Because I know you've been sitting on the edge of your seat for a week, here's the second part to help those who are planning to attend writing conferences in the future and want to be on a panel.

6. Depart from Your Script. You want to be prepared, but realize that the best panels take on a life of their own. Your notes and any questions you may have been sent ahead of time…

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Unfortunately, I can't claim this blog as my own. This was written by a wonderful woman named Beth Terrell who helps out with the annual Killer Nashville writers' conference held every August in...you guessed it, Nashville, TN. In 2012, a week before the conference, she sent along this message to all of the authors scheduled to be on one of the panels. I thought it a wonderful message and one…

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I've given up telling people I'm going to Bouchercon next weekend, at least the people who aren't rabid mystery writers like me. Instead I say I'm attending a big meeting for mystery readers and writers in Cleveland. Most of the time that gets me a funny look that might mean, "I knew you were a little nuts." Mystery conferences are in some ways like the teachers' meetings I used to have to attend. There has to be programming, a sort of raison d'etre, so panels on various aspects of reading…

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If you missed my Monday post yesterday, it's a Tuesday post today. I was in transit from BoucherCon to home, and I just couldn't fit any more in.

Today is catch-up day, but I had to say here how much fun Bcon was, even though I often feel like a small fish in a big pond at such events. Rubbing elbows with the greats of our field, meeting lots of fans, and talking, talking, talking about books is a great way to take a break from real life and at the same time learn what is real in…

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There are many outlets both in print and in person where you can be seen and heard.



MAGAZINES



In print, consider submitting short stories to different magazines. Every reader of your article is a possible buyer for your book. For one stop shopping in this area, become a member of Writer's Market. On their site, they list magazines alphabetically that you can submit to.



One other place you can register is at… Continue

I owe a lot to Kate Atkinson. She wasn’t by any means the first crime writer I read, not even the one who has most influenced me. As a child my bookshelves were filled with Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden mysteries. I would grow into my grandparents’ shelves, which were lined with Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Louis L’Amour, Patricia Highsmith, True Detective magazines, and lots of pulp. With… Continue

I've tried being organized, laying out things a week in advance in order to not be last minute about what I will take to a con. It never works.

Whatever I've laid out, a week, a day, or even half a day before will become my most hated items of apparel when the time comes to actually put them into a suitcase. "What was I thinking? Those pants make me look a mile wide!" "And that necklace never hangs right." "Those shoes are sure to hurt after an hour."

Better to wait until an hour… Continue

Two days' driving, but it was beautiful all the way. Traffic was okay and the Garmin did the rest. (I love that thing!) So here I am at the Marriott, wishing I could live like this for at least a month. Lots of people who love to talk about books, lots of fancy food and attentive hotel staff (if you tip well), and the chance to see old friends, make new friends, and see my heroes of the writing world.

Cool.

Day Two of Preparing for Malice: Now it's time to be sure I have all the non-clothing stuff covered.

I have packed bookmarks and books, business cards and copies of relevant documents. I have my passport (I know where D.C. is, but we may return through Canada, so there.) I have two suitcases: an on-the-road dufflebag and my official Malicewear suitcase. So what's left to do?

I need to make sure that my laptop has everything on it that I might need while I'm gone. I tend to…

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It ain’t easy being a writer. And I’m not talking about the hard work, the solitude, the craft—that’s a post for someone else’s blog. I’m talking about the money we want to spend wisely. Namely, the money most of us don’t have.



And this isn’t about the not-enough-to-live-on advances either, or the… Continue

Conferences. I love them. Always have a good time. Always meet great people. So what's the problem?



For one thing, I live in the sticks. Attending any con is a major operation, requiring planes, trains, and/or automobiles in great abundance. It costs me five hours' travel just to get out of Michigan by car, and flying requires a puddle-jumper ride first and last, which adds a lot to the expense (and the nail-biting, these days).



Secondly, I have two books pending but… Continue

I've been attending cons for some time now, and I've learned that each has a feel to it, rather like the books we all go to talk about. Some are dignified and others comical. Some cater to readers and others to writers. In some the small-time writer feels ignored as the "big guns" waft through the crowds and toss out comments about bidding wars for their next book. In others there's a real feeling that we're all in this together.



What's fun to contemplate for me is the dominant… Continue

I just returned from Magna Cum Murder in Muncie, Indiana, and I have to say that it brings back memories of my first week at college. I came from a small high school where I was the smart girl to a mid-sized university, and it was an eye-opening experience to find so many around me who were just as smart, and even a lot smarter than I. I loved the stimulation, but I knew I had to be on my toes.



That's how Magna is. You know your favorites in mystery, you know the characters and the… Continue

I was offered a chance over the weekend that may be too good to pass up. Friends are headed to Magna Cum Murder, and they said, "Come with us." Now, I'd said no earlier since I have no book to push at a mystery con, but things seem to be falling into place. Turns out I'll be halfway to Muncie on Thursday. I can hook up with a friend who's driving down, stay with them, and maybe even get on a panel. My short story is now in a mystery anthology, DYING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND, so I have something… Continue

So many writers have mentored me along my path to publication. I still have much room for improvement and a long way to go, but this past week I discovered something. I also have something to offer! Now it's my turn to guide and inspire beginning writers.



I had the privilege of working with 21 brave souls who'd submitted manuscripts for intense critiquing at the Southeastern Writers Conference (an event I strongly recommend to all… Continue

My latest book, Autographs, Abductions, and A-List Authors, is out just in time for the conference season. It kicks off my "Fatal Writers' Conferences" series -- the heroine is an up-and-coming author who goes to a writing conference and WHAM, a best-selling author dies while autographing a book for the heroine.



I had a lot of fun writing this and having the heroine (and other characters) express opinions about agents, editors, publishing, and publishing houses. And to be… Continue

The New England Chapter Romance Writer’s Association – Let Your Imagination Take Flight: Come to the Edge - Writer’s Conference was FANTASTIC! I don’t even know where to begin..



Here are just some of the authors that were there:

Jessica Andersen, Suzanne Brockman, Linda Cardillo, Loretta Chase, Eileen Cook, Kristan Higgins, Geri Krotow, Caroline Linden, Eileen Rendahl, Kathryn Smith, Susan Wiggs, Lauren Willig, Virginia Kantra, Terri Brisbin, Hannah Howell



I got there… Continue