City. In the old days she often wrote under the watchful eye of Edgar Allan Poe in Edgar’s Café on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Now she writes in her apartment. Catherine is the author of the NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli mystery series featuring Corelli and her reluctant partner, Detective P.J. Parker. These two tough women fight each other and stand against the blue wall while solving high profile crimes. The first two books in the series, “A Matter of Blood” and “The Blood Runs Cold” were Lambda Literary Award finalists. The third, “A Message in Blood,” will be published in January 2021. Catherine has also published three mystery short stories, four full-length romances and three romance short stories. She is an active member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Visit Catherine at www.catherinemaiorisi.com.
Nev March
Author Nev March is the recent winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Award for Best First Crime Fiction. In 2015, after a long career in business analysis, she returned to her passion of writing fiction and now teaches creative writing at Rutgers-Osher Institute. A Parsee Zoroastrian herself, Nev lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons. “Murder in Old Bombay: is her debut novel. Available in bookstores Nov. 10,” Murder in Old Bombay” can be pre-ordered on Amazon.
Paul Vidich
Paul Vidich was a senior executive in the entertainment industry for over twenty years. He turned to writing full time after leaving his business career. His third novel, “The Coldest Warrior,” was published in 2020 and was shortlisted for the Staunch Book Prize. His first two novels, “An Honorable Man” and “The Good Assassin,” were published in the U.S., Ireland, Great Britain, India and Australia in 2016 and 2017 through Simon and Schuster. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, LitHub, CrimeReads, Fugue, The Nation and elsewhere. His short story, “Falling Girl,” was nominated for a 2011 Pushcart Prize. Currently, he serves as vice chairman of board of governors of The New School For School Research in New York City.

Spotlight on PA: 1st in series highlighting chapter regions
2020-11-11 18:00 - 20:00
Join us on Nov. 11 for the first in a series of Zoom chapter meetings that shine a spotlight on members that, because of geographic location, find it difficult to attend meetings in New York. The November meeting features three notable authors from the states of Pennsylvania. And, we do mean states. John Vercher won accolades for his first novel set in Pittsburgh. USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling author Lisa Regan writes a series set in the center of the state. Multiple award-winning author Merry Jones lives in Philadelphia and has written over twenty books: thrillers, non-fiction and humor. The panel members who write about Pennsylvania and in Pennsylvania will discuss the challenges shared by authors writing about less-familiar locales as they relate to all aspects of their writing. The conversation will also address building writing communities outside of publishing centers like New York.
The event will be streaming live on our Facebook page.
Please click here to let us know if you’ll be coming.
Merry Jones
Merry Jones is the multiple award-winning author of over twenty books—thrillers, non-fiction and humor. Her latest, THE WOMAN IN THE CUPBOARD, came out in late September. Jones is a member of Mystery Writers of America, The Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers and The Liars Club, with whom she co-hosts a weekly podcast (The Oddcast) and a monthly writers coffeehouse. An avid rower, she lives with her husband in Philadelphia.
Lisa Regan
Lisa Regan is the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series, as well as several other crime fiction titles. Her novels have been translated into several other languages. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She lives just outside of Philadelphia with her husband, daughter and her Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers Association. She is currently under contract to write a total of twenty Detective Josie Quinn novels. Book number ten in the series, BREATHE YOUR LAST, releases on Dec. 9.
John Vercher
John Vercher is a writer currently living in the Philadelphia area with his wife and two sons. He has a Bachelor’s in English from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Mountainview Master of Fine Arts program and served as an adjunct faculty member at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. John’s debut novel, THREE-FIFTHS, launched Sept. 10, 2019, from Agora, the diversity-focused imprint of Polis Books. THREE-FIFTHS was chosen as the launch title for the imprint and has received strong praise from Kirkus and starred reviews from the Library Journal and Booklist.
THREE-FIFTHS was named one of the best books of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune, a 2019 Best Debut Novel by CrimeReads and a 2019 Top 10 Crime Fiction Debut by Booklist.
In addition, THREE-FIFTHS has been nominated for:

Left Coast Crime’s “Lefty” Award for Best Debut Novel
The Anthony Award for Best First Novel
Best Debut Novel (2019) for The Strand Magazine’s Critics’ Awards
The Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award for Best First Novel.

You can find him on Twitter @jverch75, on Instagram atjohnvercher75, and on Facebook at John Vercher—Author.
Please make sure you follow the MWA-NY webpage so the livestream will be easily available.
And please remember to support our indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at one of the following links or at your local indie bookstore:

Hockessin Bookshelf
Kew and Willow Books
KGB Event The Cloak and Dagger

KGB Virtual Reading
2020-10-13 18:00 - 20:00
Join the Mystery Writers of America, New York Chapter, for another thrilling night of chilling crime fiction read by our talented members. The October 13 KGB reading will be held online.
To let us know a headcount of attendees, please click here to register at Eventbrite for this free panel.
Go to the MWA page at Facebook.com or the MWA Channel at YouTube to view.
The readers:
Michael Bradley
Michael Bradley was born and raised in New Jersey, a fact he hopes no one will hold against him. He spent eight years as a radio DJ “on the air” before realizing he needed a real job and turned to IT. Never one to waste an experience, he uses his familiarity with life on the radio for many of his suspense novels, among them his first, the supernatural thriller SIRENS IN THE NIGHT (2015), a “smart, terrifying, heartbreaking” and “compelling read,” and his third, the thriller DEAD AIR (2020), a “brilliantly crafted novel” that “won’t let you up for a single breath until the final page.” You can find out more about Michael and his books at www.mbradleyonline.com.
Russ Colchamiro
Russ Colchamiro is the author of the rollicking time travel/space adventure, Crossline, the SF/F backpacking comedy series Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, editor of the SF mystery anthology Love, Murder & Mayhem, and co-author of the noir anthology Murder in Montague Falls, all with Crazy 8 Press. His newest novel, Crackle and Fire, the first in a new scifi mystery series featuring his intergalactic private eye, Angela Hardwicke, launched in September 2020. He has also contributed short stories to more than a dozen anthologies. Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, two ninjas, and crazy dog Simon, who may in fact be an alien himself. For more on and Russ’s books, you can visit www.russcolchamiro.com, follow him on Twitter @AuthorDudeRuss, and ‘like’ his Facebook author page www.facebook.com/RussColchamiroAuthor.
Matty Dalrymple
Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers ROCK PAPER SCISSORS , SNAKES AND LADDERS , and THE IRON RING ; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels THE SENSE OF DEATH, THE SENSE OF RECKONING, and THE FALCON AND THE OWL; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts, including CLOSE THESE EYES and WRITE IN WATER. Matty lives with her husband and three dogs in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and enjoys vacationing on Mount Desert Island, Maine, and Sedona, Arizona, and these locations provide the settings for her work. Matty is a member of Mystery Writers of America , Sisters in Crime , and the Brandywine Valley Writers Group . Visit her website for more information https://www.mattydalrymple.com/
Tina deBellegarde
Tina deBellegarde lives in Catskill, New York with her husband Denis and their cat Shelby. Winter Witness is the first book in the Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery Series. Tina also writes short stories and flash fiction. When she isn’t writing, she is helping Denis tend their beehives, harvest shiitake mushrooms, and cultivate their vegetable garden. She travels to Japan regularly to visit her son Alessandro. Tina did her graduate studies in history. She is a former exporter, paralegal, teacher, and library clerk. Visit her website for more information www.tinadebellegarde.com.
James McCrone
James McCrone is the author of the Imogen Trager series—Faithless Elector (2016), Dark Network (2017), and the just-released Emergency Powers (Oct. 1, 2020)—“taut” and “gripping” political thrillers about a stolen presidency. His short story “Numbers Don’t Lie” was included in the anthology Low Down Dirty Vote, vol. 2, published this summer. He’s a member of the The Mystery Writers of America, Int’l Assoc. of Crime writers, International Thriller Writers, Independent Book Publishers Assoc., Philadelphia Dramatists Center and Sisters in Crime network. James has an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle. A Northwest native, James now lives in Philadelphia, with his wife and three children. You can learn more at http://jamesmccrone.com/
Gary Earl Ross
Gary Earl Ross is a retired UB professor whose books include The Wheel of Desire, Shimmerville, Blackbird Rising, Beneath the Ice, and the Gideon Rimes mysteries Nickel City Blues and Nickel City Crossfire (Black Opal). His plays (staged in Buffalo, Rochester, Knoxville, NYC, other U.S. cities, Canada, England, China, India, and Kazakhstan) include Picture Perfect, 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 Edgar Award from Mystery Writers of America. Other writing honors include three Emanuel Fried Outstanding New Play Awards, a LIFT Fiction Fellowship, a Saltonstall Foundation Playwriting Fellowship, an ASI-DEC artist’s grant for fiction, and public radio commentary awards from the New York Associated Press and the New York Broadcasters Association. Both The Scavenger’s Daughter and Matter of Intent have been adapted into motion pictures by CITOC Productions of Mumbai, India. Visit him at www.garyearlross.net.
Cathi Stoler
Cathi Stoler’s Murder On The Rocks Series features The Corner Lounge owner, Jude Dillane and includes, BAR NONE, LAST CALL and STRAIGHT UP. She’s also written the suspense novels, NICK OF TIME and OUT OF TIME and the Laurel and Helen New York Mysteries. She is a board member of Sisters in Crime New York/Tri-State, MWA and ITW. You can reach her at www.cathistoler.com.
Please also make sure you Follow the MWA-NY webpage so the LiveStream will be easily available.
And please remember to support our Indie bookstores as well as our authors by buying any books that interest you at one of the following links or at your local indie bookstore.

Hockessin Bookshelf
Kew and Willow Books
KGB Event The Cloak and Dagger

Readings take place on the second Tuesday of every other month. Slots are open for December. Members who are interested in reading, or have questions about the program, should contact MWA New York at readings@mwany.org.
MWA-New York is committed to the well-being of our members and attendees, and encourage our community to follow CDC guidance on novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

October virtual panel: Growing Up Mysterious: Juvenile and Young Adult Crime Fiction
2020-10-07 18:00 - 20:00
Growing up is a mystery. So perhaps it’s not surprising that people have been reading and enjoying juvenile and young adult mysteries for more than a century. Our panelists all write, or write about, girl sleuths, in stories that span a hundred years of American history. While these young women solve crimes in their community, the authors tackle important social/political issues that characterize daily life in those communities. Join Melanie Rehak, Victoria Bond, T.R. Simon and Richie Narvaez for a discussion of the craft and the business of writing juvenile and young adult crime fiction. Moderated by Jeff Markowitz.

The panel will stream live on the MWA-NY Facebook page.

Chapter meeting: Open mic members' reading
2020-09-16 18:00 - 20:00
The theme for readers: What I Wrote This Summer.
Want to read? The event can accommodate 12 readers. To request a slot at the reading, please email info@mwany.org no later than Sept. 12.
Want to watch? The readings will be broadcast live online. You can watch via the MWA-NY page at Facebook.com or the MWA-NY channel at YouTube.com. To let us know a headcount of attendees, you can register for free via Eventbrite. Please join us!
