Friends:
PENNWRITERS MYSTERY BOOK DISCUSSION CLUB GOES ONLINE
This group is for writers of mysteries who want to up their game. Because reading is one of the best ways to improve writing, this group will read mysteries recently published by the Big Five publishers. We’ll do a book autopsy to find out how the authors used goals, motivation, and conflict to keep readers turning pages. We’ll also be examining character development, tropes, and twists.
Why the Big Five? As every mystery writer knows, the competition to be traditionally published, let alone for a mystery, with one of the Big Five is fiercer than it’s ever been. By reading the books that made it, we can determine why their books stood out and hopefully improve our own writing in the process.
First Wednesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom:
July 1 - The Primrose Murder Society by Stacy Hackney
August 5 - Big Bad Wool by Leonie Swan
September 2 - The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton
October 7 - Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan
November 4 - A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge
For more information and to sign up to get the meeting link, contact Jen Ericson at jen@petcarepointers.com.
MEMBER NEWS
Congratulations to Joel Burcat, whose latest novel, TEMPERATURE RISING, will be released by Milford House Press (Sunbury Press) on June 16, 2026! His new work is a political suspense thriller about power, deception, and the cost of telling the truth when the truth will destroy everything you love.
Set in Washington, D.C., in 1988, the novel follows Anna Freeman, a twenty-two-year-old law student and committed environmentalist whose life is upended when she accidentally walks into a closed-door strategy session run by the Institute for Energy Independence, the nation’s most powerful energy lobby. What she overhears is a sweeping scheme to manipulate Congress and suppress damaging research—one that could shape national policy for decades.
Drawn in by an ambitious New York Times reporter who is more interested in winning a Pulitzer than Anna’s well-being, Anna is persuaded to go undercover. Mistaken for a young lobbyist, she infiltrates IEI, attending high-level meetings and quietly gathering information that could expose the organization from within. As the danger escalates, Anna finds herself under suspicion from IEI’s ruthless security chief, who senses she doesn’t belong.
Complicating everything, Anna becomes romantically involved with Coy Young, a charismatic Texas lobbyist whose future is inseparable from IEI. As her feelings for Coy deepen, Anna faces an agonizing dilemma: revealing the truth could destroy the man she loves, derail her legal career, and put her own safety at risk. Remaining silent would mean becoming complicit in a far-reaching deception. Balancing ambition, love, and conscience, Anna must decide how far she is willing to go—and what she is willing to sacrifice—to do what she believes is right.
Please send me your good writing news to be included in upcoming newsletters. I know we have a talented group. Do you have a new book coming out? Have you won a writing award? Let us share your joy!
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Write well. Be well.
Rob Teplitz
Area 5 Representative