Killer Workshop 2022

 

By Claire Booth 

It’s been a long while since craft and writing workshops have been held. As things start to open back up, two local chapters of Sisters in Crime are back, in killer style.

Sacramento’s Capitol Crimes Chapter is partnering with South Carolina’s Palmetto Chapter to present Killer Workshop 2022. This will be two events, one in-person and one virtual event, each with a great slate of presenters. The keynote speaker for both will be thriller writer Gregg Hurwitz, author of multiple international bestsellers, including the Orphan X series.

The virtual sessions include panels on Shedding Light on Sex Trafficking Through Fiction, Partners in Crime: Mystery Co-Authors, and It’s the Law: Attorneys Writing Mysteries. 

Panelists include Clive Cussler co-author Robin Burcell, Murder She Wrote co-writer Terrie Farley Moran, Eleanor Taylor Bland Award winner Yasmin Angoe, thriller writer EA Aymar, lawyer-turned writer Roger Johns and Wanda M. Morris, the newly crowned Lefty Award winner for best debut novel. Also featured are Charles Todd, Carla Damron, and Debra H. Goldstein.

Panelists include Clive Cussler co-author Robin Burcell, Murder She Wrote co-writer Terrie Farley Moran, Eleanor Taylor Bland Award winner Yasmin Angoe, thriller writer EA Aymar, and Wanda M. Morris, the newly crowned Lefty Award winner for best debut novel.

The in-person event features presentations by writers and experts in fields related to crime, including:

Me, Claire Booth, on True and False: How to Rip True Stories from the Headlines and Turn Them into Great Fiction.

Cara Black on Setting and Place. 

Kris Calvin on Your First Novel: How to Finish Writing It & Sell It When You Do.

Police psychologist Ellen Kirschman on PTSD for Writers: Lose the Flashbacks—Please.

Eileen Rendahl on Ghostwriting: Now You See Me, Now You Don’t.

Simon Wood on Cut It Short: Writing Compelling Short Stories.

And one I absolutely can’t wait for is Both Sides of the Prison Door, with former associate prison warden James L’Etoile and former prisoner Quan Huynh, who spent 22 years in and out of prisons and now works with the Alternatives to Violence Project.

Then there will be presenters talking about not writing, but things that are just as important—

Karen Phillips on Cover Design: Presentation is Everything.

Ryan Nickel of the Sacramento County crime lab on Forensic DNA Analysis: Everything You Need to Know.

And finally, in a special appearance, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert on The Power of Investigative Genetic Genealogy to Solve Violent Crime.

For more on all the presenters, click here.

If you’re anywhere near Northern California, come to the in-person event:  

Saturday, May 14, 2022

8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (lunch will be provided)

Rancho Cordova City Hall (just east of Sacramento)

2729 Prospect Park Drive

Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

If you’re farther away, you still have the great option of the virtual workshop the same day, May 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Pacific Time).

And if you register before May 12, you’ll be automatically entered to win a free developmental/line edit for a story of 5,000 words from Barb Goffman, a multi-award winning short story author and editor.

Here I am recording a promo for Killer Workshop 2022 with Terry Shepherd, who's much better at these things than I am.