Jack Bates grew up in the northern suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, and began writing at an early age. He is an award winning writer of short fiction, screenplays, stage plays, and children's books. He is a three time nominee for a Derringer Award from the Short Mystery Fiction Society.

People wishing to stage his plays may contact him at jacktheauthor@gmail.com .

Although Michael Bracken is the author of several books—including the hardboiled private eye novel "All White Girls" and the young adult romance "Just in Time for Love"—he is best known as the author of more than 1,200 short stories. He has written in nearly every genre but has been most successful with women's fiction and hardboiled crime fiction, two genres that couldn't be more unalike.

Recipient of the 2016 Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award for lifetime achievement in short mystery fiction, Michael is also an Edgar Award nominee, a Shamus Award nominee, and a three-time recipient of the Derringer Award for his short mystery fiction, with three additional nominations.

Additionally, Michael is the editor of Black Cat Mystery Magazine and editor of several crime fiction anthologies, including the Anthony Award-nominated The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods and the three-volume Fedora series, and stories from his anthologies have received or been short-listed for the Anthony, Derringer, Edgar, Macavity, Shamus, and Thriller awards.

He has contributed articles to "The Writer" and other writing publications, contributed a chapter to the writing textbook "Many Genres, One Craft," is one of five authors featured in "Writing Erotica," and is extensively quoted in "The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists." He regularly speaks about writing, editing, and publishing to audiences across the U.S. and Mexico.

Additional information about Michael, including a selected bibliography and his speaking schedule, is available at: www.CrimeFictionWriter.com. He is one of a rotating group of crime fiction writers who blog at SleuthSayers.org.

Paul D. Marks is the author of award-winning Mystery-Thrillers about imperfect or flawed people trying to do the right thing in a corrupt and unjust world.

Paul's latest book, The Blues Don't Care, drops on 6/1/20. NY Times Best-Selling Author Brendan DuBois says this of Blues: “Award-winning author Paul D. Marks hits it out of the park with this finely-written novel bringing WWII-era L.A. alive with memorable characters, scents, descriptions, and most of all, jazz. Highly recommended.”

He is the author of the Shamus Award-Winning mystery-thriller White Heat. Publishers Weekly calls White Heat a “taut crime yarn.” Betty Webb of Mystery Scene Magazine calls its sequel Broken Windows “Extraordinary”. Though thrillers and set in the 1990s, both novels deal with issues that are hot and relevant today: racism and immigration, respectively. Marks says “Broken Windows holds up a prism from which we can view the events burning up today’s headlines, like the passionate immigration debate, through the lens of the recent past. It all comes down to the saying we know so well, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’.”

His short story Ghosts of Bunker Hill was voted #1 in the 2016 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Poll. His story Windward was selected for the Best American Mystery Stories of 2018 by Louise Penny and Otto Penzler, and won the 2018 Macavity Award for Best Short Story. His story Fade-Out on Bunker Hill, published in Ellery Queen, was voted #2 in the 2020 Ellery Queen Readers Poll. His stories have won or been nominated for multiple awards. He has also been published in Beat to a Pulp, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Switchblade, Hardboiled and more. www.PaulDMarks.com

(Subscribe to Paul’s newsletter: http://pauldmarks.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter/ -- and check him out on Facebook: facebook.com/paul.d.marks )

He is co-editor of the multi-award nominated anthology Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea. Two stories from which were chosen for The Best American Mysteries of 2018 and one received a Macavity Award that year.

Though Paul writes about other places, he considers himself an L.A. writer and lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, dogs and cats. He has served on the board of the L.A. chapter of Sisters in Crime and currently serves on the board of the SoCal chapter of Mystery Writers of America.

He also has the distinction, dubious though it might be, of being the last person to have shot a film on the fabled MGM backlot before it bit the dust to make way for condos. According to Steven Bingen, one of the authors of the well-received book MGM: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot: “That 40 page chronological list I mentioned of films shot at the studio ends with his [Paul D. Marks’] name on it.”

Facebook: If you like Paul's books, please friend him on Facebook: facebook.com/paul.d.marks

Terrie Farley Moran is the bestselling author of the Read 'Em and Eat cozy mystery series including the Agatha Award winning Well Read, Then Dead. Along with Jessica Fletcher, she co-writes the Murder She Wrote mystery series. She also co-writes the Scrapbooking Mysteries with Laura Childs. Terrie's short mystery fiction has been published in Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly and numerous anthologies. "A Killing at the Beausoleil" was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Short Story. "Inquiry and Assistance" received the Derringer Award for Best Novelette. You can find Terrie on Facebook or on her website at www.terriefarleymoran.com

Joseph S. Walker is an Edgar-nominated writer of crime and mystery short fiction. His work has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, The Front Line, Flash, and a number of themed anthologies. He lives in Indiana. Follow him on Twitter (@JSWalkerAuthor) and visit his website at jswalkerauthor.com.

MADDI DAVIDSON is the pen name for two sisters, Diane and Mary Ann Davidson. Living on opposite coasts, both sisters have imposed complex technology on unsuspecting customers and enjoy surfing. Learn more about Maddi at http://maddidavidson.com

Linda Kay Hardie writes crime, horror, and fantasy stories that have been published in a number of anthologies. When not writing adult short stories, she writes stories and books for children, ages 2 to 12, and has had a picture book published.

Linda also writes recipes, and is the reigning Spam champion for the state of Nevada (yes, the tasty treat canned mystery meat), having created a blue-ribbon-winning recipe. Linda’s writing has won other awards, including one for best feature article from the California Association of Community Colleges. Her first writing award dates back to fifth grade, when she won a first place trophy for an essay on fire safety.

Linda is also a member of Short Mystery Fiction Writers, Horror Writers Association, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and Cat Writers’ Association. She has a master’s degree in English from the University of Nevada, Reno, where she teaches required courses in English and Core Humanities to unwilling students.

Claire A. Murray writes mystery/crime, fantasy, and science fiction. With more than a dozen published short stories, she wonders why she didn't begin writing them sooner. "I have about 20 unpublished shorts in different stages of completion and have come to truly enjoy the challenge of the short story format.

She is is expanding one of those stories into a novel, writing a medieval-era trilogy fantasy set on an Earth-like planet, and has a completed amateur sleuth novel on hold for revisions so she can finish writing the prequel.

Claire is a member of Sisters in Crime (SinC) and several chapters, Mystery Writers of America, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. In 2020 she moved from New England to Arizona where she writes full time.

https://cam-writes.com, Where Character, Crime, and Mystery Collide

https://www.facebook.com/ClaireMurraywrites

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7160484.Claire_A_Murray

Merrilee Robson is the author of Murder is Uncooperative, a mystery set in a non-profit housing cooperative, and the first in a planned series. It is her first novel, if you don’t count the one she wrote in pencil when she was eleven. She has published short stories and has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. She lives in Vancouver with her husband and two incorrigible cats. Her house is over 100 years old and was first owned by a police officer.

www.merrileerobson.ca

Mary Keliikoa is the author of the Shamus Finalist, and Lefty, Agatha and Anthony nominated PI Kelly Pruett mystery series. She has had short stories published in Woman's World and in the anthology Peace, Love and Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Songs of the '60s. Her new series set in the fictional Oregon coastal town of Misty Pines features a former Portland homicide detective turned small town sheriff and will be out October 2022.

A Pacific NW native, she spent the first years of her adult life working around lawyers. Combining her love of all things legal and books, she creates a twisting mystery where justice prevails. At home in Washington, she enjoys spending time with her family and her fur-kids. When not at home, you can find Mary on a beach on the Big Island where even under the palm trees and blazing sun she’s plotting her next murder—novel that is.

https://www.facebook.com/Mary.Keliikoa.Author

https://twitter.com/mary_keliikoa

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mary-keliikoa

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20038534.Mary_Keliikoa

An Edgar Award nominee, James A. Hearn is an attorney and author who writes in a variety of genres, including crime, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He has degrees in English and mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Arlington, graduating cum laude in both disciplines, and a J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law.

Publication credits:

"Trip Among the Bluebonnets," The Eyes of Texas (Down & Out Books), 2019

"A Beretta, Burritos and Bears," Guns + Tacos (Down & Out Books), 2019

"Tunnel Visions," Monsters, Movies & Mayhem (WordFire Press), 2020

"I'll Be Seeing You," Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the '60s (Untreed Reads), 2020

"Hard Luck Case," Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir (Down & Out Books), 2020

"Becoming Zero," Black Cat Mystery Magazine #9, 2021

"Blindsided," with Michael Bracken, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Sept./Oct. 2021

"Winner Takes All," Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir Vol. 2 (Down & Out Books), 2021

"When the Dams Break," Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Sept./Oct. 2022

"Home Is the Hunter," Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir, Vol. 3 (Down & Out Books), 2022

"The Third Wish," Black Cat Weekly #69, 2022

Awards:

Mystery Writers of America – 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominee for Best Short Story for “Blindsided,” written with Michael Bracken, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, September/October 2021.

Writers of the Future Contest – Finalist, 2nd quarter, 2019; Finalist, 2nd Quarter, 2018; Semi-Finalist, 3rd quarter, 2018. WotF is a quarterly short story contest honoring new writers in science fiction and fantasy.

Dawn Dixon (www.dawndixon.net), winner of the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers, went on to complete her first series novel, Faux Finished (released June 2021). She’s won short story awards and been published in the anthology, Peace, Love and Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the ’60s. Dawn graduated from UNC Chapel Hill (AB Journalism). She then worked in corporate communications, staying creative by freelancing for local, regional and national rags. Other projects include a memoir, and a kid’s series about a three-pawed dog. She adores writing screenplays. In callow youth, she indulged in really bad poetry. She is a Sisters in Crime member and attends mystery conventions. Her love of crime stories grew from reading her Nana’s true crime magazines. Dawn, hooked on crime ever since, is too chicken to commit one herself. Hence, her fiction. She plans to hunt and gather ancestors in the UK, Ireland, and France, to discover why they left Europe as that’s where she travels. She complains she’d have saved money if they’d stayed put. For now, she sips iced tea and rocks on the front porch in South Carolina’s Low Country where swears lizards and alligators roam.