Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity 2025

 The 2025 edition of the Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity conference is in the rearview. I can’t think of a conference with a more welcoming atmosphere, or where you’ll get more bang for your buck if you’re looking to meet and talk with authors while learning about the craft. As an example, I have as many notes from the two half-days and one full day of C3 as I have from the two half-days and three full days of Bouchercon.

 Kudos go to Austin and Denise Camacho, Cynthia Lauth, and everyone connected with putting on this gem of a conference, including Susan McBride for her adept handling of the book sales. Additional shoutouts to keynote speakers Tom Straw and Jody Lynn Nye, as well as special guests Ellen Crosby and L. Marie Woods. Their speeches and interviews were entertaining and enlightening.

 What follows are the comments that stuck with me most from conference panels. If no credit is given, the comment belongs to the most recently mentioned author.

 Tom Straw: If you pitch an idea for a TV script, they may buy it for you to write, or pay you for the outline and have someone else write the script.

 John le Carré once said a book is to a screenplay as a cow is to a bouillon cube.

 When arbitrating who gets credit for a script, dialog is the last thing considered.

 Thomas A. Burns: There is a difference between factual distortion and fiction.

 Wendy Gee: Let your cops cry. (At appropriate times, of course.)

 Bryan England: Cops who speak to each other in 10 codes are more than likely part-timers or auxiliaries.

 Brian Paone: Tem codes are going away, as every jurisdiction has their own and the possibility for confusion is too great.

 Bryan England: Cops always have their own codes for dead bodies so people monitoring scanners don’t suddenly start showing up, making the investigation difficult. (Tony Knighton: Ditto for firefighters.)

 Tony Knighton: Firefighters don’t ‘pull hose;’ they ‘stretch lines.’ They didn’t ‘go to a fire;’ they ‘made a job.’’

 Philadelphia firefighters do not respond to ‘cat in tree’ calls unless called by the ASPCA. Even then, all they do is set the ladder. It’s the ASPCA who climbs the tree.

 Wendy Gee: Interference with a firefighter is a felony. Interfering with law enforcement is typically a misdemeanor.

 Tony Knighton: Fire and police departments may have no direct means of communication. He cited an example where he had to get the fire dispatcher to call 911 so a police dispatcher could direct a cop to him when the cop was standing a hundred feet away.

 Wendy Gee: The only sense not used at a scene is taste.

 Bryan England: Vapo-Rub in the nose only works a little in a smelly death scene, and even then only until you open your mouth.

 First responders are actors, not ponderers. They evaluate as they act.

 John deDakis: A good 911 operator will pick up on a situation and adjust their questioning accordingly. Example: if the threat is near to the caller, she’ll ask only yes/no questions.

 Bradley Harper: Some people who have an experience in an altered state – drugs or alcohol, for example – may remember what happened only while in a similar state.

 Glenn Parris: Alcoholics may fill gaps in their memory with fabrications.

 Bradley Harper: Medical examiners may cover the face and genitals of a corpse out of respect while doing the autopsy. There is a way to get the brain out through a relatively small incision in the back of the head if the family wants an open casket funeral.

 Glenn Parris: Even transplants between identical twins require some form of immune system repression.

 Bradley Harper: Identical twins may differ in minor ways due to how their RNA interprets their DNA.

 Louisiana coroners are elected officials who pay others for autopsies out of appropriated funds; they keep anything left over at year’s end.

 Mike McLaughlin, Glenn Parris, Bradley Harper (consensus opinion): The most realistic medical shows ever are The Pitt, ER, St. Elsewhere, M*A*S*H, and Scrubs.

 Next year’s conference will be September 18 – 20, 2026. I’ll be there and, if you read this blog at all regularly, you ought to be there yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bouchercon 2025

 A busier than usual September has delayed my Bouchercon wrap-up. Do not let that lead you to think this year’s event was anything other than a success. For me, on multiple levels. (I’ll have more to say about the ‘multiple levels’ business in the coming weeks.)

 I used to break down every panel I attended. I’m not doing that this year because

·       I didn’t go to as many panels as I used to

·       I didn’t garner as much new information from the panels I did go to

This is in no way a criticism of the program. I’ve been attending conferences since 2008 and have published sixteen novels since then. I still look forward to learning ways to make my writing better and more fun for everyone, but much of what I hear now is, with notable exceptions, a variation on something I already know. That’s to be expected when one gets to be my age and has the same level of experience.

 What follows is a recap of the things that struck me as most noteworthy. I credited the speakers when I could, but there were times I’d be finishing one note and something else I wanted to record was said and I didn’t get a chance to see who said it. If your name has been omitted from a comment, please accept my apology. No slight was intended.

 BOUCHERCON NOTES 2025

 Alex Kenna: Neo-noir is an ‘endless smorgasbord of pain.’ (I will definitely use this line in a blurb someday, and told Alexx so.)

 Brian Thiem: Increased reliance on technology has lowered the Oakland homicide clearance rate from 70% to below 50% because of the investigators’ increasing reliance on the tech, and waiting for the results to come in, when they should be knocking on doors.

 Bruce Coffin: The ending of an action scene is the beginning of a sequence based on the consequences of the action.

 Carter Wilson & Bruce Coffin: The diner scene between Pacino and DeNiro in Heat has more suspense than any of the violent action.

 Mandy Miller: It’s the writer’s job to make interesting things that could be boring. (In other words, don’t let ‘this is boring’ be an excuse for improper procedure.)

 Mandy Miller: Knowing the law is less valuable than knowing the procedure.

 Sherry Lewis Wohl: Cadaver dogs can detect cremated remains.

 (Uncertain): DNA taken from a service member can only be used to identify a corpse, never to bring charges.

 

(Uncertain): Some experts will spin evidence so they’ll get hired again. Some never even look at it.

 

Katherine Ramsland: Forensic meteorology is the study of how weather affects a crime scene. (This is actually a thing.)

 Sherry Lewis Wohl: Search & rescue dogs and their handlers are volunteers.

 John deDakis: Cable doesn’t answer to the FCC, so there are no consequences for inaccuracy.

 (Uncertain): Reporters may do a lot of their long-term investigations on their own time. They’ll complete their assignments as quickly as possible so they can work on the other things.

 

Jordan Harper: Writing should be hard the way playing a sport is hard, not ‘lifting a car off of someone’ hard.

 Gary Phillips: Private eye novels are really about the PI looking for themselves. (That hit home for me, given the book I’m working on now.)

 Christa Faust: Location and character are not distinct. POV means everything.

 Kristin Perrin: Explore how a person can change a place as well as how the place can change a person.

 Thanks to everyone we met and spent time with, both old friends and new acquaintances. I don’t want to list names here because I know I’ll leave someone out. Special thanks to Lou Berney, Diana Chambers, Lee Matthew Goldberg, Claire Johnson, and Boyd Morrison for making our panel a joy to moderate. Suffice to say it was great to return to Bouchercon after five years away. We’ll miss Calgary next year, but 2027 in Washington DC is already on the schedule.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left Coast Crime 2025

 Travel and prior commitments prevented me from writing about march’s left Coast Crime conference in Denver. I’ll correct that today.

A quick note: I’ve been to over twenty conferences since my first, 2008’s Baltimore Bouchercon. I don’t take as many notes as I used to because each year there are fewer things I haven’t heard. The list below is by no means a comprehensive listing of all the interesting things I heard over that weekend, just those that were new, or of special interest to me.

PIs: Historical & Modern

SJ Rozan: The PI is the embodiment of having to make a difficult decision in an area of moral ambiguity.

Matt Coyle: PIs are the equivalent of the Western gunslinger. Once he’s done the job, he’s not so useful.

SJ Rozan: Short stories are like a liquor story robbery: in and out. Novels are long cons.

Noir: How Dark Can We go?

Christa Faust: Dark humor is a great way to help readers bridge the gap to an unlikeable protagonist.

CF: Hard boiled + Down these mean streets goes a man who is not himself mean. Noir = He’s mean, too.

CF: As an author, it can be hard to stick with a series. “I’m married to this series and I love it. but look at the ass on that idea.”

CF: There’s no level of “how far,” but how you handle it. If a scene can be cut and not hurt the story, cut it. Be as dark as you want, but not just the sake of darkness.

Conversation notes (Christa?):

Let the queer characters be messy. Too many cis writers make them perfect for fear of giving offense, which makes them two dimensional.

Humor can be a protective coating for the queer characters.

Medicine and Forensics:

DP Lyle: DNA is involved in less than 1% of cases.

The Craft of Writing:

Duane Swierczynski: A scene that comes to you right away is likely a cliché.

Rob Hart: Doesn’t want ‘sensitivity readers;’ he wants ‘accuracy readers.’

RH: Does one draft backward so he’s not running out of energy by the end.

Noir: Examining the Dark Side

Jon Bassoff: The reader doesn’t have to like the protagonist; he just has to be interested in him.

David Boop: In noir, the pro is the con.

DB: the reader can only spend so much time in the dark before you lose him. Comedy not only gives the reader a break, it intensifies the next bad thing to happen.

Mark Bacon: Car dealers put GPS and kill switches in cars for people with poor credit so they can keep them from driving the car and find it without bothering with a repo man, This can cause serious problems when a car dies on a busy highway.

Audience member: Postwar noir dealt with PTSD, though it wasn’t called that then. Now (neo)noir is nihilism.

#  #  #

This was my second Left Coast Crime. Both were as well run as any conference I have attended, and I’ve been to more than twenty. If you get a chance to catch one – next year’s is in San Francisco -  you should go. You won’t be sorry.

 

 

Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity X

 The tenth Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity conference took place last weekend in Columbia, MD. I’ve been to nine (missed the first for reasons I do not remember) and, while I can’t say this was the “best,” there have been none better.

 

Austin and Denise Camacho never fail to create a welcoming, familial atmosphere that not only inspires repeat visits, but embraces newcomers. A friend attending her first C3 told me she hadn’t been sure what to expect, but was made to feel at home as soon as she entered the registration area. She was not alone in that sentiment.

 

C3 always gets high-level keynotes. This year Jeffrey Deaver reprised his role as the original crime speaker, with Nancy Holder covering the sci-fi/fantasy side of things. Both were excellent speakers, outstanding panelists, and were more than accessible to the other 140 writers and readers who wanted bits of their time.

 

I’ve been going to conferences since 2008, so there isn’t as much new to me as there once was. I used to break out comments by individual sessions, but now my notes are thinner. Do not infer I didn’t learn anything. My personal highlights are below.

 

·       Taglines have vexed me since my first book came out. The panel that focused on them had several takeaways I can use as I begin a new project we’ll discuss more in next week’s blog:

o   John DeDakis: the tag should only be a sentence or two to hook a potential reader. Tags should be short enough to be read comfortably in one breath.

o   Susan Tullio: a tag is similar to a newspaper headline and should set the genre.

o   Sharon Buchbinder: tags should give a sense of the book so readers aren’t misled.

·       Jeffrey Deaver: The part of the brain that forms attachments with real humans is the same part that forms attachments with fictional characters.

·       About writing fight scenes:

o   Bryan England: the stakes in a fight can change as the fight progresses. A cop must write a use of force report every time he draws his gun, sprays a chemical, uses a Taser, or throws a punch; cops are writing the report in their head as they fight.

o   Teel James Glenn: Bruce Lee said people will fight the way they think; Those who are afraid will fight most desperately. The mindset of the individual may be key, as he or she must decide how dirty they are willing to get; running may be the solution.

o   Mark Bergin: the fight description should not be too detailed. Clarity and brevity are the keys.

o   P.A. Duncan: No one escapes a fight without consequences.

§  All: If you’re going to show the fight, you must show the consequences, including both mental and psychological.

o   There are differences of opinion about who to take out first when outnumbered.

·       On discussing the importance of realism:

o   Bryan England: Taser victims are only incapacitated while the current is running; it does not knock them out. Everything a cop does must go into a report before they can go back on the street, even if all they did was give someone a ride to the station.

o   Glenn Parris (an MD) sees too much “magical healing” and not enough medical complications. Tasers will not trigger cardiac arrest, even in those with pacemakers or defibrillators.

o   Mark Bergin never sees enough of how much cops rely on the radio or how calls can get garbled when passing them to jurisdictions with different 10 codes.

I can’t take notes on my own panels, for obvious reasons. Both “Rejections” and “Noir” had worthy takeaways. The one that sticks in my head is Terrence McCauley’s comment that Glengarry, Glen Ross, is a woefully underrated noir with nary a corpse shown nor punch thrown, to which I immediately thought, “Of course it is!” though it had never occurred to me before.

 

That’s the joy of a conference such as this: you learn things and have an opportunity to follow up on them. You also get to see old friends and invariably make new ones.

 

I would be remiss if I did not thank the panelists I worked with last weekend: Arlene Kay, Jeff Markowitz, Rick Pullen, and Ilene Schneider (Rejections); Christopher Chambers, Lanny Larcinese, Terrence McCauley (Noir).

 

Last, but by no means least, a shout out to those who read at Friday’s Noir at the Bar event. C3’s N@Bs are different from others, as horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and even steampunk may be included. This year’s readers were exceptional from start to finish, even though several had never read at such an event before. Some of the credit goes to the atmosphere Austin, Denise, and everyone involved in putting on the conference creates, but I cannot compliment highly enough the effort put forth by the readers: LC Allingham, Rob Creekmore, Ef Deal, William J. Donohue, Jeff Markowitz, Joanne McLaughlin, Josh Pachter, and Tom Sterling. You all conducted yourselves above and beyond what were high expectations. Well done.

 

Next Year’s event is September 13 – 15, again in Columbia. Early registrations get a discount, so head on over to https://creaturescrimesandcreativity.com/2024-registration/ to beat the rush.

 

See you in Columbia.

Sleuthfest 2023

 Last week The Beloved Spouse™ and I made our first trip to Sleuthfest. It’s an annual event put on by MWA’s Florida Chapter and their experience shows. I’ve never been to a better run conference.

 

Unlike readers’ conferences such as Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime, Sleuthfest is a writers’ conference, where craft is king. Craft discussions are what I enjoy most about such get-togethers, and I was not disappointed.

 

The agenda is a combination of presentations (essentially classes put on by a single individual), panels, and speeches by featured guests. To be frank, the presentations are probably of more benefit to less experienced writers. I’ve been writing seriously for over twenty years, so I already knew much of what was presented. Not all, but enough that the primary benefit I got was a reminder that I didn’t always know these things. Someone taught me. The less advanced authors are not necessarily less talented or less serious or not as smart; they’re just not as far along on the same journey. It’s an exercise in humility and a reminder that a conscientious practitioner of any craft has an obligation to steady the ladder for those on the way up.

 

(An exception to this was Bruce Robert Coffin’s police procedural presentation. I’ve read Bruce’s books, shared panels, and spent hours in bars with him. He can speak knowledgeably about this stuff for hours. The seventy minutes we got here barely scratched the surface. He’s also a laugh a minute. If you get a chance to hear him speak, jump on it.

 

The panels were as thorough as any I’ve experienced.

 

PACING – THE STORY KILLER

James D.F. Hannah, Terrence McCauley, Alan Orloff, Aggie Blum Thompson.

Micki Browning, moderator.

 

Key takeaways:

Aggie Blum Thompson – watch the video of Matt Stone and Trey Parker talking about “therefore…but” storytelling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGUNqq3jVLg

 

Micki Browning quoted an author whose name I can’t read in my notes. The Interwebs have differing opinions on who it is. Absent solid evidence to the contrary, I’m crediting Micki. Whoever said it first, the advice is solid: “Make them laugh, make them cry, make them wait.”

 

Aggie Blum Thompson tries to answer one question in each chapter and ask another.

 

James D.F. Hannah quoting Neil Gaiman: “The goal of the second draft is to make it look like you knew what you were doing in the first draft.”

 

RESEARCHING FOR AUTHENTICITY

Marty Ambrose, Lisa Black, M.E. Hilliard, Eliot Kleinberg, Alyssa Maxwell.

Rena Koontz, moderator

 

Alyssa Maxwell – Facebook has groups for everything.

 

Eliot Kleinberg – check into newspapers.com. (Pay site.)

 

Eliot Kleinberg – a lot of expensive resources can be accessed for free at a public library.

 

Lisa Black – documentaries on streaming services are useful. Not just History Channel.

 

Eliot Kleinberg – jstore is a good source for well-sourced, academic writing.

 

DECISIONS TO MAKE BEFORE SITTING DOWN AT THE KEYBOARD

Lynette Austin, Micki Browning, Bruce Robert Coffin, K.L. Murphy, Charles Todd.

Alan Orloff, moderator.

 

This was a well-paced panel that served mostly to reinforce things I’m already doing, so my notes are less than copious, as I was busy posting ideas that came to mind. A key takeaway was a reminder to do a light edit of yesterday’s work when writing the first draft. I’ve gotten away from that and returning will save me time in subsequent drafts.

 

I was a member of the other panels I attended, which tends to fully occupy my attention. Suffice to say the other panelists were well received and none of the fruit hurled my way made contact.

 

Other events included an excellent Noir at the Bar, speeches by Neil Nyren and Guest of Honor Melinda Leigh, interviews with Lori Rader-Day and Rachel Howzell Hall, and free food every evening. And it wasn’t good just because it was free. It would have been good even if I had to pay extra for it.

 

I’d like to talk a bit about the extended panel times. Conferences seem to be moving toward shorter panels with more authors, trying to get as many people as possible onstage. I appreciate the intent, but the effect on the audience is to dilute what the panelists can get into. Seventy-minute sessions are much more satisfying. I realize this could mean a large readers’ conference may have fewer writers on panels, but let’s be honest: if you want to be on a panel at Bouchercon or Left Coast or one of the big ones, you should have to show a little game first. Self-publishing a novel or two that sank faster than the Titanic may make you an author, but it doesn’t necessarily make you panelist material. I’d rather be passed over myself than see things diluted any kore than they are. Except here at Sleuthfest. Well done.

 

Having gone to conferences for 15 years now, my best memories will be of renewing friendships and making new ones. I’ll not name names here for fear of leaving anyone out, but rest assured, if we interacted last weekend, I have fond memories, and the more we interacted, the fonder the memories.

 

See you next year.

 

 

Malice Domestic 35

 The (once again) annual Malice Domestic conference took place last weekend in North Bethesda* MD. (Up yours, covid.) Malice caters to traditional and cozy mysteries, and I say with little fear of contradiction I do not write either. With that in mind, people I trust said things were opening up a little and that I should give it a try.

 

That’s why I trust those people.

 

I’ll be honest: Malice is still not quite in my wheelhouse. The panels are geared for more traditional tastes, and only a handful of the people I typically hang with at conferences were there. With that out of the way, The Beloved Spouse™ and I are both glad we went.

 

Things got off to a less than auspicious start. I was sitting in the front row of the “Malice 101” session wearing my “What Would Al Swearengen Do?” tee shirt when one of the presenters politely tapped me on the shoulder and asked, “What’s a Swearengen?”

 

That tells you a lot about Malice. Nicer people cannot be found, though most do not share the tastes of those I usually pal around with. That’s on me, and I readily accept it.

 

A few highlights:

 

Gabrielle St. George is negotiating to have her books made into a TV series. Her protagonist is 53, with grown children. The TV folks told her the hard cutoff for female protags is 36. The character will be 36 in the TV show; how old she was when giving birth is still under negotiation. (I don’t want to put words in Gabrielle’s mouth, but my first thought was “Why in hell did they want to buy the rights if the first thing they wanted to do was fundamentally change the primary character?”)

 

Catriona McPherson is hilarious.

 

Lord knows Hank Phillippi Ryan doesn’t need me to pump up her career, but I have to say she might be the best moderator I’ve ever seen; certainly none better. Most of the notes I have from her “If It Bleeds, It Leads” panel are tips on how to better moderate panels. Examples:

·       Trim the bios down to almost nothing. Time is precious and everyone’s CVs are in the program.

·       Don’t be afraid to interrupt a panelist who is rambling. Grab onto something they said and deflect the conversation to another panelist.

·       Hank read the opening of each panelist’s book as a game to see if we could guess who wrote it. I’m thinking to do this first, in place of the bio, as a way to set the tone for that author’s work. (I won’t have no bios, but will maybe keep them to 50 words or fewer.)

 

With a Western on the horizon, I am already grateful to Allison Montclair (not his real name) for making me aware of Etymology Online

 

Gabriel Valjan’s panel on “Social Issues in Police Procedurals” skirted the swamp on trigger warnings. I hope to have more about that in a little while here on the blog.

 

My panel (Small Town Cops) was moderated by Marcy McCreary and included Sarah Bewley, Justin Kiska, and James L’Etoile. Marcy kept things moving and the group had good chemistry. It must have gone pretty well; I sold three books as a direct result.

 

No conference would be complete without the social element. Many thanks to Dale Phillips, Bruce Coffin, Avram Lavinsky, Hugh Lessig (and wife, whose name I did not get; sincere apologies), Alan Orloff, Art Taylor, Tara Laskowski, and several delightful women whose names I did not get because the combination of my eyesight, lack of ambient lighting, and the positioning of their badges would have required me to violate the conference code of conduct to read them.

 

(Special shout out to Neil Plakcy for being the first person, ever, to guess “W.W.E.L.D.?” means without seeing the clue on the back of the shirt.)

 

Next year’s conference schedule is still up in the air, but the good feelings we picked up at this year’s Malice Domestic made it more than likely we’ll be back.

 

(PS

If you’re in North Bethesda* and in the mood for a burger, BurgerFi is the place to go.

 

* = Rockville south of Randolph Road)

Suffolk Mystery Authors Conference

 The Suffolk (VA) Mystery Writers Festival took place Saturday, March 11. This was my first chance to attend in person after having participated the past two years virtually due to covid restrictions. It was worth the wait, though it would have been nice not to have had to.

 

No offense to other events, but the Suffolk festival (hereafter referred to as “SMAF”) is the best-run author event I have ever attended. The organizers, led by the tireless and ubiquitous Katie Kelley, thought of everything.

·       The hotel is part of the conference facility, so we didn’t even have to leave the building.

·       We didn’t have to bring or sell books; they pre-ordered everything for us and handled all sales.

·       Our books were already displayed on our tables when we entered the facility, along with 8.5 x 11 inch color photos of each author and a little “Will return at” clock in case we needed or wanted to attend a panel. (My panel was Keeping it Snappy: Writing Short Stories, moderated by Shawn Reilly Simmons and including Teresa Inge, Nan O’Berry, Josh Pachter, and Art Taylor.)

·       The event was free to the public (about 400 came to see us); those who paid a fee received a swag bag of author gelt (I provided a short story) and an invitation to a private reception with the authors.

·       The authors got swag bags of their own, including a Moleskin journal and a small desk clock.

·       Authors and their families who chose to stay afterward were treated to a fine meal.

Everyone was in a great mood and if there were any hitches, I was unaware of them. Bonus coverage came in the form of the bar being well stocked and relatively quiet, which allowed me to catch up with friends including Ellen Geib Butler, John DeDakis, John Gilstrap, Jeffery James Higgins, and Con Lehane. As might be expected from this group, I had a ball.

 

Bonus bonus coverage came from getting to visit with longtime and dear college friends Dan and Micki Knipple after a 40-year interregnum. They’re the kind of friends you can not see for half a lifetime and pick up with as if it’s only been a week.

 

The next SMAF is March 16, 2024. I plan to be there and encourage anyone available, reader or writer, to do the same. You won’t be sorry.

Left Coast Crime: The Personal Touch

 Last week I focused on the panels at this year’s Left Coast Crime. I mentioned I might not get quite as much from them as I used to; after having been to so many, what I go for now are the people, and this year’s event did not disappoint. I apologize in advance to anyone I omitted. There was a lot going on and my ability to hold competing thoughts isn’t what it used to be.

 

So, in no particular order, thanks to

 

The LCC committee, notably Lucinda Surber, Stan Ulrich, and Les and Leslie Blatt. (Note the use, and necessity, of the Oxford comma.) They had extraordinary obstacles to overcome, not the least of which was starting things up again in the post-covid world, and they pulled it off masterfully. Kudos to everyone involved.

 

Our police procedural panel. Jim L’Etoile, T.K. Thorne, and Frank Zafiro constituted as close-knit a group of panelists as I have ever been involved with. We got together for drinks after the first day’s panels and spent time with each other throughout the week. I’m looking forward to getting together with all of them at future events.

 

Frank Zafiro (again). I mentioned him above, but we spent a lot of time talking apart from other activities. Frank is a walking library of police information, and an excellent teacher besides being an outstanding writer and a good friend.

 

Colin Conway. I’d met Colin before, but this was the first I got to spend much time with him. Great company, knowledgeable about a wide range of topics, and a good teacher in explaining why some police things are the way they are.

 

James D.F. Hannah. A fairly reserved weekend by his standard: no arrests. Jimmy takes his craft seriously, despite his reputation as a hellraiser. Talk to him about the works of Robert B. Parker sometime. You’ll learn something. Even if you’re one of Parker’s kids.

 

The residents of Albuquerque. Nicer people will not be found anywhere.

 

Lee Goldberg, who spent more time than I could have asked for discussing elements of how books become films.

 

Holly West. She was Holly West, which is high praise right there. Always a treat to see her.

 

Lindy’s Diner. On the corner of Fifth Street and Central Avenue. Only open till 3, but worth hustling over for. They even named a sandwich after me in anticipation of my arrival. (The Fat Bastard burger was excellent.) Ask for Dawn, and tell her Dana and Corky sent you. She probably won’t remember us, but I always wanted to tell someone to do that.

 

Baca Boys. Thanks to Frank for the tip. Outstanding breakfast.

 

Thicc Pizza. Another Frank recommendation. I’d never had Detroit-style pizza before, but I’ll definitely have it again. Look for it in the 505 Central food court, across the street from Lindy’s.

 

On the other hand…

 

Southwest Airlines held our plane at the gate for an hour and a half to load the baggage. Explanations ranged from “We’re shorthanded” to “It’s raining.” This made us late into Austin, but we did not have to change planes. The same was not true coming home; we had to run to make our Austin connection. Alas, our bags were not as quick as we were and took a later flight. It will be a long time before I fly again, and a sight longer before Southwest gets my business.

 

The Clyde Hotel. Formerly the Hyatt. The management change took place a week before the conference, and the new owners made no evident effort to get ready. No restaurant, the elevators weren’t fully functional until Saturday, and the bar was only open from 4:30 to 9:30. Let me repeat that. At a readers’ and writers’ conference, the bar was only open from 4:30 to 9:30. (They attempted to make up for the short hours by making everything exorbitantly expensive.) That tells you all you need to know about the hotel “experience.”

 

The good news is that those last two items will not be what anyone remembers from this year’s conference. The good programs, good company, and good cheer will linger, and there was more than enough of those to go around.

 

Thanks to everyone involved.

Left Coast Crime 2022

 The Beloved Spouse™ and I have become regular conferencegoers, so we pretty much knew the drill for our inaugural Left Coast Crime. I’ve been to more panels than I can remember, so the number of new things I hear or learn gets a little smaller with each event. Still, I am always looking to learn, and LCC did not disappoint. Here are the things that popped out at me, based on my scribbled notes. They often paraphrase what was actually said, and I was unable to get attributions for all of them. My apologies to those whose names were omitted. No slight intended.

 

THURSDAY, APRIL 7

Police Procedurals

I got my panel out of the way right off the bat, and it gave the rest of the conference a tough act to follow, if I do say so myself. James L’Etoile moderated T.K. Thorne, Frank Zafiro, and me in a discussion of the tropes of police procedurals, for better or worse. The four of us hit it off right away, Jim set things up expertly, the audience was into it, and a good time was had by all. So much so that the panelists had a “reunion” in the lounge later in the day.

 

I was supremely chuffed to be included on a panel with actual LEOs, and by the people who approached later to ask questions or pass along a compliment. Maybe my most rewarding panel ever. Thanks to all who were there.

 

Writing a Series: Keeping it Fresh

William Kent Kreuger will write a standalone when an idea speaks strongly enough to him.

 

Glen Erik Hamilton set out to write  a standalone but had so much fun world building he decided to turn it into a series.

 

Matt Goldman – If you pick the right time and place, things will take care of themselves.

 

Kreuger spoke of “Domestic Exotica,” stories set in the US but in places no one knows much about.

 

Kreuger was advised to “Write what you know.” He knew Minnesota and the dynamics of farming and people, so he ran with it.

 

These authors generally write for themselves and trust the readers will follow. They also don’t worry about things from past books. What’s done is done.

 

Celebrating the Short Story

James D.F. Hannah says many of his stories deal with “death by sporting goods.” He goes into Dick’s and looks around wondering “Could I kill someone with this?”

 

Robert LoPresti mentioned a writer who goes through each page and kills the weakest sentence. “Why is this sentence here?”

 

Stephen King has compared unfinished short stories to cups with no handles. He sets them aside until a handle comes to him.

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 9

Thrillers

All books must be readable as standalones. Repeat the descriptions of continuing characters. Regular readers will just skip over.

 

The longest continuous occupation of an American city after a race riot is Cambridge MD.

 

Writing for the Screen

Lee Goldberg – Advice to authors: If offered an option, take the money and run. Tell the producer/showrunner you’re willing to be as involved, or uninvolved, as they want.

 

Lee Goldberg - The upcoming film Fast Charlie (Pierce Brosnan) is based on Victor Gischler’s novel Gun Monkeys. Apparently very loosely, though Gischler is good with it.

 

Lee Goldberg – Many things that are changed from a book to screenplay are due to budget or scheduling considerations.

 

Lee Goldberg – The key to a screenplay is to capture the essence of the book, not to create a slavish recreation.

 

Lee Goldberg – A screenplay is a blueprint for the director, cinematographer, etc. to work from. The writer’s job is to tell the story through action and dialog.

 

Lee Goldberg now writes the first drafts of his novels as screenplays, then fleshes them out. Says it gives him a better idea of the pacing and how well the story holds together.

 

The best pilots feel like Episode 7 on the screen. Best pilots ever: Justified, Magnum, Hill Street Blues, though many excellent pilots never get made.

 

SATURDAY, APRIL 9

Hardboiled

Matt Coyle – Everything that happens to a character has to matter.

 

The Contradiction of Humor and Crime: How do you know what’s funny?`

Cynthia Kuhn – Common advice for thrillers is to make things more serious for the protagonist all the time. In comedies, make it more absurd.

 

Location as Character

Johnny Shaw & Craig Robertson – If you only have a few days to research a place, go to bars. (Audience member asked about where else to go if they (or their character) didn’t feel safe in a bar. Other places were discussed, but the takeaway I got was if you or your character don’t feel safe in a place, maybe that’s not the kind of case/story they should be working on.

 

There was lots more, but some wasn’t as new to me, and much of the truly entertaining stuff fell into the category of “You had to be there.”

 

Next week, individual callouts for those who helped to make this a memorable conference.

Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity 2021: A Look Back

 This year’s Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity conference took place in Columbia MD September 10 – 12 and may have been the best ever, despite several obstacles. Part of this success was, I’m sure, the result of people just wanting to get back with their tribe. Columbia and Howard County are among the most-vaccinated and least-infected locations in the country, and the hotel and organizers did well with their safety and masking policies. I felt secure the entire weekend.

 

A few weeks ago I laid out what past C3 experiences have been like, and what to expect this year. Today I’ll look back.

 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

12:00                 Old home week commenced with Austin and Denise Camacho welcoming everyone. C3 feels more like a family reunion than a conference, and no one is more responsible for that than those two.

12:45                 “Secrets to Snappy Dialog.” Not the most auspicious start, as the moderator forgot his notes and had to wing much of the session. His panelists were up to the challenge and the end result was solid.

1:45          “Pitfalls to Avoid When Writing a Series.” I was a member of this panel, and happy to be there. Norwood Holland touched all the bases the title implied, and everyone on the panel (Karen Neary Smithson, Kelli Peacock, Ilene Schneider) had slightly different perspectives on series writing.

2:45          “Living With a Professional Liar.” This was the spouses’ panel, and The Beloved Spouse™ acquitted herself well. This has become an annual event and is always entertaining. I’ve seen several and can’t help but think how these better halves (regardless of gender) keep the writers on their toes, while supporting their (our) often unusual needs.

3:45          “Adapting the Written Word to Screen.” Christopher Chambers piloted James Grady and John Wren through a fascinating 45 minutes of advice, war stories, and tales of horror. A couple are worth recounting, but this is not the place.

4:30          Cash bar and book signings. Basically a social hour. Given those who attend C3, it’s always a damn fine social hour.

6:00          Dinner, followed by keynote speech by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Hank’s new book dropped that week, and she was busy doing promotional work, but she carved out time to join the conference virtually on a couple of occasions. She also worked out a virtual book signing to prove what a class act she is.

7:30          Noir at the Bar. I hosted this year, and got an outstanding group of authors to work with, including Lanny Larcinese, Kelli Peacock, Mark Bergin, D.W. Maroney, Ef Deal, Bruce Robert Coffin, Maria Kelson, and Jeff Markowitz. (Listed in reading order.) All not only wrote excellent and varied stories, they read them well (not something one can assume at most N@Bs), and were all good sports when I took liberties with their bios.

 

Then I closed the bar, with assistance from The Beloved Spouse™, Bruce Coffin, and Lanny Larcinese.

 

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 11

9:00          “Espionage for Everyone.” Outstanding panel that explored fictional espionage vs. the real thing. Made me want to consider shifting genres, if I weren’t already booked solid. (See what I did there? “Booked” solid? You know, a writer? Booked? I crack myself up sometimes.)

10:00                 “Just the Facts, Ma’am.” It is no slight toward Noir at the Bar when I say this was my highlight of the conference. I moderated a panel of three retired law enforcement professionals discussing where fictional cops get it right and wrong. This is a favorite topic of mine and Mark Bergin, Bruce Coffin, and Jeffery Higgins were perfect as the panel. Maybe the best panel I’ve ever been involved in, regardless of conference.

11:00         “Write Drunk, Edit Sober.” I was a panelist this time as Ellen Geib Butler led three of us (Rick Pullen, Lane Stone) through a discussion of writing techniques, with and without alcohol.

12:00                 Lunch, followed by Hank Phillippi Ryan interviewing Kathleen Barber, neither of whom was actually in the room. Hank was still on tour, and Kathleen, who has two small children, wisely chose not to risk exposing herself to the virus.

1:15          “Murder is Everywhere.” Once again, I was a panelist (thank God for lunch; they were working me to death) as Austin Camacho, D.W. Moroney, and I followed Jeff Markowitz through an exploration of the effects of location on our writing.

2:15          “Mixing Fact With Fiction: Does Historical Fiction Need More Than Just a Time Frame?” I haven’t given up on ever writing a Western (not yet) and was happy for John Wren to help Serg Koren, Ellen Butler, Frank Hopkins, and Bill Rapp show me what to beware of when writing of periods I have no direct connection to.

4:30          Cash bar and book signings. There were panels at 3:15, but I was exhausted. Nap time.

6:00          Dinner and keynote by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Any time you think you had it rough as a kid, check out her story, then shut up.

 

I closed the bar once more, with the able assistance of Bruce Coffin (again), Kelli Peacock, and a very nice gentleman who didn’t wear his name tag so I have no idea who he was.

 

“It’s a Small World” Award to Sherrilyn Kenyon, whose father was post sergeant major at Fort McPherson GA when the Army stationed me there in the early 80s.

 

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 12

8:00          Breakfast, and Austin Camacho interviewed James Grady. As one would expect from those two, funny and informative.

9:15          CLASS: James Grady – Mastering Your Writing. A true master class, as Grady is a master with enormous class. I’ve been writing for quite a while and sessions like these are why I keep going to conferences.

10:15                 “Journalism in Mysteries.” Another outstanding panel. Rick Pullen led John DeDakis, Mark Bergin, and Jeffery Higgins (former journalists all) through a discussion of how authors use journalism in fiction, and journalistic trends in general.

 

And then, alas, the end. There was another panel session, but The Beloved Spouse™ and I had to check out of the hotel and take care of a couple of administrative things before going home to collapse. Was this the best C3 I’ve been to? I have to admit the fact we had to skip last year, and this is the first time I’ve been with my writer tribe since November of 2019 in Dalla might affect my judgment, but I can think of none better. The hotel laid out perfectly, the staff was courteous and helpful, and, aside from a couple of minor technical problems with the remote speakers, the conference went off with out a hitch. The Beloved Spouse™ and I registered for 2022 on our way out. We’ll see you there.

 

(PS

Joe Lansdale will be one of the 2022 keynotes. If that’s not incentive, I don’t know what is.)

Next Week: Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity

 

The (hopefully) annual (again) Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity conference kicks off one week from today. I missed the first C3 but have attended all since. It and Bouchercon are the anchors of my annual conference schedule.

 

For those unfamiliar, C3 is a multi-genre conference that takes place in the late summer or early fall in Columbia MD and runs from noon Friday through noon on Sunday; this year’s dates are September 10 – 12. Special guests this year are Hank Phillippi Ryan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kathleen Barber, and James Grady.

 

FRIDAY

12:00 Welcoming session

12:45 – 4:30 Panels. I’m up at 1:45 as part of Norwood Holland’s discussion of “Pitfalls to Avoid When writing a Series.” The Beloved Spouse™ follows as a participant in Denise Camacho’s always entertaining “Living With a Professional Liar.”

4:30 Cash bar, book signings, and social hour. (This event is free and open to the public.)

6:00 Dinner (Included with conference fee. They’re always good.) After dinner, Hank Phillippi Ryan will deliver her keynote speech. (Alas, virtually, as scheduling issues made it impossible for her to be there in person.) Previous years have included the likes of Reed Farrel Coleman, Jeffrey Deaver, Jamie Frevoletti ,Heather Graham, Julie Hyzy, Brad Parks, and others of that ilk in this slot.

After keynote: Noir at the Bar. I’m hosting this year. Readers include Mark Bergin, Bruce Robert Coffin, Ef Deal, Teel James Glenn, Maria Kelson, Lanny Larcinese, Jeff Markowitz, and Kelli Peacock. The event is open to the public.

After the readings: Bar time. Enjoying yourself at the bar does not require you to be a drinker. Think of it as socializing with optional lubricant.

 

SATURDAY

8:00 Breakfast buffet. (Included with conference fee.)

9:00 Panels. I’m up at 10:00 to moderate a panel I’m ecstatic about: “Just the Facts, Ma’am” with Mark Bergin, Bruce Robert Coffin, and Jeffery James Higgins. We’ll discuss how actual police methods and practices differ from what you might read.

At 11:00 I’m past of the “Write Drunk, Edit Sober?” panel moderated by Ellen Butler. (WDES was Hemingway’s advice to writers.)

12:00 Lunch. (Included with conference fee.) For dessert, Hank Phillippi      Ryan interviews Kathleen Butler through the miracle of modern technology.

1:15 Panels. I’m back at 1:15 for “Murder is Everywhere,” moderated by Jeff Markowitz.

4:30 Cash bar, book signings, and social hour. (This event is free and open to the public.)

6:00 Dinner, followed by a keynote speech by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

After dinner: Skip the noir and go directly to the bar.

 

SUNDAY

8:00 Breakfast buffet. (Included with conference fee.) Austin Camacho interviews James Grady.

9:15 – 12:15 Panels

 

This year’s C3 is special for me. Last year’s had to be canceled due to covid, and, while there will still be some restrictions, this is the first time I’ll be in the company of other writers since Dallas Bouchercon in November 2019. (The event for which I had my most recent haircut.) I’m also delighted to be assigned panels with so many friends I’ve made here at C3 over the years. It will be like homecoming.

 

If you’re on the fence about coming, attendance is typically under 100, which is a good thing, especially if you’re new to conferences. Larger events, such as Bouchercon, can be intimidating for virgins. (First-time conference goers; actual virgins have nothing to fear.) At C3 you can eat meals with a favorite author, or meet someone new you decide is worth checking out. Even though something is always going on, the pace is more relaxed than larger cons, which makes it much easier to strike up a conversation.

 

Full disclosure: I have no financial interest in C3. The organizers are friends of mine, but that has not unduly affected the descriptions above. Come yourself and they’ll likely become friends of yours, as well. (Not to get too far into the whole “Friends of mine, friends of ours” thing.) More detailed information is on the C3 web site.

2017 Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity Conference, Part II

Today we resume my wrap-up of this year’s Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity conference, beginning with Saturday’s after-lunch session.

The Insider’s View of the Submission and Acquisition process at Kensington press

Michaela Hamilton

I almost didn’t go, as I have a publisher, but I’m glad I did. Michaela had a metric tonne of insights about how business is conducted that were worth hearing for anyone involved. Well worth anyone’s time.

Passive Voice, Exposition, or Dark and Stormy Nights: The Nitty-Gritty of Prose

John Gilstrap, Peter Blauner, John Wren, Penny Clover Petersen (Moderator)

A truly outstanding discussion of craft, in which Penny Clover Petersen did a fine job of putting the topic out there and letting a formidable panel have at it. The highlights are too many t mention here, so I’ll limit it to several of the best.

Blauner and Gilstrap agreed that it’s best to ground exposition in the voice of a character. Filter description through the sensitivities of the character. Tell the reader as much as he needs to know, when he needs to know it.

Blauner said the initial scene should give an idea of what the book is about, which Gilstrap followed up with his idea of the greatest opening line in modern literary history: Well, I’m pretty much fucked. (From The Martian.)

Blauner likes to set a mood or increase tension through the use of ordinary things, such as a pause in an argument with the tension brought out by the sound of the ice maker dropping cubes.

Gilstrap said a subtle way to ratchet up tension is for something not to work. Example: If someone needs to sign a document he doesn’t want to sign, the pen can run out of ink.

If I could have a recording of any one panel, this might be the one.

The Difference Between Writing for the Screen and Writing for the Page

Peter Blauner

Or maybe this one. Peter started with lessons learned in undergraduate school and on, spicing things up with anecdotes from other sources from time to time. A few highlights:

• It’s not about the best writing or telling the best story. It’s about meeting the requirements of the show.
• The most interesting stories aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re on Page 7.
• Not even the best TV can replicate the intimacy of reading.
• He takes time off from TV when he wants to write a novel. Can’t switch back and forth.

Tools in the Investigator’s Kit

Karl Braungart, David Swinson, Lanny Larcinese, Bernard Shaffer (Moderator), and me, once again lowering the level of discourse.

Hard to take notes when you’re on the panel. What I remember most, selfishly, is how good it felt when two serious business and experienced cops validated much of what I’ve based my books on. This would have been worth the price of the conference all by itself.

Keynote address by Jonathan Maberry

There’s no way I can do Maberry’s story justice in the space I have here. I’m not even gpoing to try. Suffice to say that if there was anyone in the world who could describe himself as overcoming difficult circumstances to succeed in his chosen field, it’s him. Yet, as do so many who actually have done this—especially, I’ve noticed, writers—he spent much of his talk noting how lucky he’s been that people along the way took an interest in him and helped without any expectation of return other than to do the right thing. His grandmother, a librarian, and famous writers such as Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury. A humbling experience to listen to someone at the top of his profession, and a talk all those born on third who think they hit triples would do well to take to heart.

I think Friday’s bar session took a little out of some folks, as things were quitter on Saturday. I personally limited myself to Arnold Palmers for the evening. (I think the bartender assumed I was a designated driver, as he never charged me.) A wide-ranging and pleasant conversation until the final conference attendees left the bar.

Sunday, September 10

Keeping Readers up all Night

John Gilstrap, Ilene Schneider, Bill Rapp, Belinda Gordon (Moderator)

Lots of good back-and-forth on the benefits of cliffhangers, leading the reader into the next scene, or knowing the exit line is good enough by itself. John may have had the money quote of the conference here when he said, “Resolutions are boring. Questions are interesting.”

911: What’s the Emergency?

Peter Blauner, Bernard Shaffer, Michael Black, Lanny Larchinese, Denise Camacho (Moderator)

This panel also got into some fascinating tangential discussions. Everyone on it had unique perspectives on emergency calls to make this a panel that could have gone twice as long and no one would have minded.

Bernard Shaffer set the tone when he said that not only do the 911 operators have to get all the necessary information, they have techniques to work with panicky callers, and may have to give emergency instructions in the case of choking or bleeding until help arrives. They also never get closure, as they never see the outcome like the cops do. It leads to PTSD issues on their own.

Peter Blauner extolled the virtues of subtlety in creating tension, that not every such scene has to be a gun to the head. Bernard followed up with a reminder that The Sopranos was the master of this, how any little thing could set Tony off and you never knew which ones would.

Bernard also had the perfect exit line for the conference as a whole when he said that the real heroes—more than the cops and other first responders—are the victims (kinds, rape victims, elderly) who have to sit in open court a few yards away from the attacker and tell their story.

C3 is a rising event on the annual conference tour, and one that’s footprint increases a little every year. I have no financial interest in the con, so I have a clear conscience when I say writers, aspiring writers, and readers who want to get up close and personal with each other in an intimate setting should take a look into attending in 2018. I know I’ll be there. I already signed up.

2017 Creature, Crimes, and Creativity Conference, Part I

The 2017 Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity Conference in Columbia MD is history. The fifth C3 continued the progress of its predecessors and raised the bar even higher for next year’s. As with any event where multiple sessions are always underway, all I can do is to judge highlights from my perspective, but that’s okay. My perspective is the one I care about.

One caveat in advance: I took notes the best I could, but I am not a stenographer. Nor does my handwriting become more legible as I hurry. Apologies in advance for missed quotes, misquotes, and misattributions.

Friday September 8

Jason Bourse, Lara Croft, or Bruce Lee: Getting Fight Scenes Right

Moderated by yours truly with panelists David Swinson, Michael Black, Jonathan Maberry.

I hit the ground running with this high-profile panel. We covered plenty of tips, advice, pet peeves, dos, and don’ts, including:

• Cops are always aware of what is behind the target when they’re thinking of shooting.
• Many martial arts are sports, not self-defense techniques.
• Street fights are different and tougher than a competition or practice.
• How to look for possible weapons in any situation.

Oh, and Jonathan showed us how beat hell out of someone with a shot glass.

High Tech, Hunches, or Shoe Leather?

John Gilstrap, Bernard Shaffer, Rick Ollerman, Walter Curran (Moderator)

This panel looked not only at some techniques, but examined truths we should all think about when discussing law enforcement, whether fictional or real. John Gilstrap pointed out the author doesn’t have to know what the character knows; he just has to convince the reader that the character does. He also noted that if you took sirens off firetrucks you’d have 25% as many firefighters.

Bernard Shaffer followed up with a point that cops’ personalities are pretty much the same around the world.

Both agreed that cops, firefighters, and other first responders have to walk into the worst moments of people’s lives and bring order. Bernard added that we don’t do a very good job of keeping the wrong people out of the jobs.

Seducing Your Readers in Chapter One.

John Gilstrap, Sandra Campbell, Bill Rapp, Denise Camacho (Moderator)

A lively panel that discussed how to hook readers early, though not necessarily in the first paragraph or sentence as some would argue. The two money quotes were both Gilstrap’s, who said the key to any story is interesting people doing interesting things in interesting ways in interesting places, and reminded us all that the beginning of the book is not the beginning of the story, using Harry Potter as an example. The story begins with Harry’s parents and Snape at Hogwarts. The book begins substantially later.

Booze, Unemployment, or Drugs: Developing Flawed Characters

Peter Blauner, Chris Bauer, Jeff Markowitz, Eric Gardner (Moderator)

Jeff Markowitz believes there’s one thing he needs to know when creating a character. It can be just about anything, but it’s the hook on which he’ll hang the characterization.

Peter Blauner spent six months with probation officers researching his first book. They’re as much social worker as cop and get into the job to help people. Quote from a PO: First you want to help them, then you find they can’t change and you end up hating them.

Keynote address by Peter Blauner

The after-dinner address was entertaining and educational. It’s always fun to learn how top professionals’ careers end up not at all where they have begun, and to hear the twists and turns that brought them to where they are. Blauner is a rare combination, a writer who’s successful both as a novelist and in television. I believe his experiences in each taught everyone there something, regardless of their own experience level.

Well, yeah, then I went to the bar. A C3 bar hits the sweet spot. True, there aren’t as many people there as at Bouchercon, but that means you can actually talk to those you want to talk to, be heard, and you can get a frigging drink. Thanks to Bill Rapp, David and Catherine Swinson, Bernard Shaffer, Peter Blauner, Jeffery Deaver, and at least one other person whose names I’d remember had not I had that one last beer for what I think is the best discussion of craft I’ve ever had at a conference.

Saturday September 9

How to do a Great Book Signing

Austin Camacho, Jeff Markowitz, Patricia Hale (Moderator), and me.

Once again they put me to work first thing. I knew in advance this would be a lot of fun. Patricia set us up well, and Austin, Jeff, and I have been friends for a while now and had a ball playing off each other.

Bringing it all Together: An Example of Writing a Thriller

Jeffery Deaver

Jeffery Deaver took his time to walk us through his 13 Rules of Writing. I’m not going through them all—you want to know, get off your ass and go to a conference—but highlights included:

1. Define your goal as a writer.

2. Understand that your mission is to tell the most emotionally engaging story you can.

3. Writing fiction is a business, not an art.

8. Re-write, re-write, re-write. (See? I said I wouldn’t tell them all.)

10. Writer’s block does not exist.

And my personal favorite:

13. Be happy.

Jeffery was informative and entertaining and made the 45 minutes fly by. It was also gratifying to see Peter Blauner, David Swinson, and other established writers in the audience, still looking to learn.

Saturday’s lunch included me interviewing David Swinson, which was a treat in every way. Many thanks to organizer Austin Camacho and to David for allowing me to share the dais with a good friend and rapidly rising writer who truly does not appreciate how good he is.

We’ll have more on this year’s conference next week.

All Things in Moderation

I had the good fortune to serve as a moderator in both conferences I attended this year, Bouchercon and Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity. I’ve been going to writer’s conferences since 2004, and pretty much annually since 2008. I’ve been on panels at either Bouchercon or C3 or both every year but one since 2012. In that time I’ve been lucky to work with moderators who were uniformly excellent and also had differing styles. It was only natural I’d want to try my hand one day after seeing how effortlessly Sandra Parshall, Peter Rozovsky, Jim Born, et al pulled it off for me.

It ain’t as easy as they make it look.

I have no doubt there are moderators who don’t think twice about getting up in front of a couple of hundred people and asking a handful of writers questions off the tops of their heads. We’ve all seen them and can probably identify them. By and large they’re the shitty moderators. The panels roam, the questions either don’t give the writers anything to talk about that’s informative and entertaining (a good panel is both), or is so vague no one knows what to do with it. I’m sure some people can pull it off. I’m sure I’ve seen a panel or two where that happened. I’m also sure there are moderators out there right now who do this and think they pulled it off. They’re probably wrong.

Preparation is important because there’s going to be a lot of stuff going on the moderator has to keep track of. “How much time is left” may be the most obvious, and it’s close to most important when considered in conjunction with other elements. Sure, there’s a volunteer there to tell you when you have 10 minutes, five, two, clear out there’s people waiting. What do you do if you’re 25 minutes into a 50-minute panel and you’re three-quarters of the way through your questions? Even worse, what if you’ve been coming up with questions more or less off the top of your head, realize you’re running out of ideas, look at your watch and realize you still have half an hour? I saw this happen at Bouchercon—I won’t say in which panel—and the moderator depended on the audience to fill the last 20 minutes. That’s not right, and it’s not fair to anyone.

In addition to tracking time you’re also gauging the audience. Anyone who’s done a reading, sat on a panel, or given any kind of public performance knows not all audiences are created equal. If a certain type of question is dying, change up. It’s probably a good idea to have at least half again as many questions as you think you’ll need, covering different aspects of your topic. That allows you to switch off if what you thought would be clever just lies there and rots.

It’s also important to know your panelists. Not necessarily personally—though that never hurts—but their writing. A good moderator should probably read at least one book by each panelist, but at the very least should be familiar with their work through reviews, synopses, and excerpts. Specific questions may present themselves, but you’ll also know what kinds of questions will work better for the group as a whole. Another benefit to this relates to the previous paragraph, except in reverse: a line of inquiry goes well and you run out of related questions. Then is a good time to go with the flow. The last thing you want to do is to get everyone in a good mood—your panel is revved up, the audience is revved up—and you decide to talk about something else. Buzzkill.

This year’s Bouchercon was my first moderator gig. Five writers (including one good friend, Terrence McCauley, yay me) including multi-bestseller Heather Graham, so I knew there would be a decent crowd. I polled a few moderators I’d seen before and thought did a good job—including the Master of Moderation, Peter Rozovsky—and started my research and working on questions several weeks in advance.

One panelist had to pull out due to an illness in the family. I felt bad for him, but the panel was not in danger. I had plenty of material. Stepping onto the dais I learned another panelist had taken ill and was missing.

Now I’m down to three. Fast math in my head. Fifty minute panel. Enough questions to allow five panelists to speak for half again that long. (So I hoped.) Only three panelists. Should still come out to about 45 minutes. Leave five to ten minutes for audience participation and I’ll be fine.

Then the real benefit of preparation made an appearance. Our other panelist—a fine writer and nice man based on our conversation in the Green Room—had never been on a panel before, got nervous and vapor locked. It happens. I’ll not name him as I don’t want to embarrass him, and after the event I felt badly for him. During the event I mostly felt bad for me, wondering what the fuck I was going to do to fill the time.

Some say luck is where preparation meets opportunity. In my case it was more like where preparation met Heather Graham and Terrence McCauley, both of whom stepped up to give more expansive answers as time went on. Shared a few anecdotes tangentially related to what was under discussion.

Therein lies the biggest lesson I learned: be generous with your panel and they’ll reciprocate. Take the time to make your best effort to understand their work and ask questions to help them put their best feet forward and they’ll carry you. The more attention the moderator can place on the panel, the better.

And should my third, nervous panelist read this: I’ll do a panel with you again anytime.