Malice (Way After) Thoughts

I had intended to post these thoughts last Wednesday, just a few days after coming home from Malice, but I was deluged with client work and chores.

Attendance

This was my first Malice. In fact, except for some Edgar Week panels I attended in 2000, this was my first conference. I loved it! There were lots of panels, lots of attendees, and lots of inspiring talk about writing and reading and mysteries.

But despite my first-timer’s impression, attendance was apparently down from previous years. What does this mean? Does it reflect the reduced interest in cozies and traditionals that we keep hearing about? A reduced interest in reading in general? Or was it perhaps just due to a tightened economy? If the first, should I put my amateur-sleuth mystery in a drawer and start writing a thriller?

No. After more years as a book publishing professional that I care to admit to, I know that trends come and go. Like plots, there are only so many, and like miniskirts, each one always comes back into style. I’ll continue to work on my book, and when I finish it, I’ll start another—perhaps in the same subgenre, perhaps in a different one. If it doesn’t sell now, I’ll have something ready to go when the publishers are interested again.

Renewed Determination

Malice is a readers’ conference, not a writers’ conference. The panels are slanted toward readers, there are no agent pitch sessions, there are no editors prowling the hallways. But I accomplished my purposes: (1) to support my friends who were up for awards, (2) to meet in person some of the people I’ve become friendly with online over the past several years, and (3) to chase away the last shreds of doubt and guilt over my decision to devote substantially more of my work time to my own book and less to client projects. Perhaps next year, when I’ll have two books ready to circulate, I’ll go to Sleuthfest or Bouchercon, but this year I’m extremely happy I chose Malice.

David Skibbins Wants You

One of the panels I attended, “Devious Devices: What Makes Their Sleuthing Unique,” included David Skibbins, author of the Tarot Card Mystery Series, featuring amateur sleuth Warren Ritter. Skibbins’s first book about Ritter, Eight of Swords, won the Malice Domestic/St. Martin’s Press Best First Mystery Competition in 2004. The second book in the series, High Priestess, is currently available in paperback; the third book, The Star, is out in hardcover; and the fourth, Hanged Man, is coming out in August. A pretty standard publishing history. Until now.

Skibbins is inviting his fans to help write book five. After he posts a chapter on the blog on his website, fans can leave comments with suggestions about where the book should go next. The suggestions can be about anything—characters, plot twists, red herrings, whatever. Sound intriguing? To join the fun, just hop on over to Skibbins’s website.

Reality Check

The weekend of Malice Domestic, Washington, D.C. recorded the highest number of murders in one weekend in many years. On Saturday alone, four people were shot within a period of four hours. According to yesterday’s Washington Post, 18 people were murdered in the month of April. If you’re writing a light-hearted or humorous murder mystery, this really makes you stop and think.

Are We There Yet?

A major topic of conversation among the people who drove to Malice was how utterly horrible the last leg of the trip was. With all the money we’ve been spending on the conflict in the Mideast and toilet seats for Air Force One, why can’t we afford to put up a few highway markers in our nation’s capital? I ended up in bumper-to-bumper traffic halfway back to Baltimore because I didn’t realize the highway I was on was the wrong one. I had to pull off the road and look back over my shoulder at the sign marking the highway’s entrance to figure out what route it was. Later on, after having trouble finding the correct exit, I ended up in the Pentagon parking lot, stopping a very kind man in a uniform that had lots of stars and stripes and bling. His directions were perfect.

Perhaps this is why attendance at Malice was down this year? Perhaps some no-shows are still wandering, lost and hopeless, up and down and around Washington.

A Note on Networking at Malice

This is a tidbit on getting some publication momentum by scoring a review from a famous mystery writer. If I can do it, so can you!

I'm just back to earth from the Malice Domestic Conference in D.C. As an Agatha Award nominee for Best Short Story, I found myself for a brief moment in the company of Peter Lovesey, the Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. This was planned on my part, devious gal that I am... We swapped email messages prior to Malice. Putting on my cheeky alter-ego persona, I had asked if he would care to read my short story. He was, as I suspected, a gentleman. Yes, came the answer. I sent him my story in a WORD attachment, post haste.

He replied with a comment that I'd like to tattoo on my chest - maybe my forearm for easier reading. At any rate, this is what he wrote:

"Delicious story, Nan. Sharp, witty dialogue, sparky characters and a neatly turned plot. In fairness I must see the others before casting my vote, but yours sets a high standard. Thanks for letting me have this preview. And good luck with it!
~ Peter"

Can you hear me dancing now? Tapping away! I am the proud owner of a credible endorsement of my ability to write. From his lips to an editor or agent's ears! Now to use it in my query letters. (Tee, hee, hee!)

My point? You can make connections for yourself. You don't have to be born under the right stars or happen to save some editor's cat from becoming road kill. Go to conferences. Do your homework and find a Significant Writer who will be at the conference - someone with whom you share some common ground. Have a short story or a few pages that you can offer to send via email, or establish a pitch that works in a crowded gathering. Just be polite. Accomplished writers can turn out to be very approachable. They remember the pain of finding a publisher and/or an agent. And, they can always say "Sorry" if they're not interested.

In the spirit of fair play, I said I would keep Peter's appraisal secret until after the Malice voting. I didn't want to turn the competition into a political-style campaign. Had no desire to sway any votes, except by the merits of my story. I hoped to hear if the story worked for him. And, boy were his comments ever welcomed!

Hope this helps you make some connections and leads to some quotable gold!

While the Kittens are at Malice...

Sproing! If all's gone according to plan, two of our WoM, Nan and Elaine, will soon be arriving in the D.C. metro area. There, they'll be feted with malice aforethought for three days, and we expect succulent morsels of still-steaming dish served promptly upon their return. We also wish them a wonderful time, and to Nan, fingers crossed for the Agatha award! Since our ranks have been thinner as of late, I've been taking the mouse's chance to post, boing, post. It can't last.

All the recent conference activity (mystery, comic-sff, romantic) in turn spins off lots of spirited blogtalk about the states of the industry from various angles. Combine that with recent kerfuffles, first spawned online, re: plagiarism and reviews, and lots of questions have been raised recently about civility and collegiality across genres and cyberspace itself. I don't claim to have the answers, but there are more raw and funny opinions you may enjoy reading while coming to your own conclusions.

Nancy Martin of The Lipstick Chronicles enjoyed the recently-held Romantic Times in Pittsburgh, but behavior from attendees and exhibitors got beyond some folks's comfort range. As a prime example, some of the gentlemen models promoting an erotica line seem to have become 'handsy' in old parlance, creating consternation and issues of accountability. Where's the line between appreciating playful, edgy marketing and needing to get yourself steam-cleaned? Aside from her notes about hand sanitizer, Nancy makes fascinating observations about the different ways she saw readers connecting with books (the news ain't all bad!) and the way romance is growing its new generation of fans. Interesting stuff with wider application, I think.

Richard K. Morgan wrote a commissioned piece about the vitriol in the speculative fiction community that was so negative, he says, the man paying didn't want to run it. So he posted "Sound and Fury, Signifying...?" on his blog. If you don't know or care about the difference between mundane scifi and space opera, for example, feel free to insert any other warring sub-genres of your choice as you read. Now, I think Morgan would disagree with this last suggestion, as he claims that the world of mystery is eminently more civil than sff. Well maybe, and maybe it is the average age of the writers and readership at work. However, I think he grants the crime fiction crowd too many laurels when he writes:

...you don't get this gnawing, mutilative thread of self-hatred, this bulemic purging of whole sub-genres or readership sub-sections as somehow unworthy. A quick trawl through a couple of dozen crime writer websites and messageboards reveals no agendas or dogme-style utterances, no towering rages or griping about how the genre's going to shit these days, how there's all this generic pap being published, how this strain of crime writing is so much more valid than this other strain...

I quickly found this interview with legendary publisher/agent/bookseller Otto Penzler on Evil E, where he does take shots, as is his wont, at the so-called cat mysteries. He's known for it, but he's not alone. The books involving animals centrally, especially as crimefighters their furry selves, are extremely beloved and also widely mocked and reviled. Noir versus Meow- you can easily locate that snarking once your own antenna's hoisted. Perhaps this dispute is milder than ones in sff, but there are plenty of writers of "gritty, dark" fiction (and I've written some myself) who hold what's "cozy" in contempt. Lots of the cozy readers and writers feel disaffected and unwanted, and resent being pushed into ever darker stories as if it weren't okay to like what they like.

I'm a jukebox that plays all the songs from time to time, and believe more graphic violence and less-redeeming characters do not necessarily equate to elevated quality in the writing or storytelling. Careless writers toss in expletives and savagery without humanity, assuming their blue-streaked dialogue sings like Leonard's can and that readers intrinsically care for any thug or thugette they meet. Well, no. Even other thugs cross the street from certain crazies and death-bound baddies. Fans of the grimmest stuff are mostly quite nice, but getting readers over instinctive urges to cut bait with these losers is part of what makes the great writers of bleakness so satisfying to read. When they're not as good, repulsion and fatigue win for me. But, aside from that aside, I think this kind of internecine fragmentation happens any time someone likes mild versus hot salsa, for example, and doesn't much feel like they need improving simply because of their preferences.

The online world of free opinion sometimes seems less like a great party and more like an arena. There are times you want to change conversations or even grab your coat, preferably of rhinoceros hide. How you respond isn't really anyone else's purview, and depends on how you yourself are wired. You may decide finally to walk away, concentrate on your writing as best you can, and stay out of the scrum. Fair enough. You might also decide to join in with gusto and glee, irony as your Kevlar. For myself, I still find it all more exciting and amusing than awful, and as long as I do, I'm glad to have a front-row seat for whatever's Next.
Boing!

KHAN!!!!!! A 2-sentence Postscript.

I forgot to include this great picture which shows (again) how widely graphics are being used, but I couldn't stand thinking about hashing around the original long and mangled post. So, here's a rack of philosophical, historical works in graphic form from the For Beginners book series.

P.P.S. Faked you out with that 2-sentence stuff, didn't I?

P.P.P.S. We shall see...


UPDATE: What the heck? Here they are. I read:
She was her Staten Island cottage, the shining bay, the sailing ships, a sanctuary from the sense-numbing city. Imagine unlacing her every night. - The Midnight Band of Mercy by Michael Blaine.

I wrote: There wasn’t a flexible-enough cover identity, except possibly as an especially naive journalist or NGO staffer, which each had limitations. No one but a minister would drag his wife to these places, which left Franklyn the role of someone’s girlfriend, a status too often translated in locals’ minds to being the Westerners' whore.

Please share any two you read and wrote in the comments, or let us know where they're posted so we can provide the link.

Travis Erwin's inspirational and whitewashed twos.

Britta Coleman likes to post her 2x2s on Thursdays. A sweet one.

KHAN!!!!!! Wait, I mean Con

Star Trek Inspirational Posters found here.

Sure I don't live in Manhattan anymore, even if I'm darned close, and sure it's really Tuesday at this moment, but I've always been broad-minded about My Town Mondays.

This weekend was the 3rd Annual NY Comic-Con (vention). I've been to all three and it's ballooned in size and scope every year. While things keep improving, other problems of scale arise and need tweaking. After such a short run, that this is already the second largest event after Comic Con Int'l in San Diego shows that the East Coast was hungry for its own local venue. Sensible, too, since so much of the publishing is in NYC.

Sorry for the delay in posting, but Blogger's been more evil and obstreperous handling pictures than usual, which is really saying something. The order and shape will have to stay what it is (click to enlarge) and I'll notate around the edges. Yuck.

Above- The Javitz Center indeed has a soaring atrium and many kinds of other merchandise, like this case of figurines, are on display besides comics books and graphic novels. There's statuary; toys in both vinyl and plush; clothing and thematic accessories; non-picture books; lots of original artwork; games on boards, cards, and video; and exhibits from not only from 2-D producers but studios like Disney and Nickelodeon and SciFi who screened piles of related previews and trailers. Don't forget the funnel cakes.


The 2 top pics in the group above show the main problem in this year's show. The mob scene between cement walls is not the exhibition hall, which was, for the first time, a room large enough to walk in wide aisles without getting poked by horns and light sabers all the time. (Yay!) However, the downstairs hall where the panels were presented, including popular media previews, had no flow and inadequate capacity. A set of escalators leads to and from it from above, and the pic with the shiny tile floor is THE LINE FOR THE ESCALATOR simply to get into the mob! I didn't see a single panel, because of the schooling crowds that blockaded every inch of floor space. The media shows should be in a large, open access amphitheater set-up. On the biggest day, Saturday, it was disappointing not to get to attend any of the discussions or presentations. However, last year the capacity was lean enough they sold out of tickets, and lots of traveling attendeed couldn't even get in. So this is improvement. Also above is the quintessential comic dealer set-up, boxes with issues in plastic sleeves for browsing. There are fewer of these type of booths than you'd imagine, fewer than the first years. I think. It's more about the splashy spectacle now.

The last of this chunk above is a truly sad sight to educate any writer. WARNING: RANT FOLLOWS. See that tiny table on the blue carpet in the image's center? The one with a few books that's slapped against the back of another, much grander booth? Whoever the publisher, they set up a space with signing slots in this lousy spot, and the dispirited author was spending his hour just sitting there, slouched so far back you can't see him in my picture. I almost went back at least to examine his book out of pity, but frankly, there was plenty of traffic (as you can see) walking that row if he'd come out from behind the table! Stopped waiting for people to approach him! The place incites sensory overload, but... Meet the other exhibitors in your row. Most people working in the field are also fans. They may buy a book, send people your way, or at least help you pass the time in bonhomie. Meet attendees! Ask them how the day's going, what they've seen so far that's cool, whether it's their first con, etc. Regular people like having interest shown in them, just like authors do : ) And they may even buy your book or tell a friend who will. It takes energy to be outgoing, but at an event like this (especially if your slot's only a hour or so), enthusiasm teems in the candy-colored oxygen supply. Don't just mope and liquify, feeling bad about your admittedly horrible placement and pathetic display. Time's a wastin' while potential readers flit by. If you wrote the book, you're part of the product and more potentially compelling than any long table, pleated draping, banner, or vertical shelving unit!

The scene has echoes of Mardi Gras and elaborate tailgating parties. You'll notice lots and lots of costumed people and become inured to them. This year (also a yay), security was way less draconian about the 'weapons' people had with them. How you gonna make Gandalf give up his staff? Some of the outfits are very professional, some are more home-grown, but cosplayers and civvies are all cavorting together. Even the non-costumed tend to wear gear that proclaims their superheroic or thematic allegiances. It's a colorful, good-natured scene, polite and pleasant despite the apparently horrible and martial characters that populate it. Most of the costumed are not only happy, but positively eager, to have their pictures taken. Above left, the X-Men Women had just finished taking pictures with the excited girl CatWoman, if that's how to phrase it. Bad news for all the scantily costumed: Next year's con is in early Feb. again, and the coat check issues were myriad during the last winter event.

Of course, no convention's complete without Stormtroopers. Trust me on this. Half of this pair, once the helmet was off, was revealed to be a 30-ish woman with a chestnut bob and granny glasses who would've looked right at home behind any circulation desk. Cons Rock!

Malice Domestic is Changing my LIFE

It happens in an instant. The world changes and you have to adapt. This is true for good changes and bad. It only takes an instant.

Like becoming an author. I'm an accidental author. At least it feels that way. And, baffling though it may be, I'm a nominee for an Agatha at Malice Domestic, in the Best Short Story competition! How do you like them apples!?! How did it happen? Why did it happen to me while so many other great writers are still unpublished, or are published and not nominated for an award? I haven't got a clue. I think it has something to do with all those years of trying to get it right, but I also think magic happens, sometimes, and this was one of those times.

It happened while I wasn't looking. I submitted a short story to the anthology now known as MURDER NEW YORK STYLE. It was a juried anthology based out of the Sisters In Crime New York/Tri State Chapter, and I miraculously won a spot in the book. Lots of other writers in the anthology are great writers. Well published. Well known. I figured my story making the cut was a fluke - that, or they needed all the stories that were submitted, otherwise they'd have a very short short mystery anthology.

So, one minute I was sitting in my cozy den, laptop on lap, peering over the screen to yell out "Who is Janet Evanovich!" at Alex Trebeck, and it hit me: I was no longer a hopeful, wannabe author. My short story got accepted to a juried anthology! I was going to be a published mystery writer!!! I almost choked on my popcorn!

For years I'd slogged along in the wake of great writers. Sure, I'd been published here and there in magazines and newspapers. Did a lot of critiquing. Stockpiled manuscripts, decimating vast forests in the process. But nothing changed my perspective as much as getting published in MURDER NEW YORK STYLE. Nothing, that is, until I got nominated for an Agatha in the Best Short Story category.

BEST Short Story? WOW! Thank heavens the notice of my nomination came via email - I had to print it out and see it in black and white before I could believe the message! I carried my print-out to my hubby - I couldn't read it aloud lest my throat would close and I'd self-destruct along with the nomination. He read it aloud and I got all choked up. Malice Domestic! A conference for READERS! READERS would be determining who wrote the BEST Short Story - best of those nominated by anyone Malice bound, from anywhere in the country! I LOVE READERS! It's enough to drive a girl to her hidden cache of the darkest of dark chocolates, with not an ounce of remorse!

The reality is totally impossible: The Best Short Story category has me in league with Liz Zelvin (my clever writing pal, and soon-to-be-published novelist!), Donna Andrews and Rhys Bowen (mystery mega-stars!). Holy crap! How did I ever get nominated in that rank? Holy, holy crap!

It has to be magic. How else did I ever get to this point? I didn't do anything remarkably different. These wonderful accidents can stop here and now, before I hyperventilate. Getting my name listed on the Agatha nominee posting was more than I could comprehend for the longest time. Now that the news has settled in and I'm picking out what to wear at the conference, I'm getting giddy. I've been known to bust out laughing at my good fortune. I feel like I already won the greatest prize! Nomination is a joyous state!

My mom tried so hard for so many years to become a children's book author that I think she's somehow pushing me from beyond the grave. So much for my latest plan to quit writing except for my own personal pleasure - and to keep from driving my hubby nuts. Heck, I'm told that Malice will kick off with all "us" nominees being introduced to the conference's early birds. The next day I'll be on a panel and maybe even signing books! AND I'll be on the ballot!!! My name up there with all those high-fliers!

I'm making my own business cards just in case business cards are doled out at Malice like souvenirs.

I could use some advice - what will make me look less clearly out of my league?

Yowza. I'm light-headed already! My hubby's convinced I'll win. He gets extra points for that! Life is good.

And let this be a lesson to you: If it can happen to me, it can happen to YOU! Just keep writing!

Get Your Murder Here!

Due to some Blogger issues, I can't put this in the sidebar at the moment. I hope once Blogger gets working again, I will be able to. But in honor of her Agatha nomination, Nan Higginson's story, Casino Gamble can be downloaded for free by clicking this link: Casino Gamble.pdf.

Agatha Inspirations - Sharing the Joy!

Hope this doesn't count as the sin of Blatant Self Promotion, but I've got to share the great news: my story, "Casino Gamble" is an official nominee for an Agatha in the Best Short Story Category!!! The winner will be chosen by attendees at Malice Domestic. I'll be introduced with the other award nominees during the Friday Opening Ceremony and will be on a panel discussion as well.

Yahoooey!

Please join my happy dance. I've already danced on the sofa and all through the house. If your door bell rings in the next few days it might be me, spreading my dance nationwide.

This cheer is for all the frustrated, hard-working writers out there, struggling toward becoming a published writer. If I can do it, so can you!

Write On!
Nan

Crime Bake Spice

Lee Child was the Crime Bake guest of honor this past weekend, and it wasn't only his charm that won us. Although thriller-writers didn’t exactly dominate the crowd, his advice transcended genre, and he was generous with it.

The post-banquet mock trial of Jack Reacher was hilarious. In case thrillers don’t constitute the bulk of your reading, Reacher is Lee’s outside-the-mainstream Knight Errant character. We well-fed banqueters tried him for the heinous villain’s murder in Persuaded. Defended by Julia Spencer-Fleming, Lee looked vulnerable at her side. Michele Martinez played the brilliant prosecuting attorney. Nineteen out of twenty-one tables deliberated and confessed to hung juries. It won’t surprise you to learn that the only table that unanimously willed Reacher to hang was the one filled with agents and editors! (All in fun, of course.)

As always, Crime Bake offered opportunities for agent pitches and manuscript critiques. Here’s just a taste of the workshops:

ON SEX SCENES (Elizabeth Benedict)

• Make your sex scenes work like any other.
• Sex should either reveal character or advance the plot.

ON BEGININGS (Hallie Ephron, Joseph Finder, Chuck Hogan, Roberta Isleib)

• Open as late as possible in the story, at the point something grabs the reader.
• Open with normalcy, give us the hero’s voice. Establish what the protagonist needs and depends on...then rip her world apart.
• Win the reader’s alliance with the hero immediately.

ON WRITING BAD GUYS Catherine Cairns, James Benn, David Daniel, Michele Martinez)

• Know the villain’s backstory, but give readers just a taste. Paint her in more than one shade. Give her some redeeming quality.
• Put villains to work; they'll make your hero shine.
• Readers enjoy learning what separates them from villains. Villains commit evil deeds without remorse. Heroes, who may commit similar deeds, feel remorse.

ON CONSTRUCTING CHARACTER (Sarah Weinman, Sarah Graves, John Katzenbach, Julia Spencer-Fleming)

• Know and flesh out your bad guy in the planning stage; start with a hero who has something at stake.
• Make use of quiet moments between action scenes to build character.
• Occasionally use other characters' reactions to reveal a character's attributes.

ON ACTION & SUSPENSE (Jim Fusilli, Mark Arsenault, Lee Child, William Landay, Taylor Smith)

• Build suspense by implying a question and deferring its answer.
• Don’t shy away from melodrama.
• Obscure important clues by including several of equal weight.

ON BLOGGING (Sarah Weinman of “Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind”)

• Think twice before you post; are you sure you want to say this, and say it this way? Avoid airing gossip.
  
• Avoid rigidity – your goals can change direction.
• Post at least five times a week, and invite guest bloggers when you can't. Guests offer a breath of fresh air, come in jazzed and excited.
  

ON ENDINGS (Hallie Ephron, Joseph Finder, Chuck Hogan, Roberta Isleib)

• Don’t prolong the story, end as early as possible.
• Endings must both surprise readers and feel inevitable. Go for the reader’s “ahhh....” response.
• Justice needn’t always be served, and endings can be bittersweet, as long as the hero’s goal is reached.
• Before you roll over and fall asleep, make sure they’re satisfied!
  

- Lois

A Writer Immune from Criticism?

After the Backspace seminar wrapped, I joined Terrie Farley Moran and her friend, Deb Lacy, at the MWA Lee Child dinner at the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park. Walking into that building is like stepping into Miss Havisham’s house…fun and transformative. It gets you in just the right mood for a writerly evening. But I digress. I mention this dinner because of something Lee said – that he never wanted to be a writer and only decided to become one when he lost his job as a television director. Therefore, he never believed a lot was riding on it – only a paycheck. Oh, and an audience to buy his book. He said he didn’t really need the praise – still doesn’t. As long as his books sell, he’s doing OK. So, was he being entirely honest? Yes and no, perhaps. Like most writers, he’s probably a perfectionist and he obviously took great pains to craft his famous Jack Reacher character. He spent long hours, thinking about what would be interesting to readers. And he invested himself in his writing. If one does all that, is a writer ever completely immune from criticism?

Lee’s point was that only those who have always dreamed of being writers are the ones stung by harsh words. But if Lee spent that time and effort – even if it was never his life’s dream – is he above it all and doesn’t care? Does that happen when what you’re pursuing is not what you wanted to do in the first place? Or, does that happen after writing twelve, commercially successful, books? I would argue that it never happens. Lee puts too much of himself into his writing not to care what people ultimately think of his ability. I would argue that’s what makes him keep writing. Striving to write the perfect book is what all writers do in the end. It may not have been their dream, but it haunts them nonetheless.

Backspace Agent-Author Seminar

So, in my last post I told you that I was going to spend a few days at the Backspace Agent- Author Seminar billed as All Agents All Day. Click here My good friend Deb Lacy flew in from California and fortune smiled on us when, at the last minute, another New York Sister in Crime, Tama Ryder decided to join us. Click here to meet Tama.

I read in the blogosphere that Patti Abbott Click here would be at Backspace and I made it one of my primary missions to find her and say hello. I am happy to say that I did and happier still to report that Patti has just received word that her short story “A Saving Grace” has been selected for inclusion in THE YEAR'S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg. "A Saving Grace" originally appeared in The Thrilling Detective. You can read it here

This was my first venture into the realm of writers who don't write mystery. I mingled with the non-fiction people, the memoir people, the literary people and the sci-fi people. Who knew we would have so much in common? A writer is a writer is a writer, regardless of what they write. Every panel was packed with attendees taking notes and asking questions. And the panels covered topics that only a writer could love: First Contact: Queries That Work; The WOW Premise-What it Is -How to Articulate It; The Dreaded Synopsis to name a few.

Backspace provided authors to be with a great opportunity to understand the kinds of books agents are seeking. Besides the panel discussions, we attended “Two Minutes, Two Pages” workshops where writers were given a rare chance to see and hear two agents react to the first few pages of their manuscripts. This was a no holds barred approach and for the most part, it worked. At worst, an agent explained why she or he would not keep reading the manuscript, and at best, why they would. A writer who received positive feedback could then follow-up with that agent.

Our major recommendation for Backspace would be to add more of these workshops at the next conference. Our minor recommendation—do something to shorten the lunch line. A final note – a key component of this conference was meeting other writers. At the end of two long days, an encouraging word from a fellow writer can be all it takes to make a conference worth your while.

SPECIAL NOTE: Tama Ryder contributed heavily to this blog post and (Oh, I am so full of happy announcements today) has graciously decided to add her voice to Women of Mystery. Watch this space, Tama will be appearing here soon.

Terrie

Testing . . . One . . . Two . . .Three

My good friend Deb Lacy is flying in from California today and we'll be spending the next two days in Manhattan at the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar. Click here

Since I won't be around for a couple of days, I wanted to share some great fun I had over the weekend.

First I hopped on the Internet superhighway and visited the Art Institute of Vancouver so I could take a Right Brain vs Left Brain test. Click here

As a left handed person who believes I’m creative, what with the writing and painting and all, I would have been devastated to come up left-brained. How backward would that be! I'm thrilled to announce I am right-brained in keeping with my left handedness. (Apparently not all lefties are.) Click here

Then I wandered over to Michael Bracken’s blog only to find out that Michael writes like a girl, which in his case is sometimes not so surprising. Click here

So, of course, I had to follow Michael over to the Gender Genie Click here and submit a sample of some of my blog writings and lo and behold, I blog like a guy. But at least I can say I blog like a right-brained guy.

Before I sign off I just want to thank everyone for the kind wishes you've expressed to all the authors in the Murder New York Style anthology. As Lois wrote, the launch was a huge success. Rest assured, we did indeed lift a glass to all our blog buddies around the globe. We felt you there in spirit.

Terrie

Alaska! Bouchercon 2007

We just got back from Anchorage and a very successful Bouchercon 2007. It was fun. It was interesting. And it was full of contradictions. Here's the brief summary:

Under-attended -- boo

Very friendly folks -- yay

A little too rah-rah Alaska, rather than welcome world -- boo

The 1-day 26-glacier cruise was phenomenal -- yay

The book room failed to stock my book, LADYKILLER -- boo

I gave out dozens of bookmarks and many readers promised to order it -- yay

The hotel didn't have internet connection, even in the business center -- boo

We met nearly everyone there -- yay

Hotel bar small, understaffed and woefully inadequate -- boo

Drinks very cheap -- yay

Strange pink sauce on entrees at banquet -- boo

The band was great -- yay

Anyhow, it was Northern Exposure meets So You Think You Can Dance?

On balance, I'm glad I went, but am looking forward to Baltimore!

Congrats to the Malice Winners

The Women of Mystery would like to extend our sincere congratulations to our friends for winning the Big Ones at Malice Domestic this weekend.

• Meredith Cole, St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Contest
• Sandra Parshall, Agatha for Best First Novel
• Chris Roerden, Agatha for Best Nonfiction Book

We twirl our boas, kick our feet, raise cyber champagne glasses, and eat tons of Godiva chocolates for you!

Edgars Week, Interrupted

I have had a lovely houseguest for Edgars Week, an out-of-town book-buyer-and-seller for Powell's. With her, I'll be heading out today to NJ to visit another writer, so I haven't yet had time to write up my trivial blather on the MWA Symposium et al. And by yesterday, plenty of other talented people had, so you can read the nifty items at great blogs here and here.

(Bonus: Each one of these blogs mentions one of our Women of Mystery, so look for them and feel extra bedaubed with the greatness as I do)

But this is my fangirl picture of Stephen King with Charles Ardai, Thursday's short-story Edgar-winner who assisted with the Q&A and book signing, taken after I got my 2 Dark Tower comic books signed. (Awesome!) And thanks cannot be delayed to the fabulous Margery Flax, who helped the organizers and chairs put on a fantastic event this year. I got to sit very close to the dais with the other banquet volunteers- peaches, all- and at the table next to not only Stephen King but Donald Westlake, for whom I'm an even a gigglier fangirl. My picture of DW stealing a Poe bobble-head from our table is too dear to share. The short form: great event. The long form I save for later. A teaser? No, I couldn't seem to resist making an ass of myself. Conference hazard, but if humiliation hasn't killed me yet, I believe I'll survive this.

Things I Learned at Sleuthfest, part 2

Quoth Lois: " I'd be curious to know what specifics they mentioned regarding the market..."

OK, let me preface this by saying everything is subjective. Every agent on the agents panel said the same thing: what is selling is not only house-dependent, but even editor-dependent within a house.

That said, what I heard from all three people I spoke to was that the market for cozy mysteries, except within very specific channels, is saturated. The market wants darker, more edgy. The term I heard used on panels and in meetings was "push the limits."

Suspense/thrillers and romantic suspense are hot, as are paranormal (not vampires/werewolves) and erotica.

Erotica's popularity means I am out of luck as a both author and consumer; not only can't I write it, I can't even read it. In fact, although I read romantic suspense, I skip the sex scenes. On the other hand, one of my very good friends writes erotica, so I suppose if I chose to write romantic suspense, she could write the occasional sex scene for me. Unfortunately, my bent is toward traditional mysteries/cozies. So I will be squeezing myself into that little babbling brook still available to those of us who prefer that field. (Though, the romantic suspense partnership is a tempting one...an excuse to get together with a friend and talk about sex while writing off our lunch? Does it get better than that?)

Book Tour, Sleuthfest and more

Larry (my husband and co-author) and I just returned from a 1-week book tour in Florida. Started in Sarasota, then 2 events in Tampa, and on to Orlando, Merritt Island, and more. We ended the week at Sleuthfest in Miami.

We had a ball! It was hard work, since we also stopped at 20 plus bookstores in between signings to meet the staff and sign all the copies of LADYKILLER on the shelf. Sometimes, we drove for hours only to sign one or two books. Sometimes the staff was cordial, even excited, sometimes fairly blase.

Once, in Cocoa Beach, several members of a book club (I had met one of the members on DorothyL) came and we gave a talk. They were fantastic. Book clubs are definitely the bomb!

Once, a store manager decided we were his favorite authors and shared a ton of valuable info about bookselling and things that authors can do to help.

Once, a store address defeated our rental car's GPS and as we pulled in to the parking lot of a topless bar called Cowboy's, it insisted that we were at the bookstore! I can still hear the sweet female voice saying over and over, 'You have arrived at your destination!' as Larry and I contemplated the t&a bar in astonishment. We're still imagining our reception if we had gone in offering to sign something for the dubious patrons.

Sleuthfest was wonderful. We caught up with old friends, met many new ones, and (the sweetest words in the English language) had dinner with our publishers! Have I mentioned how lucky we are to be published by Oceanview? The entire team is terrific! We had dinner in South Beach with two of their other authors, Don Bruns and Martha Powers, and we had a great time!

I was on two panels. The one on Team Writing was a blast. Everyone wanted to know how our marriage survived writing a fairly dark thriller. The one on humor in mysteries was fun, too. Although LADYKILLER is nearly noir, we do have some fun with our minor characters and our setting.

Now we're home just in time for the Edgars festivities -- a cocktail party at The Black Orchid, the banquet on Thursday.

The major takeaways (as we say in advertising) are (1) the people in this industry -- authors, booksellers, publishers, agents, etc. -- are amazing. They are largely generous and kind and, above all, fun! (2) conferences are great for networking and many new authors hooked up with agents and/or editors in Miami (3) book clubs are the BEST! They are knowledgeable, interesting, and they are tastemakers. If you can sell a dozen of books to a club, you can count on selling a bunch more to their friends and contacts! (4) road trips are great for brainstorming your next project.

Now if I just have time to write it!

Things I Learned at Sleuthfest, part 1

Over the weekend, I went to Sleuthfest in Florida. It was not the first time I've been to a conference, but it was the best experience I've had at one to date. With that in mind, I'd like to post some of the things I learned.

The first one may be the most surprising to some of you:

::drumroll::
Agents and Editors are People, Too

I met two of each at this conference. Names withheld to protect these people from getting a million query letters. (I mean, seriously--who wouldn't write to an agent or editor they knew for certain was a nice person?)

One agent I met at the cocktail party. No, I didn't pitch to her. We discussed the difference between thick 3-inch heels and stilletto 3-inch heels. We discussed how hard it is to say "no" to someone when they come up to you with a pitch. I know several other people who did pitch to this woman and said she was fabulous: asked good questions, had a good sense of humor, was friendly...all the good things you want in an agent.

One agent I met because I'd paid for a 10-page critique. Yes, the very one I had been so panicked about. (I followed Miss Snark's advice and didn't say anything about our past interaction.) Although she didn't think my work was sellable in its current form, she did offer extremely useful advice on how to make it more marketable. She was very friendly and I had no problem at all asking her advice on another project I have been working on. She said it would be an easier sell.

One editor I met because I was pitching to him. This man's publishing house doesn't accept unagented manuscripts, so when I met him I said I wasn't sure why I was pitching to him. He laughed. He asked me for my one-sentence pitch, then told me what the market situation was like with regard to my type of mystery. I asked him about the work-in-progress and he enlightened me on that market. The whole thing was fun and pleasant.

The other editor I also pitched to. Because his house also doesn't accept unagented submissions, we spent the first half of our ten minutes talking about baseball. He asked to hear my pitch, made several suggestions, then told me that if I made the revisions, he'd be happy to look at it. That doesn't mean he'd want it --his house doesn't really publish the kind of thing I write, but I'd love to get comments from someone who really knew what was out there. I told him the revision was so major that it might be quite a while before he heard from me. He said that was fine...if it was interesting enough to ask about now, it would be interesting enough to read later.

You may have noticed that all three I talked to about my work said the same thing. And they all said it in such a way that it was positive, constructive and hope-inspiring, not negative, destructive or devastating. The revision all three wanted me to make may not be possible for me -- it would be a major restructuring and I cannot, currently, get my brain around it. But I may be able to in the future.

So...yes, Virginia, agents and editors are people, too.