by
Paula Gail Benson

For
the fourth summer, the Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Southeast
Chapter of Mystery Writers of America are partnering to present a mid-summer
mystery writing extravaganza, featuring award-winning novelists and short story
authors that represent every aspect of the genre. Originally an in-person
conference, set in “Famously Hot” Columbia, S.C., the pandemic caused us to go
virtual last year and we were delighted to attract an audience of over 900.

This
year, we continue the virtual tradition on Saturday, June 26, 2021, from 10:00
am to 2:45 pm ET. We hope you’ll join us for a stellar line up of authors
talking about their craft.

Our
guest of honor is Dr. Kathy Reichs, author of the Temperance Brennan series
that became the television show Bones.
Dr. Reichs will be interviewed by Debra Goldstein.

In
addition to Dr. Reichs, we’ll have three panels about: writing short stories (with Frankie Bailey, Michael
Bracken, and Barb Goffman); American authors penning British historicals (with Laurie
R. King, Lori Rader-Day, and Caroline Todd); and writing great suspense (with Yasmin
Argoe, Robert Dugoni, and Alex Segura).

Already
this year, these authors have been nominated for multiple awards: Lori
Rader-Day’s The Lucky One was a
finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark award and has pending nominations for an
Agatha and an Anthony. Laurie R. King’s Riviera
Gold was an Edgar finalist for the Sue Grafton award. Alex Segura has
Anthony nominations for Best Short Story and Best Juvenile/Young Adult Novel. Barb
Goffman’s “Dear Emily Etiquette” has been nominated as Best Short Story for an
Agatha and an Anthony and won the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Award. The Beat of Black
Wings, an anthology that features stories by Barb Goffman and Michael
Bracken, is nominated for and Anthony in the Best Anthology or Collection
category.

What’s
the cost to spend half a day listening to these wonderful authors? Just $5 (to
help defray our costs). If you can’t listen live, by registering, you’ll have
access to the recording

Just
click on the following link to register:

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/mystery-in-the-midlands-2

I
asked our panelists some questions and they were kind to share the following intriguing
answers.

Do you have a good luck
writing item or habit?

Yasmin
Angoe:

No I don’t. I just have a
certain set up in my workspace that I always have to have which is
either music or some mindless movie (background noise I guess) playing.

Frankie Y.
Bailey:

I have a small silver dragon who is reading a newspaper (Knightly News).
I found him in a shop in St. Ives (Cornwall, England). That was the setting
of Death’s Favorite Child, the first book in my Lizzie Stuart
series. I keep him on my desk. Like Lizzie, I met up with a friend from grad
school to spend a week’s vacation there.

Robert
Dugoni:

As for a good luck
writing instrument, I read the novel The Green Mile while I write each book. It
is a novel in which the characters come to life and it inspires me to do the
same when writing my own novels.

Alex
Segura:

I don’t. I
actually think the less we ceremonialize writing, the better – because it means
we can jump into the work with more immediacy.

Who was your first favorite
(for our historical panel, that can be favourite) author?

Yasmin Angoe:

My first favorite author was
Beverly Cleary and then Harper Lee.

Frankie
Y. Bailey:

My first favorite mystery writer was Richard Martin
Stern. His Johnny Ortiz series, set in New Mexico, had the first African
American (biracial) professional woman I had encountered in crime fiction. Dr.
Cassandra Enright was the curator of small museum in Santa Rosa and worked on
archeological sites. I wrote Mr. Stern a fan letter, and he wrote back (in the
days when people used snail mail). Years later when I contacted him to ask if
he would respond to the questions that I was asking authors about their black
characters for the nonfiction book (Out
of the Woodpile) I was writing, he graciously agreed. He also sent me the
proofs of the next book in the series.  

Michael
Bracken:

My first favorite author was Walter R.
Brooks, author of the Freddie the Pig series of children’s books. At the time,
though, it was Freddie more than Walter who caught and captured my attention.

Barb Goffman:

I believe it was in first
or second grade when we first got to borrow books from our school library, and the
first book I remember picking up (and adoring) was “B” is for Betsy by
Carolyn Haywood. That was nearly fifty years ago, but I still remember the
title of the book and its author. That book is what inspired me to write my
first book, C is for Carolyn. (I know, original, right?) I don’t think I got
anywhere past the title, but the seeds of wanting to write were planted. I
wrote to the author (or maybe my parents wrote the letter for me), and she
responded. I read every book in the series. An online search tells me there
were only four, which surprises me. I feel like there were more.

Laurie
R. King:

Walter
Farley. All those clever, beautiful horses, lovely fantasy for a girl who lived
in tract houses with back yards too small for a decent-sized dog.

Lori
Rader-Day:

My first favorite was
Beverly Cleary. She was the first author I was aware of, the author who made me
aware authors existed. EL Konigsberg, Judy Blume—then it started to go dark
with Lois Duncan, then Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clark. The most lasting
is probably Agatha Christie, whose books I still pick up. Writing Death at
Greenway has brought me closer to her life and work, making me even more of a
fan.

Alex Segura:

Probably
Sherlock Holmes or HG Wells.

Caroline
Todd:

Author–Dorothy
Dunnett–she made the past come so alive in her historical mysteries that you
felt you were THERE. She became the godmother so to speak of our books.

Check in tomorrow at
Writers Who Kill for Part Two of this message! And, don’t forget to register!

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/mystery-in-the-midlands-2