Join us for a Mystery Writers of America (MWA)-NY Panel discussion.  The topic is "Creating Unforgettable Characters".  Please see below for details on the panel and for the panel members bios.  See you there for a fun evening!

“Creating Unforgettable Characters.”

At the heart of any memorable story is a character who probably remains with the reader long after the last page ends. Is it the strong backstory? The distinct personality? A unique voice? Does the character evolve and grow throughout the story? Do all of these attributes create a remarkable and lasting impression? Come find out Monday, May 18th!

Bios of Panel

Michael Bradley (moderator) is an award-winning author from Delaware. He spent eight years as a radio DJ “on the air” before realizing he needed a real job and turned to IT. Never one to waste an experience, he leveraged his familiarity with life on the radio to infuse his suspense novels with a unique blend of familiarity and intrigue. His third novel, DEAD AIR (2020), garnered critical acclaim, winning a Foreword INDIES Award and an IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award. The novel has been called "absorbing and filled with shocking twists." His new novel titled, THOSE WHO SHALL DIE, is set to release on July 7th.  It has already garnered praise, being called “a well-written, clever whodunit with crafty twists.”

Author of Dead Air

John Dobbyn (panel member) After graduation from Harvard College , Boston College Law School, and Harvard Law School, and three years in the U. S. Air Force, John Dobbyn practiced as a trial attorney, before forty-seven years as a professor of law at Villanova Law School. As a fiction writer, he has had seven award-winning novels published by Oceanview Publishing and over thirty short stories in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. His latest novel is “Deadly Depths”.

Author of Deadly Depths

James McCrone (panel member) James McCrone’s stories pose questions about the nature of power, the choices we make and the lessons we don’t learn. He’s the author of the thriller trilogy Faithless Elector, Dark Network and Emergency Powers, about stealing the presidency and creating a puppet government; and Bastard Verdict, where a looming second referendum on Scottish Independence threatens to expose irregularities in the first. He’s the current president of the Delaware Valley Sisters in Crime chapter, a member of Mystery Writers of America, and the Int’l Assoc. of Crime Writers. He lives in Philadelphia. His latest novel, WITNESS TREE is out on submission. You can learn more at his website: <<JamesMcCrone.com>>

Author of Bastard Verdict

Jane Kelly (panel member) Jane Kelly is the author of the Meg Daniels Mysteries, Meg Daniels Mysteries Weekenders, Writing in Time Mysteries and Widow Lady Mysteries. Her stand-alone novels include Nightingale Songs, A Death in Scilly, and The Secret Audience (2026). She holds an MS in Information Studies from Drexel University and an MPhil in Popular Literature from Trinity College, University of Dublin. She is a past-president of the Delaware Valley Sisters in Crime and has served on the board of the New York Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. The fourth and sixth books in the Meg Daniels series, Missing You in Atlantic City, and Strangers in the Avalon Dunes, won Independent Publisher Book Award silver medals for mid-Atlantic fiction. She currently lives in the Philadelphia area.

Author of The Secret Audience

Registration is required.  Adults 18+.

This program fulfills PA Forward's Civic and Social Literacy: "The ability to positively impact the community, engage in respectful discussions, understand civic roles and responsibilities, participate in community activities, and drive positive change."