Bouchercon in Albany

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This is my third year attending Bouchercon, which gives me the chance to visit cities that may or may not have been on my radar. So far I’ve been to St. Louis and Cleveland and got to see their main tourist attraction, that being the Arch and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This year, Bouchercon was in my home state and its capital, Albany. I’ve never been there and I was excited to see the governor’s mansion and the state capital building. I suspect their main attraction is the EGG, which is part of the Empire State Plaza.

Friends: As always, it is great seeing old friends and meeting new friends face-to-face. The power of social media makes this happens. I’ve also stopped saying “I’m a just reader” when asked what am I. Now I say, “I’m a blogger, reviewer and a reader” as I have been told.

Panels: There were so many panels to choose from attending several of the panels that were offered. One panel had Brad Parks turn from book author to Superman Parks. Another panel talked about big city crime. Then there was the panel where attendees had to guess what food product was featured in which author’s book. That too was fun. One panel was popular by the time I got there it was standing room only. Then there was the panel that talked about how far could you go in a cozy. Then there was panel about being a private eye and the panel about being a writer with no room service. Overall, I had a good time at the panels that I attended.

Books: What can I see, one of the things I like about attending these conferences is what books will appear in your goodie bag, what books will I buy and what books will I get as free giveaways. This is my biggest haul of books I’ve gotten autographed and standing on line was worth it. I was most happy with my copy of W for Wasted by Sue Grafton and I knew no matter how long, I will be standing in that line to get my book autographed.

Authors: Harlan Coben called me a troublemaker. It was great talking with authors that I’ve work with on my blog and those I friended on Facebook. These conferences allow a face-to-face meeting and it’s great. It also gives me the opportunity to meet other authors that I have not come across in my regular reads. There’s a couple of new authors who debuts their new books in 2014 and I look forward to reading their work.

I was lucky to get the opportunity to take a tour of the New York State Trooper facilities. It was cool. We got to see their headquarters, their gym, their dorms and when we saw a training that involved German Shepard dogs.  We also got a chance to go into the indoor firing range where I imagine myself shooting a bulls-eye in dead center mass. 

I’m an introvert but when I am in my element, that is being around authors, fellow readers and books, I’m not as shy. Thank you for letting me know that reading is good and hanging with the authors and fans is Awesome.

Am I’m going to the next Bouchercon? Yes I am and I can’t wait to hit the town of Long Beach. Who else is joining me?

Some photos from Bouchercon.  What excited me most was finding a phone booth with a working phone and a seat where you can close the door.
             
   

The Brooklyn Book Festival

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I’m finally back in Kansas City from the Brooklyn Book Festival.
More than 45,000 people attended the festival, and 200 stalls sprawled across
three blocks in the heart of downtown Brooklyn, representing a cross-section of
independent bookstores, independent presses and magazines. At times, the crowd
was so packed it was difficult to move. New York City’s largest free literary
event offered a long list of lectures, conversations and presentations at
fourteen different locations. Sunday afternoon presentations included famous
authors with Brooklyn connections, such as Edwidge Danticat, Pete Hamill, and Colum
McCann.
After a weeklong series of over 60 “Bookend” events
from Sept. 16 – 22, the Brooklyn Book Festival consisted of 90-plus
panels, readings and workshops spread across 14 stages. Among the venues were
Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, Columbus Park, Brooklyn Law School, St.
Francis College, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and St. Ann & the Holy
Trinity Church.
I wasn’t sure I’d make it safely to the festival from my
Brooklyn hotel since my cab driver couldn’t find the address and ended up
driving while wearing his reading glasses so he could decipher his cell phone’s
GPS. But he managed to deliver me safe and sound to St. Francis College where
my 10:00 a.m. panel was to take place.
On the panel called “Six Degrees of Separation,” Meredith
Walters of the Brooklyn Public Library moderated Brooklyn poet laureate Tina
Chang, novelist Ray Robertson, memoirist Leigh Newman, and me as we read from
our work and discussed the similarities and differences of between the
different genres of writing. The conversation ranged across the topics of
voice, setting, and characters/personae and found us agreeing with and learning
from each other as we examined the process of writing.
Next for me came a reading with other great Latino authors at
the Las Comadres/La Casa Azul Bookstore booth in the small city of vendor
booths that had sprung up on the Brooklyn Borough Hall plaza. A lovely crowd
gathered and grew as the reading progressed. The crowds moving among the stalls
warmed my heart—so many readers and booklovers.
All too soon in midafternoon, I had to leave the festival to
make the trip down the Hudson River to the Hudson Valley Writers Center, a
beautiful restored train station, to give another reading with the incredibly
talented Sergio Troncoso. This center is located in Sleepy Hollow, New York,
one of the loveliest towns you’ll ever see.
All this whirlwind of activity was bookended by a grueling
road trip from Kansas City to New York City and back. Now, all I want to do is
sleep. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, though. 
Do you like to attend book festivals or writers conferences?
Do you return energized or drained?

How to Cut?

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by Bethany Maines

On my first novel, Bulletproof Mascara, my agent strongly recommended removing a
few chunks of the manuscript that she considered extraneous to just about
everything. This was a complete misperception. Those chunks of writing were
vitally, vitally important to the entire fabric of book. Although, to be
honest, I now don’t remember what those vital chunks were, and the book is
undoubtedly better off without them. At the time, however, the advice was very
difficult to hear and I resisted it mightily. I also remember that as she
recommended painfully amputating these important bits she would say,
soothingly, sadly, sympathetically, “I know, but maybe you can use them in
something else.”
I puzzled over that phrase after I hung up the phone.
Something else? What could she have possibly meant? Maybe she meant that I
could use that scene in a sequel? But the situations were kind of specific –
they couldn’t just be transplanted. And having snipped them out and written
over them, they couldn’t be flashbacks. Maybe she meant that they could be used
in another story – transplant different characters into those scenes. Now, that
was a completely ridiculous suggestion. Those events happened to those people.
You can’t just go plopping whole new people into those events. Which, frankly,
is just proof that writer’s are one step away from having diagnosable mental
health disorders featuring false realities and voices of people who aren’t
really there.
Eventually, I decided that what she really meant was,
“However, you have to wrap your mind around this to make it ok – do it, because
it’s for the greater good of the book.” Of course, the idea that someone else
might have a better grasp on what my story and book should be is also a hard
thing for a writer to wrap their mind around. Eventually, I did come to peace
with both concepts, but I find that as I help other writers through the editing
process, that I still don’t know what to tell them when I advise cutting out
favorite scenes. Should I suggest that they can “use them in something else” or
do I just give it to them straight – your book is better off without this scene
(even though you love it and sweated over it)? For all of you writers out
there, what has helped you come to terms with cutting out beloved moments?

Bethany Maines is the author of
the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube
video or catch up with her on Twitter.

I am the world’s worst blogger

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by: Joelle Charbonneau

Is it Tuesday?  Which Tuesday is it?  Yikes!  I forgot that I was supposed to blog today.

Sorry!  I guess this confirms what I have always believed.  That I am the WORLD’S WORST BLOGGER.

I am.  I mean, part of that is probably to be expected.  Despite my understanding of when my deadlines are for my publishers, there are a lot of days where I am not technically certain what day I’m on.  Take yesterday for example.  Yes, I knew somewhere in the back of my brain it was Monday.  After all, I had just gotten home from Bouchercon on Sunday.  So, it would only make sense that yesterday was Monday.  And yet, all day I thought I was on Tuesday.

Why?

It was just one thing that set my brain reeling.  The lawn guys.

What lawn guys you ask?

Well, the ones that come and make sure my lawn doesn’t look like a sore thumb next to my neighbors.  Every day this summer they came on Tuesday.  They’re scheduled to come every Tuesday and make sure the bushes are trimmed, the grass doesn’t grow tall enough to hide snakes and other small critters and the flower beds are edged.  They come on Tuesday like clockwork.  Except for this week when they came yesterday.

That’s all it took.  One little thing that I knew was strange and unusual and yet made my brain fast forward to Tuesday.

Am I the only one that does that?  Do you think you are on one day while the rest of the world is marching along to another?  Or is it just me?

And let’s hope next week this doesn’t happen.  Tuesday is the pub date for the forth and final (for now) Rebecca Robbins novel.  So, if you remember what day it is and I don’t please let me know.  I’d hate to miss it!

Pedaling As Fast As I Can

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This has turned into a really busy September for
both halves of Evelyn David. We’re all about moving households, roof repairs,
new appliances, audiobooks, babies, family obligations, and when we get a spare
minute – writing.

Oh, and did I mention that I can barely type with
my left hand because of shoulder pain or maybe it’s more like arm pain since it
starts at my neck and runs around my shoulder to just below my elbow? But my fingers
and wrist are fine. So probably not carpel tunnel. Another few days of wearing
a heating pad and walking around smelling of Icy Hot may have me visiting my
doctor. I’m sure he’s going to say stop using the computer for a week and then
call me. Like that’s going to happen. Almost everything thing I do now is done
via a computer.

I’ve replaced a hot water heater and a washing
machine this past month. I’m not sure what else can break down but with an old
house, each day is an adventure.

Did I mention that I visited the dentist two weeks
ago? I have a crown that he installed a couple of months ago that is very
temperature sensitive. He x-rayed it and thinks “his crown” looks perfect.  He’s given me 50/50 odds on the need for a
root canal. Perhaps I have a hairline crack in my tooth? Right. I’m not feeling lucky. 

Thanks for letting me vent. 

Now back to the writing. My co-author and I are
writing a new Brianna Sullivan Mystery – volume 11 of the paranormal mystery
series. Despite all the things that are going on in our personal lives, I think
we might be writing the best Brianna yet. If you haven’t read Lottawatah
Fireworks (volume 10 of the series) this would be a good time. The new book, untitled at this time, brings closure to a mystery introduced in an earlier volume.
 
For the next two weeks the e-book version of our
stand-alone mystery Zoned for Murder is on sale for 99 cents.  Don’t miss this bargain. 

Note: On a happy note, new episodes of Foyle’s War
are airing on PBS. It’s my light at the end of the week!  

Rhonda
aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David


—————
 

Evelyn David’s Mysteries 

Audible    iTunes

Audible    iTunes

 

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries – e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Summer Lightning in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Lottawatah Fireworks – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah – trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 – I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 – A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)
Book 3 – Lottawatah Fireworks (includes the 8th, 9th, and 10th Brianna e-books)

Sullivan Investigations Mystery series
Murder Off the Books Kindle – Nook – Smashwords – Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle – Nook – Smashwords – Trade Paperback 
Murder Doubles Back Kindle – Nook – Smashwords – Trade Paperback
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords


Romances
Love Lessons – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

Your Dream Room

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By Laura Bradford

Fellow Stiletto Gang blogger, Maggie, and I are attending Bouchercon 2013 in Albany, NY at the moment. I’d hoped to have a picture or two from the conference to share with you today, but I haven’t taken any yet…

So, while trying to figure out what to write, I quickly landed on the channel that Maggie always has on whenever we room together at mystery conventions. The first time she put on HGTV, I had little interest. But before that first conference ended, I was hooked.

I absolutely adore watching people look for homes, seeing the delight on the faces of those who come home to find their home has been remodeled, etc.  Sometimes, I imagine my own house getting a surprise makeover, or being on the hunt for a new place. The possibilities are fun to think about, you know?

So I thought it might be fun to pose the following question to all of you…

If you could add a room onto your existing home/apartment, what kind of room would you want it to be? Tell us how it would look–the must-have features, the decorations, etc.

Me? I’d have my own writing room…with a fireplace…and built in bookshelves…French doors that open to a balcony (if it could overlook the ocean, even better…if not, one that opens to a pretty patio like the one pictured here would work). I’d have a beautiful desk, cozy desk chair, and an overstuffed lounge type chair over by the fireplace for reading.

Nice, huh?

Your turn.

~Laura

Bass Ackwards

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I’m about 75,000 words into what will likely be an 85,000 word manuscript.  This is the second book in the Maeve Conlon series, still untitled, and still (in my opinion) without form. I kind of know what the mystery is (I’ve already killed someone and someone else is missing) but the “why” is still missing.  I’ll get it; the book is due 10/1 and if I learned anything from college it was that I was a great-under-pressure writer.
I was discussing fellow blogger Laura Bradford’s new book with her last week and she asked me about the mystery that will be the centerpiece of her upcoming installment in her very popular Amish series.  She wanted to know if it worked before she started writing.
I was astonished.  “So, you actually plot the mystery from start to finish before you start writing?” I thought but did not say out loud, afraid her reaction would be “well, duh.”
So, you have one author almost finished with a first draft and still writing around the mystery and another who hasn’t started yet and looking to nail down the details of the mystery.
I wish I were author #2.
But I’m not.  I never have been. I’m the author who picks up the lives of her characters where she left off, figuring out what they’ve been doing every day since she last wrote about them. Every time I start a new book, I promise myself that I’ll:
1.     Create a timeline.
2.     Figure out what the mystery is before I start writing.
3.     Write 1000-2500 words per day.
As this new untitled book is the second in my new series but the tenth novel I’ve written, you would think that I’ve done at least one of the things above before I got started.
I’m sorry to say that not a one has been executed.
Sure, I create a timeline but only after I have no idea how many days have passed since the book opened.
And sometimes I figure out what the mystery is but never before at least a couple of thousand words have been written.  (I have a vague idea but nothing concrete.  I have to let my characters act out first and then I figure out what happens and why.)
And most of the time, I work at the day job while fitting my writing in around it.  That makes for some days where I can write 7500 words (it happened once; an all-time record) and long stretches where the only thing I write is “Dear Author” to a recalcitrant writer who owes me something for work.
The good news is that I know my characters inside and out.  Sometimes someone does something to surprise me but most of the time, I know what they’re going to say and how they are going to react.  That in and of itself, is comforting.
It makes for some frustrating days, this bass ackwards process, but it’s mine and I’m sticking with it.  I do envy my pal Laura, though; I wonder what it would be like to have a plan going forward.  It works so well for her; if you haven’t read any of her books, read one and see for yourself.
Tell me, when it comes to writing or just life in general, are you a seat-of-the-pantser or a planner?  A recovered seat-of-the-pantser or a die-hard one?  I’d love to know.
Maggie Barbieri

Showing Off My Cover for Spirit Shapes

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Don’t you love it? The artist, Ana Winson, always seems to design the perfect cover for the book.

She explained that the light wolf stands for good and the dark wolf for evil. The spirit shape in the middle is key to the story, but you’ll have to read it to find out why.

Here’s the blurb:

Ghost hunters stumble upon a murdered teen in a
haunted house. Deputy Tempe Crabtree’s investigation pulls her into a whirlwind
of restless spirits, good and evil, intertwined with the past and the present, and
demons and angels at war.

I had a great time writing this book and now I’m busy planning the promotion.
I’ve been working on a blog tour, more later, and I’ve set up some in-person events.
The book isn’t available yet, but will be soon.
Marilyn