Linda McHenry

Category: Fiction

Mystery Making with Sisters in Crime New England
Hosted virtually by the Barrington Public Library
Join my writer friends at me at Mystery Making with Sisters in Crime New England. I am (and have always been) active in a number of writers organizations–and never more so than since joining Sisters in Crime New England (SinCNE).
Mystery Making is the brain child of SinCNE. It involves a panel of four writers who create a brand-new mystery novel, on the spot. Members of the audience suggest character names and other story elements for us to use.
In the past, we hosted these events live and in-person, but the virtual events are just as much fun. Join Edith Maxwell, Sarah Smith, Tonya Price, and me on Tuesday, February 10 from 7 to 8 p.m. to plot a mystery!
Registration ends at 9 a.m. on the day of the event, so register now. Visit the Barrington Public Library for more information or to register.
The organization lists future events on its website. My next Mystery Making with Sisters in Crime New England takes place on March 6, along with fellow writers Lisa Lieberman, Lorraine Sharma Nelson, and Tonya Price. Join us at the Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime Southwest Florida Reading Festival.
01/16/2021
Want to help Make a Mystery?
Join me and fellow mystery writers Debra H. Goldstein, Tilia Klebenov Jacobs, and Clea Simon brainstorm together to create a brand new mystery. Give us your audience suggestions and help make a mystery!
The Lucius Beebe Memorial Library in Wakefield, MA hosts the event in coordination with Sisters in Crime New England. In the past, we presented these events in person but haven’t let the pandemic slow us down. Help make a mystery by registering and logging in on the date of the event. Then, once we begin, simply suggest character names, murder plots, settings. Feel free to suggest anything else that adds to the fun!
A maximum of 50 people can attend and the cost is $0, so register now. Click this URL to register: https://wakefieldlibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/mystery-making-with-sisters-in-crime-new-england/
Click here to learn more about my writing events.
I participate in many of these mystery makings throughout the year. I also appear at other events such as book signings, author panels, and author interviews. Stay tuned for my next two books in the upcoming months. The second edition of Second Time Around will be available and a new book, co-written with author Herb Holeman is waiting for a publication date.
10/10/2020
Debra Bokur’s new Release: The Fire Thief
The first book in Debra Bokur’s mystery series, The Fire Thief, was released last month to rave reviews. The series is set in Hawaii and you can check it out on her website at https://www.debrabokur.com/.
Debra visited with me on The Writer’s Voice this week, and we talked about how her career as a celebrated journalist and editor of magazines and literary journals did NOT prepare her for writing and publishing fiction. You can listen to the podcast episode here. A short video excerpt will appear on my YouTube channel on Friday, here.
As most writers will agree, we tend to write long or short. When you’re a journalist, as Debra is, you tend to write to specific word counts required by the outlet publishing your work, such as 1,000 per piece. When you write fiction, you tend to write thousands and thousands of words … only to find you need to slash your word count by as much as 25%.
My experiences have been different from Debra’s. I found that writing a newspaper column and magazine articles actually helped me keep my fiction writing tight and in accordance with required word counts. Then again, I began writing fiction first and found it fairly easy to cut word count. Not every writer can toss away words with relish.
But when you begin writing short nonfiction it’s much more difficult to retrain yourself. Give Debra’s interview a listen and then share YOUR take on how writing one particular type of work did or did not prepare you for tackling another type.
06/24/2020