Meetings & Events

All meetings will be held on Zoom unless otherwise noted. The Zoom link will be sent to members ahead of time in our monthly newsletter.

Thursday, March 14, 7 PM: Getting Serious About Series

The evening will feature three of our very own chapter members who write series: Marty Wingate, Glen Erik Hamilton and Cynthia Blair (writing as Cynthia Baxter).

Some of the topics that they will touch upon include how to keep a series fresh, what’s ended up being useful in a series that has run for a long time, and what choices they made early on that they later came to regret. Other chapter members who are involved in writing series are invited to share their experiences and advice, as well.

Here’s a brief introduction of the panelists:

Marty Wingate writes mysteries and histories—all fiction and all set in Britain. Her new historical mystery series, The London Ladies Murder Club, is set in 1921 and inspired by the real-life Useful Women agency. She also writes the Potting Shed series and the Birds of a Feather mysteries in addition to standalone historical fiction. Marty prefers on-the-ground research whenever possible, and so she and her husband regularly travel to Britain, where she can be found tracing the steps of her characters, stopping for tea and a slice of Victoria sponge in a café, or enjoying a swift half in a pub. martywingate.com

A native of Seattle, Glen Erik Hamilton‘s novels have won the Anthony, Macavity, and Strand Magazine Critics awards, and been nominated for the Edgar, Barry, and Nero awards. His series featuring reformed thief Van Shaw has been called “outstanding” (Publishers Weekly), “perfect mix of serious crime and caper movie” (Criminal Element), and “a must-read series” (Mystery Scene Magazine). The latest, ISLAND OF THIEVES, was named one of USA Today’s “5 Books Not to Miss”. Glen grew up aboard a sailboat, playing around the islands, marinas, and commercial docks of the Pacific Northwest. Track him down at glenerikhamilton.com.

Cynthia Baxter has had the joyous experience of taking two of her great passions—animals and ice cream—and turning them into two different mystery series. Her Reigning Cats & Dogs Mysteries (Bantam Books) feature Long Island veterinarian Jessica Popper and her personal menagerie of pets plus an ever-changing list of four-legged clients. The Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe Mysteries (Kensington), set in New York State’s scenic Hudson Valley, feature ice cream entrepreneur Kate McKay and a chilling variety of clues, drool-inducing flavors, and surprisingly simple recipes. She also wrote a 13-book YA series that features teen-age twins who use their identical appearance to solve mysteries. cynthiabaxter.com

The Zoom link will be sent to our members on March 1.