Membership Directory

“Adina writes books that feel like drinking a warm cup of tea with a brown hen settled on your lap. I’ll keep reading whatever she writes.” —GoodReads

With a million copies of her books in readers’ hands, Shelley Adina Bates is the author of more than 60 novels published by Harlequin; Warner; Hachette; Moonshell Books, Inc., her own independent press, and Sibylline Digital First. She writes steampunk adventure, cozy fantasy mystery, and deeply researched historical mystery; and as Adina Senft, is the USA Today bestselling author of Amish women’s fiction and romance. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University in the UK; her dissertation was a historical women’s fiction novel set in 1927. She appeared in the 2016 documentary film Love Between the Covers, is a popular speaker and convention panelist, and has been a guest on many podcasts, including Worldshapers and Realm of Books. As a natural follow-on from a childhood spent reading Nancy Drew, and several years supporting the RCMP as a narcotics clerk, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers of Canada. She also belongs to the Independent Book Publishers Association and the Western Literature Association. When she’s not writing, Shelley is usually quilting, sewing historical costumes, or enjoying the garden with her flock of rescued chickens.

• Historical
• Cozy
• Amateur sleuth

Bonny, born and raised a prairie girl, lives in the shadow of the Canadian Rockies in Calgary, Alberta.

She came late to the writerly life, seriously taking it up in late 2019. Her years of experience in various law enforcement and regulatory agencies, owning a small restaurant, and finally succumbing to the lure of the oil patch, add authenticity to both her police procedural, murder mystery series (The Janice Maidstone Mysteries) and the women's fiction series (Lady Mary, Argentina).

The second of the Janice Maidstone Mysteries, "What Love Made Us Do" will be released in September, 2026 by BWL Publishing.

She loves to write short fiction, as well, especially to keep creative juices flowing when in the muddy trenches of editing longer material.

If writing is one passion, another is cruising the world's oceans. Bonny's visited the seven continents; setting foot on all but Antarctica. A perfect day for her is sitting in a quiet nook on board, laptop in front of her, and listening to the ship cut through the waves.

Bonny volunteers for When Words Collide as the Volunteer Coordinator (or as she likes to say, Head Wrangler), and is Secretary for Sisters in Crime, Canada West Chapter.

https://www.facebook.com/bonny.beswick/

• Police procedural

Alice Bienia is the best-selling author of the Jorja Knight mystery series. A three-time Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence finalist and Indie Author Project regional winner, her mysteries combine tight plots, realistic characters, and surprising twists to create page-turning whodunits.
Before turning to write crime fiction, Alice spent years in the energy industry as a geologist and business consultant, uncovering geological secrets buried deep underground or decoding complex corporate puzzles. She now brings that same curiosity and puzzle-solving drive to her novels, crafting suspenseful mysteries with serious stakes, and a welcome touch of humour.
Away from the page, Alice has a soft spot for old walled gardens, peonies, mysteries, travel, family and friends, kittens, and books—not necessarily in that order. When she’s not writing, she’s often exploring Calgary’s parks and trails in search of a striking landscape to photograph or just a place to have a good cup of coffee.

http://www.facebook.com/alicebieniabooks/
https://www.instagram.com/alice.bienia/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-bienia-author/

• Classic detective mystery
• Suspense
• Thriller