Board of Directors — 2024
MARK THIELMAN
President
Mark Thielman is a criminal magistrate working in Fort Worth, Texas. Formerly, he spent twenty-seven years as a prosecutor for Tarrant and Dallas counties. A two-time Black Orchid Award-winning novella author, Mark’s short fiction has been published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat, Mystery Magazine, and various anthologies. He lives in Fort Worth with his wife, two sons, and an oversized dog.
TIFFANY SEITZ
Secretary | Membership
Tiffany Seitz is a native Texan, raised in the DFW area. She has worked as an occupational therapist for over thirty years. A lifelong avid reader, she began writing in 2013 and has since published five novels. The first book of The Tess Corona Chronicles--And They Danced was published in March 2023. Her latest short stories are included in the 2024 Sisters in Crime North Dallas Notorious in North Texas and Inkd Publishing's Detectives, Sleuths, and Nosy Neighbors anthologies. Tiffany is a member of several local and online writing groups, including Sisters in Crime national and Heart of Texas (Austin chapter).
MARY LOU CONDIKE
Treasurer
Mary Lou Condike’s professional career included computer technology, industrial management, and small-business ownership. Once retired, she completed the Southern Methodist University Writer’s Path. Her stories appear in anthologies that include Strange & Sweet (2019), and Tall Tales and Timeless Stories (2022) by the Granbury Writers Bloc, and Malice in Dallas, Metroplex Mysteries (2022), by Sisters in Crime North Dallas. Her first novel, The Desk From Hoboken, A Genealogy Mystery, published by Harbor Lane Books, LLC, debuted on March 5, 2024. It is book one in a three-book series under contract. Notable awards include 1st Place in the 15th annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Mystery/Crime Category, and 2nd Place in the Tennessee Williams Short Story Contest. A member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Granbury Writers’ Bloc, and Key West Writers Guild, she now resides on Big Pine Key, Florida with her husband and granddaughter.
KAREN HARRINGTON
Social Media Director
Karen Harrington is a freelance writer and author from Texas. Her short work has appeared in Shotgun Honey, Mystery Tribune, Pulp Modern, and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, where she won the 2021 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award for her short story “Boo Radley College Prep.” She is the author of four novels, including Sure Signs of Crazy (Little, Brown, 2013), which has been translated into four languages and was a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. Her most recent young adult novel, Mayday, appeared on the Texas Library Association’s Lone Star Reading List. “The Strange Disappearance of Jason Whetstone” , published in the Sisters In Crime anthology “Reckless in Texas’ is one of a series of stories featuring clients engaging the services of Dallas’ fictional Remedy Clinic. Another entry in this series, “Would You Like A Remedy?”, appears in the March/April 2023 issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.
LORI ROBERTS HERBST
Webmaster
Lori Roberts Herbst is the author of the six-book Callie Cassidy Mystery series and will soon be releasing a new series, The Seahorse Bay Mysteries. She is a 2022 Silver Falchion Best Cozy Mystery winner, as well as Runner Up winner for Best Book. Her books have earned three CIBA Murder and Mayhem first-place awards. Lori currently serves as National Board Secretary of Sisters in Crime and is a proud member of the SinC Guppy chapter, where she serves as moderator of the Cozy Gups; the SinC North Dallas chapter; the SinC Colorado chapter; and Mystery Writers of America. Lori recently moved to Colorado Springs after spending most of her life in Dallas, TX. She is a wife, mother of two, and (gasp!) grandmother of four.
BARBARA SPENCER
Immediate Past President
Barbara Spencer enjoyed a non-fiction writing career with San Antonio News and Jan Gardner Advertising before joining a Fortune 500 company where she designed and presented corporate training materials and other business communications. She now pursues her true love of writing fiction, especially mysteries. While her first novel Family Business is waiting for a publisher to love and publish it, she works on her follow-up novel, writes short stories and volunteers for her favorite causes. A Frisco resident, she has three outstanding grown daughters, three perfectly wonderful grandchildren and one adorable fur baby.