A Killer Conversation

Poetry and Fiction Submissions Needed for Anthology

2011-05-09T11:08:00.001-05:00

New publication invites submissions

Filtered through Time

an anthology of original fiction and poetry reflecting how Middle Tennessee traditions and reactions to the Civil War have come down through the generations for 150 years.

There are many excellent history books covering the war and the years before and after that conflict. In this new book, we are seeking examples of how the war plays out in the community’s memory and consciousness as expressed in imaginative writing.

Deadline for submissions is May 2012.

All work must have a Civil War theme but not necessarily a Civil War setting. A story or poem may well describe the long term effect of the war on a family or reflect the feelings of someone to whom the war seems irrelevant. We welcome a variety of points of view.

In so far as many war stories have come down thorough families, we suggest that following a story or poem, an author may add a historical note explaining the origin of its ideas. If you have a great family story, try telling it in verse or see how its theme might play out in fiction, either a full length story or as “flash-fiction.” However, if you want to write it simply as a good narrative in your family’s tradition, go ahead.

Maximum length for fiction is 5,000 words.

Maximum for poetry is 150 lines single spaced.

Submissions may be sent electronically to beechcreek@mindsping.com or hard copy mailed to S.R. Lee, 475 Beech Creek Rd, N Brentwood, TN 37027

This book is being promoted, edited, and financed by a small group of interested writers under the direction of S.R. Lee, author/editor, and Rick Warwick, Williamson County historian. with the assistance of an editorial committee. Authors may order and sell the books themselves. The editors also will find suitable venues for public sales.

Battle Field, 1937

One hot summer day a boy,

with little sister tagging at his heels,

climbs to a low crest where old trenches

sink in weedy waves of three long lines

bottomed in buck bush and prickly pears.

Enthralled the boy brings friends.

They play at war.

The little sister, sun suited, sandaled,

unprepared for cactus spines,

follows their violent charge through

real war’s land. The little sandaled feet

are filled with tiny spears.

Child weeps to home.

Mother with her shiny tweezers

seems a battle surgeon claiming pain

must follow wounds.

The child sobs

and in her baby way forever

knows real danger dwells in battlefields.

S.R. Lee

Call for Submissions: New Killer Nashville E-Magazine

2011-04-30T23:54:00.003-05:00

Dear Killer Nashville Authors, Presenters, and Friends,

Killer Nashville is pleased to announce the birth of a new publication—so new it doesn’t even have a name yet. As befits a newborn, its first appearance (on or near the first of May) will be in abbreviated form, but we expect it to grow quickly from a monthly newsletter to a full-fledged E-zine issued on the first of each month.

We’re excited about this project and would like to invite you to be a part of it. The e-magazine will be published by Killer Nashville with the following staff positions:

Publisher—Clay Stafford

Editors-in-chief—Jaden (Beth) Terrell and Paige Crutcher

Layout/production—Tracy Bunch

Editors and contributors—you!

The multifaceted purpose of the publication is:

• to educate others

• to create a sense of community

• to drive traffic to the conference site

• to find advertisers to help fund Killer Nashville

• to create exposure for Killer Nashville and for the E-zine contributors (there are almost 4,000 subscribers to the Killer Nashville mailing list)

Since our eventual hope is to compile selected articles into published books, contributors may even have an opportunity for a small income.

For each submission, we would need non-exclusive, non-ending print and electronic reprint rights, including the right to use the submission in newsletters, online, in print versions, or in other media. (This is not the same as one-time rights, since it’s hard to have one-time rights on, for example, a web post.) We would need to be able to use the article multiple times, either online or in print. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, clarity, or content requirements.

However, we do not need first-time or exclusive rights to anything. The, article may have been previously published. The article may later be sold or published elsewhere by the writer (although any link to KN would be greatly appreciated). The writer retains ownership of the work. To optimize exposure, the writer’s email address and web link may be included with the article.

There is no advance payment, but for all Killer Nashville distributed materials that produce an income (e.g., if a compilation or anthology is created and sold in web, book or other format), Killer Nashville will pay a 10% collective royalty based upon gross receipts to be divided equally among all writers of that collection. In addition, authors will be collectively paid 1/2 the royalty given to Killer Nashville by any outside publisher. These numbers align well with the Authors Guild Model Contract and Guide and with the policies of the most generous of publishers or packagers.

There is no payment for free web or newsletter displays.

Submission indicates agreement to these terms.

Issues will be planned 3-12 months in advance and will eventually include the following monthly columns:

• Book Reviews of KN Authors

• Book Reviews of Nonfiction Books on Writing or Forensics

• “Fun Find” (fun or just-plain interesting mystery/suspense-related facts and activities)

• Forensic How-to

• Writing How-to

• Publishing How-to

• Computer How-to

• Getting Published How-To

• Research How-to

• Publicity/Promotion/Marketing How-to

• Genre How-to (Suspense)

• Genre How-to (Thriller)

• Genre How-to (Mystery)

• Featured Websites

• Killer Nashville Success Stories

• Monthly author, agent, and editor interviews conducted by Paige Crutcher

Each issue will have a loosely interpreted theme. The upcoming themes are as follows:

• June: Chaos (as it acts on plot or as a character – what elements besides the people act as characters in novels?)

• July: Writing Tools.

• August: Good vs. Evil

• September: Love & Loss

• October: The element of surprise – unraveling a story

• November: Coming of Age – evolution of a character in a novel

• December: Watching the Detective

• January: Secrets – skeletons in the closet

• February: The Art of the Perfect Murder – Killing Your Darlings & How to Commit the Perfect Murder.

• March: Romance in Any Genre

• April: Using Your Own Story in a Story

• May: Advising Aspiring Authors

If you’re interested in being a regular or occasional contributor, or if you would like to be interviewed for one of the issues, please contact me as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Jaden (Beth) Terrell

Executive Director, Killer Nashville

contact@killernashville.com

Fitting it All In: The 27-Hour Day

2011-03-28T08:30:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, no one in our Plot Therapy group had plotting issues to be dealt with. Instead, the issues were goal-setting and motivation. In this 24-hour world of day jobs, family responsibilities, and book promotion, how do we manage to fit it all in and still pursue a writing career? "Put your writing first," the experts say, but when the baby (or the puppy) is throwing up and the job that pays the bills demands 14-hour shifts and 7-day work weeks, putting writing first is easier said than done.

Of course, some of the demands on our time aren't really demands at all; we meet our friends for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant ("After all, I have to eat anyway."), and the meal and after-dinner conversation stretch for hours. We plan to work on our novels . . . just as soon as we finish watching season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix ("After all, I have to have a little time to decompress."). Sometimes it feels like we're trying to fit 27 hours into a 24-hour day.

Although we were at different stages in our writing careers--one is not yet published, one is moving from a micro-press to a larger press, and one is multiply published with a major house--all three had a common goal: to finish the current draft of our next books by the end of April. Two of us had gotten off to a good start during NaNoWriMo in November but had made halting progress in the interim. One was in the beginning stages of a new book. What we needed, we decided, was a NaNo-like system adapted to our individual needs. I share them here in case any of you are similarly stalled.

1. Have a specific goal and a specific timeline. "I will complete the first draft of my book by April 30."

2. Break the goal down into smaller, more manageable goals. If you don't make the goal today, you need to meet that goal plus the next day's goal tomorrow (extra motivation not to fall behind!). For me, that comes down to two days of research followed by two chapters a day for thirty days. Since I have the basic structure of the book laid down, and since it's approximately sixty chapters, the two-chapter-a-day goal makes the most sense for me. Another member of the group, a detail-oriented plotter, has based his goals on the remaining scenes, writing on a calendar which scenes he expects to fnish each day. Another, a dyed-in-the-wool pantser, will shoot for a specific word count. We each got a daily planner in which to record our goals and our actual output--goal in one color, actual results in another.

3. Have a support system and a system of accountability. We decided to use daily Facebook messages to share our progress and encouragement with each other.

4. Plan rewards along the way. Want to watch an episode of Criminal Minds? Only after you've reached your goal for the day. Love chocolate? Have a small piece after each scene.

5. Plan a larger reward for when you've reached your goal. "No money spent on books until we reach our goal," we said. Then we'd meet on May 1 at a local bookstore and go on a book-buying spree.

How about you? Fellow writers, how to motivate yourself to meet your writing goals? Fellow readers, I'm sure you have the same struggles to fit everything in. How do you do it?

Second Killer Nashville Guest of Honor

2011-03-21T22:31:00.000-05:00

Killer Nashville is pleased to announce that in 2011, we will have two New York Times bestselling Guests of Honor. Mystery author Donald Bain (of Murder she Wrote fame), who was profiled a few weeks ago, will be joined by thriller writer Robert Dugoni. His website, http://www.robertdugoni.com, supplies the following biographical information:

Robert Dugoni was born in Pocatello, Idaho and raised in Burlingame, California. Growing up the middle child in a family of ten siblings, Dugoni jokes that he didn't get much of a chance to talk, so he wrote. By the seventh grade he knew he wanted to be a writer.

Dugoni wrote his way to Stanford University where he majored in communications/journalism and creative writing and worked as a reporter for the Stanford Daily. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and worked briefly as a reporter in the Metro and San Gabriel Valley Offices of the Los Angeles Times before deciding to attend the UCLA law school. Dugoni practiced law full-time in San Francisco as a partner at the law firm, Gordon and Rees and is currently of counsel for a law firm in Seattle.

While practicing law he satisfied his artistic thirst studying acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, appearing in equity and non-equity shows throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. His longing to return to writing never wavered, however, and in 1999 he made the decision to quit the full-time practice of law to write novels. On the 4-year anniversary of his wedding, he drove a u-haul trailer across the Oregon-Washington border and settled in Seattle to pursue his dream.

For the next three years, Dugoni worked in an 8 x 8 foot windowless office in Seattle s Pioneer Square to complete three novels, two of which won the 1999 and 2000 Pacific Northwest Writer's Association Literary Contests.

Dugoni's non-fiction expose, The Cyanide Canary, published in 2004, chronicled the investigation, prosecution, and aftermath surrounding an environmental crime in Soda Springs, Idaho. It became a Washington Post Best Book of the year, and the Idaho Book of the Year.

His debut novel, The Jury Master became a New York Times bestseller. Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine chose it as one of three "Best of the Best" debut novels of 2006. The Seattle Times and Library Journal have likened Dugoni to a young John Grisham, calling The Jury Master, "A riveting tale of murder, skullduggery and treachery at the highest level."

Dugoni's second novel, Damage Control, reached number 8 on several national independent bookseller's lists. Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal called Damage Control "a page turner" with "a fast moving plot and a few twists that will surprise even seasoned thriller readers."

Wrongful Death, Dugoni's recently released sequel to The Jury Master has also received critical acclaim. Mysterious Reviews touted Wrongful Death as "among the best books to be published this year." Kirkus called it, "An entertaining thriller about a hotshot lawyer with good guys to like, villains to hiss, and windmills to attack." And Booklist wrote, "Mixing the suspense of a Grisham legal thriller with the political angle of a Baldacci. Dugoni is knocking on the A-list thriller door."

Dugoni's fourth novel and third in the David Sloane series, Bodily Harm, will be released May 2010 and critics are calling it his best book yet.

Dugoni's books have been published in 18 foreign countries. In addition to writing novels Dugoni teaches the craft of writing and writing novels throughout the United States.

Interview with Chester D. Campbell

2011-03-14T01:50:00.001-05:00

Chester Campbell is the author of two mystery series featuring private investigators. The Surest Poison, first book in the Sid Chance series dealing with a chemical pollution case, came out in 2009. He has written five Greg McKenzie novels featuring a retired Air Force investigator and his wife. Prior to turning to fiction writing, Campbell worked as a newspaper reporter, freelance writer, magazine editor, political speechwriter, advertising copywriter, public relations professional and association executive. An Air Force intelligence officer in the Korean War, he retired from the Air Force Reserve as a lieutenant colonel. He lives in Madison, TN.

KN: You worked in journalism for many years. What was your path to publication as a mystery writer? And why PI novels?

CC: My path had more curves than the Cumberland River, which is known for its many bends as it wanders through Nashville. I wrote my first novel in 1948 while studying journalism at the University of Tennessee and working as a reporter for The Knoxville Journal. During my career in newspapers, magazines, advertising and public relations, I wrote another in the mid-sixties. Neither of those made it into publication. I retired in 1989 and turned to writing mysteries in earnest. After four agents and eight manuscripts, I finally made it into print in 2002.

As for why PI novels, I started out writing post-Cold War spy thrillers and books featuring ordinary guys caught up in life-threatening situations. When I came up with the idea for Secret of the Scroll, my first published novel, I needed an experienced investigator as a protagonist. I decided to make a series with Greg McKenzie and his wife, and the logical move was to make them private investigators.

KN: How have your years as a journalist influenced your writing?

CC: As a reporter and a magazine journalist, I perfected my methods for interviewing subjects and conducting research in other ways. I particularly enjoyed feature writing. I found it easy to shift into fiction using some of the same techniques. My somewhat terse writing style probably stems from experience as a journalist.

KN: What was the inspiration for your first Greg McKenzie novel, Secret of the Scroll?

CC: I went on a group tour of the Holy Land in November of 1998. We flew via Royal Jordanian Airlines, and on the way home I read an in-flight magazine article about caves found around Bethany in Jordan. They had been occupied by Christian monks in the first century. I thought what if someone found a cave that contained an ancient scroll with a secret worth millions? So I created one, though it hasn’t been quite that lucrative for me.

KN: Greg and his wife, Jill, have had a number of adventures together. Can you give any hints about what’s in their future?

CC: Their sixth adventure is still bubbling in the cauldron of my head. I’m sure the witches’ brew will stir up something to test their mettle.

KN: After several well-received Greg McKenzie books, you’ve introduced a new PI series featuring former park ranger and small-town police chief Sid Chance. What led you to create a second series?

CC: I enjoy writing about Greg and Jill, particularly playing them off against each other, but I wanted to do something with a little harder edge. Sid is more likely to step into the middle of a melee.

KN: How are Greg and Sid similar to and different from each other?

CC: Sid is several years younger, not quite sixty. Greg has been happily married for more than thirty years, while Sid is single. And Sid is a definite presence, at six-foot-six. They’re both ex-military, Greg a retired Air Force officer, Sid a Special Forces non-com in Vietnam.

KN: Do the series attract different audiences, or is your fan base the same for both?

CC: I think it’s a split-decision. Some readers appear to enjoy both series, while others prefer to stick with Greg and Jill.

KN: Both your protagonists are seniors. What do you think accounts for the current popularity of senior sleuths?

CC: As the population ages, the ranks of seniors make up more of the reading public. I think older characters bring a broader perspective to the story, and older readers like that. However, my seniors aren’t caricaturish “old.” I think age is largely a state of mind. I’m eighty-five and I don’t consider myself “old.”

KN: Does the fact that your detectives are seniors create any special challenges to you as a writer?

CC: They say write what you know best, and the senior ranks sure fit that. But I think the main challenge is to keep the characters within the limits of their physical capabilities. I disagree with a couple of reviewers who thought Greg was not realistic in some of his actions. I suspect the reviewers were much younger.

KN: What’s an ideal writing day for you?

CC: An ideal writing day for me is a day when I can find time to sit down and write. That doesn’t always happen. Life seems to get in the way. I’m doing better lately, but not good enough.

KN: What’s been the most surprising thing about being a full-time novelist?

CC: That the writing is the least difficult part of the job. Marketing and promoting your work is much more difficult and takes an inordinate amount of time. I keep hoping to win the lottery so I can hire a fulltime publicist to take care of those chores.

KN: Your books have won several awards, including the Silver Falchion Award bestowed by Killer Nashville. How does it feel to be able to put “Award-winning Writer” by your name?

CC: Not being the pushy type, I have trouble billing myself that way. I probably should do it more, but I don’t know how impressed readers are with that sort of thing. I hope they read me because they like good books.

KN: You’ve been called “the King of Promotion” by your local Sisters in Crime chapter. How did you come by that title?

CC: I don’t know that it was all that well deserved, but when I got my first book in print I tried to accomplish everything I had read about promotion. I did lots of signings, got stories in newspapers, articles in magazines, did TV interviews, lots of radio interviews, attended numerous conferences. The inimitable Del Tinsley crowned me with that title.

KN: What do you do to promote your books?

CC: I don’t do as much of the things previously mentioned now. I do more on the internet with a fairly sizeable website (http://www.chesterdcampbell.com), a personal blog and regular contributions to two others, Facebook, Goodreads, and way too many email lists. For signings, I’ve turned more to area festivals and book fairs.

KN: Your books are all available as e-books. Any thoughts on how the explosion of e-readers and e-books will affect the future of publishing and small-press authors in particular?

CC: It’s a great opportunity for writers, and particularly us small press types who don’t get all the brick and mortar exposure. The proliferation of smart phones and a variety of e-readers can only increase the popularity of e-books. I’m sure there will always be a demand for printed books, but the digital revolution is bound to go only one way—up. For writers, it’s an opportunity to earn higher royalties.

KN: What writing advice would you give to aspiring authors?

CC: Never give up! If I had decided to heck with it after failing to place seven novels, I would not now have six in print, with more on the way. But prepare yourself well. Read the kind of books you want to write, learn all you can about fiction writing, and glue your bottom to the chair.

KN: And what marketing and promotion advice would you give to published authors looking to sell more books?

CC: Everybody goes about it a bit differently. Try as many of the ways you’ve read about (see above) and use what works for you. Good luck.

KN: You’re the president of your local Sisters in Crime chapter and have served on the SEMWA (Southeastern Mystery Writers of America) board. How has your involvement in professional organizations helped your career?

CC: I have met dozens of great writers and made numerous contacts that have been helpful in pursuing my career as a mystery writer. I spent the last eighteen years of my working life in the association management business, and I’ve tried to follow my own advice—if an organization is worth belong to, it’s worth getting involved in. Volunteer and you’ll get the most out of your membership.

KN: Is there anything else you’d like to say that we haven’t discussed?

CC: We haven’t talked about our sponsor. I missed the first Killer Nashville because of an out-of-town signing, but I don’t intend to miss another. It’s the perfect size, the perfect program mix, and the perfect place. Y’all come!

KN: Thanks for that, Chester. Once again you prove that you are truly a class act. Okay, last question: what’s our topic of the week?

CC: Are we really going to have a Spring this year?

Interview with Michael Orenduff

2011-02-28T02:47:00.000-06:00

Mike Orenduff grew up in El Paso Texas, in a house so close to the Rio Grande that he could frisbee a tortilla into Mexico. Before he turned to writing humorous murder mysteries, Mike taught at universities in seven states and three countries. He was also a college administrator, serving as President of The University of Maine at Farmington, The American University in Bulgaria, New Mexico State University, and Bermuda College. He served as Chancellor of the University of Maine System and a visiting faculty member at West Point. His first murder mystery, The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras, won the New Mexico Book of the Year Award, and the Kindle version won the 2010 EPIC Award in the Mystery/Suspense Category. The second book in the series, The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy, was chosen as Best Fiction Book by the Public Safety Writers Association and is a finalist for this year’s EPIC Award. The third in the series, The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein, is a finalist for the Lefty Award for best humorous mystery of the year. Mike and his wife, the noted art historian Lai Orenduff, have two grown children. Jay is a dean at Columbia University in New York, and Claire teaches art history at Georgia College and – more importantly – is the mother of their grandson, Bram

KN: What’s your publishing story? How did the Pot Thief books come to be?

MO: I entered the Dark Oak Mystery Contest sponsored by Oak Tree Press and won. The prize was a contract to publish the book. This was perfect for me as I hate writing query letters. As I often say, a query letter is a good thing to read if you want to hire someone to write query letters. But author aren’t chosen to write queries; they are chosen to write stories. The publishing business would be a little less insane if agents and editors read a chapter instead of a query.

KN: Hubert Schuze is one of the most original characters I’ve read in a mystery. Can you tell us a little bit about him? How did you come up with him?

MO: I wanted to set the books in New Mexico because I love it, I know it, and it has a certain mystique about it that I thought would help attract readers. Then I wanted my protagonist to have some moral ambiguity. What better flaw for a character in New Mexico than to be a pot thief. It also allows me to work in the Native American angle so important to the locale.

KN: How is he similar to you, and how is he different?

MO: He is physically my opposite. He is short and has a full head of hair. I am tall and bald. One personality trait he shares with me is a tendency to overanalyze everything. His musings are a feature of the books and readers tell me they like that.

KN: Hubert has a distinctive voice and an exceptional and charming gift for rationalization. How hard was it to find his unique voice?

MO: It wasn’t difficult in the sense of requiring great skill or insight on my part. But it was time consuming. I simply started writing and kept at it. After I finished the first draft of the first book, The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras, I put it aside for a month or so. Then I read it and saw that Hubie was not a consistent and coherent character. So I marked all the passages that didn’t seem to fit. I changed them and let the book age for another few weeks. Then I repeated the process. If I found Hubie saying or thinking something that didn’t seem right for him, I either changed it or, if I couldn’t make it work, threw it out. After several iterations of this process, I found myself very comfortable saying, “Hubie would never say that.” And once I reached that point, I knew I was on the right track. But I’m still working on it. I think his voice has improved with each book.

KN: There have been three Pot Thief novels so far. Do you have a specific number planned for the series?

MO: No. The 4th one, The Pot Thief Who Studied Escoffier, will be out next month. I have a first draft of the 5th one and am working on the sixth. I’ll keep going as until I get tired of it or run out of ideas and/or readers.

KN: Do you have any plans to give Hubert a romantic entanglement? Any chance of love blooming between Hubert and his friend Susannah?

MO: Hubert will lurch in his unsystematic way from one romance to another. The relationship between Hubert and Susannah is deliberately ambiguous, and I have to keep it that way for the books to work.

KN: How are your novels born? Do you begin a novel with a full-blown plot or the seed of an idea?

MO: The seed of an idea. Then a very short and rough outline, more a list of key plot points. I don’t have the patience to do a complete plot before starting to write.

KN: You seem to know a lot about ancient Native American pottery. Do you have a background in archaeology?

MO: I majored in anthropology/archaeology for a while before switching to philosophy.

KN: Do you research your books before you begin writing? If so, how extensively? If not, how do you work around any gaps in your knowledge (if any)?

MO: I do extensive research and still get things wrong.

KN: Pantser or plotter?

MO: Pantser. I have been known to decide halfway into a book to make someone a victim when the original plan was to make him the murderer.

KN: What is your writing schedule/writing process like?

MO: I need large blocks of time because once I start, I don’t like to stop. I do almost no editing while I write because I’m immersed in the story. So a writing session is strictly writing, and an editing session is strictly editing and re-writing. I typically edit and re-write a book somewhere between twelve and twenty times. I have no idea if that is typical.

KN: Your writing is very crisp and tight. How much editing do you do to get it that way? Do you have a special editing process or system?

MO: My first drafts are about 100,000 words. They eventually get edited down to 60,000 or so. I think that help keep them tight.

KN: What are your goals and hopes as a writer?

MO: I didn’t become a writer to make money. Good thing, right? I’m retired on an adequate income. I didn’t become a writer just to have something to do. There are other hobbies I enjoy. I became a writer because I wanted an audience. I like the idea that people read what I write. Perhaps after all those years as a professor, I still have the need to have an audience.

KN: What’s been the most surprising thing about being a professional writer?

MO: Discovering how bizarre the world of publishing is. I had no idea how publishing worked, how bookstores worked, etc. It feels like I ran away and joined the circus.

KN: Your Pot Thief books have received critical acclaim and have even won several awards. Does the recognition affect your writing (e.g., inspire you, give you more confidence to try new things, make you less likely to stray too far afield from what’s been successful for you)?

MO: I’ve never been asked this before, so I had to think about it. I’m pleased by the recognition because it means I do have that audience and it may get larger, but I don’t think it has affected my writing in any way.

KN: Humor plays a large role in your books. In fact, in last week’s discussion, you said something to the effect that the mysteries in your book are the platform for the humor. Has humor always come naturally to you?

MO: It has. I don’t have many other talents. I can’t play a musical instrument, juggle, or tap dance, but I can make people laugh.

KN: How about marketing? What do you do to promote your books?

MO: I know this sounds unimaginative in the Internet age, but I rely primarily on book signings at brick and mortar bookstores, and on reviews in newspapers and magazines.

KN: What can we look forward to from you next?

MO: I am writing a serious novel. Whether it will be completed and whether it will be worth completing remain to be seen. It is much harder work for me than writing humor, but I decided it would be an interesting challenge.

KN: Last question: What’s our discussion question for the week?

MO: Would it be a good thing if celebrities stopped “writing” books? After all, authors don’t run for the Senate, star in movies, or throw touchdown passes, so why should politicians, movie stars, and quarterbacks pretend to be writers?

Interview with Author Bill Fitzhugh

2011-02-06T23:32:00.000-06:00

Bill Fitzhugh (third from the left) calls himself the much-derided author of the cozy-thrillers “Kitty, Kitty, Kitty,” “Death by Kittens,” and “Hey, Kitty, How Much for the Throbbing Love Muscle?” (which was short-listed for the Booker Prize, losing to Salman Rushdie in what was clearly a rigged contest). Confounding critics and readers alike, his series explores the dark underbelly of the world of testicle transplants, the international kitty porn industry, and pie-eating contests. Series protagonist, Angus McNaughty, is a loner; an alley cat, who travels only with a toothbrush and furball medicine. Fitzhugh lives in Los Angeles with very little hope of a decent future.

KN: Your writing career began in radio when you were in high school, and from there you progressed to writing for film and television. How does your background in radio and television influence your books?

BF: To the extent that any type of writing you do helps you become a better writer, writing for tv and radio had some unmeasurable influence.

KN: PEST CONTROL began as a screenplay. How did you get the idea for a story about a down-and-out exterminator who is mistaken for an assassin?

BF: It evolved from an idea about a guy desperate for money to pay his rent (they say write what you know and at the time I was broke). The original idea was this normal guy was going to seek out work as an assassin because he needed more than he figured he'd get robbing convenience stores. When I went to the library (this was a few years before most of us had heard of the Internet) I looked up assassin in the encyclopedia. That's where I learned about assassin bugs. Lightbulb went off and the story evolved to one about an exterminator working with assassin bugs who people come to mistakenly think he's an assassin who calls himself The Exterminator.

KN: Bob Dillon, the protagonist of PEST CONTROL has extensive knowledge of insects, and the book includes a lot of obscure scientific details about them. Did you have to learn all that for the book, or is entomology a hobby—or were you perhaps an entomologist in a past life?

BF: That was all research. By happenstance, while I was researching the bugs, I landed a gig writing a natural history program on insects so I got a lot of interesting BBC insect research given to me.

KN: Do you do extensive research for all your books?

BF: Yes, mostly. And far more than I really need to but I get very involved in the subjects and I think that ends up informing the character in positive ways. I did very little research for Radio Activity and Highway 61 Resurfaced, unless you count the years I worked in radio.

KN: Your books are smart, funny reads. Does humor come naturally to you, or do you have to work at it?

BF: Humor comes naturally to me but I have to work at getting it written correctly. There are so many ways to add humor to writing: funny characters, funny situations, puns and other word play, funny dialogue, etc. But it doesn't just land on the page, at least not for me. It takes a lot of work to make a funny paragraph that also advances character and or plot.

KN: Do you have any advice for writers who might like to incorporate more humor into their work?

BF: Think twice. Consider going to law school (this was the advice P.J. O'Rourke gave me years ago and I'm still kicking myself for not listening). Because while you can always write a book on the side while practicing law or you can quit and write a book; it's much harder to return to law school in your 50s and make a go of it after the writing career goes south.

KN: For your book, CROSS DRESSING, you employed a promotional strategy called product placement. Can you tell us a little bit about how and why you did it? How did you decide what products to place, and how did you draw attention to it?

BF: Since the book is a satire on religion and the advertising industry, I thought it would be funny and satirical and would help with marketing the book to make a product placement deal. Since I thought of this only after writing the book, I decided to use one of the products already in the book so I could claim commercial purity. The protagonist drinks scotch, so I went with Glenlivet.

KN: Some people missed the irony of your product placement strategy in a book that satirizes the business of advertising. Was there a lot of opposition to the idea? If so, how did you deal with it?

BF: I wouldn't say some people missed the irony; I'd say EVERYBODY missed it. There were a few literary purists who poo-poohed the idea but that was petty and pointless given that I'm not exactly writing literary fiction. The only way I 'dealt with it' was when The Guardian (UK newspaper) asked me to write an article explaining how everybody missed the joke. That didn't seem to help or hurt matters...

KN: Do your tailor your marketing strategy to each of your books?

BF: I always left that up to my publisher. And short of a million dollar ad campaign, marketing in the traditional sense is a spectacular waste of time, especially in the age of the Internet. We used to live in what you could call a "push media" environment. When there was very little media in the world (few tv networks that the majority watched, few radio stations that everyone listened to, a few magazines etc.) it was possible for publishers or movie studios or record companies to "PUSH" products into the public consciousness. We now live in what I'd call a "pull media" environment. Consumers have SO MANY choices of tv, radio, print publications, and MILLIONS of websites, that they can now "PULL" what they want from this vast pool and ignore what NBC or Warner Brothers Records wants them to watch or listen to or buy.

Leaving aside branded, best-selling authors whose books sell for no reason other than it has a FAMOUS NAME AUTHOR on the cover; the only way to sell a lot of books is by having word of mouth spread the name of your book virally. And there is no way to MAKE that happen or else we'd all be on the best seller list. Websites and Facebook and Twitter are an enormous waste of time and will not make you a best seller. You're probably well advised to have a website and a Facebook page, etc., simply so people can get information on you if by chance they hear about you. But the most effective way to market yourself is to write a book so good that complete strangers tell others that they have to buy your book.

KN: Hold on a minute. I want to write that last bit down...Okay, moving on. FENDER BENDERS is a humorous mystery with a Nashville setting. Are there any sites you visited when researching it that readers should be sure to check out?

BF: Well, Nashville's a nice enough place to visit. Lots of good places to hear great music. You definitely want to visit the Bluebird Cafe, especially if my friend J. Fred Knobloch is playing.

KN: Can you tell us a little bit about ORGAN GRINDERS? I admit to having a special interest in this book because it’s about a really interesting subject and also because it has monkeys in it.

BF: Baboons! Not monkeys.

KN: Of course. Sorry about that. But primates of any kind always make a book more interesting.

BF: It's a weird little book that got started when I saw the word 'xenograft' in a newspaper article about an AIDS patient who petitioned the CDC and the AMA and the DHHS to be allowed to have a baboon bone marrow transplant to see if it would strengthen his immune system. He was eventually allowed to do it and none of the things people feared would happen, happened. On the other hand, it didn't help the guy. But that got me started on research into the fascinating area of biotechnology called xenografting, which is any cross-species organ transplant (think Baby Fae and the baboon heart). Because there is much more demand for human organs than there is supply, biotech companies see there is a vast fortune to be made if they can find a way to transplant animal organs into people. Most of the research at the time I wrote the book was on pig organs, not primate. It's all very Frankenstein-y and driven by money and that struck me as plenty to base a book on.

KN: How did you come to write THE ADVENTURES OF SLIM AND HOWDY, which is based on a character by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn. Did you collaborate with Brooks & Dunn? If so, what was it like to work with them?

BF: Weird series of circumstances led to that. I had just moved to a new literary agency and this agent had just been contacted by the Brooks and Dunn people about one of their writers. They wanted to have someone write a novel based on the characters Kix Brooks created in the liner notes of their CDs. The writer they were asking about was a sci-fi writer or something so my agent said that wouldn't work. BUT she said, she'd just signed a guy (me) who had written a comic novel set in Nashville (Fender Benders) and they should read the book. They did. They loved it. We met once and then talked on the phone and exchanged emails. They were great to work with; gave me some funny stories and then let me do my thing. They loved how it turned out too. Someone at Sony optioned the film rights but it fell apart the way things usually do in Hollywood.

KN: From your website, it sounds like a number of your books are collaborations, to some extent. Do you prefer to write alone or with a partner? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

BF: The Brooks and Dunn project was the closest I've come to collaborating on a book. A couple of my books however are based on screenplays that I co-wrote with a partner before I turned them into novels on my own. (Our screenplays weren't very good since the collaboration resulted in a compromised voice, at least in our instance and I think that claim is borne out by virtue of the fact that we couldn't sell the screenplays but I sold the film rights to two of the novels I wrote based on the screenplays. Unless you happen to find a partnership where the two parties both do 50% of the work and the work pays off specatularly, it's all disadvantages. Arguing about every line and paragraph and page and chapter will wear you out. Splitting the money hurts, especially if one writer does most of the work. It's a can of worms best left unopened if you ask me.

KN: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention your new radio show, Fitzhugh’s All Hand Mixed Vinyl. Can you explain a bit about that to us?

BF: It's a half-hour show of stuff from the 'classic rock' library, sometimes well know tracks, sometimes artists or songs you've never heard. Generally speaking I do two types of shows: In one, I'll take 6 or 7 songs that just sound good played in the order I play them. Great songs that FM rock radio stopped playing decades ago but that are too good not to play! The other type of show revolves around doing cool segues and mashups of artists. I might take a long Yes track and find places where I can segue over to a Gino Vannelli track and go back and forth between the two several times over 15-20 minutes. Sometimes I'll take two tracks and play them simultaneously (if it works): I've got a great one where I play part of Santana's Soul Sacrifice over a violin solo from McKendree Spring for a couple of minutes. It's breathtaking if I do say so myself. I've got a list of all the sets on my web site.

KN: Do you devote more of your time to one medium (radio, novels, TV) or do you try to keep a balance between them?

BF: In terms of writing? Depends. When I'm under contract for a book; I'm all about the book. For a while I was both writing books and writing / producing the radio show. Then I started a tv project and so I did that and the radio show.

KN: What’s your writing schedule like?

BF: When I'm working on a book, I start in the morning, work to early afternoon on actual writing. Later, over a scotch, I'll consider the bigger picture of the story but won't do any actual writing, just plotting and thinking of character stuff.

KN: What’s next on your agenda?

BF: This blasted TV project that I've been working on for over two years (on spec!). It's a pilot for an hour long cable drama, a la Dexter. Based on (but totally different from) The Organ Grinders. I figure if it doesn't work out, I'll actually turn the (expanded) script back into a novel (though with a different title since it will have nothing to do with the original)...

KN: Thanks for joining us, Bill. Before we wrap it up, what’s our discussion topic for the week?

BF: You're asking the wrong guy!

KN: In that case, the House gets to decide. In honor of Bill's gift for writing humor, here's our question for the week: What role does humor play in the mysteries you enjoy reading and/or writing?

Killer Nashville 2011 Mystery Guest of Honor

2011-01-23T21:59:00.000-06:00

Killer Nashville is proud to present our 2011 Mystery Guest of Honor, Donald Bain.

Donald Bain is the author or ghost/author of more than 100 books in many different genres, many of them bestsellers. His autobiography, Murder HE Wrote: A Successful Writer's Life, published by Purdue University Press, is available everywhere.

He currently writes a series of 37 original novels (hard and softcover) based upon the television series, Murder, She Wrote. They're published by Obsidian, a new imprint from Penguin (NAL/Dutton), and are written “in collaboration" with TV's most famous mystery writer, Jessica Fletcher of "Murder, She Wrote," who exists only as a fictitious character. He has also written crime novels under the pseudonyms Nick Vasile (Sado Cop & A Member of the Family) & Mike Lundy (Raven & Baby Farm).

Earlier in his career, Donald was a writer/director and he created films for many clients and wrote and produced two daily radio series. He also wrote two nationally syndicated series, one of which he hosted. A public relations executive for McCann-Erickson and American Airlines, Donald also was a consultant to Pan Am for which two projects earned Silver Anvil awards from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). In 1985, with his wife, he co-founded Hyphenates, Ltd., which provides editorial services to a wide variety of companies.

Donald is a graduate of Purdue University and received its highest award for his work in educational radio and television. (He was designated a Purdue "Distinguished Alumni" in 2003.) He went on to work professionally in broadcasting in Texas and Indiana, and co-hosted more than 200 shows in New York.

Donald has worked for over 40 years as a professional jazz musician and has taught at the college level. He has written myriad magazine articles on many diverse subjects.

He is a member of Sigma Delta Chi, the Writer's Guild of America, the Authors Guild, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Mystery Writers of America. In 2006 he was designated "Grand Master" by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW).

Don Bain is married to Renée Paley-Bain, also a writer, and who collaborates with him on the Murder, She Wrote series. He has two grown daughters (Laurie, a fine writer and editor; and Pamela, the professor in the family) and four grandsons.

Claymore Award Now Open For Submissions

2011-01-17T22:44:00.000-06:00

Dear Killer Nashville Friends,

It's time to take a brief break from our interviews and give a Killer Nashville News Update instead. We'll be back with a new interview and discussion question next Monday.

First, our new venue will be the beautiful Hutton Hotel in downtown Nashville. The Hutton Hotel staff is thrilled to be hosting Killer Nashville, and they're giving us a fantastic rate--only $111 dollars a night with all kinds of perks--including free wifi for all conference attendees who stay at the hotel.

Second, Killer Nashville is now open for Claymore Award submissions. In four easy steps, you could win Killer Nashville's prestigious Claymore Award and a possible publishing contract from Five Star Press.

This is the 3rd year for the Killer Nashville's Claymore Award and already several previous Claymore participants have received publishing contracts and other authors are in negotiations with Five Star and others as a result of Killer Nashville's ongoing all-volunteer efforts to help new authors.

WHAT YOU WIN

The winner will receive consideration for publication by partnering publisher Five Star/Tekno Books. Please see the complete list of prizes below. At their discretion, Five Star may also consider any of the other entrants for publication.

KILLER NASHVILLE'S CLAYMORE AWARD WINNER - $500 worth of prizes, plus a possible publishing contract, plus a possible agent

• All Finalist prizes, plus the following:

• The coveted Killer Nashville Claymore Award

• $250 worth of downloads or tuition from Killer Nashville 2011 - your choice (a $250 value)

• The right to use the "Killer Nashville Claymore Winner" logo on your website, publicity materials, and published book (if applicable)

TOP 3 FINALISTS - $300 worth of prizes, plus a possible publishing contract, plus a possible agent

• All Top 10 Finalist prizes, plus the following:

• Free admission to Killer Nashville 2011 (a $170 value)

• Free admission to Killer Nashville 2011 Award Dinner (an $80 value)

TOP 10 FINALISTS - $50 worth of prizes, plus a possible publishing contract, plus a possible agent

• A possible publishing contract

• $50 worth of downloads or tuition from Killer Nashville 2011 - your choice (a $50 value)

• Introduction to Killer Nashville approved agents and editors

• The right to use the "Killer Nashville Claymore Finalist" logo on your website, publicity materials, and published book (if applicable)

*If a Claymore finalist has already purchased admission to Killer Nashville or to the Awards Dinner, cost of winning items will be reimbursed based on winning level, if desired.

Please remember that the conference is limited to 500 attendees in 2011.

WRITE WHAT YOU WANT

An author does NOT have to meet publication guidelines of Five Star in order to win the Killer Nashville Claymore Award.

GENRES CONSIDERED

Judges will consider any subgenre of mystery or thriller, including political thriller, cozy, hard-boiled/private eye, police procedurals, suspense, romantic suspense, historical mystery, and paranormal mystery.

WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM WINNING?

Although the Killer Nashville Claymore Award would be most helpful to unpublished writers, published authors who are “between publishers” and would like to create buzz about their new works would also benefit, as would published authors seeking award accolades. For authors who already have a publisher, you do not have to be published by Five Star if you win.

WHO ARE THE JUDGES?

Judges are authors and qualified readers who have volunteered their time to Killer Nashville to help new, upcoming authors.

WHAT IF I WIN?

Not only does the winner receive Killer Nashville’s prestigious Claymore Award, but Five Star can offer publishing contracts to any Killer Nashville Claymore Award finalist. Not just the winner. Killer Nashville is the facilitator and not involved at all in the publishing or the offering of publishing contracts. If offered a contract by Five Star Teckno, the author is encouraged to procure their own agent or representative to broker the deal. If the author does not have an agent, Killer Nashville can give a list of recommendations. By winning, you also do NOT have to accept the publishing contract from Five Star, if offered, but you still win the award and can add the Killer Nashville Claymore to your other award credits. Publishers love it when manuscripts have won awards.

ABOUT THIS YEAR'S CO-SPONSOR

Five Star, an imprint of Gale, part of Cengage Learning, began the Five Star Mystery line in November of 1998. Since then, Five Star has earned many starred reviews, as well as Edgar Award and Anthony Award nominations. Many Five Star titles have been listed on regional bestseller lists.

ABOUT KILLER NASHVILLE

Killer Nashville was founded in 2006 by writer/filmmaker Clay Stafford with the purpose of providing a networking and educational forum for those in the publishing industry and for helping writers and readers to connect. Numerous authors have found publication and a new fan base through the all-volunteer effort of the Killer Nashville organization. Over the years, grant money has been given to Killer Nashville from Clay Stafford and American Blackguard Entertainment principally, as well as Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, and others, as well as numerous author sponsors.

THE RULES

Submissions must be received no later than May 20, 2011 to be considered for the 2011 competition and will be evaluated through a blind judging process to ensure fairness. Entry fees are charged to help defray the individual cost of copying and mailing each manuscript to the volunteer judges.

Please note that the judging process is highly subjective, dictated by the personal interests of each reader (which is why each manuscript is read by different readers and rated by several rather than relying on one reader) and the large number of quality entries vying for the top honors. Though we are unable to provide specific feedback on each individual manuscript, please do not hesitate to contact us with any general questions regarding the selection process.

The winner will be announced at Killer Nashville 2011, held on August 26-28 at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. The author need not be present to win and is under no obligation to accept a publishing contract should he/she be offered one by Five Star. Winner will be determined at the sole discretion of editors of Five Star from the top ten submissions as chosen by Killer Nashville judges in a blind submission process. All decisions are final.

Read all the rules here. (http://www.killernashville.com/cokina20claw.html)

GOOD LUCK!

We look forward to adding you to the Killer Nashville success stories!

Sincerely,

Clay Stafford, Founder, Killer Nashville

Beth Terrell, Executive Director, Killer Nashville

Tracy Bunch, Office Manager, Killer Nashville

IN SUMMARY

1. Prepare the manuscript of your unpublished thriller, suspense, or mystery manuscript

2. Fill out the registration form and a check for $35 to help defray copying and mailing costs of your manuscript to judges (judges are volunteers and are not compensated)

3. Mail payment and registration form with the first 50 pages of your manuscript to the Killer Nashville Claymore Award, and

4. You could win!

LINKS TO HELP YOU OUT

For more information regarding Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award:

http://killernashville.com/cokina20claw.html

For more information of Killer Nashville Awards: http://www.killernashville.com/awards.html

To learn more about Killer Nashville: http://www.KillerNashville.com

To contact us with questions: contact@killernashville.com

To register for Killer Nashville 2011: http://killernashville.com/onre2.html

Our Killer Nashville Blog: http://killernashville.blogspot.com/

Killer Nashville

P.O. Box 680686

Franklin, TN 37068-0686

United States

contact@killernashville.com

615-599-4032

www.killernashville.com

Interview with Author Jim Daher

2011-01-08T22:45:00.000-06:00

This week's Killer Nashville interview is with author Jim Daher, whose thrillers/mysteries RIGHTEOUS KILL and BLOOD MONEY feature FBI agent Sarah James. Sarah is a savvy, tough cookie who believes “the end justifies the means” when she’s tracking down a criminal--and Sarah always gets her man or woman.

A graduate of Southern Polytechnic Institute and the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Jim began writing after enjoying a successful career as a hospital administrator and multi-health care facility executive. He lives on St Simons Island, Georgia with his wife. You can learn more at his website: http://www.jimdaher.com/.

KN: Hi, Jim. Welcome to A Killer Conversation. Let's start off with a quote. Do you have a favorite quote about writing or crime writing in particular?

JD: I can't remember who said it but "Do your research, make it real and entertain your reader!"

KN: Can you tell us a little bit about how you came to be a writer?

JD: My mother and father read to me and my brothers and sister when we were small so I have always enjoyed a good story. However, as I grew older and started a career in healthcare I stopped reading for pleasure and concentrated on business periodicals, health care regulations, etc. But, the last 10-15 years I was in healthcare I was responsible for groups of hospitals and traveled extensively, spending a lot of time on airplanes and in hotels. I began reading again and was attracted to mysteries & thrillers.

As time went by I told myself that if I ever had the time I would "try" to write. After semi-retiring I had the time but initially started playing golf-for the first time. It looked easy on television and I knew I'd pick it up quickly-HA, was I in for a surprise! Realizing I wasn't going on the PGA tour and most importantly, couldn't afford to continue losing golf balls, I decided to begin writing. I wasn't much better at it than golf but I all I was losing was time and I enjoyed attending conferences (Thriller Fest, Sleuth Fest, Killer Nashville, etc) to learn the INS & outs of writing and getting published.

KN: What drew you to the mystery/suspense genre?

JD: The element of surprise, the suspense and the pace of the stories are the main attractions.

KN: Any favorite authors in the genre?

JD: Robert Parker, Stuart Wood, Daniel Silva, Lisa Scottoline, James Patterson, Vince Flynn and Harlan Coben are among my favorites.

KN: We share some of the same favorites. Your first novel, RIGHTEOUS KILL, features FBI agent Sarah James (formerly Johnson). Can you tell us a bit about RIGHTEOUS KILL and how you came up with the idea for the novel?

JD: I read a news paper story about the victim of an attempted abduction and it reminded me of a couple of victims of rape that I was aware of. I went through some what if scenarios and came up with the idea for the story. I initially dropped the idea for fear of not being able to "get into the head" of a female. But one night I woke up and knew I had to tell the story. I spent the next 36 hours outlining the story, developing key characters and preparing my self for Sarah's journey.

KN: What made you decide on a female protagonist?

JD: The story I was developing demanded it.

KN: What were the challenges of writing a character of the opposite sex, and how did you overcome them? What steps did you take to ensure that Sarah comes across as authentically female?

JD: A portion of my health care career was in the Psychiatric industry and to better understand what hospital employees and physicians did, I attended group sessions, as an observer. Fortunately or unfortunately, there were some rape victims and rapists (unrelated cases/situations) in those sessions and I heard their stories first hand. This gave me insight into Sarah the individual dealing with what had happened to her. I want to clarify that Sarah and what happened to her in Righteous Kill is purely fictional and is not based on any specific case or situation from my health care days. Other aspects of the female psych I picked up by talking to young ladies at the gym/fitness center to gain insight into "today's female". I asked questions such as: What do you think when you see a good looking guy? Do you talk with your best friend about sex, dating, your husband, martial problems, etc...?

KN: Your second novel, a sequel to RIGHTEOUS KILL was recently released. What can you tell us about it?

JD: A killer targets Sarah's groom at their wedding. She wants justice and revenge and begins tracking the killer. Along the way she encounters ex-cons, the mafia, and other roadblocks until she corners the killer.

KN: Sounds like fans of the first book have some exciting time ahead! What are some of the challenges and rewards of writing a series?

JD: Challenges are making the time to write, creating a good, entertaining story, the editing process, the search for a publisher, setting up signings, making it all fit together on a timely basis. Rewards are the finished product, the signings and the sense of accomplishment.

KN: What kind of research do you do?

JD: A lot-I talk with FTA, Customs, ICE, FBI, local cops and other law enforcement officials to attempt to get their views on crime, the arrest process, the chain of command within their specific organizations and as I said I talk to people to get their reactions to significant issues within my story or plot. It's great having the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Brunswick (15-30 minutes away). I hang out at "Willy's Weiner Wagon" which has been in business for over forty years and is a local lunch hangout for individuals attending training at FLETC.

KN: Can you tell us a bit about your writing process?

JD: I wake up early, walk my dog, go to the gym then come home clean up and begin writing. I try to put in 4-6 hours a day writing and editing.

KN: How do you market your books?

JD: I have an initial Launch Party and have been fortunate enough to get the local paper to attend and do a story on the party and the book itself. Then I travel to, set up and attend signings at book stores in Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and California.

KN: What's the most rewarding thing about being a writer?

JD: The thrill of writing-seeing the story and characters develop and holding the finished product in my hand is overwhelming.

KN: And the most difficult?

JD: The time consumption of the process to find a legitimate editor, agent and publisher combined with the humiliation of mass rejections.

KN: What's the best compliment you've ever received about your books?

JD: "I starting you book at 4:30 pm and could not put it down." "I stayed up all night reading it and finished at 5 am."

KN: What are your long-term writing goals? And what's next?

JD: As most writers, I want to be on the "best seller list".

KN: Any advice for unpublished writers?

JD: Put in the time, attend conferences, learn, learn, learn and be prepared for the rejections-develop a thick skin!

KN: What would you like people to take away from your books?

JD: A thirst or hunger for the next "Jim Daher novel".

KN: Anything else you'd like us to know about you or your writing?

JD: Im following my own advice. I put in the time. I've got a good editor and I continually learn new marketing techniques.

KN: Final question: what’s our discussion topic for the week?

JD: How do you build a believable character? How do you create an antagonist a reader can identify with & hate?

Interview with Author Margaret Fenton

2011-01-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to A Killer Conversation, the official Killer Nashville blog.

In 2011, we're planning a weekly interview with a Killer Nashville author or expert. At the end of each interview, the interviewee will give us a discussion topic to talk about throughout the week. We hope you'll join in the discussion and help us make this blog into a lively, active community.

This week's Killer Conversation interview is with Margaret Fenton. Margaret is an LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) who spent ten years as a child and family therapist before taking a break to focus on her writing. Hence, her mysteries tend to reflect her interest in social causes and mental health, especially where kids are concerned. Her first book is Little Lamb Lost, published in June 2009 by Oceanview Publishing. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, a software developer. She is the planning coordinator of Murder in the Magic City, a one-day, one-track annual mystery fan conference in Homewood, Alabama. She is President of the Birmingham Chapter of Sisters in Crime and a member of the Mystery Writers of America. Her website is www.margaretfenton.com.

KN: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How did you come to be a writer?

MF: I started out as a social worker, and I’m still an LCSW, although I’m not working in the field right now. I did in-home family therapy for the child welfare department in Birmingham for a number of years. I was housed in the child welfare building, so that provided a lot of inspiration for Claire, and for the mystery series. As for how I started writing, well, I started very late. I was a mystery fan first. An enthusiastic one at that. Someone at a local bookstore told me about the local Sisters in Crime chapter and I joined. That’s how I met Anne George, and we got to be friends. One day, we were on our way to a meeting and I was babbling on about what mystery I’d been reading, and Anne said she didn’t understand why I didn’t try to write one, if I loved them so much? I didn’t have a good answer, so I decided to try. It took a long time, but Little Lamb Lost is finally here.

KN: Your first published book, Little Lamb Lost came out in 2009. How does it feel to be a published author?

MF: Amazing. Great. Terrifying. Weird. All at the same time. I’m very proud of Little Lamb Lost, and every time I see it on a shelf, I’m like, really? I wrote a book? It seems a little surreal. But wonderful. A dream come true, literally. I love to write and have found my true passion, but the business end of this career is a little scary. Like every author, I’m worried about sales and promotion.

KN: What can you tell us about the book? Is it a standalone or the first of a series?

MF: The Claire Conover books are a series, with the same characters. We’ll see how they grow, and how relationships develop. That, to me, is the best thing about a mystery series. In Little Lamb Lost we meet Claire, a child welfare social worker, and her worst nightmare happens when one of her small clients dies of a drug overdose. Claire was the person responsible for placing the child back in the home with his mother, who is accused of the murder. So everything for Claire, career-wise, is at risk.

KN: What characteristics do you and your protagonist share? In what ways are you very different?

MF: Claire and I both share a love for social work. Our value systems are very similar. We want people to be successful and happy. And children to be safe. But Claire works harder than I ever did, for sure! She has a little more passion for justice, too.

KN: What led you to the mystery genre? Why do you find it satisfying?

MF: When I was in early elementary school, my mother was a travel agent in the local mall. Her agency was directly across the corridor from a bookstore, and every week she would buy me a new mystery. Like Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Trixie Belden (my favorite). I just loved them. Then as I got older, I would pick up my dad’s old Agatha Christie paperbacks off the shelf and read those. Then Dick Francis and Rex Stout, then Sue Grafton and on and on and on…I can’t remember not loving them. I love strong characters, and they feel like friends. I love the idea of solving a puzzle, and the sense of justice at the end of a good book, too.

KN: Was it a long road to publication? How did you get your first contract?

MF: Seven years, so yeah, a long road. Lots of rejections along the way. I got my contract at a wonderful conference for writers and fans called Killer Nashville. My friend Don Bruns introduced me to his editor, and I pitched the book to her. Two months later I had a contract. It was great.

KN: What is the most challenging part of being a new kid on the block in the current economy?

MF: Sometimes it seems like everybody and their mother has published a book! There’s a lot of competition out there. It’s hard to get noticed. I just promote the book every chance I get. At conferences, especially.

KN: Of all your marketing efforts, which have been the most successful?

MF: I think, today, you have to have a strong online presence. I have a website, and I guest blog whenever I can. So many people now get so much information from the web. I participate in a fabulous listserv, DorothyL, for mystery fans and writers. I go to every conference I can. Good reviews help, too. I have the most marvelous publicist in the world, and she’s been amazing at getting the book out there. That’s really a big key.

KN: What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

MF: I want them to love Claire and care about what happens to her. I want them to come away with a better understanding of child welfare social work, and what challenges are facing our social workers and our nation’s children.

KN: What is the best thing about your publisher?

MF: I can’t gush enough about how wonderful Oceanview has been. They are the best. They bend over backwards and sideways and every other direction to make you feel welcome and to help you be successful. They are so supportive.

KN: You organize the Murder in the Magic City conference. Does your experience in organizing a conference affect your perceptions when you attend a conference, and if so, how?

MF: Murder in the Magic City is a fan-based conference. We’ve done it for nine years now. Our next one is February 5, 2011. It’s a lot of fun. Meeting mystery authors really helped me to learn a lot when I was trying to get published, just about the business in general. Mystery writers are the most amazing group. We really support each other. I’ve found very little competition or pettiness out there. Everybody is helpful and wants you to succeed. It’s a great reason to go to any mystery conference.

KN: Any words of wisdom for aspiring writers?

MF: Hang in there. I know it’s hard. Join a critique group, a good one that will give you honest and real feedback. Make sure you have done all you can to write the best book you can, then hang in there. Don’t give up.

KN: How about for fans of the genre in general (and your book in particular)?

MF: I hope to meet a lot of people along this journey. I’m anxious to introduce them to Claire and hear their thoughts on her adventures. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

KN: If you could have one wish related to your writing career, what would it be?

MF: I hope people will love Claire and all the characters in her life. I think that’s the secret to a long, successful career.

KN: Anything else you’d like to add or address that we haven’t covered?

MF: I think that’s it.

KN: Thanks for joining us, Margaret. One last thing. What’s our discussion topic for the week?

MF: I just finished a book, and I don't want to mention any dragon tattoos or anything, but it had a TON of my pet peeves in it. Gratuitous violence is a big one. And characters who avoid the authorities to the point where it's just ridiculous and unrealistic. So here's the discussion question: What are your worst pet peeves in a book? Things that authors have done really wrong, in your opinion?

KN: Great question, Margaret. Okay, everyone. Time to discuss!

KN Interview: Urban Crime Lit Author Kevin M. Weeks

2010-01-13T20:14:00.000-06:00

Kevin M. Weeks is a writer and philanthropist. In 2006, he released a crime fiction series called The Street Life series. Book proceeds benefit the Stay Off the Streets Fund, a charitable fund to aid "at risk" teenagers who age out of foster care without a strong support structure. Read more at http://www.kevinmweeks.com.

We're proud to have him as one of our Author Sponsors for Killer Nashville 2010. Thanks, Kevin, for your support.

Killer Nashville: Hi, Kevin. Can you tell us a little bit about your books?

Kevin M. Weeks: I pen a collection of crime fiction novels titled The Street Life Series. The titles of the books follow a pattern format which is a traditional theme for many mystery novels. There are three published books in the series: (1) Is It Suicide or Murder? (2) Is It Passion or Revenge? and (3) Is It Rags or Riches? I am currently writing the fourth novel titled Is It Power or Envy?

In the series, the main character Teco Jackson travels across the globe; and readers witness how Teco responds as crime happens all around him. His innate crime solving skills become a major benefit to a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement team.

Killer Nashville: Sounds interesting! When did you first know you wanted to be an author?

Kevin M. Weeks: About 6 years ago, I was encouraging a group of young adult men and sharing several of my stories with them. As a result, they in turn persuaded me to become published. Hearing their reaction was the pivotal point in my wanting to become an author.

Killer Nashville: And what led you to the crime fiction genre?

Kevin M. Weeks: I believe that I have been blessed with an intuitive gift of writing coupled with a passion for studying and solving crimes.

Killer Nashville: You've said your work is a cross between Urban Fiction and Crime Literature. Could you elaborate?

Kevin M. Weeks: Urban Fiction is centered on the criminal act and survival side of life on the streets set under an urban backdrop. Take that urban fiction theme and add the detective investigation, evidence gathering along with determining motive; then you have my twist on crime fiction writing.
Why should this matter? It is my understanding that many crime fiction readers do not necessarily read urban fiction and vice versa, my goal is to bridge the gap between readerships. I want both genres to be enjoyable to all. Library Journal states, “Think of CBS’s 48 Hours Mystery set to a street lit riff.”

Killer Nashville: That's a great tag line--and an interesting concept. Of course, a compelling detective is one of the most important elements in bringing the concept to life. How did you come up with your protagonist? In what ways is your protagonist like you? In what ways is he different?

Kevin M. Weeks: I just conjured the protagonist and main character, Teco Jackson, up. Because he faces many of the dilemmas which I once faced in life, he is modeled after me. As an example, Teco was a transient person as I was when I was a young adult; and he is driven to succeed despite the odds as I am. Perhaps his suave personality and the smooth manner in which he attracts women are more over the top than mine. (laughing)

Killer Nashville: Obviously, your personal experiences contribute a lot to your books, but what kind of research do you do?

Kevin M. Weeks: Because I highlight a different city in each book, I research facts about a location in which others might not be aware. Also, I spend a great deal of time reading about police procedures and forensics. Not until I joined the Southeast chapter of the Mystery Writers of America (SEMWA) was I aware of the various writers’ police academies. I look forward to attending one in the near future.

Killer Nashville: How about other authors? Who are your favorites, and which have influenced you most?

Kevin M. Weeks: James Patterson has influenced me the most, from his book marketing (which was a case study by Harvard Business School) to his writing style.

Killer Nashville: Patterson is famous for his outlines. Would you say you're an outliner or a seat-of-the-pantser?

Kevin M. Weeks: Actually, I do a combination of both. I spend a great deal of time on my character sheets. However, once I develop a plot the rhythm of the writing begins.

Killer Nashville: What's your writing schedule like?

Kevin M. Weeks: Because I am a full-time author, my writing starts mid-morning and wraps up around 6pm or so.

Killer Nashville: What do you think you do best as a writer?

Kevin M. Weeks: While I write, I can see myself in the scene with the characters. As a result, the New York Book Festival and London Book Festival awarded me for my storytelling ability. So, bringing reality to the story is what I think that I do best as a writer.

Killer Nashville: Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publication?

Kevin M. Weeks: The road to publication was a paved by spending a great deal of hours studying the publishing industry in order to best determine how I could positively contribute to the landscape of American Literature. I am encouraged that the best for me is yet to come.

Killer Nashville: You clearly love what you do. What's the most rewarding part of being an author?

Kevin M. Weeks: Hearing first hand from readers how my stories have impacted their lives. As an example, one reader wrote to me and said, “You inspire me in many ways that it’s still possible to pursue my dreams in the worst situations in life.” Accolades like this keep me going.

Killer Nashville: And the least enjoyable part?

Kevin M. Weeks: Overcoming those moments of writers block.

Killer Nashville: With three books under your belt and another in progress, you've obviously figured out how to beat that! You mentioned earlier that the accolades from readers keep you going. What about reviewers? What was the best review you ever got?

Kevin M. Weeks: Wow, I have received at least three: Two from Library Journal and one from The USA Book Review. They are posted on the homepage of my website at www.kevinmweeks.com. All of these book reviews confirm that I am on the right track in bridging the gap between urban fiction and crime fiction readers.

Killer Nashville: Any advice to give give to other aspiring authors?

Kevin M. Weeks: Once you start a book, don’t allow anything to hinder you from finishing it. Also realize that after your book is published, the work really begins.

Killer Nashville: Right. Many authors say marketing and promotion are harder than actually writing the book! What do you do to market your series?

Kevin M. Weeks: I have done a great deal from internet marketing, some national print ads, to cooperative marketing. Interviews like this one help tremendously. So, I want to say thank you.

Killer Nashville: What's the most interesting thing that's happened to you since becoming an author?

Kevin M. Weeks: As people asked more about my homeless background, I began to deflect questions from me towards the issues of “at risk” teens who turn 18 years old and wind up on the streets. This compelled me to establish a youth charity called the Stay Off The Streets Fund. Book proceeds benefit this fund.

Killer Nashville: If you could have three writing wishes, what would they be?

Kevin M. Weeks: One thing you learn as a writer is that Aladdin’s lamp is within you. So, I believe I am earning my way towards (1) becoming a globally known and recognized author, (2) having my books adapted for the stage, film, and/or television, and (3) becoming a motivational public speaker for youth around the world because the street life is a global issue.

Killer Nashville: Is there anything you'd like to discuss that I haven't mentioned?

Kevin M. Weeks: You have really covered everything well; and I thank you for the interview. Your readers can find out more about me at www.kevinmweeks.com. Also they can find out more about the Stay Off The Streets Fund by visiting www.stayoffthestreets.org. Peace, Kevin.

Don Bruns Wins Best Mystery of the Year Award

2009-11-02T22:22:00.000-06:00

First the Silver Falchion Award, now best mystery of the year from the Florida Writer's Association. And Best Mystery 2007 from Forword Magazine, and various other awards.

Awards are great, and when I hang them on the wall, it reminds me that I AM a writer. But I'm not sure that awards sell books. Actually, if I knew what sold books, I would be fabulously famous and fabulously wealthy. I am neither. I asked John Jakes about it one time. Jakes is famous for the Kent Family Chronicles and North And South, both series then turned into mini-series on ABC in the 70s. John says all things considered it's the luck of the draw. Two equally talented authors have the same chance of striking it rich.

I'm not sure if that's true anymore. I think that in some cases a writer is discovered, gets a mention in People Magazine, The New York Times or USA Today ( The Nanny Diaries) and the book takes off like a rocket. But if the book is good, a publisher can buy the success. He can spend thousands of dollars and have it placed at the entrance to airport bookstores, front case it at Borders and B&N, take out ads in major papers. This doesn't guarantee success, but it certainly puts the book in success's path. If the potential reader senses that this book is a big deal from all the placement and all the ads, they are much more likely to buy it.

I've talked to authors who make it to the top of the New York Times list, and every one tells me that the publisher spent enough to get it there. So, it doesn't bode well for those of us who have limited funds and smaller publishers. That's okay. We'll take the awards, and someday when we're finally rich and famous and maybe having other people write our books we'll look back at our wall filled with trophies and remember when.

The Florida Writer's Association awarded Stuff Dreams Are Made Of the best mystery of the year this week. I am truly thankful. Stuff To Spy For was just released. I would like to think I'm wrong. I'd really like to believe that an award will sell a book. I'd like to believe that because of this award, my book will sell like crazy. So let's try this. Everyone who reads this blog, go buy Stuff To Spy For ( a comic thriller. Publisher's Weekly says "laugh out loud funny.") Then buy a book for everyone on your gift list. Then write to everyone on your email list, write to every blog you subscribe to, and enlist their support in buying Stuff To Spy For. Get them to buy a copy for everyone on their list. Take a day off work and put the cover of my book on the side of your car. Drive up and down the streets of your city! Call Borders, your local library, your independent bookstore and demand that they order 20, 30 copies of Stuff To Spy For. Explain that Don Bruns is an AWARD WINNING AUTHOR, and he now deserves to sell a lot of books.

Or don't.

If you do, I thank you in advance!

Don Bruns/award winning author, waiting to be a best selling scribe.

The Big Wait

2009-10-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

For the writers in the ranks of Killer Nashville attendees, we go for the info. We go for the networking. And we go to go.

The writing process is, sadly often, very much about the hurry-up-and-wait. We wait for the muse. We wait for Microsoft Word to load. We wait for the printer. We wait in line at the Post Office. We wait for the rejection. We wait for the acceptance.

So it feels good to move; to scurry from one session to the next; to throw our lunches down our throats to leave enough time for the floss and tongue scraper before our pitch sessions. The vitality of bustling offsets the dreaded ‘writer’s spread’ of the added hip girth gained from waiting around in our chairs.

Oh, but how we dive and roll when we work. Mystery, suspense, and thriller writers dodge bullets. We run after suspects. We tear though alleys and woods. We beat the hell out of people. Sometimes we kill, and sometimes we die, in our minds – just to know what it feels like, so we can write it right.

That’s what we do while we wait. Don’t let anyone tell you that’s not real work.

2010 Killer Nashville Guest of Honor

2009-10-01T08:25:00.000-05:00

By Beth Terrell

Every year, there's much speculation about who will be the Killer Nashville Guest of Honor, and every year, when Clay tells me who it is, I feel a burst of excitement--"Wow! That's amazing!"-- immediately followed by a trickle of anxiety--"Uh oh. How are we ever going to live up to that next year?"

But every year, somehow we do. Mary Higgins Clark was the very first Killer Nashville Guest of Honor, followed by Michael Connelly, Dr. Bill Bass, and J.A. Jance. To this list, it's my pleasure and honor to add the 2010 Guest of Honor . . .

(Drum roll, please . . . )

Jeffery Deaver.

Deaver is an award-winning author whose books have been on best-seller lists around the world. They've been translated into 25 languages and sold in 150 countries. Two have been made into movies (The Bone Collector, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, and A Maiden's Grave, starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin). Among Deaver's works are stand-alone thrillers (such as The Blue Nowhere, A Maiden's Grave and A Body Left Behind). His series characters include quadriplegic Lincoln Rhyme, whose keen mind and vast knowledge of forensics enable him to solve even the most difficult crimes from his hospital bed, and Kathryn Dance, an expert in kinesics--the interpretation of body language, such as facial expressions or gestures.

Deaver's attention to detail is legendary. He does extensive research on every book, and if he says x type of sand is only found in y area, you can pretty much take that to the bank. Lee Lofland, a well-respected expert in law enforcement procedures and investigative techniques, says Deaver's research is among the best he's seen. When asked how much time he devotes to research, Deaver says he devotes about eight months to researching and outlining a book.

Although Deaver describes his books as plot-driven, many have characterized them as psychological thrillers. In the Q&A on his website, Deaver says, "I explore the psychology of crime and crime detection in my books: the minds of the criminal and his hunters. I also try very hard to create characters--both heroes and villains--with psychological depth. In other words, the people who populate my books are more than caricatures. We inhabit their minds throughout most of the book."

If you like thrillers, forensics, or psychology, check out Jeffery Deaver. And please join us for Killer Nashville 2010. Registration will be opening soon.

I'll keep you posted!

And a Grand Time Was Had by All!

2009-08-20T17:20:00.001-05:00

OK, except for the dead guy in the boiler room.

Another Killer Nashville has come and gone; too short, too soon.

Up first, thanks to all who attended. The variety and quality of the writers who attend are what makes KN so much fun, and so important for mystery writers.

Second, but first in my heart, a huge well done and thanks to the staff and all of the volunteers. It went like clockwork.
(As any good crime should, right?) :)

An amazingly long list of attendees got the chance to get some excellent advice from, and pitch their books to, three extraordinary publishing reps.

My thanks, and all of KillerNashville's thanks, for their endless patience, good humor, professionalism and openness, to:

Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency
Lucienne Diver, The Knight Agency, and
Maryglenn McCombs, Oceanview Publishing

The downside of being an attendee is that you miss some awesome presentations. (I had to leave the "Mind of a Psychopath" session halfway through. Now I'll never know if Dr. Benning was talking about me.)

To all of the presenters, from everyone at KillerNashville, our thanks for sharing your expertise and advice.

All of that and more is true of our very lovely and special guest, J. A. Jance. She was wonderful, heartwarming and enlightening. She even gave us a song. It was an excellent and memorable session.

This wouldn't be complete without a thank you to the dead guy in the boiler room, and to the guys from TBI- Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, who put him there. The crime scene this year was a scream.

Congratulations to all of this years winners and awardees:

Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award: Chester D. Campbell, for The Surest Poison
Killer Nashville Claymore Dagger Award: Linda Black for The Death of Noble Dancer
SEMWA Magnolia Award: Elizabeth (Beth) Terrell
Wolfmont doorprize basket: Kristin Lemons

There are a few dozen more people that we need to thank, and as we pull some pictures together (I hope), we'll follow up and thank them proper in later posts.

For now though, let me leave you with a bit of hope --

The last session this year ended just about 2:30 Sunday.
The planning session for next year started at 3:00.

See YOU in 2010.

Butch Wilson
www.tech4writers.net
and very proud to say
I was at KillerNashville, 2009.

2009-07-30T16:46:00.001-05:00

Finding your "Wayback":

I'm looking forward to showing off a number of "cool tools" for writers at Killer Nashville. For this post, I have a couple of neat sites for helping writers "find their way back".
Don't get the reference? Don't worry about it. We'll get there in a bit.

Is Historical Accuracy important to you?
Such a tool I have for you --

A friend, who shall remain nameless because he's bigger than me, faster than me, and Uncle Sam once taught him to use weapons, is writing this story about Chicago a hundred years or so ago. He's got a shootout in the stockyards and a rough and tumble along the docks and his historical details are important to him. So, he didn't like it when someone pointed out that a third of his story was impossible, because it would have had to have taken place under water. "No Way!", says he. "Yes, way," says.. um... somebody else.

If you go visit the wonderful Mister David Rumsey, at David Rumsey's Historical Map Collection and search his collection for Chicago, you can see what Chicago looked like more than 100 years ago. Compare it to a walk around today and it's pretty interesting. Overlay it on today's map and you'll see places that are dry now, that weren't so dry then. (Come see me at KillerNashville and I'll show you how!)

The Wayback Machine --

Ever found the most interesting informaton on a website, then tried to find it a year later and it's gone? The Wayback Machine, or archive.org, may be able to help. Just enter the site address and click "Take Me Back". You can get a look at what a website looked like years ago, sometimes even what it looked like back when it was just a name and some kind of "placeholder" ad. (Ok, a little boring at that point. Skip ahead a few years.) It's the internet... archived.

The Wayback Machine also has some interesting collections of archived websites from the dates surrounding historic events (like 9-11) & one showing some of the "roots" of the World Wide Web. They're working on more, I'm told.

Now, not every page of every website is there. Often it is just the front page of a site. For example, this is the earliest incarnation of the JeffersonStarship.com website. Which is probably only of interest to you if you want to know when tickets went on sale for the Carnegie Hall concert in 1999 (August 16th, how about that?)

And if you'd made the show, you'd have heard "Find Your Way Back". (If you're at work, turn the speakers down. It gets loud.)

Ok, the circle's complete and I've subjected you to an 80's pop song. My work here is done.

See you in Nashville!

-- Hugh Wilson

On Mentoring

2009-07-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

The first thing you need to do is find out if you're any good. Writing is not as easily quantifiable as, say, pole-vaulting. A really long ruler will put a number to your abilities in a jiffy. Words on a screen (or on paper, if you've gone old school, or have enough confidence to risk the trees and ink) aren't strictly measurable.

The good news is that literary accomplishment comes in many flavors. The bad news is that literary accomplishment comes in many flavors. The difference between a crème brûlée and a cream-of-something-that-tastes-of-the-plastic-container-in-came-in is subject to opinion, at least to a degree. These opinions, if they were all written out, could fill many dozens of very dull libraries. You could always ask your mother, but in most cases, you'll just come back knowing that your mother loves you. If you're the sort of person who confuses maternal affection for valid currency, it could be a long road.

For me, I found a mentor and writing coach online on a writer's website. The two most important things to consider when trusting your ego and your words to another writer are these: that he (or she) be a better writer than you, and that he understands what you're trying to accomplish. In my case, it wouldn't have done much good to seek advice from a children's fantasty writer. But it's the first point that's crucial, and tricky. If you're lucky enough to find someone truly talented, who is willing and able to guide your writerly evolution, it can change your life.

Here's a quick rundown of the pros of electronic tutelage:

-contact with someone who knows what the hell you're talking about (This may seem terribly basic, but believe me, in a real life full of normal people, someone who understands the demands of constant day-dreaming is gold.)

-negative reinforcement (Go ahead, see how quickly you stop mistyping 'your' for 'you're' after being mocked for it a few hundred times. You'll still do it anyway, but you'll learn to be more careful.)

-a thick skin

-perspective (You always know what you meant. The test is, did it come across in the words you chose and the order you put them in? My mentor and I have a rule - if you have to justify a passage after criticism, it probably just needs to be rewritten.)

-patience (My writing advisor is 4,000 miles away and keeps ridiculous hours. As available as he makes himself and as generous as he's been with his time, I still have learned to better handle the itch of "did you read it yet?! How 'bout now?"

-the thrill of approval when you've gotten it right (There's nothing quite like applause from someone you deeply admire.)

The only downside, as I see it, is in the usual shortcomings of email. Specifically, tone can get lost. Electronic misunderstandings can really screw up a good day. Any frustration or hurt feelings sustained in the critique process would happen anyway, because inevitably, you'll get it wrong. A lot. And someone is going to point it out. Wiping the tears from your eyes while making rude gestures at your computer monitor in the privacy of your own home lets you keep your reputation of civility. So go ahead, get mad. He can't see or hear you.

But if you're becoming a better writer, then make sure you thank him where he can see it.

Fiction: It's Good For You

2009-06-15T12:47:00.000-05:00

“Excuse me, sir. Grab that big heavy bar, will ya?”
“Okay. Got it. What do you want me to do with it?”
“Lift it up over your head. A little further… a little further. That’s it, push it. Great. You can put it down now.”
“Phew.”
“Would you mind doing that again, nine more times?”
“What for?”
"It’s good for you. And you, ma’am, grab your ears and try to touch your knees to your chin. Excellent. Do it a hundred times. Over there, you! Yeah you. Run around in a circle until you want to die.”

***

There was a time when filling our bellies and keeping the rain out of our slack, sleeping mouths was a full time job. Life was exercise. There were no flabby hunter-gatherers and pioneers didn’t need Pilates. But as our conveniences got cleverer, we went soft and weak. It’s not an indictment, it’s only the truth. And who would go back to the days of crossing the room to turn up your stereo?

Everyone knows there’s value in power-walking over a wide rubberband that’s looping on rollers, and we don’t question the ridiculous practice of grunting under disks of metal lifted to nowhere in three sets of ten reps each. In our modern lives, there just isn’t demand enough on the muscles and tendons to keep them strong and healthy. Survival, for the most part, doesn’t test our capabilities anymore. So we invented Jack Lalanne.

Life also isn’t big enough, or long enough, for most of us to ever know how we’d react to an alien invasion, or what we’d want if we grew up as best friend to someone socially off-limits. The range of our experience, even among the most traveled and tormented, can’t cover all we could do, given the time. Our personal dose of drama often isn’t sufficient for the vast capacity of the human mind for empathy, outrage, heroism, and debauchery. So we invented fiction.

Just think about that the next time you feel guilty for wasting time between the covers of a novel. The benefits of mental and emotional calisthenics play out every day. Pure fantasy can lay the paving stones for journeys we have yet to take. And if it’s well-written, forewarned is most reliably forearmed.

But if you’ve been sitting there too long, just raise the book over your head. And one and two and - don’t lock those elbows - three and four…

Nurturing our craft.

2009-05-26T21:37:00.000-05:00

A few months back, Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love shared an interesting way of looking at the gift/curse that we all share as artists and writers. The occasion was a presentation at TED, in California. Not familiar with TED? Take a few minutes (ok, about 20:00) and check out her idea for nuturing your creativity. Success as a writer isn't about being a genius, it's about being willing to have one.

After that, maybe give TED a short look around. It's fascinating, inspirational, motivational stuff.

(But don't spend too much time there at once, eh? There's writing to be done.)

Ye Olde Backups, Anyone?

2009-04-12T22:27:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, in the cramped tower of a dank English castle, the very prolific Duke de' Author was frantically working to protect his greatest literary efforts from being lost to the ages.

How, you might ask?

Minions, or “Scribes” if you would be kinder. Those Scribes were four brothers from the family “Drive”; -- Jump, Flash, Memory, & Thumb. They were of differing sizes and shapes, these drives, each perhaps rounder, or stubbier, smaller or larger than his brothers. They each were capable of carrying different loads, but they all served the same purpose. The good Count used them to create exact copies of his works. He then dispatched them to different locations, that they might not be all caught up together and destroyed in some act of catastrophe, malice, or more likely, simple duncery.

One did he send to his brother's home in the next town. Another did he send to his mother, to prove that he wasn't just up in his room goofing off all day and night. One he sent only to the other side of the castle, that he might be kept close in case of... well, you know, duncery.

Today those scribes have been replaced by the bits and bytes of the computer age, which makes them much cheaper to feed, though sometimes harder to keep track of. But, they are no less important. “Jump Drive”, “Flash Drive”, “Thumb Drive”, & their now cousin “Memory Stick” (There was some family ugliness. We don't talk about it.) Anyway, they are merely different names for devices that perform the same function; saving, storing and transporting copies of your work.

You'll find them at stores in town and online for anywhere from “free with purchase of” or $10 - $100. They can be personalized with your name, phone number and/or email address, which might help if you leave them in an airport. (Oh, yes I did, and TSA called me.) You might even want to put the name of the contents to be stored on them on the drive. It makes life easier after you've collected a few of them. For security's sake, you can find them with password and biometric (a thumb print) protection, to prevent access. (Yeah. The TSA one.)

They usually plug in to the USB port on your computer – whether MAC, or PC, Laptop or Desktop. (It's square, a bit smaller than two dimes stacked atop each other & is marked with a type of trident symbol. See the picture.)

Plug it in, give it a few moments to load itself and it will show up in your list of available drives. Then click on the files and drag them over into that drive. Make sure you copy, and not just “move” them. Now, remove the drive and put it somewhere safe. If you want to keep one nearby, great. (Did I mention duncery? )

However, be sure to keep a copy somewhere away from the others as well, say somewhere outside the house, just in case you experience one of those “Auntie Em! Auntie Em!” events.

One other important note for writers-- You might want to get in the habit of working from one set of files ONLY. Be sure to regularly save copies to your back up drives. You might also want to keep ONE copy of the most recent version, clearly marked. However, if you start keeping too many versions around, it is easy to find yourself with a dozen different versions of the work. Very confusing.

Also, back up drives are a great way to store and maintain copies of all your important documents.

For not much more than the cost of a coffee and a piece of cake, you can have peace of mind.

And hey, no scribes to feed.

As always, if you have a question or comment, please, drop me a line!

See you in Nashville
--Butch

Killer Nashville News

2009-04-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

By Beth Terrell

Last month, I went to a lecture at the Frist Museum of Art. It was on psychopathy and how psychopaths respond differently to photos and paintings with emotional content than "normal" people do. The lecture was given by a Vanderbilt psychology professor named Stephen Benning. It was fascinating. Of course, throughout the lecture, all I could think was, "Gosh, this guy is great! I wonder if I can get him for Killer Nashville?"

Happily, the answer was yes; Dr. Benning will be giving a presentation on the two faces of psychopathy on Friday, August 14, 2009 at this year's Killer Nashville Conference. Our tentative schedule also includes sessions on poisons, blood spatter evidence, forensic anthropology, solving cold cases, what PIs really do, the life of a bounty hunter, how the FBI and TBI catch the worst of the worst, how modern technology is used by criminals and those who catch them, and much, much more.

For published or aspiring writers, Butch Wilson will conduct two exciting sessions for those who would like to optimize their use of online resources.

Software for Starving Authors --

Come, learn about free and almost free software you can use to make your writer's life easier and more productive. This session isn’t selling anything. We'll talk about software and hardware, tips, tricks and tools for writing, for story tracking, and ways to keep your hard work safe.

All attendees will leave with a copy of most, if not all, of the software discussed. And information on how to obtain all of it.

A Writer's Life on the "The Web" --

Should I have a website? What about a blog? Wait -- I don't even know what an LOL, IMO, WYSIWYG, BLOG, TWITTER, FACEBOOK even is! How do I do it? SHOULD I do it?

You've got questions. We'll have answers. And, we'll learn how to find even more answers for yourself. If sufficient internet access is available, everyone who wishes to will leave with their own place on the web. This session isn't selling anything. There's nothing you have to buy to put yourself, or your work, out there on the web. All attendees will leave with a copy of most, if not all, of the software discussed. (Note: This session is BYOL - Bring Your Own Laptop. It isn't a requirement, but it wouldn't hurt.)

We'll also have a great lineup of sessions on the craft of writing and how to market your book once you've finished it.

To take advantage of the early bird discount, register before May 31.

So what else is new with us?

Well, if you've checked out the website lately, you know that the 2009 Guest of Honor is New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance. Jance is the author of more than 32 books and has over a million copies of her books in print. To learn more about her and her work, check out her website at http://www,jajance.com. There will be a Guest of Honor dinner at Sperry's on Saturday, August 15. Seating is limited, so guests will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis.

As many of you know, we unveiled the Silver Falchion Award in 2008. If you're a registered attendee with a book published for the first time between August 2008 and August 2009, you can nominate that book for the Silver Falchion. In 2009, we unveil the Claymore Dagger award for the best first 50 pages of an unpublished manuscript that is not under contract. The prize is an engraved replica of a Claymore Dagger and consideration for publication by Avalon Books, which is partnering with us for this year's contest. The deadline for the Claymore Dagger is coming up in May. For more details about either award, check out our website at http://www.killernashville.com, or use the link to the right.

Finally, our fledgling blog is beginning to take flight. On the first of every month, I'll give a news update. On the 7th, graphic novelist and independent filmmaker Phillip Lacy will write a monthly column. On the 10th, we'll hear from Sheila L. Stephens, long-term law-enforcement professional and author of The Everything Private Investigation Book. Sheila was the first female Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agent in the state of Alabama, and one of the first in the nation. After leaving the ATF due to injury, she opened a private detective agency; she is also a criminal justice professor at Andrew Jackson University. On the 14th, Butch Wilson will offer advice, information, and reviews about computer software for writers. On the 21st, Killer Nashville producer, author, and filmmaker Clay Stafford will write a monthly column, beginning with a series of articles sharing his vision of the conference and what makes it unique. In between, we plan to have guest bloggers, book reviews, and interviews with Killer Nashville attendees, speakers, and volunteers. So check back often, feel free to comment, and if you'd like to contribute an article or volunteer for an interview, be sure to let me know (contact@killernashville.com). Or, join the Killer Nashville group on Facebook. It's a whole new frontier!

See you soon.

WHAT MAKES KILLER NASHVILLE DIFFERENT? THE FIVE PIVOTS

2009-03-29T18:15:00.000-05:00

I’ve been doing several press interviews recently for Killer Nashville and, basically – as anyone who does interviews regularly can tell you – the same questions keep coming up. One, particularly vital one is, “What makes Killer Nashville different?” The answer, quickly, can be summed up in what I call “The Five Pivots” contained within our mission statement.

Not surprisingly, many people on the organizing level of Killer Nashville are educators or past-educators. Myself, I’m a former college professor who also served time as a teacher’s assistant in two high schools. Attempting to provide access to knowledge and wisdom mixed with a steady dose of encouragement in the times of success and failure are all part of the job. The educators or past-educators on the Killer Nashville team, I think, share that mission. It is something that comes from within and something, honestly, that those of us who have it can’t seem to get rid of. We find ourselves in teaching moments where we constantly want to reach out and share or encourage. That’s the heart of Killer Nashville.

Killer Nashville is not about who we bring in, what topics are discussed, who the guest of honor is, how many people attend, or how big we can grow. As everyone who volunteers for Killer Nashville knows because we say it over and over: Killer Nashville is about our attendees, each individual one, whether reader, writer, or curious onlooker. Each person who attends Killer Nashville is vitally important, not to the bottom line, but to the success of the concept of Killer Nashville period. If we can’t play a strategic part in the success of each of our attendees through “The Five Pivots” – especially addressing the objectives of our writers, published or unpublished – then we as a conference have failed. That’s how seriously we take it. When the conference is over, my questions to the volunteers run the gamut of how can we make it better, where did we fail, how many writers found consideration with an agent or publisher, how is the material offered going to be used by the attendees for their benefit over the next year, and – probably just as important – what was offered that just plain fizzled? Everything we evaluate is based against the criteria of “The Five Pivots.” It’s our reliance on and adherence to “The Five Pivots” that has made our conference grow as quickly as it has.

What are “The Five Pivots?” They are found in our mission statement: “To provide a place for the growth and encouragement of pivotal education, pivotal relationships, pivotal discipline, pivotal purpose, and pivotal circumstances.” Over the next several months leading up to this year’s conference, I’ll be addressing the individual components of the mission statement of Killer Nashville, how writing lives have been changed by these five pivots, and how these five pivots will benefit you during your attendance at Killer Nashville 2009. After the conference August 14-16, 2009, I’m sure I’ll have even more success stories to share, possibly even yours.

Until next month when we discuss the first in our five-part series – Pivotal Education – keep writing!

To register for Killer Nashville, go to www.KillerNashville.com.

Clay Stafford is the founder of Killer Nashville. You can read more about him at www.ClayStafford.com or www.AmericanBlackguard.com.

Software For Starving Authors (and not so starving ones)

2009-02-23T22:47:00.000-06:00

By Butch Wilson

Then what you're

looking for is at your fingertips.

Software for Starving Authors

(and not so starving ones).

Hi Gang –

I’m Butch Wilson, an Educational Technologist by trade, a writer and storyteller because I just can’t help myself. “Educational Technologist” is a fancy way of saying “that computer guy at the school”. In my case, it’s a bunch of schools. I provide technology support and software training for fifty two schools in Southern Illinois.

Part of my job is helping teachers find free, and nearly free, ways to help kids learn. Over the past year enough folks have said that I should be passing some of this stuff on to writers that the idea finally sank in. So, until that “House in the Hamptons” book deal comes through, and we can hire people for the grammar checking, typesetting, and publicity, let’s share some “cool tools” to help us in our craft.

A couple things up front:

You know that internal editor that you have? The one that hangs out and makes snarky comments while you work? Sometimes he or she does play by play of your day. (spoons go in the dishwasher, not the disposal...) Maybe it’s a side effect of my job, but mine is, well… not so internal.

You’ll find the inner dialogue in italics. Sometimes it’s just me being snarky, sometimes I might just be working on a new chili recipe. Feel more than free to skip over it. (Unless, you know, you want to compare chili recipes…)

My hope is, each time, to give you something from at least one of the following categories:

a tool for our everyday use of the computer
a tool or resource aimed at helping us develop or promote our writing goals
and maybe something to help keep us motivated.

I will try to include clickable links that will take you to more information on all the things presented, (because there is ALWAYS more information a mouse click away).

The bottom line, for me, is this:

Writing and creating is hard work. Getting the tools to do it shouldn’t be.

They shouldn’t cost us the light bill to get, and the best ones,

the “Cool Tools”, should work and stay out of the way of the process.

Every Day, Hands on the Keyboard stuff:

I was standing at one of the big box electronics stores awhile back, and met a very nice lady buying the MS Office Suite for her high school aged daughter. Current list price (at this writing) for Office Professional is about $400 bucks. The store wasn't bothering (because they probably didn't know) to tell Mom that she could get the Home and Student version for $90. The major difference? Home and Student doesn’t come with Publisher. Since her daughter needed it for homework, not desktop publishing, it worked out good for them.

You can find it at a number of reputable online and brick and mortar (read regular) stores. All you need is a mouse… and a credit/debit card.

Now, if you aren’t a slave to the brand name? Allow me to point you to the same writing and budget management functionality, for $0 dollars.

OpenOffice, courtesy of the nice folks at OpenOffice.org, does pretty much everything a writer needs, and more. And, it is Open Source. In layman’s terms, that means it is free for you to use.

(No, Auntie June, I promise this is not a trick. Not at all like that pretty movie I emailed you,

the one with the peaceful spring meadow where the zombie jumped out, screaming, at the end.)

Umm… where was I?

You can download the program, all of it, at the link above. Once you have it installed, you will see that it works, pretty much, just like the commercial word processing software (Word, Wordperfect) you are used to. Some of the buttons may be in a different place, but the learning curve is a bunny slope and you can be back to writing in no time.

One BIG difference? Stories written in Open Office can be saved in Word or Wordperfect, and, stories created in those programs can be opened and edited in Open Office.

How cool is that?

Need some help? Check this out-- Tutorials for Open Office. Just like the link says,-- free, step by step and guided tours, for you to print out, or open on your computer and follow along, no experience necessary. Really. They even have one called “No Computer Experience”.

Which begs the question: “If you have no experience, at all, how’d you get to that page on the internet?”

Not ready to give up your brand name word processing? Ok, here’s the same thing for you, courtesy of the amazing educational folks at Florida Gulf Coast University. They have online tutorials for all of Office 2000 AND Office 2007, and all you need is a mouse. Here’s the link: Office Tutorials

One other “hands on” writing related tip:

While we’re still in word processing, MS Office 2003 and 2007 both have a standard template for “Book Manuscript”. In 2007 you can find it by clicking “New” & “Installed Templates”. In both, you can also find it by opening Word Help, then searching for “Book Template”. Or, you can download it, free, here, from Office’s online help site.

Cool, huh? (But wait, there’s more) Whether from a generic Word document, or the template, you can change the margins, line spacing, the distance to indent first lines…. All that, and then create your own template, simply by clicking the “File – Save As”, and selecting “Word Template”. Call it something you’ll remember, save it somewhere you’ll remember, so you can open it when you start the next book or draft. Viola! The grunt work of starting your next piece is done, “auto-magically”. It works the same way in Open Office, by the way.

Just remember to hit the “Save as” and save it as some other name – “My New Book” document, the first time you save. That way the template you created will still be there, clean and formatted and ready to use.

Ever gotten lost in your own novel?

I have. I sometimes lose track of how tall Billy is, or where he lives (and just why did his accent go from Scottish to Italian?), or when Mary had to die (shh, she doesn’t know). That is where Plotcraft comes in. Plotcraft was created by programmer, fellow writer, and all around interesting guy, Fahim Farook. It’s designed to help folks like us keep our tales on track. It’s an easy download, easy install. It runs, I know, on Windows XP and Vista. AND? Plotcraft is available free for your use.

Unlike the Open Source license, Fahim calls his licensing model “Care Ware”. To quote the license itself: “Simply pay for it by caring enough about the people around you and helping them out whenever they need help.” I told you, he’s a neat guy. He does mention that, if you want to do something nice for him, you might, maybe, buy his book. His website includes a link to that.

Ok, so is that enough to play with today? Yeah, I know, if you do ALL of this, one at a time, we’ve sucked up your free time until a week from next Tuesday.

The thing to remember is this:

Just like with cooking, writing, and plotting the perfect murder, being willing to try new things teaches us how to get away with a lot more, a lot faster.

If you have questions, or you want to whack me over the head for getting something wrong, click here and drop me a line.

Latest News: Guest of Honor, Claymore Dagger

2009-02-16T21:54:00.000-06:00

By Beth Terrell

Greetings, friends (and future friends) of Killer Nashville.

I know you've been on pins and needles wondering who the Killer Nashville 2009 Guest of Honor will be. All right, maybe the question has floated across your mind. Well, wonder no more.

New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance will join the ranks of past Killer Nashville Guests of Honor: Carol Higgins Clark, Michael Connelly, and "Body Farm" creator Dr. Bill Bass. Jance is the author of four popular crime fiction series, one of which earned her the American Mystery Award. All attendees will have a chance to meet Jance and hear her conference interview and one-hour presentation on Saturday, August 15. That night, attendees may join Jance at a special guest of honor dinner, where she will be awarded the traditional Killer Nashville guitar. (For those of you who have attended past guest of honor dinners, we hope 2008 Silver Falchion Award winner Don Bruns will be there to continue yet another tradition, playing one of his original songs on it. Don?)

We have a great lineup planned for 2009 (August 14-16). We'll have manuscript critiques and breakout sessions, as well as four tracks of panels and presentations. Once again, there will be one track on the craft of writing, one on the business of writing, one on forensics and investigative techniques, and one just for fans. So whether you're a reader or a reader/writer, we hope to see you at this year's conference. I've heard that some fans of the genre have lamented that Killer Nashville is just for writers. Actually, it's for anyone who has ever stayed up past midnight with a good mystery or thriller, anyone with an interest in forensice or investigative techniques, or anyone who has written--or dreamed of writing--a piece of crime-related fiction.

Some of you have asked about the agent and editor pitches. Our visiting agent for 2009 is Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency. Lucienne has sold over 600 titles and is one of the most respected agents in the industry. Maryglenn McCombs, a 15-year veteran of the publishing industry, will also be returning this year. Maryglenn represents Oceanview Publishing, which has accepted manuscripts from two of our attendees, Scott Pearson and Margaret Fenton. Scott's book just came out in early February, and Margaret's will be released in June. (Congratulations, both of you!)

Now, let's talk about awards. In addition to the Silver Falchion, which is awarded to the best novel published in the current or previous year (2008 or 2009) by a registered attendee, we're unveiling the first annual Claymore Dagger Award. The Claymore Dagger is for the best beginning (defined as up to the first 50 pages) of an unpublished manuscript that is not currently under contract. The winner will receive an engraved repkica of a Claymore Dagger, and the winning manuscript will be read and considered for publication by this year's partnering publisher, Avalon Books. You can find the rules and FAQs on the website: www.killernashville.com. A lot of you have asked if you have to follow Avalon's guidelines in order to win. The answer is no, you don't have to follow their guidelines in order to win the award, but if you want to increase your manuscript's chances of being accepted for publication by Avalon, you do.

We have a number of special rates and discounts, including discounts for seniors, teachers, and full-time students, and an early bird special that runs through February 28. A second, lesser, discount runs from March 1 through May 31.

As always, the conference will be at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs Hotel and Convention Center.

Got questions? Comments? Concerns? Feel free to contact me: contact@killernashville.com.

Meeting Michael Connelly (or How Killer Nashville Jumpstarted My Writing Efforts)

2009-01-11T19:23:00.000-06:00

Today's article comes courtesy of guest blogger Pamela Schmalz. Pamela is an engineer turned lawyer. She uses her technical background in the practice of Environmental Law. She is at work on a legal thriller and plans to attend Killer Nashville 2009.

I had been nurturing the dream of being a novelist for over ten years, and for the past two years I had been working toward that dream: writing and meeting with a small critique group every three weeks or so. But juggling my day job, and the demands of a toddler, resulted in a less-than-satisfactory output of written words at my computer.

At the urging of my writing group, I kept up my efforts--whenever I believed that time allowed. And one day, a friend forwarded me an email about Killer Nashville.

I had seen other notices for writing conferences, and in fact secretly dreamed of attending the Edgar Awards in New York City--as a nominee in the Best First Novel by an American Author category. When I linked to the conference website, I learned that the Guest of Honor for Killer Nashville 2007 was none other than MICHAEL CONNELLY.

I emailed back to my friend, "Oh my gosh, Michael Connelly is my favorite author of all time."

"Sign up for the conference," she told me. "It just may be the impetus you need in your writing career."

First, I checked with my family, and then I went online and signed up before I could lose my nerve. In the back of my mind, I knew that if I quit my day job to write full time, attendance at such a conference might not fall within our budget again--at least, not until I became a successful author.

As the days passed, I wondered how many of my Michael Connelly books I could carry to the conference with me for signing. I decided that carrying more than a dozen books would paint me as a pathetic writing groupie, so I brought with me only his two latest, Echo Park and The Overlook.

When I awoke Saturday morning, I still couldn't believe that I would be meeting MICHAEL CONNELLY. What would he be like, I wondered. Would he look like a mere mortal, or would there be an otherworldly aura around him?

After lunch, I rushed to the room where Michael Connelly would be interviewed. I got a seat near the center of the room, four rows back, where I could watch him straight on. As the minutes ticked on, I eyed a seat in the very first row. Should I move to that seat? Might near proximity to my hero imbue me with writing talent? Might I be anointed with a droplet of his sweat? If, as Thomas Edison tells us, genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, could such a droplet help me and my writing?

I decided that such thoughts steered me away from the author-in-my-own-right category, and into the writer groupie category.

And then I saw him. He looked much like the photographs on the back of his novels. His hair was a little shorter, his face not as stern. Amazingly, surprisingly, he stood alone in the room while cameras and microphones were being set up. Occasionally, someone would approach him to converse quietly. Where was the mob? Where were the adoring fans?

This is it. Go talk to him, I told myself. Tell him what an inspiration he has been to you.

But I was paralyzed by awe, still eyeing the seat in the front row, occasionally darting my glance toward MICHAEL CONNELLY.

Get up and talk to him, my brain screamed. But an inner voice told me that I was not worthy, and the moment passed. The front-row seat was taken by a less timid soul, and Michael Connelly got up on stage, behind a table.

Damn, damn, damn. I missed my moment. But the interview was about to begin.

Connelly spoke with quiet confidence. He seemed...could it be?...somewhat nervous to be in front of us speaking about his books and about the craft of writing. He was, as the moderator had told us, a really nice guy.

After the interview, Connelly was signing books, and I quickly got in line. A woman in front of me had a disposable camera, and asked me to take her picture with him as her book was signed.

Damn, damn, damn. Why hadn't I thought of that? Another missed moment.

When I got to the front of the line, I got my two books signed, and managed to stammer out some words about how Connelly's writing had inspired me. I clutched my precious books to me as I walked away, already thinking of the more eloquent things I could have said.

But all was not lost. I had also signed up for dinner with Michael Connelly. Maybe I would have another chance to talk to him at dinner. Alas, Connelly's reserve and my shyness prevented any interchange beween us. Dinner came to an end, and I was getting ready to leave, when I remembered that I had opened a tab so that I could have a glass of wine with dinner. I darted back into the room where we had dined, and asked for my bill. As I was handed my credit card receipt, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone else settling his tab.

It was MICHAEL CONNELLY. Again, my brain screamed, talk to him. But the words would not come. I turned to my receipt, only to find that my pen would not work. And as Connelly handed his receipt to the waitress, I blurted, "Could I please use that pen?"

He handed the receipt to the waitress and the pen to me and moved away. I was frozen. There he goes, I thought. I signed my receipt and prepared to give it, and the pen, in their faux leather folio, back to the waitress.

When suddenly, desperately, I asked the waitress, "Can I keep this pen?"

I know this relegates me to the hopelessly desperate writer groupie category, but I don't care. I've got a pen used by Michael Connelly.

Pamela Schmalz

A Killer Nashville New Year

2009-01-02T08:50:00.000-06:00

Let me be the first to wish you all a Killer New Year.

With the new year upon us, the Killer Nashville crew is revving up for 2009 conference. Making New Year's resolutions? I hope you'll start by resolving to attend Killer Nashville 2009. That's one resolution it will be easy to keep. All you have to do is go to the Killer Nashville website and register. We have an early bird special that lasts through February 28, and a special rate for full-time students and teachers. The conference will be held on August 14-16, 2009 at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs Hotel and Conference Center. I've already marked my calendar!

As you can see, we have a new Killer Nashville blog. We hope to use it to create a year-round community of writers and readers of mysteries, thrillers, suspense, and other crime fiction. (Readers and writers of true crime should find much to interest them as well.) We'd love to have blog articles from any previous attendee, presenter, or volunteer who is interested in participating--fans, aspiring authors, published writers, literary agents, law enforcement personnel, forensics experts, and anyone else who has been a part of the Killer Nashville experience. If you're interested in being a regular or occasional contributor, please let me know at contact@killernashville.com. Please check back often to see what's new--and feel free to leave comments!

Now, here's the latest Killer Nashville news:

The agent who will be joining us this year is Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency. You can check out the agency at http://www.knightagency.net/. They are truly a class act. We hope Maryglenn McCombs will also be joining us again. We've always had great experiences with Maryglenn and Oceanview. Two Killer Nashville attendees, Margaret Fenton and Scott Pearson (Dr. A. Scott Pearson), received publishing contracts as a result of pitches given at the conference. Both have books coming out from Oceanview this year (Scott's in February and Margaret's in June).

As you'll remember, we unveiled the first Silver Falchion Award in 2008. It was awarded to Don Bruns for Stuff to Die For. This year, in addition to the Falchion, we'll be awarding the first Claymore Dagger Award. This award will be given to the writer of the "best beginning"--the best first 50 pages of an unpublished crime fiction manuscript that is not under contract. The winner will be chosen from ten finalists, who will be (chosen through a blind judging process) by our partnering publisher, Avalon Books. The winner will receive an engraved award, and Avalon's acquiring editor will read the winning manuscript. They will consider it for publication if it meets their needs and follows their guidelines. The deadline for the entries is March 30, 2009. Further information can be found on the Killer Nashville website, or you can send your questions to me at contact@killernashville.com.

A tentative schedule will go up on the site soon. If you have suggestions for panel/presentation topics, please let me know ASAP. We plan to have multiple tracks again this year, so please think in terms of panels and presentations on writing, marketing, forensics, and fan interest. We would love to draw more fans as well as published and aspiring authors.

I look forward to hearing from you soon and to seeing you all in August.

And...

Happy New Year!

Beth Terrell, Associate Producer, Killer Nashville