Forensic Psychiatry & Crime Fiction: Myths: Susan Hatters Friedman, MD – October 13 at 7:00 pm.

Hannibal Lecter is by far the most recognizable forensic psychiatrist in crime fiction. But he is the exception, rather than the rule, in my field. As a forensic psychiatrist who loves reading mysteries, I am often yanked out of otherwise amazing stories because of simple things about my field that writers get wrong, that research could easily correct. In this talk, I will address these myths and misunderstandings.

Susan Hatters Friedman, MD is a forensic and perinatal psychiatrist. She has practiced in forensic hospitals, general hospitals, court clinics, community mental health centers, and correctional facilities, and has worked as a forensic psychiatrist both in the US and New Zealand. Dr. Friedman is currently the President-elect of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL). She received the American Psychiatric Association’s Manfred Guttmacher Award for editing the book Family Murder: Pathologies of Love and Hate. She has published more than 100 articles. Her research has primarily focused on the interface of maternal mental health and forensic psychiatry, including notably child murder by mothers.

Adding Humour and Heart to Your Writing: Ellen Byron – September 8 at 7:00 pm

In this workshop, bestselling mystery author and screenwriter Ellen Byron shares fifteen-plus easy-to-implement tips and workshop exercises on how to find and mine the funny in any manuscript, culled from years of writing sitcoms. In addition, Ellen takes a look at how to balance humour with heart and when the right choice is not to be funny.

Ellen Byron is the Agatha Award-winning author of the Cajun Country Mysteries. The USA Today bestselling series has also won multiple Best Humorous Mystery Lefty awards from the Left Coast Crime conference. She also writes The Catering Hall Mysteries (under the pen name Maria DiRico), and will launch the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries (as Ellen) in June 2022.

Her TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. She’s written over 200 national magazine articles, and her published plays include the award-winning Graceland. She also worked as a cater-waiter for the legendary Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing.

A native New Yorker who attended Tulane University, Ellen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and rescue chi mix, Pogo. She still misses her hometown – and still drives like a New York cabbie.

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Capital Crime Writers is grateful to local publisher Renaissance Press for allowing us to use their Zoom account for our meetings.

My Journey of Passion: Debra Goldstein – April 14 at 7:00 pm

Debra Goldstein sums up her journey in a phrase: “How I traded in my lifetime judicial appointment to follow my passion to write.” She always wanted to be a writer, but her father advised her to have a practical career, so she applied to law school instead. By age 36 she’d become a federal judge, one of the youngest in the US. But she still longed to write—so she started to write crime fiction in hours she could carve out from her judicial career and raising a family. When she started getting novels and stories published,  she had to decide whether she could keep on following both paths or had to choose between them.

Judge Debra H. Goldstein writes Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series (Three Treats TooMany, Two Bites Too Many, One Taste Too Many). She also authored Should HavePlayed Poker and IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue. Her short stories and novels have been named as Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, and Silver Falchion finalists. Debra serves on the national board of Mystery Writers of America and is president of SEMWA. She previously was on Sisters in Crime’s national board and president of SinC’s Guppy Chapter. Find out more about Debra at https://www.DebraHGoldstein.com .

Writing the Criminal Mind: Michael Arntfield – March 10 at 7:00 pm

Psychopathy, suspectology, criminal investigative analysis ( aka offender profiling): how do these practices become believably actualized in the written word to create realistic and compelling villains and antagonists in crime stories? Why do the criminals often become the characters that resonate most with readers? This session offers a crash course for existing and aspiring writers on how to craft believable and enduring villains in both crime fiction and true crime literature.

Dr. Michael Arntfield is an Associate Professor of criminology and cold case research at Western University, a former police detective, and the author of over 15 books, including three true crime Amazon top sellers. A recurring subject matter expert and host for a variety of true crime series now airing internationally, he has served as a visiting professor and/or guest lecturer at universities and collages around the world as well as the FBI Academy in Quantico and the Canadian Police College in Ottawa. His forthcoming book, How to Solve a Cold Case, will be published by HarperCollins in 2022.

Website / TED Talk

Busy Writer’s Guide to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: Julie Rowe – February 10 at 7:00 pm

Join romantic thriller author Julie Rowe as she dissects and discusses the effective use of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram by authors in today’s rapidly changing publishing marketplace. Topics include:

• Why bother? What social media streams do for authors.
• Setting up your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram profile/page.
• Dos and don’ts
• Content is king, where to find yours
• Following the right people and attracting the right followers.
• What to post/tweet to sell books without having to ask people to buy
• Create engaging graphics to wow your followers
• Timing your posts
• Scheduling apps and why you need them
• Other useful apps
• Hashtags

Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the North West Territories and Fort McMurray, Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because, “Fiction has to be believable”. Julie writes romantic suspense and romantic thrillers. Her most recent titles include Hell & Back book #5 of the Outbreak Taskforce series and Trapped with the Secret Agent book #1 of the Trapped with Him series. You can find her at www.julieroweauthor.com , on Twitter @julieroweauthor or at her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor