One of my favorite reasons to travel to the D.C. area is the Creatures, Crime, & Creativity (C3) Conference. Organized by Intrigue Publishing, the conference welcomes writers and readers of horror, mystery, suspense, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, paranormal and—recently added—romance. C3 was held September 30–October 2, 2016 at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center in Columbia, Maryland. What I looked forward to […]
Known for its top-tier expert panels, CrimeCONN 2016 is a true writers’ conference. This year’s conference takes place on October 15 at the Westport Library in Connecticut, and its theme will be “The Criminal Mind.” The event is co-sponsored by our chapter. The conference’s guest of honor will be Andrew Gross, best-selling author of nine thrillers (One Mile Under, Everything
After 26 years with the FBI, specializing in major economic fraud and corruption investigations, Jerri Williams called on her professional encounters with scams and schemers to write Pay to Play, her debut novel. She has also served as a media spokesperson and is currently the host and producer of FBI Retired Case File Review, a true crime podcast. She joined
The MWA-NY Library Committee branched out with an inaugural event at the historic New York Society Library on September 21st with an author panel themed The Golden Age of Mysteries: Tracing the Bloodline of Crime Fiction. Co-sponsored by MWA-NY and the NYSL, the panel included Charles Ardai, Julia Dahl, Elizabeth Zelvin, and Parnell Hall (just four days from winning the
One of the many challenges for public libraries today is attracting community interest. Building engagement with local communities through fun, educational, and relevant programs that bring people together at no cost to the public is a tall order. As an employee of two public libraries in New Jersey, I talk with library staff about this issue quite often. As a
Over the years, people have frequently asked me if the time I spent in the magazine business — I ran five national magazines, including Cosmopolitan, for 14 years — was good preparation for my career as a mystery and thriller writer. My guess is that being a former prosecutor, cop, or private eye would have served me better, but overall
CHARLES ARDAI is one of those people whose energy, acuity, and achievements make you wonder what the heck you’ve been doing with your life. He’s won the Edgar, Shamus and Ellery Queen Awards, plus he is the author of five novels, including Little Girl Lost and Songs of Innocence. As the founding editor of the acclaimed pulp fiction imprint Hard Case Crime, he
After serving with the U.S. Army overseas, Albert Ashforth graduated from Brooklyn College and subsequently worked on two New York City newspapers. As a military contractor, he has done tours in Bosnia, Germany, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Afghanistan. He has worked as an instructor at Special Forces headquarters in Bad Tolz and trained officers at the German military academy in Neubiberg.
If all you know of Rupert Holmes is a little ditty titled “Escape (The Pina Colada Song),” then you don’t know Rupert Holmes. Novelist, playwright, lyricist, composer, performer, musician, Holmes does it all — and he does it well: His mantle is groaning with Edgars and Tonys and a diverse array of other prizes and citations for excellence. He also
It was mysterious! It was horrific! It was . . . romantic! Members of the Mystery Writers of America, New York Chapter, the Horror Writers Association, and the Romance Writers of America-New York City met and mingled over cocktails (and in air conditioning, on an extremely muggy summer night) at Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan on August 11. MWA-NY’s Laura
