Tag Archive for: Killer Nashville

Conferences for Writers and for Readers—Part I

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By Kay Kendall


Today I’m sitting in for Stiletto Gang colleague and friend, Marjorie Brody. A
sudden death in her family has left her with an unbearable list of things to
do. Pinch-hitting for Marjorie gives me the chance to make back-to-back posts
exploring the burgeoning phenomenon of conferences designed both for readers
and for writers. 
 

Have suitcase…Will Travel!

Back in the days before I
was a published author, when I contemplated a writing career, I had no idea
that there would be so many opportunities to hobnob with other writers—and with
readers too. I had always thought that the life of a writer was a solitary one.
Then I discovered the wealth of conferences that blanket this continent. The
list of seminars for aspiring writers is long, and almost as long is the list
of conferences for both readers and authors. I swear you could spend your life
going from meeting to meeting. That is, if you had the money to do so.
I have ended up loving
the networking and marketing and meeting readers and other writers so much that
it’s easy to forget about the writing at the core of it all…which remains
sitting alone in that room and facing an empty screen and throwing type up on
it. For me, that is torture. Once I get past the first draft, then the rest is
glorious.
Starting in 2004, I began
attending one regional writing conference per year. Then, beginning in 2011, I
started attending Bouchercon. It must be the world’s largest con aimed at fans
of mystery authors. Then in 2013, the year my first book was published, I
attended three conferences in one calendar year, and that has remained my
standard to this very day. If my budget and my writing calendar allowed,
however, I would do even more. The most marvelous part of these gatherings is
meeting many people who were Facebook friends and now have turned into real
ones, not just virtual.
Three days ago I returned
home from the annual ThrillerFest in New York City, sponsored by International
Thriller Writers. ITW celebrates its tenth anniversary this year so the
conference was even more star-studded than usual. I participated in an authors’
round table, renewed old acquaintances, made new ones, sold some books, and
networked like crazy. In tomorrow’s post I will talk in detail about some of
the famous writers who spoke at ThrillerFest.
The month of October will
begin with Bouchercon in Raleigh, North Carolina, and end with Killer Nashville
in Tennessee. Half the size of ThrillerFest and Bouchercon, Killer Nashville is
an exceptionally supportive and friendly gathering. My more introverted author
pals are drawn to smaller conferences like this one. At each event I’ve
attended, one of these introverts confides to me how difficult it is to endure
so many people at once.
But now I am back in my
author’s lair, facing that empty PC screen. The nasty thing keeps whispering to
me that I must start writing my third mystery featuring my amateur sleuth,
Austin Starr. Tentatively titled Tombstone
Blues, this will be Austin’s most dangerous adventure yet when she and her
husband David tangle with Russian spies in Cold War-era Vienna. It opens only a
month after the conclusion of Rainy Day
Women, and David is still mad at her. Because she . . . but wait! I’m about
to give away too much. I must stop. I want this to be a spoiler-free zone!
*******
Kay
Kendall is a long-time fan of historical novels and writes
atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit and turbulence of the
sixties. She is a reformed PR executive who lives in Texas with her husband,
three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to her bunnies, she
loves them anyway! Her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too. RAINY DAY
WOMEN published on July 7–the second in her Austin Starr Mystery series. The
audio-book will be out soon. 

http://www.amazon.com/Rainy-Day-Women-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00W2X5SCS

*******

Fun at Killer Nashville by Debra H. Goldstein

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Killer Nashville.  What a great phrase.  It can be interpreted from being a killer conference to being a description of the town.  As you read this, I am at Killer Nashville. listening to lectures, drooling and tripping over my own two feet in front of authors I’ve admired from afar, hearing critiques from editors and agents, being a panelist and participating in every way that I can.

Yesterday, I attended Doing Time with Sisters in Crime – Great Beginnings and a Mystery Themed Event.  The Sisters in Crime workshop was informative and spirited while the Mysteries & More Bookstore sponsored Mystery Themed Event was pure fun.  Both gave me an opportunity to interact with other authors and fans.  Today, the Killer Nashville workshops/panels begin in earnest.  I am on the Short Story panel. With six short pieces being accepted/published in the past seven months, including the recently announced placement of Thanksgiving in Moderation in The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Fourth Meal of Mayhem, it is the perfect panel for me this year.  More importantly, I’m in awe of the other panelists:  Kaye George, Paula Benson, Warren Bull, and moderator, Rob Mangeot.  Being on the panel would be enough, but there also will be time for banquets, round tables, a get-together with a group of SinC Guppies, meeting Stiletto Gang members Kay Kendall and Marjorie Brody, and, of course, the Killer crime scene.

I’m planning on having a Killer time at Killer Nashville.  Maybe, I’ll be able to share it with you in the future or maybe, it will be one of those “what happens at Killer Nashville, stays in Killer Nashville” weekends.

Killer Nashville Ate My Blog Post

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I am scheduled to post my blogs on The Stiletto Gang every
fourth Friday. Now, those among you who are very on top of things may have
noticed that this is the fifth Friday of the month. Those of you with
indecently strong memories may recall that no new post went up on the fourth
Friday of the month just past (I have always maintained that a faulty memory is
a kindness to others). Yes! *hangs head in shame* I missed my scheduled blog
post this month, and this is a make-up post. But I have a good excuse. Killer
Nashville ate my blog post.
I have my blogs scheduled on my Google calendar, which sends
me reminders a day ahead of time to write and post a blog for that fourth
Friday, and the calendar keeps good track of this, even when there are five
Fridays in a month.  I, on the other
hand, tend to imprecisely think of my post as due on the last Friday of the
month, which it usually is. So when I left at the crack of dawn with my husband
and a good friend from Border Crimes, my local Sisters in Crime group, to drive
from Kansas City to Nashville for the conference, I left behind all possible reminders
that I had a blog post due. It was only earlier this week when I was home again
and cleaning out the overflowing email inbox that I encountered that reminder
of a long-past-due post and had to throw myself on the mercy of my blog
sisters. “But if you had been there having all that fun and learning things and
meeting people—did I mention that Anne Perry and D.P. Lyle were guests of
honor?—you’d have forgotten the doggone blog post, too.” So my blog buddies
said to tell them and you about Killer Nashville to redeem myself—and as a
writer, I’m all about redemption.

Vinnie Hansen and Julie Tollefson


In the beginning was the drive—and in the end, as well—and it
was a drive of biblical dimensions. Billed by Mapquest as an 8 ½-hour drive, it
was stretched to 12 hours each way when we encountered severe road construction
all across the states of Illinois and Kentucky. Ben and I were glad we had our
friend, Julie, along to help with the driving and keep the atmosphere light.
When we finally burst through into Tennessee, it quickly became a favorite
state among us for its notable dearth of orange barrels, closed lanes, and
gridlock traffic standing still for miles and miles.
Nashville is a lovely city set in the midst of beautiful forested
mountains. Our raveled nerves healed and reknit as we drove through such
peaceful vistas. Soon we were at the conference hotel, and Julie was checking
in while Ben and I picked up registration materials and then found our way to a
writer friend’s house where we were staying twenty minutes from the hotel.
While our friends fed us healthy, delicious, homemade food, Julie was getting
snockered at the wine-tasting where she’d arrived late and tried to make up
time on an empty stomach. She gave that first program high honors next day,
though.
Molly Weston
What can I say? The panels and programs were great. I
cherry-picked ones featuring my good friends Chris F. Holm and Hilary Davidson
right off the top—and they were superb on writing the short story and on writing
dark. Then, Ben and I had lunch with Julie and our dear friend, Judge Debra
Goldstein, where much fascinating discussion and flat-out hilarity ensued. Back
at the conference, I checked in with Molly Weston who was in charge of the
Sisters in Crime table and reception later that evening. Throughout the
conference, I tried to take time to spell Molly at the table or keep her
company. I felt this was my responsibility as a local chapter president—and I
just love the chance to spend time with Molly. That evening, we all helped with
the Sisters in Crime reception, which was full of good food and drink and lots
and lots of great people. After which, Ben and I adjourned eight blocks to meet
our hostess, who runs the MFA in creative writing program at a local university,
and a handful of her students at Nashville’s Shakespeare in the Park for the
funniest, best version of Midsummer Night’s Dream we’ve seen (and with Ben’s
Ph.D. in theater and film, we’ve seen a lot of versions of that play).

Saturday offered workshops with law enforcement
professionals (one of the great features of Killer Nashville—tons of chances to
work with and meet ATF, TBI, and other law enforcement pros). We even had a
wonderful presentation by a former federal black ops agent who offered great
detailed explanations of how he was recruited and trained and how he operated
in the field—and the human toll it took on him and his family. D. P. Lyle, a forensic
consultant for major crime writers and crime TV shows and movies, gave a great
presentation, and bestseller Anne Perry gave such great and inspiring
presentations that she warranted a standing ovation. (I’m still resonating from
her talks and finding more and more to return to all the time.)

Sunday, I was scheduled on a panel, but first I had to
attend Debra’s panel, “Order in the Court,” with her (a federal judge), a state
judge, and a prosecuting attorney.  I
knew it would be excellent, just by virtue of Debra’s  presence on it, but it was fun and funny and
full of useful information for writers. Right after hers came my panel, “Fiction
on the Fringes: Writing Other Cultures, Closed Communities, Countercultures.”
(I’ve written in more detail about this great panel and the remarkable audience
we had on my blog here http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com/2013/08/fiction-on-fringes-and-great-question.html
)
Then, it was goodbyes all around and drive into and through
the night (or stand still for miles at a time in Illinois and Kentucky). We
finally arrived exhausted in the wee hours of Monday morning, and poor Julie
had to get in her car at my house and drive another hour to her own. Valiant
and stalwart woman that she is!
It was worth the horrible drives, and I had the chance to
see folks I missed at Malice this year and made new friends. And Anne Perry’s  remarkable, passionate presentation is going
to keep unfolding inside me until I write something about it, I’m sure. If you
have the chance to go to Killer Nashville, I’d advise you to take it. It was
worth even twelve hours of driving with 3 ½ of those pretty much standing
still.
And that’s how Killer Nashville ate my blog. I promise I won’t
do it again. Have I redeemed myself?

(Thanks to Kaye George for the top two photos and to Julie Tollefson for the last one.)

What Are Your Feelings About Big Mystery Cons?

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Recently I read a blog post from an author titled, “Why I Quit Going to Bouchercon” and some of the things expressed I’ve been feeling.

My hubby and I have been to several all over the U.S. We had a great time, especially exploring cities we’ve never been to before and wouldn’t have visited were it not for Bouchercon. Did it do anything for my career as an author? Not a whole lot. To even get my books into the book room, I always had to negotiate with the book dealer who wanted the standard 40/60 cut which meant I didn’t make a dime on any book sold. (I bought the books I brought with me at that same 40% cost.)

Being with small presses doesn’t impress the Bouchercon committees. In fact, I read the minutes of one of those committees after a Bouchercon I’d attended and several members actually came out and said “too many small press authors attended, discouraging the big name authors.” Does that mean my money isn’t as good as anyone else’s? After all, I paid a hefty fee to go, stay in the convention hotel and the transportation to get there and back.

My last Boucheron was the recent one in San Francisco. I went because it was close enough for me to get there fairly easily. I didn’t even bother to try to get my books in the book room. Hubby didn’t go and I roomed with an old friend I hadn’t seen for awhile. I had a great time schmoozing with people and wasn’t impressed with the panels I attended. Especially the one on e-books. The panelist, all published by big name publishers, didn’t know much of anything about e-books. This would have been a great panel for small press authors to shine, but they weren’t asked.

A big plus, is I have made friends with some wonderful fans of the mystery genre who have become fans of my mystery series.

Left Coast Crime is smaller and a bit more small press author friendly. I’ve already signed up for the one in Monterey CA. (Also easy for me to get to.)

There are other smaller cons around the country like Love is Murder (been once and loved it), Malice Domestic (been twice and it is also a great conference), Killer Nashville (been to one and thought it was fun) and I know there are many others in the Midwest. Public Safety Writers Association is the smallest one I got too because I get to learn a lot from experts and small press authors get to shine.

For me these days, I’m weighing in the problems of traveling when you’re older. I can no longer run through an airport with my carry-ons to get to my next gate on time which is 1/2 mile away, whether what I’ll get out of the conference or convention will be worth the cost (and I do count meeting and making friends with readers).

What are your feelings about these conventions and conferences for writers? And if you are strictly a reader, if you go, what do you like best? What are your favorite cons and why?

Marilyn