MTM: Las Vegas, Nevada

photo taken by Joe Ryan, February 2007
For several days last week, my town was Las Vegas, Nevada. I had the privilege of attending the Public Safety Writers Conference, held at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino from June 18 through June 21, 2009.

Besides writers who are members of the public safety field (active or retired), PSWA also welcomes those who write about the public safety field, such as mystery writers, journalists, magazine writers, as well as publishers, editors, and agents who help writers achieve their goals. There are many benefits to joining PSWA, including a one-time manuscript review by a professional editor. You can check out their website here.

I was in awe of the talent amassed in one room.

Our "emcee" for the event was A.J. Farrar (a PSWA board member), who has thirty years experience in military, state and and local law enforcement. He kept us informed (and entertained) each morning and in between each presentation.

Welcoming us to the conference was the president of PSWA, Marilyn Olsen, who has been a writer, editor, and magazine publisher for more than thirty years.

group photo taken by Sherman Lee

The program was chock full of interesting topics and experienced professionals, including:

"The Deadly Writing Sins," by Betty Webb. She presented an overview of the "red flag" writing weaknesses that lead to rejection slips. Betty was a journalist for many years (who has interviewed U.S. presidents, astronauts, and Nobel-prize winners) before writing mysteries full-time. She spoke about the all-important "Arc of Action" in a story; how the first page must include a promise to the reader about the story they are reading; and if you include backstory to do so subtly, and not all at once (avoid that "info-dump"). Betty was one of our key-note speakers.

"Turning Your Book into Celluloid" by Joyce Spizer-Foy. Joyce, our other key-note speaker, enjoyed a thirty-seven year career as a P.I. before writing full time. She has eight books in print; her company has a film in development; she is scheduled to meet with a network television development producer regarding her life story; and has recently been asked to join a Midwest print publishing house as editor for a new mystery imprint. She advised when writing a screenplay to "write it for the actor," and "write like you've arrived." She also advises not to write to a trend. Her website includes tips on writing query letters.

"Forensic Handwriting Examination and Motivation," by Sheila Lowe. I saw Sheila on Dateline NBC just before attending the conference, when she was interviewed concerning the Clark Rockefeller case. Her presentation provided insight into such a fascinating field. She writes the Forensic Handwriting Mystery series, featuring handwriting expert, Claudia Rose. Sheila said that "handwriting is brainwriting," and handwriting reveals the building blocks of personality.

"Logistics of Writing," by Sarah Cortez. The multi-talented Ms. Cortez, a police officer since 1993, is the winner of the 1999 PEN Texas Literary award in Poetry and other juried designations. She has edited, "Urban-Speak: Poetry of the City," and "Windows into My World: Latino Youth Write Their Lives." She has also co-edited with Liz Martinez, two fiction anthologies: "Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery," and for Akashic Press, "Indian Country Noir." Sarah spoke about managing your workload by separating projects into tasks; creating a master list of due dates and time needed for completion. To keep focused when juggling several writing projects, Sarah recommends keeping an index card next to your computer with a list of projects according to due date.

"Fact to Fiction," by Sunny Frazier. Sunny worked with an undercover narcotics team in Fresno County, CA, before publishing mysteries. She has 30 awards for her short mystery fiction, published in numerous mystery magazines. Sunny shared many tips when taking a real life story and turning it into a fictional one, for instance: when a true story is told from a law enforcement viewpoint, sometimes a story is better told from another angle - i.e., the victim, the criminal, or a secondary character.

"Writing Forensics Right," by Steve Scarborough. Steve is a Forensic Scientist with over thirty years experience in law enforcement, including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI. Steve spoke about fingerprints, ballistics, DNA, and the "CSI Effect." Steve said, "You can lead a jury to the truth, but you can't make them believe it. Jurors want to see forensic evidence at every trial, even when none can be produced." He said that readers are more sophisticated and can pick up inaccuracies in your writing if you don't do your research.

"Writing for the New Media," by Tim Dees. Tim is the Editor-in-chief of LawOfficer.com. He was a law enforcement officer in Nevada from 1979 to 1994, and later became a criminal justice instructor at several colleges. Tim has been published in nearly every major law enforcement magazine. Tim spoke about the decline of newspapers and magazines, and how many are resorting to online editions; electronic publishing; blogs; and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

"Wave of the Future? Electronic Publishing," by Marilyn Meredith (who appears seated in the photo, right, with me, taken by Sherman Lee). Marilyn is the published author of over twenty books, most of them also available in electronic format, including Kindle. Marilyn has so many ideas when it comes to electronic publishing and promotion. She reviewed the advantages of E-publishing (such as: higher royalties than regular publishing; publishers are more willing to work with new authors) and disadvantages (such as: slow acceptance among readers; lower sales), as well as notes on submission, market research, querying, and what's next in E-publishing.

There were panel presentations, including:

"Mistakes that Make Us Cringe in Books, TV, and Movies"- panelists with law enforcement backgrounds

"Writing for Trade Publications (Paper and on the 'Net)"

"Promotion: Old & New: In Person & On the 'Net"

"Character Building"

"Publishing and Editing"

"Where Are We? How Important is Setting?"

"Putting Comedy in Your Mysteries (Can Murder be Funny?)"

Books written by panelists, presenters, and attendees were available for purchase, and authors conducted book-signings throughout the conference.

An Awards Luncheon was held on the last day. The winners are posted on the PSWA website. Congratulations to all the winners (I'm honored to be among them; my essay, "The Watcher" placed third in the Creative Nonfiction category).

After the conference ended, several members conducted a book signing at the Maui-Wowi Coffee Shop in Las Vegas.

A special thanks to Marilyn Meredith for organizing the conference; Keith Bettinger for arranging the hotel accommodations and book-signing at Maui-Wowi; Michelle Perin, for her efforts in coordinating the writing competition; Sherman Lee and Lawson Lew, for taking photographs and video of the conference; to all of the PSWA members and board members who volunteered their time to create such a successful conference. Thanks, Sherman, for posting a short video of the Awards Ceremony on YouTube.

To read more My Town Monday posts, visit Travis Erwin's blog.