Saturday at Left Coast Crime 2025

Mysteries with Animals panel: Mysti Berry, Nancy Coco, Darlene Dziomba, J. C. Eaton, Catherine Dilts

Day 3 of Left Coast Crime 2025, I was still high energy. 

After the breakfast buffet, I attended the Reader's Panel. It's always a good idea for writers to hear from readers. The panel discussed what appeals to them, and how they discover their next favorite reads.

After that I listened to the Senior Sleuths panel. A common theme was that the senior characters are often underestimated by other characters. Another thread was that as the population ages, there will be more senior sleuths included in mysteries.

The third slot of the day, I was on the Mysteries with Animals panel. We had a lively discussion of the whys and hows of including animals in our stories. I mentioned a series by author Shirley Rousseau Murphy with a point of view character that is a talking cat: Joe Gray. One audience member responded enthusiastically. Another Joe Gray fan - yay! The controversial question of cats versus dogs came up. I jumped right into that one! I'm definitely a cat person, although I don't currently have a kitty in my life.

After lunch, I attended the Changing World of Cozies. The authors all agreed that covers mean a lot. The traditionally published have little to no influence over their book covers. Both Trad and Indy authors emphasized the importance of key words and description to enable readers to find their novels.

During the conference, I had pushed myself to have hallway conversations, and to actually speak to people at breakfast and on breaks in the hospitality room. My Turtle Power was waning. I was ready to withdraw into my shell. Three days of crowds, noise, and socializing had taken a toll on my introverted nature.

By the time we headed to the Saturday evening banquet, I was pretty thoroughly exhausted and peopled out. Then I saw fellow Type M for Murder blogger, author Charlotte Hinger. She had just learned she was up for a Spur Award from Western Writers of America! Charlotte is a finalist in the Best Western Contemporary Novel category for her book, Mary’s Place, published by Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press. Excitement over her achievement buoyed me up for a bit, but I had to leave the banquet early. Turtle Power was fully depleted.

Home again, we had two big social events in close succession. Argh. Good times, but poorly spaced. Now I am entering full turtle recharge mode. It's time to withdraw fully into my shell and work on my fiction projects!

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