Sisters in Crime Monthly Meeting: Taking the Mystery out of Psycho-Thrillers

Photo used for illustration only. – Courtesy photo

Sunday, November 12 from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m., in the South Pasadena Public Library, Community Room

Laurie Stevens, author of the multi-award- winning Gabriel McRay psychological suspense series, discusses the differences between thrillers and suspense. Personal motivations play a big part in what writers bring to the page. Stevens will discuss how to build action on the page, while building psychological tension and offer tips on how to avoid the genre trap. Those attending will participate in an exercise designed to bring out some surprising emotions in you, the writer.

Stevens is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. A graduate of UCLA Theater/Film, she started her career working in marketing for Columbia Records. Her articles and short stories have appeared in numerous publications. Her stage play, “Follow Your Dreams”, ran for eight weeks in Los Angeles. Her debut novel The Dark Before Dawn, is the first in the Gabriel McRay psychological suspense series. Deep into Dusk is the second. The two books have earned nine awards including the Kirkus Star, being named to Kirkus Reviews “Best of 2011, and the 2014 Silver IPPY award for Best Mystery/Thriller.

Wendall Thomas will be reading an excerpt from Lost Luggage, the first book in her Cyd Redondo Mysteries series from Poisoned Pen Press. A teacher in the Graduate Film School at UCLA, Thomas lectures internationally on screenwriting, and has worked as an entertainment reporter, script consultant, and film and television writer for companies including Warner Bros., Showtime, Disney, PBS, NBC, and A&E. Her short fiction has appeared in the SinC/LA anthologies LAdies Night (2015) and LAst Resort (2017).

Admission is free. For more information call (323)-822-1864 or visit www. http://sistersincrimela.com.

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