Meet Ellen Byron
A crime fiction author, playwright, and screenwriter.
Ellen’s parents provided a rich background for her multi-faceted writing career.
“My dad was a writer. He was a literal Mad Man. I always joke that he was Don Draper if Draper had been Jewish, monogamous, and less handsome.
“Like men of his generation, Dad dreamed of being a fiction writer – he had a short story published in a boy’s magazine once – but went into advertising because it was more stable, ha ha! Trust me, it’s not. Growing up was a roller coaster of his career ups and downs.
“But in addition to the writing gene, I got my marketing gene from him. He died in 2005, and I wish he’d lived to see not only my books published, but my Shameless Shilling marketing campaigns!”
Ellen’s mother supplied very specific material for a murder mystery series. “[My] mom was Italian—born there—which is where the inspiration for my Catering Hall Mysteries came from. ‘Maria DiRico,’ my pen name for the series, was my nonna’s maiden name.”
In her early writing career, Ellen focused on writing plays and screenwriting.
“I never set out to be an author. I launched my writing career as a playwright. I’d joined Actor’s Equity and suddenly couldn’t do non-union theatre. Since Holly Hunter was getting all the regional theatre roles that we short brunettes were up for, I was out of work and bored, so I wrote a play. Soon it was goodbye acting and hello, writing.
“But I did a form of comedy improv called Theatresports for ten years, which scratched my performing itch. I had to stop when I transitioned from plays to writing for TV, which left me no time to do anything else.”
When Ellen turned her focus to novels, she produced an impressive portfolio of murder mysteries. The stories feature settings as different as Cajun country, the Queens borough of New York City, and the Gold Rush Country of California. Her longest-running series, Cajun Country Mysteries, seven in all, features as its first book the Lefty, Agatha, and Daphne Award-nominated PLANTATION SHUDDERS. Keeping up the
Cajun theme, the Vintage Cookbook Mystery series begins with BAYOU BOOK THIEF.
Writing under the pen name Maria DiRico, Ellen has chosen New York’s Queens neighborhood for her Catering Hall mystery series, starting with HERE COMES THE BODY.
Her newest work introduces the Golden Motel series set in the Gold Rush Country of California, A VERY WOODSY MURDER.
Currently, Ellen is writing new entries in her murder mystery series, plus contributing a short story to an upcoming anthology.
“I just finished a draft of Vintage Cookbook Mystery, number four, BELLS, BEIGNETS, AND BRIBES, which will come out in November 2025. It’s set around Christmastime in New Orleans. Protagonist Ricki’s boyfriend, celebrity chef Virgil Morel, is shooting a TV show at Bon Vee Culinary House Museum about the New Orleans tradition of Réveillon Christmas dinners and her parents come to town so her father Luis can work on the TV crew. Meanwhile, Ricki continues her quest to find her birth parents and murders ensue.
“SOLID GOLD MURDER, the second book in the Golden Motel series, will launch on July 29, 2025.
“My next project is the draft of my third Golden Motel Mystery, which will take place near Halloween in Gold Rush Country. My husband Jer and I did a research trip to the region, where we took a haunted train ride. I also went on a paranormal tour in Columbia Historic State Park, the inspiration behind Goldsgone in the series. I can’t wait to write all of this into the book!
“I have a short story in Hollywood Kills, a Level Best anthology launching in April that consists of stories written by people with a connection to the entertainment industry. My story’s titled “Billy Wilder’s Ghost,” and is inspired by the five seasons I spent working in the Wilder building on the Paramount lot on various TV shows.”
The writing community recognizes the high quality of Ellen’s work.
“I’ve won two Agatha Awards, four Best Humorous Lefty Awards, and been nominated for an Anthony. I also won playwriting awards, but it’s been a while and to be honest, I’ve forgotten what they are! I’m super proud of receiving a Future of Theatre Award for Excellence in Mentorship from the Young Playwrights Festival, where I mentored writers for thirty years.”
In addition to her amazing creativity in crime fiction, Ellen finds time to contribute to the well-being of the writing community.
“I’ve served on a ton of Sisters in Crime Los Angeles committees, on the SoCal Mystery Writers of America board, and am currently in my last term on the national Mystery Writers of America board.
“One of my favorite volunteer efforts has been working on the planning committee for past California Crime Writers Conferences. I’m particularly proud of the panel I put together on writing television drama because I got to blend my worlds by inviting wonderfully talented and successful TV writer pals to be on the panel.”
Along with books, needlepoint, and dance, Ellen has an amusing companion to lighten her days.
“My hobbies are reading—of course!—needlepoint, and dancing. I never listen to music when I write. I’m a cone-of-silence author. Music is what I dance to.
“As to pets, as I write this, our rescue pooch Cammie just trotted by with a pair of my socks in her mouth. We call her The Sock Bandit. I finally put out a bin of single and old socks in the hallway so she could steal from that. But of course, it’s never as much fun as sneaking a pair from Mom, Dad, or daughter. In fact, my daughter complained—humorously, of course—that the socks I was wearing that I’d retrieved off the den floor were hers. Cammie had knocked over her laundry bin and helped herself to the pair!”
What inspires Ellen to be so productive in so many types of creative writing?
“I do a keynote speech where I talk about three sentences that changed my life: 1) Are you interested or committed? 2) Do you listen, or do you wait to talk? 3) An affirmation Shirley MacLaine gave me when I interviewed her for a Redbook article. (When I was a playwright, I made my living doing entertainment journalism.) I told her I was afraid of flying and she said, “Next time you feel the fear coming on, say to yourself, ‘I am having a safe, uneventful journey.’” This affirmation works everywhere: driving in L.A., prepping for a webinar…
It was the most priceless gift ever.
“But I recently realized I should add a fourth aphorism to the list. When I was a kid, I read a book that made such an impression on me that I’m embarrassed to admit I lifted it from my school library—I owe you, Scarsdale School System! The book was The Year of Janie’s Diary and while it was about a girl who lost weight and became popular—not a great message but hey, it was the sixties—the theme of the award-winning paper Janie wrote stuck with me, and motivates me to this day: Forward Ever and Backward Never. Do I have regrets looking backward? Sure. A studio deal my TV writing partner and I should have taken. An agent switch we shouldn’t have made. But I don’t dwell on the past. It’s much more fun to look forward, even if it’s just daydreaming about what exciting thing might lie ahead.”
