Have you ever been interested in writing a mystery for the stage? Are you working on the next blockbuster thriller? If you are writing a script, have written a script, or simply script-curious, join us for TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF SCRIPTWRITING. We will be discussing:
- Differences between writing plays, screenplays and fiction
- How mastering dramatic structure and dialogue can help you to improve your fiction
- Opportunities for playwrights and screenwriters
Our panel will feature Lee Matthew Goldberg, Gary Earl Ross, Izolda Trakhtenberg, and will be moderated by Nina Mansfield.
Lee Matthew Goldberg is the Anthony, Lefty, and Prix du Polar nominated author of fourteen novels including THE ANCESTOR and THE MENTOR, and THE GREAT GIMMELMANS along with his five-book DESIRE CARD series. His YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN is currently with actress Raegan Revord from Young Sheldon attached to develop his original written pilot. MILES IN TIME will be released in 2025. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, he’s been published in multiple languages and his writing has also appeared as a contributor in CrimeReads, Pipeline Artists, LitHub, Chicago Quarterly Review, Electric Literature, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Jewish Book Council, The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Mystery Tribune, The Nerd Daily, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Maudlin House and others. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City. Follow him at LeeMatthewGoldberg.com
Playwright, novelist, and audiobook narrator, Gary Earl Ross is a retired UBuffalo professor. His books include Wheel of Desire (2000), Shimmerville (2002), Beneath the Ice (2018), Blackbird Rising (2009), and the Gideon Rimes mysteries Nickel City Blues (2017), Nickel City Crossfire (2020), Nickel City Storm Warning (2021), Nickel City Naked Lady (2022), and Nickel City Monsters (2024). His staged or scheduled plays include Sleepwalker: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (2002), Matter of Intent (2005, winner of the MWA Edgar Award), The Best Woman (2007), Picture Perfect (2007), Murder Squared (2010), The Scavenger’s Daughter (2012), The Guns of Christmas (2014), The Mark of Cain (2016), The Trial of Trayvon Martin (2017), Stoker’s Guest (2022), Split Wit (2023), and A Length of Chain (2025). Among his other honors are three Emanuel Fried Best New Play Awards, a LIFT Fiction Fellowship, two ASI/DEC Fiction grants, and a Saltonstall Foundation Playwriting Fellowship. A member of the Just Buffalo Literary Center, the Dramatist Guild, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers of Color, Private Eye Writers of America, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Mystery Writers of America, Ross lives in Buffalo, nicknamed Nickel City for the bison head five-cent piece.
Izolda Trakhtenberg is a playwright, author, musician, and host of The Creative Solutions Podcast. Born in Moldova and raised in Michigan, she worked at NASA and performed as a professional musician in Washington, DC. Now based in Brooklyn with her husband and three cats, Izolda writes novels, including Die by the Sword, and plays such as Listen! and A Slice of Democracy, the latter of which was produced at the Nomad Theatre Festival. She founded the Vegan Writers of NYC, whose anthology In a New York Minute was released in 2023. She’s currently writing a musical. Learn more at IzoldaTAuthor.com.
Nina Mansfield is a Connecticut based author and playwright. Her short mystery fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies and various publications including Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Her plays have had over 100 productions throughout the world. Antigone: 3021, her futuristic adaptation of the Ancient Greek classic, recently enjoyed productions in England, Australia and throughout the United States and is available through Stage Partners. Her plays are also published by Smith & Kraus, YouthPLAYS, Original Works Publishing and One Act Play Depot. Her first and only novel, Swimming Alone, a YA Mystery was originally published in 2015. Nina is a member of MWA, SCWBI, ITW, The Dramatists Guild and co-President of the NY/Tri-State Chapter of Sisters in Crime.