WWC2026 - Masterclass - 10 Signs You're Ready to Write a Murder Mystery
Sunday, August 16, 2026 | 12pm-2:45pm
Hyatt Regency Calgary - Bannerman
with Juanita Violini
NOTE: Have you registered for Festival Pass? You MUST have a pass to enter a masterclass. If you haven't yet, choose the appropriate ticket combo below to purchase a pass with your masterclass.
When are you actually ready to write your mystery novel? You have an idea, a theme, or a moment—but no idea how to proceed forming that inspiration into a story. Or you’re three-quarters through your manuscript and have the sneaking suspicion that something isn’t quite the way it should be. But you don’t know what ‘should be’ is.
This session cuts through the uncertainty with ten signs that show when you can confidently move forward; no matter if you are going from vague concept to first draft or from finished manuscript to polished plot. You can break through the chaos of conflicting advice, assumed obstacles and disconnected information with some structural understanding and insider secrets.
You don't need a complete outline or the perfect twist—but you do need key fundamentals. This talk reveals what those fundamentals are and why they matter. Missing a few? You'll know exactly which skills to develop next. No guesswork, no overwhelm. Each sign points you towards concrete techniques you can learn and apply immediately. This session guides you, step by step, through some well-known and some lesser-known mystery writing basics to keep you inspired and on track while writing your murder mystery.
Juanita Rose Violini has been creating interactive murder mystery entertainment for 35+ years with over 50 scripts to her credit. Her live interactive entertainment plays - performed everywhere from luxury hotels in Canada to schools in Australia, wineries in Texas, and pubs in Great Britain - sell worldwide through MysteryFactory.com. She is the creator of the Mystery Bones Method, a step-by-step plotting system that helps writers untangle complex stories or create new ones, using clear diagrams and a one-step-at-a-time approach. Juanita shares her plotting knowledge in CLUETRAIL, The Mystery Bones Method DIAGRAMS and other books, through online classes, and at writers’ festivals. She works as a plot consultant to writers, event planners, screenwriters, game designers, and YouTubers across North America, Europe, Australia, and Arabia. Ms Violini wrote Almanac of the Infamous published by Weiser Red Wheel and also co-writes adventure sci-fi with her husband, Tony Berryman, under the pseudonym Trigger Jones. Juanita is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime (Canada West and International). She served as a judge for the 2025 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence and sits on the Bouchercon Calgary 2026 Anthology Committee.
