Catherine Dilts
  • About Catherine
  • Catherine Dilts - Blog
  • Short Stories
  • Secrets of the Castleton Manor Library
  • Survive Or Die
  • Rock Shop Mystery Series
  • Map

Bouchercon 2015 - Meetings and Moments

10/27/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
Writing is a solitary activity. Conferences offer us a chance to break away from our isolation to mingle with our peers and fans. Many writing groups and loops exist in cyberspace. We often have not connected faces to the people we chat with regularly online. At Bouchercon 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina, I met readers, writers, editors, reviewers, and friends. Some were happenstance hallway encounters, while other conversations took place during the many organized events.

In today's blog, I list my six favorite Meetings, and I talk about my Moment as a panel moderator.

1) Sisters in Crime - I am a member of SinC. The professional writing group holds a breakfast at conferences like Bouchercon, Left Coast Crime, and Malice Domestic. The business meeting is a good excuse to meet in person the far flung members of this national group. I sat next to Verna Suit, who writes crossword puzzles for Mystery Scene Magazine.

2) Hallway - Even though I knew many Colorado authors were attending Bouchercon, we do not travel together like a herd of elk. I was delighted when I ran into R. T. Lawton and his wife Kiti in the Marriott Hotel between workshops. R. T. has published nearly 100 short stories, a third of them in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

3) Short Mystery Fiction Society - The short story is catching on. Again. Once a popular art form with many outlets, the mystery short story had fallen on hard times as magazines folded and reader interest faded. That has changed. One proof of the revival of the never-really-gone short story was attendance at the SMFS lunch at Bouchercon. I met with Judy Penz Sheluk and several other SMFS members. We walked to the Plaza Café, a small Indian deli. As I got in line, I met author Pamela De Voe. We would be on a panel the next day. Forty plus people attended the lunch, where Art Taylor had us introduce ourselves (including a few non-SMFS deli customers who played along). When I told Terrie Farley Moran I was a fan, she happily autographed her newest story in Ellery Queen Magazine.  

PictureAuthor Liesa Malik attends Death by Chocolate with a good friend
4) Death By Chocolate - Author and friend Liesa Malik joined me for the Southeastern chapter of Mystery Writers of America sponsored Death by Chocolate reception. While waiting in the hallway for the doors to open, I glimpsed a familiar name on a badge - James M. Jackson. The author and blogger, and his wife Jan, chatted with me and Liesa at length as the crowd grew restless. James does fun author interviews on his blog, My Two Cents Worth - Before Inflation. Once the doors opened and the ravening chocolate hounds burst in upon the chocolate feast, I met other folks. Bibi Sandstrom, librarian and reader, wore T-shirts with funny grammar-themed messages. Liesa and I met Bouchercon first-timer and aspiring author Lindsay Carlson. Lindsay won a book in the MWA drawing.       

5) Fan-girl - I played room monitor for the Choose Your Voice panel. My friend and author Patricia Coleman discussed with other panelists how authors decide whether to write in first, second, or third person. After the panel, I noticed Chris Roerden, author of writing craft book Don't Murder Your Mystery, in the audience. I had the chance to tell her how helpful her book was for improving my mystery writing skills.  

6) Starbucks - What's a writing conference without a trip to a coffee shop? I met with Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine editor Linda Landrigan in the Marriott Starbucks. Linda has published four of my mystery short stories in AHMM. I had met Linda in person at two other conferences, but this was my first chance for a one-on-one chat. By the way, my story Industrial Gray is in the current issue (December - with the boat dock on the cover) available in many bookstores now.

Picture
Moment: Authors aspire to be on panels, or to present workshops, at conferences. This gives them a chance to reach new readers, and justifies the expense of the conference. (Yes, all but the mega-star featured authors pay their own way.) My moment at Bouchercon 2015 was serving as the moderator for a panel on Taking the Reader on a Journey. Panelists Pamela De Voe, Janet Hubbard , Dennis Tafoya, G. M. Malliet, and Kathy Lynn Emerson (Kaitlyn Dunnett) told how they created unique worlds for their readers, from ancient China to vineyards in modern France, from gritty South Philadelphia to England in both modern and historical times. I recommend you put each of these folks on your To Be Read list!  

I enjoyed my Bouchercon 2015 adventure. Now I'm going to hide in my writer's cave and get some work done!

2 Comments
Maria Kelson
11/1/2015 04:31:30 pm

Thanks for the fun overview! I have such fond memories of all the free food at BCon 2014 in Long Beach--sounds like 2015 was another bounty. :)

Reply
Catherine Dilts
11/2/2015 05:00:04 pm

I had a blast! It was great seeing short stories receive the attention they are due.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe to this blog:

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.