Please join us on Saturday, August 16, 2025 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. PT as moderator Jennifer K. Morita grills award-winning authors Cheryl Head, Naomi Hirahara, and Shelley Blanton-Stroud on how they weave historical research with fiction, nail the details without weighing down their stories, and recreate a time and place for their readers.
Historical mysteries are a popular genre mashup, blending whodunnits with glimpses into the past. They can be tricky to write, so we’ve put together a distinguished panel of authors who have been there and done that to show us how to get it right.
Shelley Blanton-Stroud grew up in California's Central Valley, the daughter of Dust Bowl immigrants who achieved their dreams of leaving field work behind. Having retired from teaching writing at Sacramento State University, she continues consulting with writers in the energy industry. She is the author of the Jane Benjamin historical mystery series—COPY BOY, TOMBOY, and POSTER GIRL—and the standalone novel AN UNLIKELY PROSPECT, all set in 1930s and '40s Northern California. Her writing has won gold medals in the Readers' Favorite Awards and earned finalist recognition in many literary competitions. She lives in Sacramento with her husband.
Facebook: @blantonstroudauthor
Instagram: @blantonstroud
Substack: @Shelley Blanton-Stroud
https://linktr.ee/blantonstroud
Cheryl A. Head writes the award-winning Charlie Mack Motown Mysteries, set in Detroit and recently a clue on the game show, Jeopardy!
TIME'S UNDOING, her 2023 historical fiction novel, unravels the mystery around the police murder of a young Black man in Birmingham, Alabama’s Jim Crow era. Based on her family’s personal tragedy, TIME'S UNDOING was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, as well as the Agatha, Strand Critics, Macavity, Anthony, and Hurston Wright Legacy Awards.
Head’s 2013 Long Way Home: A World War II Novel, set in 1943, tells of the experiences of Black male and female soldiers who served on the U.S. home front during the War. The novel was a double finalist for the Next Generation Indie Books Awards.
Head’s books are included in the Special Collections of the State of Michigan Library. She is Co-Chair of the 2027 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, which will be held in Washington, DC.
Facebook: @cheryl.head.104
Instagram: cheadwrites
Website: cherylhead.com
Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries feature an Altadena gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. Her first historical mystery, CLARK AND DIVISION, which won a Mary Higgins Clark Award, follows a Japanese American family’s move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from a California wartime detention center. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, Naomi has also written numerous non-fiction history books and curated exhibitions. Her follow-up to CLARK AND DIVISION, EVERGREEN, was released in August 2023 and was on the USA Today bestseller list for two weeks. Her next historical mystery, CROWN CITY, which is set in 1903 Pasadena, will be released by Soho Crime on February 17, 2026.
Facebook: @NaomiHiraharaBooks
Website: naomihirahara.com
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Former newspaper reporter Jennifer K. Morita believes a good story is like good mochi - slightly sweet with a nice chew.
Her debut mystery, GHOSTS OF WAIKĪKĪ, won the 2025 Left Coast Crime Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery and was an Agatha, Anthony and Macavity award finalist. It’s about an out-of-work journalist who reluctantly becomes the ghost writer for a controversial developer. When she stumbles into murder – and her ex – she discovers coming home to paradise can be murder.
Jennifer is a writer for University Communications at Sacramento State. She lives in Sacramento with her husband and two teenage daughters. When she isn’t plotting murder mysteries or pushing Girl Scout cookies, she enjoys reading, experimenting with recipes, Zumba, and Hot Hula.
You can reach Jennifer at www.jenniferkmorita.com.
Facebook:@authorjenniferkmorita
Instagram: @jenniferkmorita
Bsky: @jenniferkmorita.bsky.social
