Today is the second installment of my Bouchercon review. As
always, comments were retrieved from inexpertly taken notes that were more
impaired as the weekend progressed. I have tried to capture the essence of what
everyone quoted said, but I make no claims that these are word-for-word, and apologize
if I misinterpreted anything. No malice is intended. (So you can forget that suing
for libel bullshit right now.)
10:00 Talking
Tough—Writing Hard-Boiled and Noir
Ted Fitzgerald (M), Ragnar Jonasson, Rick Ollerman, Caro
Ramsey, John Shepphird
I don’t have notes from this panel, me being on it and all.
I just want to send my sincere thanks and appreciation to Ted, Ragnar, Rick,
Caro, and John for being such outstanding panel mates and great fun. My
Bouchercon streak is intact, as once again, I scored a panel that carried me.
11:00 Holding Out for
a Hero—Criminal Protagonists
Penni Jones (M), Eric Beetner, Charles Salzberg, Josh
Stallings, David Swinson, Rebecca Drake
This panel fell immediately after mine, so I got there late.
It was still worth making the effort, as a good discussion broke out right
after I got there. A condensed version is below.
Charles Salzberg: Criminality is relative. There are things
that are illegal and there are things like breaking hearts and betraying trusts
that are crimes against people even though they are not illegal.
David Swinson: The definition of criminal is someone who
commits an arrestable offense.
Josh Stallings noted his father went to jail for protesting
a war. Was he a criminal? Meanwhile, people in different, more elevated
stations of life commit “arrestable offenses” every day but arrest is never
contemplated.
(A little later) Swinson: Would I arrest Hunter S. Thompson?
No. (Said with an inflection that is impossible to capture in writing. May easily
be interpreted as, “Fuck no.”)
12:00 Capitol
Crimes—Political Thrillers
Matthew FitzSimmons (M), Jack Carr, Joseph Finder, Christina
Kovac, Terrence McCauley, Tom Rosenstiel
Christina Kovac: We’ve all seen the origins of political
thrillers on the playground.
Terrence McCauley (following up): Political thrillers don’t
have to be about “politics.” Any kind of human interaction qualifies.
McCauley: The most violent movie he’s ever seen is Glengarry, Glen Ross. The language is
used as a weapon.
Tom Rosenstiel: Political stories often give us the politics
we want but don’t get. The West Wing
gave us a better Clinton, then showed the differences with Bush,
Joseph Finder: Conspiracy thrillers came of age after
Watergate and Vietnam.
Jack Carr mentioned the Church hearings. His novel’s premise
at the time was, “What if someone didn’t get that memo, that we weren’t doing
those things anymore?”
Carr (On why people read political thrillers): This country was
founded on a mistrust of government.
Rosenstiel (Same question): Political thrillers show a
broken situation where the system puts things back together but in a slightly
different form.
Kovac: From a woman’s perspective, it’s an examination of
the fear that comes with being a “smaller mammal” and the social elements
involved.
McCauley: Political thrillers address our fears so people
can work through them to gain a different perspective other than fear alone.
Rosenstiel: Political thrillers are about the criminals on
the front page while criminal thrillers are about people inside the paper.
FitzSimmons: The best political thriller writers are working
for free on Reddit.
McCauley wants to make the thriller more personal by
focusing on the one item everyone has the most exposure on. (He then pulled off
the most masterful marketing coup I’ve ever seen at Bouchercon by holding up as
an example his cell phone, which has a cover featuring Terrence’s new Western, Where the Bullets Fly. Brilliant.)
Carr: Cell phones are surveillance devices that also make
phone calls.
1:00 Blue
Collars—Writing the Working Class without Condescension
Mike McCrary (M), Elizabeth Mundy, Steph Post, Eryk Pruitt
Eryk Pruitt: Most of my stories are about how shitty I was
as a drug dealer. (He follows his father around to get the voice he wants when
he has trouble capturing it.)
Steph Post: The working class works. They’re not the stereotypes they’re too often made out to
be.
Pruitt: The whole thing’s going to hell pretty soon so we’re
all going to be working class.
Post: The rhythms of a character’s speech convey more than
changing words or dropping Gs.
4:00 Fight Me!
Authors Discuss Unpopular Opinions About Crime/Mystery
Kristen Sullivan (M), Christa Faust, Danny Gardner, Renee
Pickup, Kieran Shea
Danny Gardner: We’ve been sleeping together since the Mayflower, so we should be able to get
along. We do get along well enough to make babies.
Christa Faust is looking for the day when you can write
marginalized characters as fuck ups. Then
we’ll be where we need to be.
Kieran Shea: Raising money for a law school is like raising
money for cancer. One percent of lawyers ever see the inside of a courtroom.
The rest are embittered and angry people.
Renee Pickup: If you’re not a veteran, don’t give me another
“veteran hit man” story unless you want me
to become a veteran hit man.
Faust: Lots of people ask me for “neutral” stories. They
don’t want to read social issues. (Pickup, interjecting: “How can you write
crime without social issues?”) When people say not to add politics what they
really mean is to add their politics.
(A question from the audience about cultural appropriation)
Gardner: Get to know some black folks and you can write
black folks.
Faust: If you are respectful and get to know folks you can
write about them.
Shea: Remember that everyone has humanity. Understand but
don’t make assumptions.
Gardner never does anything to a character he wouldn’t do to
a cousin, using the black definition of “cousin,” which can extend out quite a
ways, leaving open plenty of opportunity for mayhem.
Shea: Everyone is being screwed over by their definition of
The Man.
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