August 12 Zoom Meeting: Jen Graybeal on Archetype Subversion Techniques 

Archetype Subversion Techniques  Let’s delve into the art of using archetypes to craft characters, then we’ll break the rules to create fresh-takes on familiar stories. Learn the nuances of group dynamics and how to imbue your characters with complexity, believability, and relatability. Explore the power of leveraging reader expectations to defy conventions in ways that intrigue and enchant. Uncover strategies … Read more

June 10 Zoom Meeting: Tess Gerritsen Talks About Writing, Her Career and Hollywood

Trained as a medical doctor, Tess Gerritsen built a second career as an internationally bestselling novelist. Her 32 novels include The Summer Guests, The Spy Coast, Gravity, and The Surgeon. She has won both the Nero Wolfe Award (for Vanish) and the Rita Award (for The Surgeon). Time Magazine named The Surgeon one of the best mystery/thrillers ever written. Her series of novels featuring … Read more

May 13 Zoom Meeting: Mark Dawidziak Brings Edgar Allan Poe Back to Life

What was the cause of Edgar Allan Poe’s untimely death in October of 1847, at the age of 40? What happened to him in the three missing days before he was found, delirious and “in great distress” on the streets of Baltimore, wearing ill-fitting clothes that were not his own? Mark Dawidziak’s Edgar-nominated biography, A Mystery … Read more

April 8 Zoom Meeting: TV Shows and Novels. An Unlimited Conversation with Lee Goldberg

#1 New York Times bestselling novelist, Lee Goldberg, gave us permission to ask him anything. His exact words were, “…you can ask whatever you like.” Let’s take him up on it. Lane Stone will start the evening off with questions, but we want this to be a highly interactive experience. Lee Goldberg is enormously successful both as an author and … Read more

March 11 Zoom Meeting: How to Get Your Novel in the Library

On March 11 Fairfax Librarian Matt Moffett explains how to get into one of the largest library systems in the U.S. One of the largest markets for new books is libraries. Matthew Moffett, head of adult fiction acquisitions for the Fairfax County public library system, purchases 100 titles a month. How he makes those selections … Read more