S.L. Menear to speak at Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America Luncheon Meeting in February.

DATE: February 17, 2018, Florida Chapter, Mystery Writers of America Luncheon Meeting

GUEST SPEAKER: S.L. Menear

PROGRAM:  Melding Fantasy with Reality in Action Thrillers

Program:  If you’ve ever wondered how to meld life experiences, research, and imagination into writing a fantasy thriller, don’t miss this program. Author S.L. (Sharon) Menear will lead you through a somewhat bizarre process that inspires and builds fantasy elements for action thrillers. The program includes a fun audience-participation segment, “Have you ever?” which will give examples of life experiences that can be helpful in writing scenes. After covering the list, the audience will guess which eight things on the list don’t apply to Sharon. Eight valuable prizes (not books) will be awarded to the first eight people who guess correctly. Prizes include fine wines, 16-gigabyte flashdrives, and two-year pocket calendar/planners with flash drives. After the prizes are handed out, we’ll have a Q & A session, and the aforementioned list is bound to generate plenty of questions. Bonus: The entire program will be on a printed handout so you don’t have to take pesky notes.

Speaker: S. L. (Sharon) Menear is a retired airline pilot. US Airways hired her in 1980 as their first female pilot, bypassing the flight engineer position. The men in her new-hire class gave her the nickname, Bombshell. She flew Boeing 727s and 737s, DC-9s, and BAC 1-11 airliners and was promoted to captain in her seventh year.

Before her airline pilot career, which began as a flight instructor, charter pilot, and commuter airline pilot, Sharon worked as a water-sports model and then traveled the world as a flight attendant with Pan American World Airways.

Sharon has flown many of the airplanes featured in her novels, Deadstick Dawn, winner of the Royal Palm Literary Award, Poseidon’s Sword, and Blaze, the first three books in her Samantha Starr Fantasy/Thriller Series featuring a female airline pilot. She is currently working on the fourth novel in the series, Stranded. Sharon co-wrote Life, Love, & Laughter: 50 Short Stories, a mostly humorous anthology, with her mother, D.M. (Dorothy) Littlefield. They also co-wrote a middle-grade children’s fantasy/adventure novel, Journey into the Land of the Wingless Giants.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 17, 2018

TIME:  11:30: Mingling; 12:00: Lunch; 12:30: Business Meeting; 1:00: Presentation

PLACE: Embassy Suites by Hilton Boca Raton, 661 NW 53rd Street, Boca Raton, Florida, 33487; Get Directions Here

COST:  $25 for MWA members; $30 for non-members.

RESERVATIONS/PREPAYMENT:   To reserve and pay online, scroll down to the “Sign up for Luncheon Meeting” box and fill in your information, then click the “Pay Now” button and follow the instructions.

To reserve and pay via mail: Step 1–Email Harriet at harriet@ottenheimer.com with the subject line “FMWA Meeting” to reserve a spot.  In the body of the email, please include your name, the name of any guest you have invited, your email address, and telephone number. Step 2– Write your check or money order payable to “Mystery Writers of America/Florida Chapter.” Step 3–Mail your payment to FMWA Treasurer, 2301 S. Ocean Dr., #2005, Hollywood, FL 33019.

Next Meeting Date: SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2018