2020 Faculty (Mystery Writers Conference)


	Cara Black Conference Co-Chair Bestselling author whose books include the Aimée Leduc mysteries set in Paris. "If the cobblestones could speak they might tell a tale as haunting as the one Black spins," notes the New York Times. Her newest book is Three Hours in Paris, forthcoming in April 2020. She is a member of the Marais Societe Historique and received the Medaille de la Ville de Paris, bestowed on those supporting French culture. She is a San Francisco Library Laureate and her books have been Washington Post Notable Picks, IndieNext Picks, and shortlisted for the Northern California Independent Bookseller Best Novel award. Mystery Conference Alum.
	Rhys Bowen New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of two historical mystery series as well as three internationally bestselling stand alone novels. Her books have won multiple awards and been translated into over twenty languages. A transplanted Brit, Rhys now divides her time between California and Arizona, where she escapes from those harsh California winters.
	Tony Broadbent Writer and award-winning author of mystery novels and short stories, including The One After 9:09: A Mystery with a Backbeat. His newest title, a humor and self-help book, is The Timeless Teachings of Guru Zuzu.
	Kimberley Cameron Literary agent and President of Kimberley Cameron and Associates. She has been successful with many different genres, and especially loves the thrill of securing representation for debut authors. Cameron represents both fiction and nonfiction manuscripts
	Karen Catalona A Deputy District Attorney for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office who prosecutes sex crimes and domestic violence. Her past assignments included the gang unit, felony trial team, and prosecuting elder abuse. She teaches at the Police Academy and recently wrote short plays as a 2017-2018 member of the PlayGround Writers Company. She is currently revising her first novel.
	Joe Clifford The author of several books including The One That Got Away, Junkie Love, the Jay Porter Thriller Series, and Occam's Razor (forthcoming in June 2020), as well as editor of the anthology Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen. Joe’s writing can be found at www.joeclifford.com.
	George Fong Spent twenty-seven years as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, investigating all facets of violent crimes, including kidnapping, extortion, serial killings, crimes against children, bank robbery, drug trafficking, fugitives, and Asian gangs. He was a member of the FBI's Evidence Response Team and a certified undercover agent. Fong is now the Director of Security for the world-wide sports television network, ESPN, and author of the thrillers The Coldness of Night and Fragmented.
	Juliet Grames A book editor who has spent the last decade at Soho Press—where she is associate publisher and curator of the Soho Crime imprint—and author of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna.
	Dr. Terri L. Haddix A pathologist in Hayward, California who received her medical degree from University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.
	Rachel Howzell Hall Author of the acclaimed Lou Norton series, including Land of Shadows, Skies of Ash, Trail of Echoes, and City of Saviors, as well as They All Fall Down, a standalone thriller, and the co-author of The Good Sister with James Patterson, which was included in the New York Times bestseller The Family Lawyer. Her latest novel is And Now She's Gone, forthcoming in September 2020. She is on the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and lives in Los Angeles.
	Laurie R. King The bestselling author of twenty-seven novels, including the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes stories. That series began with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice and continues now with Island of the Mad, which is set in Mussolini’s Italy. Her latest book is Riviera Gold, forthcoming in June 2020.
	James L’Etoile Author of novels, short stories, and screenplays influenced by his 29 years behind bars. He is a former associate warden in a maximum security prison, a hostage negotiator, and director of California’s parole system. His published novels include At What Cost, Bury the Past, and Little River. Bury the Past was a Silver Falchion award finalist for best procedural mystery of the year.
	Tim Maleeny Conference Co-Chair Author of the award-winning Cape Weathers mysteries including Boxing The Octopus, Stealing The Dragon, Beating The Babushka, Greasing The Piñata and the bestselling comedic thriller Jump, which Publishers Weekly called "a perfectly blended cocktail of escapism." Tim's short fiction has won the prestigious Macavity Award and appears in several leading anthologies.
	Catriona McPherson A former academic linguist, she is now a full-time fiction writer, the multi- award-winning and best-selling author of the Dandy Gilver detective stories, set in Scotland in the 1930s, the Last Ditch mysteries, set in California, and a strand of contemporary standalone novels including Edgar-finalist The Day She Died and Mary Higgins Clark finalists The Child Garden, Quiet Neighbors and Strangers at the Gate.
	Vilaska Nguyen Felony trial attorney at San Francisco Public Defender's Office. For over a decade, he has tried cases ranging from drug sales to homicide. He guest lectures at USF School of Law and facilitates the mock-trial workshop at 826 Valencia, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced youth in San Francisco. His short stories have been published in NANO Fiction, Blue Fifth Review: Blue Five Notebook Series, Squawk Back and As It Ought to Be. His story "Wardship" was nominated for Best Small Fiction of 2016 in the Queen's Ferry Press.
	Otto Penzler The famed proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York, and founder of the Mysterious Press. He has probably edited more mysteries than anyone in the business. He has also hosted a series on mystery films for Turner Classic Movies.
	Bill Petrocelli Attorney, author, and co-owner of Book Passage. He is the author of the literary thrillers The Circle of Thirteen and Through the Bookstore Window, which Foreword Review calls “an unusual, rewarding take on the nature of memory: how it haunts and heals.”
	Zoe Quinton An independent publicist and literary agent with over a decade of experience. During that time, she has collaborated on nine New York TImes-bestselling novels, as well as multiple digital publications. She received a Master's degree in international history from the London School of Economics and a bachelor's degree in political science from UC Santa Cruz.
	Susan C. Shea Author of Dressed for Death in Burgundy as well as Love & Death in Burgundy, and the Dani O’Rourke mystery series. She is past-president of the Northern California chapter of Sisters in Crime and secretary of the national SinC board, a member of MWA, and blogs on CriminalMinds.
	Kelli Stanley Critically-acclaimed, multiple award-winning author of crime fiction (novels and short stories). She is best known for the Miranda Corbie series of historical noir novels and short stories set in 1940 San Francisco. Her latest book is City of Sharks.
	Robin C. Stuart Veteran cyber crime investigator and contributing author to Fault Lines: Stories by Northern California Crime Writers and Handbook for Information Security. She consults on all things cyber security for Fortune 100 companies, television shows, and media outlets, including BBC and NowThis News. She was a significant contributor to the Tech Museum of Innovation's acclaimed Cyber Detectives interactive installation, one of the museum's most popular permanent exhibits, which earned praise from the Obama Administration.
	Jacqueline Winspear Author of the New York Times bestsellers A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, Among the Mad, An Incomplete Revenge, Leaving Everything Most Loved, Journey to Munich, In This Grave Hour, To Die But Once and her latest in the Maisie Dobbs series, The American Agent and What Would Maisie Do?—a non-fiction book based upon the series. Winspear has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was a New York Times Notable Book.

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