Beyond Milk Cartons and Stranger Danger: The Myths and Realities of Missing Children – Stacey Pearson
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
6:30 pm on Zoom

Crime fiction writing gives authors the freedom to bend and shift reality when weaving police procedures into their stories. Influential crime writers understand law enforcement protocols, why they exist, and how to manipulate them to keep their readers engaged. In this session focused on kidnappings and missing and abducted children, former law enforcement and public safety professional Stacey Pearson will discuss how fiction writers can use common myths and misconceptions about missing children to create authentic conflict in their stories. The session will cover waiting periods for reporting, Stranger Danger, AMBER Alert criteria, interrogations and Miranda warnings, FBI involvement, and more.

THE MESSAGE OF YOU – Judy Carter
Wednesday, May 12
06:30 PM on Zoom

Learn how to find your compelling message – THE MESSAGE OF YOU™ – and sell yourself to readers, booksellers, and librarians.

THE MESSAGE OF YOU begins with a simple belief – that your greatest speech already exists and that it has already been delivered in front of a live audience masterfully and powerfully by you. Best-selling author and international comic, Judy Carter sets out to prove that THE MESSAGE OF YOU is in the advice you give to your friends; in the lessons you teach your children; in the stories you tell your family. It’s expressed through the volunteer work you do, the way you run your business, the way you turned your messes into successes. THE MESSAGE OF YOU is a distillation of all of your experiences, both personal and professional, that form the narrative meaning of your life.

Author Idol
Wednesday, April 14
07:00 PM on Zoom

Send in the first two pages of your double-spaced manuscript with your name removed as an attachment for a chance to have your words read aloud by a professional reader and critiqued by our panel of agents:

Lori Galvin, Aevitas Creative
Paula Munier, Talcott Notch
Michelle Richter, Fuse Literary

Doug Jacobs will read until two of the three agents indicate that they would stop reading, after which the agents will discuss their reaction to the pages.

Forensic Anthropology – Sean Tallman
Wednesday, March 10
06:30 PM on Zoom

Come to our next monthly meeting to hear Sean Tallman discuss the field of forensic anthropology, peppering his presentation with his experiences in the field and research projects.

Sean Tallman (he/him/his) is a biological anthropologist specializing in forensic anthropology, human skeletal biology, and forensic archaeology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, M.A. from the State University Of New York, Binghamton, and B.A. from the University of Washington. Sean has held positions of forensic anthropologist, osteologist, archaeologist, and consultant in various contexts.

In particular, he served as a forensic anthropologist with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command’s Central Identification Laboratory (now the DPAA), where he contributed to the identification of numerous U.S. service members killed during past conflicts, and led archaeological recovery missions in France, Germany, Hawaii, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vietnam.

Sean is presently an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Department of Anthropology, and in the Program in Archaeology at Boston University. In the Program in Forensic Anthropology, he heads the Forensic and Bioanthropology Group (https://www.bumc.bu.edu/gms/forensic-anthropology/fablab/), where he teaches and advises students in human osteology, biological anthropology method and theory, bioarchaeology, and forensic anthropology. Additionally, he is a Registered Professional Archaeologist, Fellow in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, scientific recovery expert/senior archaeologist with SNA international, and a forensic anthropologist with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT IX).

His research interests include sex and ancestry estimation, skeletal variability, population-specific biological profile methods, secular change, diversity and inclusion in forensic anthropology, critical race theory, and issues of human identification. He has published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, Forensic Anthropology, Forensic Science International, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, and Forensic Magazine and he serves on the editorial board for Forensic Anthropology and American Anthropologist. He can be followed on Twitter at @FabLabBU.

LEARN TEN WAYS TO SELL BOOKS BY SPEAKING – Henry DeVries
Wednesday, February 10
06:30 PM on Zoom

“My books are my children, and like my children I expect them to support me in my old age.”
– Henry DeVries

Join this month’s chapter meeting to learn how you, too, can turn your published books into paid speaking gigs that then sell your books.

Henry DeVries, MBA, is the CEO and co-owner of Indie Books International, which has published more than 120 titles by business leaders. Using the knowledge he gained as president of a $40-million Ad Age 500 advertising agency, he trains authors how to earn more from their speech bookings.

A former Associated Press sportswriter, DeVries has visited forty-four major league ballparks and has two to go before he “touches ’em all.”

WRITE IT. SELL IT.
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
6:30 to 8:00 pm on Zoom

Attendees will learn a wealth of information about short story markets: how to find them, how to write for them, how to submit to them, and how to work with their editors. There will be Q&A after the presentation, so come prepared with questions.

Michael Bracken is the author of several books, including the private eye novel All White Girls, and more than 1,300 short stories in several genres. His short crime fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Black Mask, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Espionage Magazine, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, The Best American Mystery Stories 2018, and in many other anthologies and periodicals. A recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award for lifetime achievement in short mystery fiction, Bracken has won two Derringer Awards and been shortlisted for two others. Additionally, Bracken recently became editor of Black Cat Mystery Magazine and has edited several anthologies, including the Anthony Award-nominated The Eyes of Texas and the Mickey Finn series. Learn more at www.CrimeFictionWriter.com.

THE REALITY GAP
Wednesday, October 14

Jason Allison will take attendees through two investigations and illustrate how difficult it can be to get from what you know to what you can prove.

Jason Allison spent twenty years with the New York City Police Department, retiring in 2018 with the rank of Detective Second Grade. He worked in a South Bronx Detective Squad and the NYPD/ATF Joint Robbery Task Force, SPARTA, where he was designated a Special United States Marshal. In his career he investigated homicides, shootings, violent street gangs and high-end robbery crews. Familiar with both the New York State and Federal legal systems, he was the primary detective on a long term case that would eventually serve as the blueprint for the Department’s targeted prosecution of criminal organizations.

Jason has written two novels deemed unpublishable by the literary world, and is currently finishing his third.

Conversation begins at 6:30.
The meeting proper begins at 7.

If you are not a member of Mystery Writers of America, New England, and would like to attend, please send an email to info@mwane.org

Tales From the Crypt: Homicidal and Suicidal Poisonings
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 – 7pm

Dr. Magnani, Professor of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology (and Professor of Medicine) at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston MA is internationally recognized for her expertise in clinical chemistry and toxicology.  She obtained her Master of Science and Ph.D. at Stony Brook University in New York, and her medical degree from Boston University. Dr. Magnani completed her residency training in Clinical Pathology at New England Medical Center. During her career Dr. Magnani has received three Outstanding Speaker Awards from the Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), as well as a Recognition Award for Significant Service from the Massachusetts Poison Control Systems in Boston. In addition Dr. Magnani received the 2012 Outstanding Communicator Award, the 2014 Distinguished Patient Care Award, and the 2014 Gene and Jean Herbek Humanitarian Award from the College of American Pathologists (CAP)/CAP Foundation, the leading organization for board-certified pathologists. Dr. Magnani also received the Distinguished Career in Teaching Award from the Tufts University School of Medicine in 2019.  She has been named a Top Doctor in Boston magazine and has received recognition from Castle Connelly for Exceptional Women in Medicine.  Dr. Magnani was also named as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Laboratory Medicine Professionals in the World by The Pathologist. 

Dr. Magnani has served as the member-at-large of the TDM and Toxicology Division of the AACC, and as an editor of Clinical and Forensic Toxicology News.  She also served as a member of the Council on Scientific Affairs for the CAP, and is the Chair of the CAP Toxicology Resource Committee.             

Dr. Magnani is the author of Lily Robinson and the Art of Secret Poisoning (nVision Press), as well as one of the editors of The Clinical Toxicology Laboratory: Contemporary Practice of Poisoning Evaluation, 2^nd edition (AACC Press), and Clinical Toxicology Testing: A Guide for Laboratory Professionals, 2^nd edition (CAP Press).  Her novel, The Queen of All Poisons was released in June of 2019 with a portion of the proceeds going to the CAP Foundation to help with free screening for breast and cervical cancer.

MEMBER READINGS
Wednesday, August 19, 6:30pm

Join the Zoom meeting and hear what our members have been up to so far this summer.

Read something published or still in process. Please limit yourself to about 500 words (about two pages double spaced, one page single-spaced, and three pages printed with crayon).

Send an email to newsletter@mwane.org if you are interested in attending, and I will send you a link. Include the title of what you’ll be reading from if you’re interested in reading.