Elizabeth George had two choices.

“It was put up or shut up time,” she recalled.

George, a world-renowned author of British mystery books that regularly crack The New York Times bestseller list, remembers the day. It was June 28, 1983.

Her husband at the time had purchased an IBM personal computer so he could write his doctoral dissertation. George was an English teacher then, at El Toro High School in California. Her husband said he was willing to share the new computer if she wanted to write a novel.

George considered her options.

“I asked myself, what do you want to say on your deathbed. ‘I could have written a novel,’ or ‘I wrote a novel.’”

“Having made my decision, I sat down and did it,” she said.

Though George makes it sound easy, her novels that follow a pair of Scotland Yard investigators are labor-intensive works. Each one takes approximately 15 to 18 months to complete, including research trips to England, where George has an apartment.

Her novels have drawn praise from a wide spectrum of readers, and George has earned her share of major awards, including the Agatha Award for best first mystery novel. Other honors soon followed.

Islanders will get a chance to hear the author’s approach to writing next week, as George is the featured author at the next Third Tuesday Whidbey Writers & Poets gathering.

Third Tuesday is held at the 3Cats Cafe at the Bayview Cash Store; George’s appearance is at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20. The evening begins at 7 p.m.

Barbara Graham said the idea for the monthly gathering came to her when she realized many of her neighbors were published authors.

“I began to imagine that behind every fourth shopping cart in the Pay-Less produce department might be a writer,” Graham recalled.

Graham works at Bayview Arts, which sells books by a dozen or so local authors. When Chris Highland came into the store to see the shop needed more of his books, the pair began to brainstorm about ways to create a forum where authors could share their works.

After a few phone calls from Gail Madden at the Whidbey Island Writers Association, the writer’s night was launched in the Smilin’ Dog Coffee House, and then the 3Cats Cafe when Gene and Tamar Felton took over the space.

The monthly event — which features beverages and desserts — hits its one-year anniversary next month.

So far, guests have included surfing historian Drew Kampion, cross-coutnry bicyclist Tom Trimbath, mystery author, Stephen Hanneman, playwright Tom Churchill, poet Victory Schouten, social activists Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea, and many others.

George has talked about writing here on Whidbey before. She was the keynote speaker at the 2006 Whidbey Writers Conference.

George and her husband, Tom McCabe, recently moved to Whidbey after he retired from a career as a firefighter.

The couple was looking to make the move from Hunnington Beach, Calif. A friend in Coupeville encouraged them to come to Whidbey — a place not on her list — and George found herself charmed by Langley.

“It was a great piece of advice. The town is so special,” she said, recalling how it reminded her of Laguna Beach at the turn of the century.

They are now putting the finishing touches on their home outside Langley.

Since October, though, George has not been home for much more than a couple weeks at a time. She’s been on book tours, most recently to England and Germany, to promote her latest work, “What Came Before He Shot Her.”

Beyond her mystery novels, George is also the author of “Write Away,” a nonfiction book that details the dedication and hard work necessary to write well.

For her, the enjoyment from writing comes at the finish.

“I never ever have required my career to be fun,” she said. Instead, it must be challenging and satisfying.

“Skiing is fun. Boogie boarding is fun,” George explained.

“I like the challenge, but more than that, I really like the satisfaction of taking on the challenge and completing it,” she said.

At the next Third Tuesday Whidbey Writers & Poets gathering, George will start with a reading, then talk about writing, and finish with a question-and-answer session.

“I’m just interested in meeting my fellow islanders, more than anything else,” she said. “Because I’ve really enjoyed, very much, meeting the people I’ve met so far.”