Daisy Bateman is a longtime writer and fan of mysteries, and a member of MWA for more years than she would care to admit. As Stacie Grey, she is the USA Today bestselling author of two standalone psychological thrillers, the most recent of which is She Didn’t Stand a Chance. Under her own name, she is the author of two books in the Lefty-nominated Marketplace Mysteries series.
Mission Statement: I joined MWA early in my writing journey, and it has been an invaluable source of guidance and community for me throughout my publishing career. As the president of the NorCal MWA board, I will be committed to expanding the membership and diversity of the chapter, and seeking ways for both the local and national organizations to support our members and protect their interests.
Faye Snowden is the award-winning author of The Killing series (Flame Tree Press) featuring homicide detective Raven Burns. The third book in the series, A Killing Breath, will be published in March 2026. Two of her short stories have been published in The Best American Mystery & Suspense. She lives and write from home in Northern California.
Mission Statement: Aside from being one of the bestselling genres in the country, the mystery genre is important because it gives writers from all backgrounds an opportunity to explore societal themes while thoroughly entertaining the reader. A good mystery is like a sneak attack. We need organizations like MWA to help lift up those voices, and give the mystery genre and all its subgenres the space to be a part of the literary conversations in this country.
Margaret Dumas is the author of the bestselling Movie Palace Mysteries, set in a classic movie theater in San Francisco which is populated by the kind of people she’d love to hang out with. She also authored the popular Married to Mystery series, the first of which, Speak Now, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger award.
Mission Statement: As a longtime member of MWA NorCal, I’d like to give back to the community that has been so supportive and welcoming.
Mysti Berry is a short-story author and the editor of Low Down Dirty Vote, an Anthony-nominated anthology series. She is also a technical writer for a cybersecurity software company and is hard at work on her first historical suspense novel.
Mission Statement: A longtime member of the chapter, I hope to give back the generous amounts of advice and support that members of this chapter have shared with me over the years. I’m a fierce advocate for always paying writers and taking action on diversity and inclusion goals.
Lexa M. Mack is an avid mystery reader and writer. She lives with her husband, a very fat cat, 8 chickens, and 40,000 honeybees in the Sierras between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe. Her next goal in life is to upgrade her MWA membership to Active Status. She published her first mystery, Legacy of Lies, in 2022 and her second book, Litany of Lies, in 2024.
Mission Statement: To work with other members of the board to energize, coordinate, and facilitate communication, camaraderie, and sharing in the diverse and far-flung reaches of the NorCal Chapter. The 21st-century version of “Hey, gang, let’s put on a show,” (Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, circa 1930s).
Laurie Sheehan is a Program Analyst for the Department of Defense, working at the Naval Postgraduate School. She does get to handle some cool unmanned systems, but there’s not much cloak and dagger to her job. She has a degree in Cultural Anthropology (heavy on archaeology with a lot of physical anthropology and forensic anthropology tossed in). She’s currently working on The Modern Speakeasy Mysteries and plans to return to an earlier series based on an archeologist, Delaney Cross.
Mission Statement: Laurie is a long-time member of MWA and is eager to help others the way so many MWA members have encouraged and supported her.
M.M. Chouinard is the USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon Charts bestselling author behind The Vacation, a standalone psychological thriller, and the bestselling author of The Detective Jo Fournier series. She loves animals, coffee, amateur genealogy, and anything to do with Halloween, Serial Killers, or the zombie apocalypse.
Mission Statement: What I hope to contribute: I’ve been published by both digital and brick-and-mortar trad houses, so can bring some compare-and-contrast experience with those models. I also publish in several sub-genres (police procedural, traditional mystery, psychological thriller) so can hopefully bring some expertise there, as well.
Bryan Patrick Avery: At the age of 7, Bryan Patrick Avery discovered a love of reading and mysteries after receiving his first Bobbsey Twins Mystery book. Today, he is an award-winning poet and author of more than a dozen books for children. His middle-grade story, “The Magic Day Mystery”, appears in SUPER PUZZLETASTIC MYSTERIES, an anthology from HarperCollins and the Mystery Writers of America. His Jake Maddox JV Mysteries, Off Base and Soccer Suspicions were released earlier this year by Stone Arch Books. Bryan is the 2021 recipient of the SCBWI Work in Progress Award for his chapter book mystery The Robot In The Library. He is also the author of The Freeman Field Photograph, Black Men In Science, and the chapter book series, Mr. Grizley’s Class.
Mission Statement: I have always found MWA to be an inviting and inclusive organization. As a member of the NorCal Board, I will work to bring the joys of the mystery genre to the next generation of mystery readers and writers.
Dale Berry is a San Francisco-based writer, artist, and publisher who has produced stories, articles, comics, and graphic novels since 1986, for both major publishers and independently (including contributing to the latest MWA Handbook: How To Write A Mystery). He has additional background as a professional stagehand, scenic designer, and almost thirty years’ experience as a disc jockey and on-air radio personality. In 2016, Dale became the first comics creator to be published in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Mystery Magazine,” and his second graphic short story for them was submitted for an Edgar Award consideration in 2017. Communication and storytelling are his life.
Mission Statement: As a Board Member for MWA NorCal, I hope to bring my diverse skills and talents to the job of assisting, expanding, and promoting our impact in the mystery community and beyond, in whatever ways I can. Just as MWA NorCal has made a home for me, I’d wish to return that opportunity to all our current and potentially future members.