MAYHEM ON MONDAYS

Ponderings....

Yet another mystery conference is just around the corner -- on Thanksgiving weekend to be exact. It's in the US, of course, so doesn't fall on their holiday weekend. Bouchercon is the name of this one and it's one of the biggest, attracting a lot of international authors who rarely make it across the ocean. Also, it's heavily into the heavy weights as in big names and dark crimes. Every writer should attend at least one Bouchercon in their career.

I'll be in the midst of a lot of Canucks, in fact, we're hosting a social on Friday night just to wave the flag and let the attendees meet some Canadian authors. It should be a lot of fun and we'll be spreading the word about some cool Canadian crime.

My panel at this conference is about murder in a US smalltown and local Ottawan, Brenda Chapman, author of In Winter's Grip, will also be on it. I like this topic as it gives authors an opportunity to debunk the "Jessica Fletcher" syndrome. Also, the choices of victims and suspects is pretty much the same in any smalltown, either side of the border.

What I also like about being on panels, this one in particular, is that it offers an opportunity to step back from the writing and view it from another angle. I don't stop and think about the derth of either victims or suspects when planning a book. Maybe I should. I do try to make the choices believable, so on some level must be addressing this problem. But that's where visitors come in handy. Someone in town on business, visiting relatives, or just touring the region. There's also the new person in town, surely with a backstory to be uncovered. Or the sleuth could be on vacation, giving her hometown a break for at last one book.

The possibilities are endless to the writer who likes a challenge. And one of the challenges is taking the time to re-assess where the series is going. How the characters are developing over a number of books. What's happening to relationships. And, oh yes, who's the next victim to be? How many times can I make the sleuth a suspect?

What fun! And, yes, the conference will be fun, too. I always come away from these with a slightly different way of looking at writing. And that's got to be good for everyone.

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

A KILLER READ
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
READ & BURIED, coming Dec., 2012;
available now for pre-order
www.erikachase.com

CRIME ON MY MIND

Stepping out with Lady Luck!

I had my second gig on Wed. night, or rather Erika Chase did. I/She was guest speaker at the monthly meeting of Capital Crime Writers, the vibrant mystery writers association here in Ottawa. (My first time out was speaking to the Ottawa Regional Booksellers Assoc. -- very odd after being one of them for so long).

Anyway, it dawned on me that what may have been the most useful tip for many CCW members is that as an unpublished writer, you should never give up. In a lot of instances, it's luck that steps in and leads the way to a publishing contract. So hang in there and be open to it.

Some examples come to mind: Mary Jane Maffini selling what was to become an award-winning short story, at a bar in Omaha, at a Bouchercon conference; Peggy Blair talking to Ian Rankin, at the end of a conference, and being given the name of his agent; and I remembered in the early 90's, while attending a Malice Domestic conference, being stuck in a glass elevator with Nancy Pickard for close to half-an-hour. She just happened to be one of my favourite authors at that point. We got to talking and before things got moving again, she'd offered me the name of her agent. Had I been further along in my writing at that point, I would have taken her up on it. I should have anyway.

That's not such a difficult task -- attending conferences and schmoozing. We all like to do that. You never can tell when lady luck will get in on the conversation and there's your entry into the publishing world.

Bloody Words is coming up June 1-3 in Toronto; Malice Domestic happens before that on April 27-29 in Bethesda, MD; and, I received the registration package for Left Coast Crime, March 21-24, 2013 in Colorado Springs, CO. I'll be attending them all. I expect they'll all be informative, eventful and a lot of fun. Plus, Lady Luck may be registered, also!

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime
www.erikachase.com

CRIME ON MY MIND

The 15-word challenge!

Pitching your finished book to an agent at a conference requires a short, succinct precis of the plot. Fifty words, three sentences, a short paragraph...it depends on which agent, which conference and the like.

Taking a step backwards, it's also a good idea to be able to explain your concept in a short form when pitching it to a publisher. Or agent.

Once you're on the publishing journey, it's still a good idea to have a short 'sales pitch' on hand. Speaking at the public library? They'd appreciate a promo for their program booklet. Sending an advance reading copy to a reviewer? You want something short and snappy that will snag their attention. So when did novel writing turn into copywriting 101?

Welcome to the new world of publishing where the writer is also the publicist.

We all have to do it, to some degree -- line up signings and events, that's after The Launch, and, make sure there's a general buzz going on about your book.

Here's my challenge this week -- create a one-liner that will send readers by the droves to the nearest bookseller to buy my book. In 15 words. Max. It's for the 'Author's Announce' page in the program book for Malice Domestic 2012, the upcoming somewhat cosy conference happening in Bethesda, MD at the end of April. For $25US I can tell all conference goers that A Killer Read has arrived. In 15 words.

So far, there are approx. 175 authors registered so I'm a very little fish in a big pond. These 15 words must count.

This shouldn't be a challenge for me -- I trained and worked as an advertising copywriter in a long-ago life. One liners were a specialty, usually with music background and often with sound effects. But somewhere along the line I became more verbose (how many words is this blog up to at this point?).

So, I have two possibilities and I'd like your help in deciding which it's to be.

a. Lizzie Turner’s Ashton Corners Book Club members find murder is one for the books!

b. Introducing the first Ashton Corners Book Club mystery where murder is one for the books!

What's your vote? Or should I keep trying?

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime
www.erikachase.com

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Scottish mystery author Quintin Jardine celebrated a birthday last week (I won’t tell you which one) and one of the neat things on Facebook is that it automatically reminds you so you can send your friends a birthday greeting. I mentioned to Quintin that financial circumstances have caused me to no longer be able to travel anymore, especially to Bouchercon and as most of you know I ran two of these World Mystery Conventions in Toronto in 1992 and 2004.

He said that he no longer goes to Bouchercon himself anymore because most of the organizers don’t treat the authors with any respect. His actual words were:

“Your great gift as an organiser was to realise that without authors it wouldn’t exist, and that since most of us actually pay our own $199, we deserve a little respect. In my experience, that’s a minority view.”

Running a convention for 1-2,000 people isn’t rocket science. It isn’t even re-inventing the wheel. It’s also not a walk in the park either. OK, no more clichés. What a chairman needs is to surround himself with is about six really smart people willing to work WAY harder than he is prepared to. Each member of this “executive committee” will handle individual departments: programming the panels, autographing room, social events and banquet, booksellers’ room, liaison with the media and registration (now done on-line).

Each of these people in turn recruit people to populate their own sub-committees, people they have to get along with not you. You have contact only with the sub-committee chairs, (the executive committee) and the chain of communication goes both up and down. The main thing that a chairman has to realize is that these conventions run on several different levels all at the same time.

The authors are the stars of the show and they are there not only to participate on panels, sign books and generally ‘be’, they also like to socialize with other authors, meet publishers and their reps, talk to their agents or look for another one and get interviewed by the media. In short, it’s a working convention for the authors and while most of them pay their own expenses through their “company” like James Lee Burke Enterprises” or whatever, some authors get part or all of their expenses reimbursed by their publisher as part of that author’s promotional budget for the year. Agents are looking for new authors. Publishers too. Booksellers are getting books signed and then hopefully sold. The media are scurrying around cornering authors for interviews. All of these people use Bouchercon and other large conventions as working events.

Only the ‘general attendees’, the readers and fans treat Bouchercon as social events only. They are there to listen to panels, get autographs, buy books and generally enjoy the city they’re in, meet with other friends and fans and yet, organizers seem to think that they are the most important part of the convention. While without attendees Bouchercon and other conventions wouldn’t exist, the key to everybody is the author.

Without the authors there are no books, no publishers, no agents and the media are interviewing each other. So while current economic situations prevent the conventions from picking up the author’s costs, the very least they can do is to give the authors, especially those authors who have considerable backlist, the respect they are due.


Al Navis is the owner of Handy Book in Toronto for the past 28 years, a used and out-of-print independent bookstore. He was chairman and host of Bouchercon: The World Mystery Convention in 1992 and 2004. He has also been on and off Toronto radio for over 30 years. Books are his business and first passion. Other passions are most sports (except basketball), most music (except C&W and rap) and radio. More recently he has gotten back into editing and writing as well as appraising book collections for insurance or for loss.

MAYHEM ON MONDAY

Ten reasons to attend a wonderful conference

I am just back from beautiful Victoria, British Columbia where I had the pleasure of attending Bloody Words XI, a terrific conference. On the return trip I was musing about how valuable conferences are to writers and readers and how many good reasons there are to attend.

First of all, it’s a chance to reconnect with old friends and to enjoy the shrieks of recognition in the foyer. Shriek and be shrieked at is the norm. And that’s before you’re even registered.

Plus for every old friend there’s a new one to be met in a panel, on an elevator or in the bar. Next time, these brand spanking new buddies will join the growing posse of old friends.

Speaking of bars, where else would you be comfortable in the wee small hours? This turns out to be entertaining and safe, despite the fact that your barmates are used to killing people in so many innovative and undetectable ways.

Of course, the panels are populated by authors, dispensing opinions, advice and witticisms. Just when you think you’ve heard every piece of writing advice, an author on a panel will offer a bit that will change the way you’re viewing your work in progress. Thank you, colleagues. Keep that coming.

While happily watching panels, any mystery writer worth her salt, will naturally come up with a plethora of excellent new ideas for killing people. What’s not to love?

In between panels, murderous insights, clustering with friends and endless meals, there’s the chance to mouse about the dealers’ room and see books by the authors who are present. Each conference showcases the authors from that part of the country (or the world!) Among the books I’ve taken home are A Hummingbird Dance by Calgary author Garry Ryan (NeWest) and Seaweed in the Soup, the fifth book by B.C.’s Stanley Evans published by (Touchwood). I am very much looking forward to these good catches among others to be mentioned in future posts.

Then there are the readers. And aren’t readers the reason we write in the first place? In addition to old friends, I was so happy to meet some people I’d only encountered online. What a treat to put faces to names and to talk about what they read and why. I also was lucky enough to meet new readers and felt very grateful to have that chance. If you want to learn something new, talk to a reader.

One of the conference highlights for me was the awarding of the coveted Bony Pete award for short stories. This year’s winners were: Jayne Barnard, Gloria Ferris and Melodie Campbell. These are all very talented and committed writers and we know we will continue on to create terrific works of crime fiction.

This all adds up to a joyous celebration of the genre and its contributors. We are reminded at a mystery conference that mystery and crime fiction matters, not only as entertainment but as a reflection of our culture, our stories and our desire to have justice done.

Lastly, never overlook the creative value of a tax deduction.

As I look over this partial list of the benefits of such a terrific conference, I must offer many thanks to the organizers of Bloody Words XI: co-chairs Lou Allin and Kay Stewart and their inspired and hardworking committee. When I look over the list of benefits I received, I am so grateful. Bravo!

Bloody Words XII will be back in Toronto. I’m signing up today.


Mary Jane Maffini rides herd on three (soon to be three and a half) mystery series and a couple of dozen short stories. Her thirteenth mystery novel, The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder, which hit the bookshelves this spring, is brimming with names, no two the same.

CRIME ON MY MIND

Malice, here I come!

In just a short week (notice how weeks & days can be much shorter if there's a deadline of some sort looming, even a good one?) I'll be attending the Malice Domestic conference in Bethesda, MD. If you're a cosy type, this is the place to be.

The last Malice I attended was just after 911. It was held in Washington D.C. at that point, needing a larger space after many successful years at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda. I stopped attending because other conferences were wooing my travel budget. And, to a small extent, because the conference vibes had changed when it moved into the big city.

Now, it's back in Bethesda again, in the same great hotel with the rooms that wind around an open walkway which allows one to peer down into the lobby and eyeball who's where. It also has a marvelous glass elevator, and while I cringe, hugging the back wall if such an elevator climbs the exterior of a building, this one is inside and not quite so hard for someone with vertigo to manage. It's also the elevator in which I was stuck with my favourite author of the day, Nancy Pickard, for 20 minutes while the maintenance staff worked to get it moving again. We enjoyed a nice visit, Nancy gave me the name of her agent, and the elevator continued on its way. Ah, conference memories!

It's not all fun and games though. Well, always fun...yes. The panels are always entertaining and informative. And I'll give a small plug to the one I'm moderating about mysteries set in the New England states. it's called, Cold Winters, Deadly Nights: Murder in New England and I've just finished reading the latest books by my panel of authors -- Sharon Love Cook, Katilyn Dunnett, Lea Wait, and Heather Webber -- and thoroughly enjoyed each of them. So, I'm really looking forward to meeting this crew and I guarantee, it will be a panel to attend, if you're attending Malice.

The size of this conference means there's a lot of schmoozing that goes on -- always a chance to hook up with an author you've been dying to meet, someone from the publishing world, or readers who delight in mysteries. It's very similar to our own Bloody Words in that way.

There's the Agatha Awards banquet on Saturday night and this year, it's even more exciting because Mary Jane Maffini is on the short list for the Best Short Story award! Her nominated story, So Much in Common, appeared in Ellery Queen magazine Sept/Oct 2010. Go Mary Jane!!

So, my panel notes are prepared, plane tickets printed out, banquet meal already ordered. There's just the small problem of packing. What to take, what to wear. I'm starting on that one early because you can never change your mind too often.

And then, I'll be going through the same routine all over again for Bloody Words 2011 which is being held in Victoria, B.C. the first weekend in June!

Conference season is in the air! Will I meet you at any?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
Mystery Book Club series coming
from Prime Crime Books, April 2012

CRIME ON MY MIND

More musings on conferences...

I know everyone's signed up for Bloody Words 2011 now...so time to move farther afield, to the bevy of mystery conferences held in the U.S. These are also great places to meet readers and get the good word out about Canadian writing. Also, great for networking with colleagues. For readers, it broadens the field of criminous reading.

There are more conferences than I can mention in this short blog but they're easy to find. Try the Mystery Scene magazine website as one source. I'll stick to the ones I've attended in the past. First up is Left Coast Crime being held in Santa Fe, New Mexico on March 24-27th. This is a mid-sized conference and one that's easy to navigate. It's a good spot to find whatever type of mystery or crime novel you're into and best part is the location. It travels, to left coast destinations, which usually means hot spots in the cold winter. My favourite was in Monterey, CA while I unfortunately missed the one in Hawaii. What's not to like about those locations!

Cosy-lovers love Malice Domestic, again a mid-sized conference which got its start in Bethesda, Maryland (just a short subway ride to Washington, DC) and then moved to DC for several years. Well, this year it's back home in Bethesda. It's a warm, welcoming, fun conference and being held April 29-May 1st. It's home to the coveted Agatha awards, the ones that the attendees nominate and vote for the winners.

Bouchercon is the hummer of mystery/crime conventions. It's big and it also travels throughout the U.S. each fall. This year it's being held Sept. 15-18th in St. Louis, Missouri. You're sure to find the top names in American, often British, and sometimes Canadian mystery writers at this one.

Now, all offer panels, signings, dealer rooms, banquets, readings, and lots of opportunities to rub elbows with writers and readers. Just pick and choose what suits your writing and interests. Or combine the conference with some tourist time and choose the location that appeals.

The idea is to get out there and promote. It's all about the promotion these days because no matter how well-written, riveting, and satisfying a mystery you've created, if you don't promote it, it won't get the readers. But, all writers know that. And readers do want to hear about the books, do want to meet the writers, and do want to feel a part of the mystery writing world. Conferences are the way to do it.

One last, quick plug for home turf...there's also Scene of the Crime, held on Wolfe Island (Kingston area), this year on Aug. 13th. It's a one day mystery writing festival that features readings in one church, lunch with the authors (some of the top names attend), a panel in the other church, dinner with the authors and all sorts of opportunities for one-on-one schmoozing. And, what better place than an island to talk murder? Get the details at www.sceneofthecrime.ca

As I said, I've barely skimmed the conferences that are out there. And we won't even start to talk about the great ones in the UK. With a new book coming out next year, I'm trying to broaden my conference horizon. Which would you recommend?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

CRIME ON MY MIND

Victoria, here we come!

I've noticed several postings on Facebook lately bemoaning the arrival of colder temperatures and the inevitable S word. My shovels are at alert out in the back yard. This morning I wore an even thicker toque when out for my walk. And, I had the snow tires put on a couple of weeks ago. This week is was time for an undercoating. Of the car.

Let's face it, these are the routines of winter and we know it's going to come. However, if you're feeling dragged down by the thought, just think ahead to summer delights. In particular, that great Canadian event where you get to meet old friends and new, strut your stuff as an author, and probably even pick up some useful tips.

Of course, it's Bloody Words, the Canadian mystery conference! And in 2011, there's the added bonus of it taking place in beautiful Victoria, B.C. If you haven't yet visited this wonderful city, it really is a Canadian jewel and what a great excuse to see it.

Lou Allin and the Bloody Words gang has been busy for well over a year planning a weekend filled with panels, workshops, special author services, and of course, a to-die-for banquet.

Those author services include: a manuscript evaluation; the Bony Pete short story contest, and appointments with agents. Of course, there are the autograph sessions, the Mystery Cafe, and the dealer room to add that extra sizzle to the conference.

Check out the website at http://bloodywords2011.com/ for all the details plus the list of who has already registered. Probably, a lot of your author friends. It would make a great Christmas gift for a partner, or yourself! And you should book your hotel room soon, to make sure you're staying where all the action takes place.

The dates are June 3-5, 2011 at the Hotel Grand Pacific (and that's located at the inner harbour -- how wonderful!). Guest of Honour is Michael Slade; International GOH, Laurie R. King; Local GOH, William Deverell; and a first for Bloody Words, a Ghost of Honour, Amor deCosmos. MC is Denise Dietz.

What a great line-up. And believe me, it'll be fun! As a writer, as a reader, this is the one conference you really must attend. See you there!


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase