At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 4, at the Altus Public Library, the Coffee Cup Bunch of the Friends of the Library will hear a presentation by Mystery Writer JoAnna Carl titled “Write What You Know (and if You Don’t Know, Find Out.)”

Lawton writer JoAnna Carl is the creator of the Chocoholic novels, books offering an inside look at the world of luxury chocolate. The mysteries have been listed on best-seller lists of the Independent Mystery Booksellers and of Barnes and Noble.

Carl began to write the Chocoholic mystery series while her daughter was working for a company which produced high-quality, luxury, European-style bonbons, truffles, and molded chocolates. The books feature as a detective a young woman who is business manager for a similar company. In addition to a mystery, each of the books includes “lore,” or information on chocolate.

“These are traditional mysteries, with logical clues that lead the reader to the solution of the crime,” Carl said. “Most violence occurs ‘offstage.’”

Carl holds a degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and spent more than 25 years as a reporter, columnist, and editor at The Lawton Constitution. She did graduate work with mystery writer Carolyn Hart in the OU Professional Writing Program. Before creating the Chocoholic series, she published seven novels with Oklahoma settings under her real name, Eve K. Sandstrom.

Carl won the Oklahoma Book Award in 1993 and has been nominated for two top mystery awards, the Anthony and the Agatha. In 2001-2002 Carl served as president of Sisters in Crime, an organization of more than 3,000 members world-wide. In addition, she has been active in Mystery Writers of America, twice serving on committees which selected winners of the Edgar, the top American mystery award. This year she’s on the committee to select the winner of the Edgar for best children’ mystery.

The Coffee Cup Bunch meets on the first Wednesday of each month at the Altus Public Library. The meetings are free and open to the public.