top of page
PITTSBURGH SISTERS iN CRIME
BOARD
President
Annette Dashofy is the USA Today bestselling author of sixteen mystery novels including seven Agatha Award finalists and a Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award winner. Her most recent releases are What Comes Around, the thirteenth in Zoe Chambers series, and Keep Your Family Close, the second in the Detective Honeywell series. Additionally, she has been a Derringer Award finalist for her short fiction. Annette is a board member of Pennwriters and is president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Annette and her husband live on ten acres of what was her grandfather’s dairy farm in Washington County, Pennsylvania with their very spoiled cat, Kensi.
Vice President
Paula Minydzak is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, otherwise known as a “Yinzer.” Her parents grew up across the street from each other in a small town where most people worked in the steel mills. Their Italian and Slovak families were a strong part of her childhood, which included foods, holidays and religion. Several of her characters are based on her family members and other Pittsburghers. Paula has a background in legal and technical writing including training manuals, training presentations and legal documents. She is also an excellent tailor and patternmaker, although she spent many years as a legal secretary and paralegal. She is particularly inspired by the Hat Squad books of Karen Rose and Joe Lansdale’s novels. David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter Series is also a favorite. Her first love was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. She follows numerous authors and reads every day. She currently lives in suburban Pittsburgh with her Norwegian Elkhound, Boss.
Treasurer
Martha Reed is a multi-award-winning crime fiction author. Her story, “The Honor Thief,” was included in This Time For Sure, the Anthony Award-winning Bouchercon 2021 anthology. Her first Crescent City NOLA Mystery, Love Power won a 2021 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award and features Gigi Pascoe, a transgender sleuth. Up Jumped the Devil (#2) and The Seven Gates of Guinee (#3) continued the NOLA adventure. Martha is also the author of the Independent Publisher IPPY Book Award-winning John and Sarah Jarad Nantucket Mystery series. Her short stories and articles have appeared in Pearl, Suspense Magazine, Spinetingler, Mystery Readers Journal, Kings River Life Magazine, Mysterical-e, Frontier Tales, and in two Sisters in Crime anthologies. Lucky Charms - 12 Crime Tales and Paradise is Deadly - Gripping Tales from Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime.
Secretary
Writing as Liz Milliron, Mary Sutton is the Shamus award-nominated author of the Homefront Mysteries, set in Buffalo, NY during the early years of WWII, the Laurel Highlands Mysteries set in the scenic Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, and the Jackson Davis Mysteries set in Niagara Falls, NY. Her short fiction has been published in multiple anthologies including Murder Most International, Murder Most Historical, and the Anthony award-winning Blood on the Bayou. Liz is a past president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the current Secretary, as well as the Education Liaison for the National Board of Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of International Thriller Writers, Pennwriters and the Historical Novel Society. Liz lives in the Laurel Highlands with her husband and a very spoiled retired-racer greyhound.
ALL MEMBERS
Members with publications can be found here.
Mary Adler
Mary Adler is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Michelle Belan
Michelle Belan is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Celena Colasurdo
Celena Colasurdo is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Award-winning author Dr. Tamara Girardi writes books for children and teens. Her published titles include the Amazon Editor’s Pick Why, Daddy? Why? and its newly released companion, Why, Mommy? Why?. Two more titles, Why, Grandma? Why? and Why, Grandpa? Why? will follow in the series on Grandparents Day 2027. Tamara has published six YA titles in two different series with Wise Wolf Books. Gridiron Girl, which tells the story of Julia Medina, a high school senior who quits playing volleyball to compete against her boyfriend for the starting quarterback position on the football team kicks off the Iron Valley Vikings series that includes other titles: Disorder on the Court, Ultimate Takedown, and Shot Through the Heart. Above the Fold is the first book in Tamara’s second series, all about teens exploring their dreams and their true selves through exhibits at a popular, mardi-gras-esque hotspot called Carnivalesque. Also an academic, Tamara is a college English professor. She lives in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband, four adorably rambunctious children, and an even wilder German Shepherd.
Carole is the author of “This New Job’s Murder,” The Melody Shore Mysteries published by Flying Ketchup Press in June 2022. She also has a 90 minute mystery available on Amazon called “All I Want for Christmas is for You to Leave Town.” She enjoys writing short stories and children’s stories. In addition to Sisters in Crime, she is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. When not writing, she can be found in either Cook Forest, Pa, or somewhere on a bike trail in Western Pennsylvania spending time with family and friends. Find her online at www.carolelynnjones.com
Tim Maleeny
Tim Maleeny is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Mallika's short stories and flash fiction have appeared in various literary magazines & print anthologies, and have been longlisted and shortlisted for several awards including the Retreat West, Best Flash Fiction Prize, the Fractured Lit Best Micro-Fiction Prize, The Strands International Prize, and the Bath Flash FictionAward. Her flash fiction, Briefly, We Saw Each Other was the runner-up in the Retreat West Quarterly Flash fiction. IN THE DARK I SEE YOU is her debut thriller.
Catherine Raphael has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts/metalsmithing from Syracuse University. She worked as a jeweler for sixteen years. Raphael has performed as a storyteller and an improv actor. Her flash story, It Used to be Called Trenton, won third prize in Writer Advice. The Care and Propagation of Azaleas won second prize in the Ageless Authors competition. Her work has been short-listed in Women On Writing and long-listed in Bumble Bee. Journey to the Heart Stone is her first novel. It has been long-listed for the Ozma Award.
Her website is: https://catherineraphael.com/
(headshot taken by Ilana Ransom Toeplitz)
Brooke K. Saunders
Brooke K. Saunders is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Susan Thibadeau is enjoying the writing life. She’s earned various degrees, but her most treasured is the MFA in creative writing she received from Chatham University. She is a member of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, Sisters in Crime and Pennwriters Her short story “Lucky on the Charm” appears in Lucky Charms: 12 Crime Tales. Her novella, “The Discarded Spouse,” appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and was awarded the Black Orchid Novella Award, given in conjunction with the Nero Wolfe Society.
Stephanie Lynn Weis
Stephanie Lynn Weis is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Constance Zukowski
Constance Zukowski is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Candace K. Banks
Candace K.Banks is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Jeff Boarts began his writing career late in life, despite a desire to write novels since high school. Forty years later, in the spring of 2012, he published A FLASH OF MURDER, a mystery set in his hometown of Kittanning, PA. That same fall, MERRY MERRY MURDER, his second novel was published.
Jeff has a degree bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he also studied history, art and business. Literature he likes to read includes, but is not limited to: historical novels and mysteries, fantasy and sword and sorcery, suspense and thrillers, as well as conventional mysteries. Jeff also enjoys movies of all types, from silent classics to modern films, (comedies, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery and suspense, historical epics, etc.). Each year for the last eight years, Jeff and his friend Eric Cook have produced a Silent Movie Night for the Kittanning community at St. John’s Lutheran Church, where silent films and shorts are shown to live musical accompaniment.
Jeff is married to Carol Boarts and has two children, Jeffrey P. and Emily. He still resides and works in Kittanning.
Michele Collum has been writing since she could hold a pencil. being strongly influenced by the work of Emily Dickinson, poetry was her first love.
Michele received a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from University of Texas at Arlington. She has been a member of the National Association of Memoir Writers and Amherst Writers and Artists for several years and has recently joined PennWriters and Sisters In Crime.
Currently, she is focusing on publishing The Good Girl, a coming of age memoir about growing up in the Bible Belt, while also working on her first mystery novel and occasionally adding content to a poetry chapbook.
Michele and her husband Bob are recent southern transplants to Pittsburgh, She is thrilled to have just escaped a demanding career in healthcare to pursue writing full-time.
Bill Gormley is a soon-to-be-retired college professor (Public Policy, Georgetown University). He is a newcomer to the world of fiction writing but a life-long mystery reader. He once wrote an article on the implicit ethical codes of fictional police detectives. He plays jazz with a ragtag group of musicians once a week. He looks forward to spending more time in Pittsburgh, his home town and the setting for his murder mystery in progress.
Laurie Kassim
Laurie Kassim is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Romance author, juvenile court attorney, wife and mother, Rhonda Anderson Marks has always loved reading and writing. She's proud to say while growing up in Clairton, Pennsylvania, one summer she read almost every book on the children's library!
A 1982 graduate of Howard University, she moved back home to attend the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and several years later returned to Pitt to earn her MBA at the Katz Graduate School of Business. But through it all, she continued her love affair with books, especially romance novels.
A native of western Pennsylvania, Rhonda is the ultimate Pittsburgh fan. Join Rhonda on her publication journey. She specializes in happily ever afters.
Terri Osburn
Terri Osburn is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Janet Roberts writes character driven, contemporary fiction set wholly or partially in Western PA, where her roots run deep. Her readers know to expect a female character who awakens to the discovery of her own inner strength while facing adversity. Reviews call her writing “cinematic” and “brilliant and fresh prose”.
Her award-winning novel What Lies We Keep (2024) combines cybersecurity with domestic suspense. Called “…a deeply intelligent work…” — Kirkus Reviews, it was a 2024 Finalist for The Hawthorne Award, and for “Best New Fiction” from both American Fiction Awards and American Best Books Awards; Winner of the 2024 Literary Titan Silver Medalist, Firebird Fiction Awards, and PenCraft Summer Book Award for Suspense Fiction. Her first two novels won 1st Place - Fiction from Pittsburgh's The Author Zone (TAZ). Her poetry has been published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and in San Fedele Press’ Art in the Time of COVID-19. She's a member of Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and Pennwriters. A former global leader in cybersecurity education and awareness with over a decade of experience, she lives in Pittsburgh, PA, where Frick Park is her favorite place for a hike. She loves travel, wandering through bookstores in other countries, reading on her porch swing, and sharing a bottle of wine with friends. Learn more about her at www.booksbyjanetroberts.com.
Gina Sestak
Gina Sestak is a semi-retired attorney whose published works include books and articles on legal topics, and a short story in the Lucky Charms anthology. She is presently seeking representation for five unpublished novels. Gina also co-wrote an award-winning short screenplay, The Tenth Door, and has co-authored three feature-length screenplays that are available for production.
Sarah Valentine
Sarah Valentine is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Sharon Wenger
Sharon Wenger has taught graduate students and been in charge of cytogenetics laboratories at both Pitt and WVU. She has authored numerous scientific publications. An avid mystery reader, her favorite is the medical thriller. Now retired, she is pursuing mystery writing involving genetic research.
Susan Baughman
Susan Baughman is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Tanya Carter grew up in the town of Cobourg on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. She now lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her family. Tanya earned her MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins, where she received the Outstanding Graduate Award. For fun, she enjoys playing the ukulele and singing alto while her daughter sings soprano. Occasionally she knits socks. She is a member of the Sisters in Crime professional association and writes suspense. Shelf Life is her first novel.
Honore Ervin
Co-author (with Lesley Carlin) of two humorous etiquette books, THINGS YOU NEED TO BE TOLD: A HANDBOOK FOR POLITE BEHAVIOR IN A TACKY, RUDE WORLD and MORE THINGS YOU NEED TO BE TOLD: A GUIDE TO GOOD TASTE AND PROPER COMPORTMENT IN A TACKY, RUDE WORLD. (Berkley, 2001 and 2003) After a 20-year hiatus from writing, last Spring, I decided to follow my lifelong dream of writing a mystery, something I’ve been toying with since my first Nancy Drew/Trixie Belden/Judy Bolton at an early age. I’m now working on a knitting cozy set in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, where I lived for several years while attending Chatham College, then working in the Publications Department of the Carnegie Museum of Art. Other hobbies include knitting, sewing, and needlepoint. I now live in Springfield, MA, with my Dad, older sister, and three cats, The Misses Pippie, Cecilia, and Priscilla.
Peter W. J. Hayes is a recovered marketing executive and author of the Silver Falchion-nominated Vic Lenoski police procedural series, set in Pittsburgh. His short stories have been finalists for the Derringer and Al Blanchard Awards for crime writing, and won the Pennwriters short story award. He is also a past nominee for the Crime Writers Association (CWA) Debut Dagger Award.
James H Lewis has published seven novels in the mystery genre, a family drama, and a historical novel set in World War II Canada. His short stories have appeared in Mystery Tribune and Yellow Mama. He is a former journalist and nonprofit executive.
Melissa F. Miller is the USA Today bestselling author of more than forty mystery, suspense, and thriller novels, many of which are set in Pittsburgh. Born in Pittsburgh, she grew up in a house overlooking the Pittsburgh Zoo, where, on quiet nights, she could hear the lions’ roars.
She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with dual concentrations in medieval literature and creative writing poetry, worked in publishing for a while, and then returned to Pittsburgh to attend law school. After practicing law for fifteen years, she turned in her bar card to focus on her writing.
Her series include the Sasha McCandless legal thrillers, the Bodhi King forensic thrillers, the Aroostine Higgins suspense novels, and the Maisy Farley mysteries, among others. In addition to Sisters in Crime, she is a member of International Thriller Writers and Novelists, Inc. When she’s not writing, you can find her tending her garden, doing yoga, or drinking coffee. Melissa currently lives outside Harrisburg with her husband, three children, and rescue cat and dog. Find her online at melissafmiller.com.
Drawing on her work with engineering, safety, and cybersecurity companies, Jenny creates contemporary suspense and thriller stories for adults and teens. Her novella, “Workplace Rules for Fire-Breathing Dragons,” received an Honorable Mention in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and the Wolfe Pack’s Black Orchid Novella 2024 Contest. Her short story, “Ruby’s Rodeo Tailors and Western Wear Emporium,” was chosen for TALES OF MUSIC, MURDER, AND MAYHEM: BOUCHERCON ANTHOLOGY 2024. Her story, “A Long-Term Plan,” opens PARADISE IS DEADLY, the Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime 2023 anthology. Jenny was a Rutgers One-on-One mentee, and she placed in the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting and Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project competitions. When she’s not at her desk, she’s often hiking through Myakka River State Park, skirting saw palmettos and Sarasota alligators. Visit her website at jennyramaley.com.
Susy Robison
Susy Robison began writing when she retired in 2019 after years of directing volunteer programs with several not-for-profits in Pittsburgh. Her first novel, “Halley and the Mystery of the Lost Girls,” a YA historical adventure, and two non-fiction stories are currently in the queue with several agents. Her short non-fiction story, “My Very First Martini” is in Carlow University’s “Voices from the Attic, Vol. 28.”
She received a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley and since 2014 has attended fiction and non-fiction workshops with Carlow University’s Mad Women in the Attic program.
She lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband, the Rev. Dr. Bruce Robison. They love to hang out with their adult son and daughter and happily dog sit several times a week.
Carol Silvis is a teacher and the author of several college textbooks and business books. Her publications include an article in the 2012 Writers Market, a dozen creative non-fiction stories and inspirational pieces published in national magazines, and over 40 articles published in various newsletters. Her children’s story won a 2007 St. David’s Conference Award. She is also a member of Pennwriters and lives outside Pittsburgh with her husband and two children. She is a past president of Pennwriters. Follow her on Twitter at @carolsilvis.
Robin Walsh
Robin Walsh is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Susan Kimmel Wright
Susan Kimmel Wright is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime.
bottom of page