Do you love mysteries and want to write one, but you don’t know a “cozy” from a “caper” or a “professional sleuth” from a “police procedural”? Never fear, award-winning mystery-author and teacher Edith Maxwell is on the scene to help unravel the secrets of thrillers and whodunits in this Saturday morning workshop here at the Fairfield County Writers’ Studio.
Over bagels, coffee, tea and mimosas (included in registration fee), participants will learn the ins and outs of the various subgenres of crime fiction including how to:
- structure plot, character and setting
- create the mystery puzzle
- develop the body of the book
- find more resources, community and support in your mystery efforts
The Mystery 101 workshop comes complete with writing prompts, instruction, tips, tidbits and more. Bring your writing implement of choice (pen, pad, laptop, tablet, whatever).
Following the morning workshop, writers are invited to share their writing informally with Edith over BYO lunch. (Many delicious options abound within walking distance of our studio!)
Participants are encouraged to stick around after lunch to hear how the pros do it, during the annual Connecticut Sisters in Crime readings, which the Fairfield County Writers Studio is thrilled to host this year. Beginning at 1:30 p.m., authors provide a brief synopsis of their work and then read aloud from a work-in-progress or a published book or short story. This year’s Connecticut authors include Ang Pompano, Steve Liskow, and Rhonda Lane, among others.
(From the SINCE folks:) “Sisters in Crime New England is the local chapter of the international organization Sisters in Crime. The group includes authors, readers, publishers, agents, booksellers and librarians bound by a passion for the mystery genre and support of women who write mysteries. The group welcomes Sisters — and Misters — in Crime from anywhere who have an interest in the New England mystery community. To learn more, see www.sincne.org.”
Agatha-nominated and Amazon bestselling author Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries and the Local Foods Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries (as Maddie Day), and the Lauren Rousseau Mysteries (as Tace Baker), as well as award-winning short-crime fiction.
Maxwell is the vice-president of Sisters in Crime New England and Clerk of Amesbury Friends Meeting. She lives north of Boston with her beau and three cats, and blogs with the other Wicked Cozy Authors. You can find her on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, and at her website, edithmaxwell.com.