Tornado Alley Mystery Writers

Alva, Oklahoma, native, Nicholas Lyon, is the author of the award-winning novel, The Baptist Bootlegger , a historical fiction novel set during Prohibition in Oklahoma, as well as the recently published romance, Bookshop Soundtrack . Past President and active member of OWFI, Nick was presented with OWFI’s Honorary Lifetime Member Award in 2024. Currently living in Guthrie, he’s keeping up with his...

Chase Dearinger is an Oklahoma native who now lives in Kansas with his wife and two daughters. His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in magazines around the country, including Bayou , The Southampton Review , Short Story America , and Heavy Feather Review . He currently serves as the Chief Editor of Story Bottle , a quarterly online fiction magazine, and directs the Cow Creek Chapbook...

C. D. Jarmola, whose witty, cozy mystery, The Merry Widow, won the OWFI Crème de la Crème award, has never wished to be a widow. But she would love to have a friend like her character, Maeve. Married with two grown children, C. D., a retired schoolteacher, former theatrical director, and past president of OWFI, now spends her days dreaming up more adventures for Maeve and Sophia. If you like wit a...

Alicia Dean is from Moore, Oklahoma, affectionately known as Tornado Alley, but now lives in Edmond. Other than reading and writing, her passions are Elvis Presley, MLB, NFL (she usually works in a mention of one or all three into her stories) and watching (or rewatching) her favorite televisions shows like Dexter , Vampire Diaries , Justified , and Breaking Bad . She is an author and editor for W...

Krysta Scott grew up in Chicago and moved to Norman, Oklahoma, to attend OU law school. She practiced family law until her recent retirement to become a writer. In her latest novel, Something Wicked, 2026, she combines romance and horror . Tune in to hear Krysta read from her new novel and discuss how romance can be thrilling in more ways than we might expect. 

Constance Squires’ latest novel, Low April Sun , based on the Oklahoma City bombing, was nominated for the National Book Award (2025). A winner of the Oklahoma Book award in 2012, Constance teaches a variety of courses in creative writing, with special emphasis on fiction (novel and short story) at UCO. Constance is the author of two other novels, Along the Watchtower (2011) and Live from Medicine...

Mariana Llanos is a children’s book writer, poet, and translator. Born in Lima, Peru, she’s the author of several books including the 2024 Pura Belpre Honor Book from the American Library Association, Benita y las criaturas nocturnas/Benita and the Night Creatures . She is also the winner of the 2022 Oklahoma Book Award for Run Little Chaski/Corre Pequeño Chaski (Barefoot Books 2021). Her latest b...

Vanessa Lillie, who grew up in Oklahoma, is an enrolled member of the Cherokee tribe and a member of Sisters in Crime. She is the USA Today bestselling author of Blood Sisters , the first in a new series centered on the stories of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. It was awarded best mystery of the year from the Washington Post, Amazon Editor’s and Reader’s Digest. The sequel, The B...

Yvette Walker is a multifaceted storyteller whose work spans gripping crime fiction, faith-centered nonfiction, and award-winning journalism. She is the author of the Linda Radcliffe crime-novel series, including Sixty and the sequel, Trial of the Heart, in which she blends sharp suspense with deeply human characters, crafting narratives that explore justice, redemption, and the complexities of th...

Candace Kade is a novelist and screenwriter drawn to stories involving tech, psychology, culture, and the occasional sword fight. She’s the author of The Hybrid Series , a YA sci-fi trilogy. The first book, Enhanced, has been optioned for film, and the next book is coming out soon. A third culture kid, she calls both Chengdu and OKC home. She’s also a certified Krav Maga instructor and an unapolog...

Merle Davenport is President of the Tulsa NightWriters, where writers help writers. He writes in a variety of genres and enjoys speaking at conferences. He and his wife collaborate on historical romance novels, turning their love story into stories for others. His new book, based on twenty-five years of experience teaching inside prisons as well as extensive research, is titled “Echos of the Crimi...

 The Rev. Dr. John F. Toles is an Episcopal priest and author. He has served as the rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Enid since 2015 and has been an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church for over twenty years. In addition to his pastoral duties, Fr. Toles is an accomplished writer, known for his engaging mystery novels featuring the character, Father Anthony Savel. His works often ble...

Tornado Alley's June 2025 interview is with a renaissance woman, Debbie Burkart. She's a writer of fiction and nonfiction. She's also a quilter, a horsewoman, and a native of the middle of the country. Hear her story.

J. M. Linkhart is a fantasy writer and co-founder of Goblin Booth Productions, a small multi-media studio based in Oklahoma. Her Kirkus-starred, debut novel First-Degree Magic releases May 6, 2025. She is the writer, editor, and primary voice actress of The Harrowing of Minerva Damson , an audio-drama available on all major podcasting platforms. When not writing or recording one of the many podcas...

When not writing, Marty Ludlum is an award-winning college professor of Business Law at the University of Central Oklahoma. His Disco Diva Series features the newly promoted detective Donna Summer Wyznecki (Yes, she's named after the disco diva), who breaks hearts and solves mysteries with a little sass and an eclectic cast of quirky characters, good food, bad dancing, and plenty of hysterica...

Dawn Allen is a retired writing professor, past president of Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc., and an award-winning writer. Her stories have appeared in online journals and print anthologies . She is an active member of the Tornado Alley Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Mystery Writers of America. She holds an MFA in Writing from the University of Nebraska.  Dawn loves Poe and writing mysteri...

A published author and award-winning engineer and scientist, Dona Mularkey reads from her latest publication, The Seven Year Glitch , a novel from Wild Rose Press. Dona graduated from UNC-Charlotte as their first female student to earn an engineering degree, later earning a PhD at Vanderbilt University. A world traveler, professor, and scuba diver, Dona has also worked and studied abroad in Japan...

Meet Courtny Bradley, affectionately known as Courtagonist in the cozy mystery realm. An educator with over a decade of experience, Courtny has been unraveling cozy mysteries online since 2017. Married to her best friend, she juggles the delightful chaos of parenting two rambunctious toddlers in the heart of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Courtny’s debut novel, Death on Deck, kicks off her new cozy myste...

USA Today bestselling author, Callie Hutton, has penned more than sixty-eight historical romance books and Victorian Cozy Mysteries with humor and “historic elements and sensory details.” (The Romance Reviews). Ms. Hutton’s cozy mystery book, The Sign of Death was a finalist in the Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark award in 2022. With close to a million novels sold and translated into several...

Shaun Perkins, the founder/director of the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry in Locust Grove, has published several books of poetry and a novel. She is a podcast co-host of Wacky Poem Life and has a book about the fiction of Erle Stanley Gardner, “Cocktails, Coquettes & Cigarettes: Perry Mason Concoctions,” coming out soon from Bear Manor Media. Shaun is a Teaching Artist with the Oklahoma Arts...

Mark Edward Jones is an award-winning author known for his mystery, thriller, and paranormal novels. He also won first place for flash fiction in the Southwest Writers Contest. A retired higher education finance professional, Mark began his writing career after retiring in 2017. He is best known for the Detective Henry Ike Pierce series, starting with Peculiar Activities , and his contributions to...

H.B. Berlow, Dudeist minister, Tikiphile, husband, and cat dad, is the author of the four-book historical crime fiction series The Ark City Confidential Chronicles and a new series, The Wichita Chronicles, starting with The Day of Calamity: Volume One and followed by The End of the Treachery: Volume Two (to be released December 9, 2024). Listen to Tikiman Berlow’s analysis of the hard-boiled chara...

Dr. Sheldon Russell has fifteen books published, including historical fiction and a five-book mystery series. He and his wife Nancy, a sculptor, currently live on the family ranch in Oklahoma where they work on their respective art projects. Russell is a three-time winner of the Oklahoma Book Award, the Langum Prize for Historical Literature, the Spur Award for Best Western Historical Novel, and t...

Best-selling author, Lou Berney, has won the Edgar, Hammett, Anthony, and Oklahoma Book awards, and he’s a three-time finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize. He also teaches at Oklahoma City University. Author of November Road, The Long and Faraway Gone, Whiplash River, and Gutshot Straight, Lou reads from his latest novel, Dark Ride. He also discusses his take on genre, his writing process, and f...

Amy Lillard, the award-winning, best-selling author of over sixty books and novellas in a variety of genres, reads from her latest cozy mystery, Murder for the Sages (2024). Amy, well known for her cozy mysteries and her series featuring the Amish community, discusses her field research and how to write respectfully about another culture. You can find out more about her work on her websites: Amy W...