2024 Officers
Annette Dashofy, President
Annette Dashofy is the USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen
mystery novels including the Zoe Chambers Mystery Series, seven of which have
been Agatha Award finalists. Her standalone, Death by Equine, won the
2021 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for excellence in Thoroughbred racing literature.
She also writes the Detective Honeywell Mysteries. In addition, her short stories include a
2007 Derringer Award finalist. Annette is the current president of MMR Sisters
in Crime and has served on the Pennwriters board of directors since 2004.
She lives in Washington County with her husband and one very spoiled
cat. Check out her website at www.annettedashofy.com and like her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/annette.dashofy.
annettedashofy@gmail.com
(Headshot courtesy of Holly Tonini)
Mary Sutton, Vice President (writing as Liz Milliron)
Mary Sutton, writing as Liz Milliron, is the author of the Laurel Highlands mystery series, starring a Pennsylvania State Trooper and a Fayette County public defender in the scenic Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania. She is also the author of the Homefront Mysteries, set in Buffalo, NY in the early years of WWII. The series features Betty Ahern, a Rosie the Riveter with drams of becoming Sam Spade. Liz is a past president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the current Vice President, and serves on the National Board as the Education Liaison. She is also a member of International Thriller Writers, Pennwriters and the Historical Novel Society. Liz lives outside Pittsburgh with her husband and a very spoiled retired-racer greyhound. (Headshot courtesy of Holly Tonini)
https://www.facebook.com/LizMilliron/
https://www.instagram.com/lizmilliron/
Now Available
The Lessons We Learn (Homefront Mysteries #3) – February 2022
Harm Not the Earth – (The Laurel Highland Mysteries #4) – “Like fine wine, this series keeps getting better and you’ll want to savor every sip.” – Dru Ann Love, Dru’s Book Musings
The Stories We Tell (Homefront Mysteries #2) – “The Stories We Tell has its dark side, but Buffalo’s First Ward in 1942 is still a world of warmth and charm, where Betty’s honour, loyalty, and sheer moxie are guaranteed to win the day.” – Catriona McPerson, multi-award winning author of the Dandy Gilver Mysteries
Laurie Kassim, Secretary
Martha Reed, Treasurer
Martha Reed is a multi-award-winning crime fiction author. Her short story, “The Honor Thief,” was included in the Bouchercon 2021 Anthony
Award-winning anthology, This Time For Sure. Her first Crescent City NOLA Mystery, Love Power won a 2021 Killer Nashville Silver FalchionAward and features Gigi Pascoe, a transgender sleuth. Up Jumped the Devil, NOLA Book #2 was published in December 2023. Martha is also the author of the Independent Publisher IPPY Book Award-winning John and Sarah Jarad Nantucket Mystery series. Visit her website www.reedmenow.com for more.
Members
Jeff Boarts
Tanya Carter
Michele Collum
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.
Rebecca Drake
Rebecca Drake’s latest psychological thriller, Only Ever You, will be released by St. Martin’s Press in March 2016. Her debut thriller, Don’t Be Afraid, was Kensington’s lead title in September 2006. The Next Killing followed in September 2007 and was selected by four national book clubs including The Literary Guild. The Dead Place came out in September 2008 and was an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA) bestseller. Droemer Knaur published all three novels in German. In 2011 “Loaded” appeared in Pittsburgh Noir, one of Akashic Books’ award-winning collection of noir anthologies. A former journalist and native New Yorker, Rebecca has also lived in Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Qatar. She currently lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.
More about Rebecca can be found at RebeccaDrake.com or find her on Facebook at facebook.com/rebecca.drake.writer And Twitter @AuthorRDrake
Tamara Girardi
Facebook: http://fb.me/tamaragirardiauthor
Dr. Tamara Girardi is an Assistant Professor of English at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College. She studied fiction at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and writes young adult fantasy and contemporary works. Her current project, GRIDIRON GIRL, a YA contemporary about a girl who competes against her boyfriend for the starting quarterback position on their football team, is on submission with publishers. An alumnus of the 2016 PitchWars competition, Tamara signed with her literary agent as a result of the contest. When she’s not writing or teaching, she and her husband pass the time playing Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody vs. Evil Dr. Pork Chop with their three children (ages 5, 3, and 2). You can find her on Twitter @TamaraGirardi.
William Gormley
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.
Peter W. J. Hayes
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. He can be found at www.peterwjhayes.com.
Carole Lynn Jones
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
Rhonda Marks
Nancy Martin
www.NancyMartinMysteries.com
nancy@nancymartinmysteries.com
Nancy is the author of the bestselling Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series and a brand new series set in Pittsburgh, featuring the misadventures of Roxy Abruzzo, a tough girl from the Rust Belt “with a heart of black and gold.” In her 26-year career, she has published 45 novels in four genres–romance, historical, suspense, and mystery. Nancy was the winner of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement award for mystery writing from Romantic Times magazine. She is also one of the Book Tarts on www.TheLipstickChronicles.typepad.com.
Melissa F. Miller
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.
Kaia Misk
Kaia Misk 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.
Kaia 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.
Mallika Narayanan
Catherine Raphael
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)
Janet Roberts
Janet Roberts is the author of What Lies We Keep (2024) – a cybersecurity thriller with domestic suspense – which was a Finalist for the 2024 Hawthorne Award and winner of the 2024 Silver Medal for Fiction from Literary Titan. Her first two novels, The Narrow Gate and The Leaf Queen, won 1st Place – Fiction from Pittsburgh’s The Author Zone (TAZ). Her memoir Seven Thin Dimes (2015), received a TAZ Honorable Mention. Her poetry has been published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and in San Fedele Press’ Art in the Time of COVID-19. She is 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’s East End where Frick Park is her favorite place for a hike. She never met a library, bookstore, or ice cream shop she didn’t like. Learn more about her at www.booksbyjanetroberts.com.
(Headshot courtesy of Mariah Treiber Photography)
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.
Brooke Saunders-Dougherty
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.
Leslie Santicola
Carol Silvis
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.
Susan Thibadeau
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.
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.