A Killer Nashville New Year

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 This award will be given to the writer of the "best beginning"--the best first 50 pages of an unpublished crime fiction manuscript that is not under contract.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