Tornado Alley Mystery Writers

When Peggy Doviak’s mother got taken to the cleaners by an unscrupulous stockbroker, Peggy got mad. She was so angry that she changed careers from corporate training to financial planning. Now a best-selling personal finance author, syndicated radio host of “Ask Peggy About Your Finances,” and host of the podcast, “Ask Peggy About Your Money,” Peggy Doviak is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM practi...

Oklahoma speculative fiction writer, LMG Swain, reads an abridged version of “Superstition,” a story from his collection, Feary Tales, Vomit I: Twisted Tales of Terror . Come for an eerie tale, and stay for great tips on writing and the structure of fiction. Swain’s novel, Anatomy of Terror , in his Universal Monsters series was nominated as the Young Adult horror novel of the year by the Horror W...

Vivian Zabel, who lives in Hydro, Oklahoma, taught English and writing for thirty years, but she has written herself since a child. In this touching and inspirational interview, Vivian reads from her latest book, Burnt Offering, and shares her passion for the safety and welfare of children. She is a tireless helper of other writers and promoter of the value of reading and writing.       Vivian, a...

Susan Cogan, author of more than a dozen books and hundreds of articles and blog posts, reads from her Great Depression era novel, The Man Who Needed Killing , a finalist in Amazon.com’s Breakthrough Novel Contest. Susan likes to write in all genres, but she keeps circling back to mystery. Listen to her discuss her novel in progress, her inspirations for writing, and her encouraging advice on proc...

Rilla Askew, best known for her American Book Award-winning novel about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre,  Fire in Beulah,  reads from that novel and discusses American crime and racial violence.  Rilla, the author of four other novels, a book of stories, and a collection of creative nonfiction talks about being a PEN/Faulkner finalist and what that meant to her as an author. For her advice to readers...

Kathleen Park, a veteran, freelance writer and award-winning novelist, talks about her career and her motivation to become a fiction writer. She reads from her novel, Code Talkers (2020), and discusses her time teaching on the Navajo Reservation. She also discusses the mysterious process of finding wounded characters and receiving a vision of their lives. In her new novel, soon to be completed, “P...

Enid, Oklahoma writer, Peggy Chambers, reads from the latest novel in her Keystone Lake series, Blooming Greed, a suspense thriller, full of multifaceted characters. She also discusses her love of water and how different bodies of water figure as characters in her writing. Peggy's use of genre is as fluid as her settings. She writes suspense for adults, fantasy for children, and pulp fiction....

Betsey Kulakowski is a federally trained investigator with a degree in emergency management and thirty-plus years of experience as an occupational safety specialist.  She served on disaster response teams at the Murrah Federal Building Bombing, the World Trade Center, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Betsey wrote her first book at age six. She says being a writer wasn't something she chose. I...

Carol Nichols from El Reno, Oklahoma, talks about her mystery/romance series and how her life story influenced her to become a writer. She draws on her legal background and her Oklahoma roots for her settings, characters, and plots. Already a painter, Carol did not begin writing  until after her husband died and she decided to join a local writers group. Now, well into the fourth novel of her seri...

Poet, journalist, and past OWFI president, Sharon Edge Martin discusses writing her new YA mystery novel in verse, Accordion  Girl.  How do you know when your story is a mystery? How does a novel in verse work? These questions and others are answered in her reading and commentary on the novel. Sharon also runs a monthly poetry reading in Drumright, Oklahoma, attended by poets from all over the reg...

Edmond, Oklahoma author, Cary Herwig, reads from her award-winning YA novel,  The Ghost's Daughter, a s tory about a girl facing the adult world of the past and the present on an army base during the Cold War. This is the first book in her new series,  The Army Brat Hauntings . As an army brat herself, Cary discusses living all over the United States and what led her to writing. She traces he...

Jude Bayton, a Londoner and world traveler, now living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, reads from her historical mystery novel,  The Secret of Pendragon Island, and discusses the importance of her readers' responses to her writing. Jude also shares her tips for writing while working a full-time job and raising children. She encourages women over 50 to claim their voices and show the world that their live...

Acclaimed AP journalist, Jocelyn Pedersen from Blanchard, Oklahoma, reads from her new novel, An Eye for an Eye, published by Wild Rose Press.  This is the first book in her new thriller series, The Izzy O Crime Files.  Jocelyn also discusses her career as an award-winning feature writer, writing teacher, and competitive weightlifter. Don't miss her tips for emerging writers. Her enthusiasm f...

Listen to Oklahoma thriller/suspense writer, Victoria Patton, read from her Damien Kane series' opener, Innocence Taken.   She describes her novels as "dark, edgy mashups of CSI, Motive,  and  Criminal  Minds."  To craft the perfect murders, Victoria uses her time in the Coast Guard and her Forensic Chemistry degree. But since she is averse to wearing orange and being in prison, she...

       Mary Anna Evans, recently nominated for both an Edgar and an Agatha award for The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie,  teaches mystery writing at the University of Oklahoma. In addition to a Master of Arts in creative writing, she holds degrees in physics and engineering, a background that is ideal for writing her new historical mystery novel,  The Physicists' Daughter,  set in WWI...

Lori Altebaumer from Stephenville, Texas, was a 2021 finalist for the fiction award from Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Fiction Writers for her romantic suspense novel,  A Firm Place to Stand. This novel is the first in her new series in which ordinary people from a small community do extraordinary things. Lori describes herself as a grandmother who loves to write and teach others what she has lea...

Shelley Levisay, an attorney, author, and musician living in Shawnee, Oklahoma, candidly discusses women's issues connected with domestic violence, a major theme in her novel, Sooner Secrets (2022) . Having worked on both sides of the criminal justice system as both a prosecutor and a criminal defense lawyer, she writes true crime, crime fiction, and legal thrillers. She established her own l...

Oklahoma City writer, Kat Lewis, reads from her novel, Rogue Defender, the first book in her Lethal Nannies romance-thriller series. Her heroine, Serena Black, is the lethal nanny. As Kat explains, "Most nannies are focused on getting their charges to school on time, but Homeland Security has trained Serena to keep her clients alive at all costs."  Kat also shares moments from her home-s...

Author and editor Staci Mauney reads from her book, Death by Dice,  the first novel in her Bunco Club Mystery series. Set in a small town in Texas, the story's amateur detective, Bridgette Olsen, stumbles on a murder as she opens the door at work one morning. Staci also discusses her career as a freelance writer, blogger, editor, and devotional writer.  Three of Staci's passions unite in...

Amy Shojai, a certified animal behavior consultant and award-winning author of thirty-five pet books, reads from  Lost and Found,  the first volume in the September Day and Shadow Thriller series. September, the detective character, and her German Shepherd pup, Shadow, encounter danger and mystery against the North Texas backdrop of the novel. Despite her dramatization of animal point of view, be...

Diane McCartney, an award-winning writer and speaker from Ca ñ on City, Colorado, opens a window on the world of her characters in her Elijah Black Trilogy.  A contest judge herself, she talks about her journey from riding instructor to thriller/suspense novelist and offers tips on how to attract the attention of publishers. Enjoy her contagious enthusiasm for all genres of writing.

Ellen Withers, a Pushcart Prize nominee for short fiction, talks about how her career as a freelance writer and retired insurance fraud investigator led her to create a novel series.  A professional writer since graduating from college, Ellen describes her journey from technical writing to novelist through local workshops, mentorship, and contest entries. Her mystery/dual-time series, Show Me Myst...

Andrea Foster, a veteran of forty-three years in the book business, reads from her young adult novel, "Helena and the Haunted Hospital," based on an actual haunted hospital in Houston. She discusses her careers in journalism, marketing, and teaching. She also speaks about her passion for helping others to tell their stories and to get them into print. Learn about her class "How to W...

Jennifer Latham of Tulsa, Oklahoma, reads from her young adult novel, Dreamland Burning (2017), based on the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. In this excerpt one of her young dual narrators depicts Tulsa now and one hundred years ago. Jennifer loves talking to secondary school students who have read her book. She subscribes to the theory that if a subject is too difficult for adults, write about it fo...

Joe Moore from Edmond, Oklahoma, a veteran and a lover of knowledge and the English language, speaks about writing military action thrillers. In this interview, he discusses his views on how he translates the experience of veterans returning to civilian life into fiction. He also reads the suspenseful opening from Ghost Crew, the first of a new novel series. In a preview of other upcoming work, he...