In this panel, four outstanding women mystery writers--Samantha Downing, Rachel Howzell Hall, Laurie R. King, and Cara Black--draw on their own experiences to discuss the special challenges facing women writers.

Samantha Downing is the author of the USA Today and #1 International Bestseller, My Lovely Wife, She was born and raised in Marin County and now lives in New Orleans, where she is furiously typing away on her next thrilling standalone.

Rachel Howzell Hall writes the acclaimed Lou Norton series, including Land of Shadows, Skies of Ash, Trail of Echoes, and City of Saviors, and is also the co-author of The Good Sister with James Patterson, which was included in the New York Times bestseller The Family Lawyer. Her latest novel is They All Fall Down, a standalone thriller. She is on the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America, and lives in Los Angeles.

Laurie R. King is the bestselling author of twenty-seven novels, including the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes stories. That series began with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice and continues now with her most recent Island of the Mad, which is set in Mussolini’s Italy.

Cara Black is the bestselling author who writes the Aimée Leduc mysteries set in Paris. "If the cobblestones could speak they might tell a tale as haunting as the one Black spins," notes the New York Times. Her newest book is Murder in Bel-Air. She is a member of the Marais Societe Historique, received the Medaille de la Ville de Paris, bestowed on those supporting French culture. Black is a San Francisco Library Laureate, and her books have been Washington Post Notable Picks, IndieNext Picks and shortlisted for the Northern California Independent Bookseller Best Novel award.