David Terrenoire, writer, editor, copywriter, has been a spiker, a cook, reporter, an adman, an actor, a musician.  His most recent mystery novel is Beneath a Panamanian Moon, published by St. Martin's Minotaur. His website is the eponymous www.davidterrenoire.com. Direct correspondence to David Terrenoire or Editor.

            Welcome to the debut of a new column providing highlights from recent conferences.   As your columnist, you’d think I’d be on the scene, gathering notes on panels and roundtables, schmoozing the participants, bending elbows with agents and authors in the bar, commiserating about the state of the business and the lack of publicity money.  But I’m not.  In spite of what my publisher thinks, I am not independently wealthy.

             That leaves me looking to people who have actually been there to fill me in on the particulars, which is a lot like the way I write books.   When I can, I go to where the action is.  I’ve been taken through booking at the county jail and a few weeks ago I went to see Central Prison’s old gas chamber, now located in a widow’s back yard.  But that’s another story.  This column will be strictly an “as told to” effort.   I’ve ghosted novels for others, now I find myself in the curious position of having others ghost for me.

             In future issues we’ll cover Malice Domestic, which I will attend (look for the guy in a fedora with the press card stuck in the brim), Mayhem in the Midlands, Deadly Ink, Bouchercon (which I’m trying to attend without selling a kidney), and the Cape Fear Crime Festival, which I definitely will attend because it’s in my back yard.  As this column finds its legs and more contributors come through with news, we’ll try to cover more events, maybe even include a little salacious gossip (just kidding).  Like the author, this column is a work in progress.

             This time we’re covering Murder in the Magic City, thanks to Susan McBride and Nancy Cohen, and Left Coast Crime with Joel Goldman and Denise Hamilton. – David

Left Coast Crime

             Joel Goldman – I’m going to skip the Lefty Awards since that’s too mainstream and I don’t remember who won anyway except for Rochelle Kirch who couldn’t be at the dinner because she was speaking at a funeral home.  I’m not making that up.  Proves that we authors will go anywhere anytime to talk to anyone living or dead.

             Meg Chittenden led the disco revival each night in the club next to the bar in the hotel lobby.   No one could keep up with her. One well-founded rumor had her cutting the rug with someone much younger, the two of them now known as Fred Ascare and Ginga Vitis.

             One of the real news items was the focus on thrillers as a distinct genre and a very well attended meeting of the ITW – the International Thriller Writers. The smart money says this group may become the prototype for author groups in the wide world of mystery and thrillers with a forward looking approach to marketing, networking and promotion.  Kudos to David Morrell, David Dunn and the other founders.

             Lee Goldberg had to explain to 51% of those attending that he wasn’t my younger brother.   He didn’t have time to tell everyone else.  A restaurant across the street from the hotel – I think it was called City Scape or something close to that – became a popular dinner hangout.   One group made their mark when they showed up wearing bells around their neck.  Made certain they wouldn’t get lost walking back across the street.  There was a very strong buzz of anticipation for LCC 2006 in Bristol, UK.  I’ll be happy to report from that venue next year. – Joel Goldman

Left Coast Crime

             Denise Hamilton – Hearing my fellow authors at the "Writers With a Social Conscience" panel talk about why they write and how it affects their lives in visceral ways. Betty Webb, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, and Paco Ignacio Taibo (the international guest of honor) all spoke of getting death threats.  This is not something you hear often at a mystery conference and it made me realize the power of the written word.

             Alicia, who teaches Chicano history and English at UCLA, has a novel just coming out that deals with the 350 women killed in Juarez in recent years. It's called Desert Blood. She gave a very serious talk about the toxic mix of police corruption, ruling narco families, poverty, and sexism in Juarez that have allowed these heinous crimes to continue, despite the fact that several men in police custody have "confessed" and been sentenced. Touch of Evil alive and well. Much fodder for a mystery.

             Moving into Desert Wives, Betty Webb talked about how polygamists would show up at her readings and sit in the front row, frowning with arms crossed, trying to intimidate her. They suddenly stopped coming when she announced who they were and invited them to stand up at the reading and introduce themselves.

             And Taibo, a very whimsical, European style intellectual with a wry sense of humor, spoke about being censored in Mexico, blackballed from Mexican TV because his novels include social criticism, and getting obscene and crank phone calls at 3 am, which is when he writes.  (He said cussing out his anonymous harrassers made his adrenaline flow into his writing).

             On a lighter note, the bar at the El Paso Camino Real Hotel was also a highlight. It's got this huge Tiffany painted glass dome and a cathedral-feel to it.  It's apparently one of the 10 "must see" bars nationwide.  Spending time with so many friendly and gut-busting funny authors such as Lee Goldberg (the funniest man in the mystery world), Kirk Russell, Victor Gischler, Reed Farrel Coleman, Christopher Rice, Jim Fusilli, and oh-so-many others was a gas.  They don't let us authors out very much – we're always chained to our desks – so this was a rare treat.

             Getting to congratulate a radiant Rhys Bowen for her well-deserved Edgar nod ... Meeting Charles Benoit, whose Poisoned Press debut, Relative Dangers, is up for an Edgar ... Charles if your book is half as lively as you were, I'm hooked.  Barbara Peters has called it a "male cozy" for lack of a better way to describe it and it is a rollicking old-fashioned tale involving missing jewels, sleuthing across Asia and the Middle East and India, and lots of humor and misadventure. I'm curious to hear what others have to say.  It sounds right up DL's alley. Meeting David Hewson, a British author who writes elegant arty thrillers set in Rome with the most beautiful covers ever. I've seen his books advertised in the New Yorker and was very curious.  He was gracious enough to sign a book and from the little I've read, I'm hooked.  Meeting Pari Noskert Taichert, Jim Borne, Michelle Martinez, and many many others.  Pari, I was looking for the gal at the bar with the spray can of whipped cream.  (You will all know what I mean after you read Pari's upcoming book The Belen Hitch.)   Three cheers for Mary Sarber and Patricia Phillips and everyone who toiled in semi-anonymity.  You folks in El Paso rock. Thanks for making such an effort to show us the border through art, music, food, books and the local culture and society. – Denise Hamilton

Murder in the Magic City

             Susan McBride – The third annual Murder in the Magic City mystery conference, sponsored by the Birmingham Chapter of Sisters in Crime, proved magical indeed for the nearly 150 attendees who flocked to the Homewood Library to hear an eclectic cast of crime writers chat about the hows and whys of writing whodunits. Conference organizer Margaret Fenton kicked things off with a warm welcome, and Patti Sprinkle, national president of SinC, gave a brief history of Sisters in Crime.

             The fun began with a discussion on “Murder Meets the Real World” moderated by Betty Webb (Desert Shadows). She introduced Minnesota writer William Kent Krueger (Blood Hollow), noting that she read his books in the summer because of their chilly setting. She asked Krueger about the serious issues in his stories, and he admitted that, though he “never set out to write issue books,” his plots often deal with the conflict between the Ojibwe culture and the white culture.

             “I don’t think any of us intend to stand on a soapbox,” he said, “but I hope that people come away from my books with a whole different perspective than they thought when just looking for a good story.”

             Lea Wait (Shadows on the Ivy), noted her series deals “a lot with issues on adoption and infertility” because her protagonist is a 38 year old widow interested in motherhood and her own background involves raising four adopted children as a single parent.

             Medical thriller author W.H. (Hans) Watford said he takes care “not to put too much medicine” in his novels for fear of scaring away readers. In the beginning, he said his agent didn’t tell potential editors that Watford was an M.D. until after one remarked that the author’s medical facts weren’t right. Watford said he hears from two groups of readers: people who read medical thrillers and don’t want to be talked down to; and folks who say, “man, there’s too much medicine in there.”

             Lea Wait mentioned a lady who showed up at a book signing and told her, “You are going to die,” if she didn’t stop drinking Diet Pepsi (like her protagonist, Maggie).

             Webb suggested that readers take fictional murders to heart because, while the deaths of 100,000 are too heavy for most to digest, the death of one child is taken personally.  Good mystery writing “puts a face on human pain.”

             Tamar Myers, author of two ongoing series and a Guest of Honor, compared writing to prostitution: “First, you do it for yourself,” she said. “Then you do it for a few friends. Finally, you do it for the money.”   After submitting manuscripts to publishers, she realized it took “843 standard rejection letters to paper the bathroom.”

             Patti Sprinkle (When Will the Dead Lady Sing?) moderated the second panel, “This Business is Murder,” and talked about the craft of writing.  Sprinkle said she herself followed the rule of “write what you know or write what you want to know.”

             Kathy Wall (Judas Island) talked about being a CPA.  That prepared her for setting goals, she said, but “the rules of writing aren’t as logical.”   She sent out 30 proposals to publishers and, by the end of two years, had received 30 rejections.  In order to succeed, Wall advised, “Don’t just think out of the box, demolish it.”

             For writer’s block, Twist Phelan (Family Claims) suggested demolishing that, too. “I couldn’t afford to get ‘lawyer’s block’ in court,” she said, so she applied the same type of discipline to her writing.

             During the luncheon, the second Guest of Honor – Parnell Hall, who writes the Puzzle Lady Crossword Puzzle Mysteries – got down to business … show business, that is! He noted his career was “built on humiliation.”  A one-time actor, “I’ve failed at everything,” Hall said.  Bit parts in films led to screenwriting.  He adapted an Ira Levin novel and a story from Playboy, and retooled a sci-fi script called C.H.U.D. (Cannabalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers).  When none of those things panned out, he went to work as a private investigator.

             After getting a break in fiction with his Stanley Hastings mystery novels and Steve Winslow courtroom dramas, Hall “failed” again when these series were dropped. In order to sell the idea for the Puzzle Lady books, his agent advised him to use the pseudonym Alice Hastings.  When Alice’s publisher wanted an author photo, the truth came out: not only didn’t Alice live there anymore, she didn’t exist.

             Hall strapped on his guitar and sang a clever medley of Everly Brothers hits with revised lyrics and concluded with a ballad about signing at the Waldenbooks “and nobody’s there.”

             To keep any conference-goers from considering naps after lunch, the so-called “Testosterone Panel” took the stage. The ring leader, Lono Waiwaiole (Wiley's Shuffle), wanted to know why the dark side of life occupies so many male writers.

             Best-selling author Christopher Rice (Density of Souls) said he’s “addicted to darkness, like an adrenaline junkie.” Something disturbing will circle in his head until he writes about it.

             TV screenwriter Paul Guyot (Judging Amy) said he finds the dark more fascinating than humor, at which point Lono commented that the darkness “lets you see what is light” and maybe it’s that contrast people find so appealing.

             Women had their say, and I was fortunate to lead an introspective panel discussion on “Murder, Love and Lipstick.”   Okay, maybe introspective isn’t exactly the right word here!  I asked my panelists why they liked writing about strong women, and Dana Cameron (A Fugitive Truth) echoed everyone’s sentiments saying that characters could be braver and tougher than their authors.  Her protagonist Emma Fielding is an archaeologist, a field Cameron knows well, as that’s her background.

             Similarly, Laura Durham (Better Off Wed) pens tales of a wedding planner named Annabelle Archer; Durham herself is one of the top wedding planners in the Washington, D.C. area.  It makes for easy research, she admits, though she did learn that it wasn’t quite kosher to ask about poisons at food tastings.

             Jessica Speart (Blue Twilight) centers her plots around Rachel Porter, an agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency.   She noted her research tended to include visits to the homes of eccentrics who kept wild and exotic animals as pets.

             On the other hand, Nancy Cohen, author of the Bad Hair Day Mysteries (Died Blonde is the latest), considers visiting the salon or a day spa as “research.”  Nice work if you can get it.

             A silent auction raised $690 in memory of Anne Carroll George to be donated to Literacy Council of Central Alabama, a fitting farewell to a wonderful Murder in the Magic City 2005. – Susan McBride

Murder in the Magic City

             Nancy J. Cohen – Murder in the Magic City hosted its authors in the Tutweiler Hotel in downtown Birmingham near the art museum, courthouse, and library. The lodging boasted old world charm with tooled leather chairs, candelabra-style chandeliers, a piano, and grandfather clock in the small lobby.  Friday night, we met our colleagues for dinner at a restaurant about 15 minutes away. I sat next to Susan McBride and William Kent Krueger, and across from Jessica Speart, Twist Phelan, and Dana Cameron.  I greeted old friends Patricia Sprinkle and Tamar Myers and met a bunch of new people, including the conference organizer, Margaret Fenton.

             The conference took place at Homeward Library.  Everyone sat together in the library auditorium and listened to the panels.   First Patricia Sprinkle promoted the benefits of belonging to Sisters in Crime and Margret Fenton introduced the panelists.

             The first panel, "Murder Meets the Real World," was moderated by Betty Webb.  Betty asked the panelists how their writing reflects social issues.

             Lea Wait said her first book deals with AIDS treatments.   Her 38 year-old heroine also grapples with the issue of having children versus adoption as a possible alternative.  Lea’s stories have also dealt with feminism in the 19th century.

             W.H. Watford, a cardiologist, writes medical thrillers. He has to balance the medical scenes with the suspense in his stories, but he believes the first drives the second.

             William Kent Krueger’s books deal with the conflict between Indians and the whites. “The biggest problem [for the former] is hope, the belief that there is no way out of the cycle they’re in.”  Plus he’s addressed issues of hunting and fishing rights, logging, and more. “People read into my books and come away with a lot more than they anticipated.”

             Libby Fischer Hellman deals with sandwich generation issues, plus her third story explored how women in Eastern Europe may be forced into desperate measures to survive. “The challenge is to make it real, to make it personal ... the story of one person who is dealing with those issues.”

             Betty Webb agreed. “You have to put a face on tragedy.” Her story deals with polygamy in the United States, a practice that is still going on today.

             Panel Two was "The Business is Murder" moderated by Patricia Sprinkle.

             J.B. Thompson, who writes romantic thrillers, said “You have to market yourself, and you have to believe in yourself. This is not just about the art that you’ve created.”

             Gwen Hunter offered this advice: "Be adaptive to the business.   What you write may change."

             Vicky Hunnings, who used to be a nurse practitioner, now writes police procedurals.  “I’ve gone from helping people to murdering them,” she said with a grin.  She’d always been fascinated by police work. “My heroine’s strength is the computer and unearthing facts.”  Regarding promotion: “You have to do all your own marketing and promotion.  You can go from having too much time for writing, to taking up all your time with these aspects, so that you have to structure time to write.   Develop a thick skin, go for it, and don’t turn back.”

             Kathryn Wall confessed that she used to be an accountant.   She said writing is “a mixture of art and business, meaning you can’t follow all the rules you’ve learned in your previous profession.  Serendipity coupled with a lot of hard work” helps on the road to publication.

             Twist Phelan, a former trial attorney, said her biochemist parents named her after DNA.   Her books deal with family conflicts and complications, and each features a different extreme sport.  She said she learned to approach a writing career as a business.

             Guest of Honor Parnell Hall followed by reading his hilarious first attempt at writing a romance novel.  He shared how he used to be a screenwriter,   then how he got inspired to write a PI series by working for a New York private detective agency.

             "Man Can Be Murder" came next, moderated by Lono Waiwaiole. He wanted to know why his fellow panelists write dark fiction.

             Con Lehane writes about a bartender in New York City, a setting that leans toward this type of story.  Paul Guyot discussed the pros and cons of being a TV writer.  Christopher Rice said “I’m addicted to being scared which was very difficult for my parents.  Writing is about bringing it out.”  Paul Doyle spoke about his experiences: “I try to put down on paper what I’ve seen and done.”

             As a lighter contrast, the panel that followed was called "Murder, Love, and Lipstick."  Susan McBride did an excellent job as moderator.  I was on this panel along with Laura Durham, Dana Cameron, and Jessica Speart.  Susan asked us how we came by our characters’ names since they seemed to be related to the sleuth’s profession.  Dana’s Emma Fielding is an archaeologist who works in the field.  Laura’s Annabelle Archer is a bridal planner (hint: think Cupid shooting arrows).  Jessica’s Rachel Porter prevents bad guys from smuggling endangered wildlife, which sometimes can get in illegally through the sea ports.  And my own hair stylist sleuth, Marla Shore, lives in South Florida not far from – you guessed it – the ocean shore.  We discussed strong women as protagonists, character relationships, and research highlights of our stories.

             We rounded out the day by gathering for cocktails in the hotel lounge, getting to know other authors as well as members of the Southern Sisters who were so gracious in hosting this conference. – Nancy J. Cohen

             Speaking of a dark side, I hope Nancy and Susan forgive me for taking a meat ax to some of their prose. It was done only in the interest of space. For anyone interested in the unedited versions, drop me a line and I’ll send them. – David

Save that Date

Murder in the Grove 2005: June 10-11, 2005.  Early registration through April 30, 2005 is $100.00; after April 30, 2005, registration is $125.00. Guest of Honor for the Event is Pulitzer Prize nominee Carolyn Hart. For more information or to register, visit murderinthegrove.com.

Contributors

             Susan McBride is the author of The Good Girl's Guide to Murder and Blue Blood.

             Joel Goldman is the author of Deadlocked, Cold Truth, The Last Witness, and Motion to Kill.

             Denise Hamilton is the author of Savage Garden, Last Lullaby, Sugar Skull, and The Jasmine Trade.

             Nancy J. Cohen is the author of Bad Hair Day Mysteries. Her most recent: Three Men and a Body, Wicked Women Whodunit.

             David Terrenoire is the author of Beneath a Panamanian Moon.

Copyright 2005 by David Terrenoire