Tornado Alley Mystery Writers Tornado Alley Mystery Writers

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. She is currently working on adapting her novel, Flat Iron Death Grip, into a graphic novel, coming out next year. Tune in to her interview to learn about her writing adventures.

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. It chose her. She is the author of the award-winning, paranormal thriller, The Veritas Codex, and the series of the same name. There are six novels in the series so far and six more on the way. Betsey's heroine is a mom who has it all, a job, family, and an exciting job. How does she do t? Perhaps the gods are looking out for her.

Tune in to this episode to find out how Betsey, a mom, an investigator, and a writer, does all she does.

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 series, she discusses her inspirations and grounding in what she knows.

Before becoming a novelist, Carol worked as a legal secretary for an El Reno law firm and for both the Canadian County Sheriff's and the District Attorney's offices. As a result, her crime writing is as realistic and detailed as her settings.

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 region. Learn more about Oklahoma's vibrant poetry community and where to find other readings. 

Edmond, Oklahoma author, Cary Herwig, reads from her award-winning YA novel, The Ghost's Daughter, a story 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 her literary journey from horror short stories to science fiction novels and explains how her career as an archivist led her to writing mysteries. 

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 lived experience counts as they move on to the next phase of their lives after retirement or after their children are gone.

Traditionally and independently published, Jude gives listeners a preview of her new novel, The Secret of Witch Haven Lane.