Free Program about Writing Mystery Short Stories

by Paula Gail Benson

More and more authors are considering writing short stories, to tell parts of their characters’ adventures between novels or to experiment with different types of storytelling. Fortunately, we are experiencing a time when magazines and anthologies give excellent opportunities for entering the short story field.

In May, Michael Bracken, author of almost 1,300 short stories and an Edgar Award nominee, Shamus Award nominee, Derringer Award winner, and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award for lifetime achievement in short mystery fiction, launched ShortCon, the Premier Conference for Writers of Short Crime Fiction. An in-person gathering in Alexandria, Virginia, ShortCon will take place again this year on Saturday, June 7. Please check it out at this link.

Meanwhile, if you would like to attend a virtual conference dedicated to short story writing and FREE, please consider this year’s Mystery in the Midlands: Writing the Short Story. The Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Southeastern Chapter of Mystery Writers of America have collaborated with Michael Bracken to bring you some of crime fiction’s phenomenal practitioners.

WE HOPE YOU CAN ATTEND!

 Here’s the information to register for the program, to be held this Saturday, October 19, 2024:

FREE—JUST REGISTER

MYSTERY IN THE MIDLANDS: WRITING THE SHORT STORY

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE—SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2024

11:15 AM TO 2:45 PM EASTERN TIME

10:15 AM TO 1:45 PM CENTRAL TIME

9:15 AM TO 12:45 PM MOUNTAIN TIME

8:15 AM TO 11:45 AM PACIFIC TIME

Do you write mystery short stories? Would you like to learn how?

The Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Southeastern Chapter of Mystery Writers of America are proud to present this FREE conference featuring some of today’s most expert mystery authors to unlock the craft and business of writing the short story.

 Register in advance for this meeting at the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIsdu2spj8rHdQA5w1n6kKl9rC1dY6Ack6m

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

PROGRAM

11:15 AM/10:15 AM/9:15 AM/8:15 AM                 WELCOME

 

11:30 AM/10:30 AM/9:30 AM/8:30 AM                 Crafting the Short Story—Art Taylor

 

12:30 PM/11:30 PM/10:30 AM/9:30 AM                New Voices in Short Mystery Fiction—Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier, James A. Hearn, and Stacy Woodson (moderated by Paula Gail Benson)

 

1:30 PM/12:30 PM/11:30 AM/10:30 AM                The Business of Short Story Writing—Michael Bracken

 

2:30 PM/1:30 PM/12:30 PM/11:30 PM                   CONCLUSION

 

FACULTY:

Art Taylor (www.arttaylorwriter.com) is the Edgar Award-winning author of two short story collections—The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions and The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74 and Other Tales of Suspense—and of the novel in stories On the Road with Del & Louise, winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. He won the 2019 Edgar Award for Best Short Story for “English 398: Fiction Workshop,” originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and he has won three additional Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, four Macavity Awards, and four Derringer Awards for his short fiction. He edited Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015, winner of the Anthony Award for Best Anthology or Collection, and California Schemin’: Bouchercon Anthology 2020. He is an associate professor of English at George Mason University, and he has contributed frequently to the Washington Post, the Washington Independent Review of Books, and Mystery Scene Magazine.

Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier (www.ashleyruthbernier.com)’s work has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, Stone’s Throw, Smoking Pen Press, Malice Domestic's Mystery Most Devious, The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, and other anthologies. Originally from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ashley-Ruth writes mysteries highlighting the vibrant culture of her home. She currently lives with her family and teaches first grade in North Carolina. 

James A. Hearn (www.jamesahearn.com), an Edgar Award nominee for Best Short Story, writes in a variety of genres, including mystery, crime, science fiction, fantasy, and horror.  His work has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, numerous anthologies, and has been selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery and Suspense.

Stacy Woodson (www.stacywoodson.com) made her crime fiction debut in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’s Department of First Stories and won the 2018 Readers Award. Since her debut, she’s had almost forty stories accepted for publication, one adapted for animation. She’s a two-time Derringer award winner, a Macavity Award and Thriller Award nominee, and has a story included in Best Mysteries of the Year 2024. When she’s not writing, she co-edits anthologies with Michael Bracken.

Paula Gail Benson (www.paulagailbenson.com), a legislative attorney, has thirty plus stories that have appeared online and in anthologies including Mystery Times Ten 2013; A Tall Ship, a Star, and Plunder; A Shaker of Margaritas: That Mysterious Woman; Fish or Cut Bait: a Guppy Anthology; Killer Nashville Noir: Cold Blooded; Love in the Lowcountry; Heartbreaks and Half-truths; Malice Domestic’s Mystery Most Diabolical; Dark of the Day; and Smoking Guns.

Michael Bracken (www.CrimeFictionWriter.com) is an Edgar Award and Shamus Award nominee whose crime fiction has appeared in The Best American Mystery Stories, The Best Mystery Stories of the Year, and many other publications. Additionally, Bracken is the editor of Black Cat Mystery Magazine and several anthologies, including the Anthony Award-nominated The Eyes of Texas. In 2024, he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his contributions to Texas literature.