Mavens of Mayhem: Upper Hudson Chapter of Sisters in Crime • Saturday, January 20

My first event of 2024 will be a short story talk with the Upper Hudson Chapter of Sisters in Crime — a zoom chat on Saturday, January 20, at 11:15 a.m. Eastern time. Below is the write-up about the event—and be sure to register here to spend a fun hour with me and the Mavens of Mayhem! (Hopefully the presentation itself won’t be subject to any mayhem, organizational or technological or in any way troublesome.)

Short stories are short—but do less words really mean less effort? Ironically, economy and efficiency are sometimes achieved only by extra focus on craft. Edgar Award-winning short story writer Art Taylor will draw on three very short stories—each less than 1000 words—to explore how writers shift their efforts toward character, plot, setting, motif and more to accomplish a lot in small spaces (and regularly let the reader do a little work too).

Thanks to Carol Pouliot for inviting me — and to everyone at the Mavens of Mayhem for welcoming me aboard!