MWA-U is back!
Upcoming sessions:
Unlocking the Power of Mentorship: Relaunching MWA’s Mentorship Program
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Outline the logistics of the program
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Highlight the benefits for both mentors and mentees
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Share practical tips to maximize the mentor–mentee relationship
- To sign up to be a mentor, please visit this page. Only Active Status MWA members may be mentors.
- To request a mentor, please visit this page. Any MWA member may be a mentee.
Achieve Success Writing Short Crime Fiction
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025 ( 8 EST / 7 CST / 6 MST / 5 PST)
Create and sustain a successful career writing short crime fiction. Our panelists provide tips, tricks, and techniques for crafting publishable short stories and discuss finding and submitting to current crime fiction anthologies and magazines. Whether you’re a short story specialist or a novelist who dabbles in short fiction, you should come away with valuable information that will elevate your short story career.
Moderator:
Michael Bracken is an Edgar- and Shamus-award nominee and three-time Derringer award-winner. Author of more than 1,300 short stories, his 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 three dozen anthologies, including the Anthony Award-nominated The Eyes of Texas; with Barb Goffman, the Derringer-winning and Anthony-nominated Murder, Neat; and, with Stacy Woodson, the Anthony-nominated Scattered, Smothered, Covered, and Chunked. He is a recipient of the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement and, in 2024, was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his contributions to Texas literature.
Panelists:
Ashley-Ruth Bernier’s (www.ashleyruthbernier.com) work has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, Stone’s Throw, Smoking Pen Press, Malice Domestic’s Mystery Most Devious and Mystery Most Humorous, 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. Ashley-Ruth is a 2023 SMFS Derringer finalist, a 2023 and 2024 Killer Nashville Claymore finalist, and one of the 2024 recipients of MWA’s Barbara Neely grant for Black mystery writers. Her first novel length work is forthcoming from Crooked Lane books in Spring 2026. She currently lives with her family and teaches first grade in North Carolina.
Erika Krouse is the author of four books of fiction and nonfiction, including her new collection of short stories, Save Me, Stranger. Her memoir, Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation, is a winner of the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime, the Colorado Book Award, and the Housatonic Book Award. Erika’s short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and The Atlantic, is forthcoming in Best American Mystery and Suspense and Best Mystery Stories of the Year, and won the 2025 Edgar Award for Best Short Story. Erika mentors for the Book Project and the Portfolio Year at Lighthouse Writers Workshop, where she won the Beacon Award for Teaching Excellence.
Art Taylor is the Edgar Award-winning author of two collections: The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions (2023) and The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74 and Other Tales of Suspense (2020). His debut book, On the Road with Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories (2015), won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. His short fiction has also won the Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, and Macavity Awards, and he was the 2025 recipient of the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement. He is a professor of English at George Mason University. www.
Previous sessions:
Zoom webinar on author websites
When: Wednesday, Feb 5, 2025 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: MWA-U 2025 with AuthorBytes
In this presentation, AuthorBytes will share key insights it has gleaned from 25 years of creating websites for bestselling, mid-list, and debut authors. AuthorBytes’ Creative Director, Steve Bennett, will cover topics such as the elements of an effective website and how you can incorporate them into your web presence. You’ll learn best practices for conveying the core content that should be on every author website, why high-performance web hosting matters, and the importance of providing value-added content that increases your site’s “stickiness.” You’ll also learn options for creating a compelling website and the pros and cons of going DIY or hiring a web firm. Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to improve your current site, the tips and practices you’ll learn will set you on the path to an engaging author web presence.
Link to video: https://bit.ly/MWAU-AuthorBytes
MWA University – Tuesday, March 25, 2025 – 8:00 p.m. EST – Via Zoom
Crime Is Kid’s Stuff
Writing mysteries for middle-grade and YA is no kid’s game… Join authors Michael Thomas Ford, Christina Diaz Gonzalez, and Fleur Bradley Visscher for a discussion about the ins and outs of writing YA/Juvenile mysteries. Learn how to pick your crime, navigate difficult topics, and hone that elusive voice. There’s time for Q&A so bring your questions for these award-winning MWA authors.
Bios:
Michael Thomas Ford: Michael Thomas Ford is the author of more than 85 books, most of them for young readers. He particularly enjoys writing spooky mysteries for middle grade readers and his work for that audience includes nine books based on characters from the cult favorite Eerie, Indiana television show, the Frightville series, and the standalone titles The Lonely Ghost and The Headless Doll.
Christina Diaz Gonzalez: Christina Diaz Gonzalez is the Edgar® award-winning and USA TODAY best-selling author of several novels including The Red Umbrella, A Thunderous Whisper, Moving Target, Concealed, Invisible: A Graphic Novel, and The Bluest Sky. Her books have received numerous state and international awards and have also been designated as an American Library Association’s Best Fiction for Young Adults selection, a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection, and as an International Reading Association’s Teachers’ Choice book. Christina currently lives in Miami, Florida with her family and a dog that can open doors.
Fleur Bradley Visscher: Fleur Bradley Visscher is the author of numerous short crime fiction and mysteries for kids, including award-winning Daybreak on Raven Island and Midnight at the Barclay Hotel (Viking/PRH), as well as the Double Vision trilogy (HarperCollins). She is a literacy advocate and speaks at educator conventions on reaching reluctant readers. Fleur lives in a cottage in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies where she likes to foster rescue animals. You can find Fleur online at fleurbradley.com.
See what MWA-U sessions were held in 2024. View links to videos and support materials.
