Bouchercon Memories

 The winner of KILLIN' TIME IN SAN DIEGO is Lenita, in California! Lenita, please send an email to julia spencer fleming (all one word) at Gmail.com and I'll connect you to editor Holy West!

 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: How to describe Bouchercon? It's a party that moves from someone's suite to the bar to the restaurant to the publisher's shindig to the hotel lobby. It's a four-day university with the best crime fiction authors in the world telling you whatever you want to know about writing mysteries. It's a massive family reunion, if you actually enjoyed seeing everyone in your family.

 

At my first B'con, in Austin, I was nervous and shy (I know, it's hard to believe,) and had the great good fortune to meet Steve Hamilton, who sat down with me and gave me SO much information about the world of crime fiction writers. 

 The next year, in Las Vegas, I swept the awards and barely remember it. What I do recall was the awful hotel/casino (it got demolished a year later!) the bug that bit my butt at the breakfast bar (which will be the title of my children's book, if I ever write one) and getting phone updates on the League Championship final during the Opening ceremonies (Boston vs. Yankees, with Ross and Lee Child parked in front of the overflow bar TV, cheering on their respective teams.)

Julia, Edith Maxwell &"Sherry Harris" in Albany

Lots of my memories are crowded with people, but some are just lovely solitary moments - walking back to my hotel in San Francisco listening to street musicians playing in the warm dark. Looking out the porthole of my room at the Queen Mary at the glittering lights of Long Beach. Starting each morning in St. Petersburg soaking up the sun while swimming laps in the hotel pool.

What about you, Reds? What are some of your memorable Bouchercon moments?

JENN McKINLAY: My favorite Bouchercon was Dallas in 2019 - all the Reds were together. Why can’t I remember the name of this drink? Perhaps I had a few too many.

 

A great many of these were consumed

  

Other memorable times were…meeting Sue Grafton for the first time in Long Beach (2014) and chatting for a half hour in a hallway. No one else approached her, which I found shocking! It was also my first Bouchercon - so wow, just wow! 

 

Another fave was Toronto (2017) where I went to the top of the CN tower! I always try to do some touring while at a conference and that tower has a glass floor. So cool! 

 

Another stellar BCon moment was Raleigh (2015) where I was told my series was getting moved into hardcover and I found out I hit #8 on the NYT which made me useless for the entire conference. Seriously, I had to meet with the head buyer for Barnes and Noble over dinner and I was as dumb as a potato. Luckily, he was very understanding and we’re still in touch. I think that’s why conferences are so important. You get to meet people and form friendships that are truly sustaining in an occupation that can be, frankly, rather lonely.

RHYS BOWEN: My first Bouchercon I knew exactly 2 people. I was chatting with one of them but had agreed to have dinner with the other. A man in the group invited me to join them for dinner. I explained I had a dinner commitment. As they walked away my acquaintance hissed, “You just turned down Jeffrey Deaver!” 

(I was clueless obviously)

My most memorable was winning two Anthony awards  in Toronto only the award was a giant tombstone I could hardly lift. I had to stagger through customs with an incredibly heavy box , trying not to look suspicious 

Rhys, Louise Penny and Debs in New Orleans

 

Other fond memories are all the Jungle Red game shows, good food  in New Orleans, walking into Austin with matching purple cowboy hats   My least favorites were the horror in Las Vegas and the dystopian Albany site.

 

JULIA: We really need T-shirts that say, "I Survived the Las Vegas Bouchercon." And Albany... sigh. Well, at least it was close enough to visit family and friends upstate.

HALLIE EPHRON: Oh dear, I do remember Albany. An impossible city for a conference of that size. I felt bad for the folks who worked so hard to organize it.

I vividly remember my first Bouchercon - it was in Denver (in 2000? Egads). I knew *NO ONE*! I remember after eating alone I wandered over to the bar where Lee Child was holding forth, and chickened out on hanging out. Only now do I realize what a welcoming place that conference can be, wherever it’s held.

My all time favorite (after the Jungle Red game panels which have been fabulous) was when I got to interview GoH Elizabeth George. She is so lovely and smart and it was a breeze. 

 

GOH Elizabeth George & Hallie

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, so many, and I think I remember the good ones more clearly. Certainly being Guest of Honor in Dallas, that was…well, I am still floating. I still kind of can’t believe it.  And I got to interview James Patterson, who was incredible, hilarious, and absolutely brilliant. I adore him, and we have stayed pals.  (Did you know he mentioned me and how much he loved  that interview in his autobiography? Aww.)

What is Patterson saying to Hank?

 

Anyway, yes, chatting with Sue Grafton. And  the time in maybe Cleveland, where I saw a guy putting out WHIrl360  tote bags, which I knew was for my favorite book at the time, Trust Your Eyes. And I said: “Are you putting out those for Linwood Barclay? I love that book, may I have one?” And turns out, it WAS Linwood Barclay, so that was nice.

And the moment in St. Louis  when William Landay told me he was worried that there were so many arcs of Defending Jacob, because he feared no one would buy it because everyone would already have it. I remember I said: Boucheron is NOT everyone. 

And when Robert Crais had to cancel at the last minute, and the Bouchercon people, in a real Hollywood moment, asked me if I could fill in for him and interview David Baldacci the next day. Well, of COURSE I could. And did. And it was great.

And winning the ANTHONY four times.  PLUS another time winning with the Reds for this very blog! (Where was that, you all?) And every moment with the Reds!

 

JULIA: St. Petersburg! I missed the awards because I was deep in conversation with Brad Parks and lost track of the time. Go on, Hank, I cut you off. What about your first?

HANK: Oh, my first Bouchercon? In Baltimore. I was MISERABLE, and lonely,  and decided to give up on this whole writing thing. Lee Child, who just happened to be there when I was looking pensive, and asked me about it,  told me not to. And I always do what Lee Child says.

LUCY BURDETTE: My first Bcon was in Milwaukee– 2000? I knew not a soul and I was petrified! Terrified! If I hadn't wanted to get published so badly, I probably would have flown right home. I am truly not a natural extrovert, so a big conference like that was very challenging. I have so enjoyed the times the Reds are able to all get together, especially to do a game show. My favorite might have been the one that Julia’s Ross filled in. He was hysterical! This is the photo of the Reds winning best website in St. Petersburg. Oh but wait, Dallas was great fun too, and it was an honor to interview our own Debs!

 

Some extremely happy & honored Reds in St. Petersburg

 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Oh, so many Bouchercons, so hard to choose! My first Bouchercon was in Pasadena in 1991! I was so nervous and so overwhelmed. But people were so nice and I made friends I still have to this day. I remember Jonathan Gash (he wrote Lovejoy, if you remember) stopped and spoke to me and I thought, “Wow, a real author just talked to me!"

Dallas was fabulous for so many reasons, but some of the others that stand out in memory: Las Vegas (the worst hotel, ugh); Raleigh (my luggage went to California); Albany (we all know how many times we walked up and down those hills but, still, I had a great time at that one); Toronto (Susan Shea and I discovered a pen shop!); St. Petersburg, where the Reds won Anthony!  I am so excited to be making more memories in San Diego.

 

Debs & our own Ann Mason in Toronto

 

 JULIA: Notice how everyone has a happy memory of Lee Child at Bouchercon? That goes to show what a truly lovely gentleman he is. Now it's your turn, dear readers. Share your memories of B'con or any other literary conference/ festival you've been to. And if you're appearing in San Diego today, tomorrow or Sunday, let us know in the comments! 

Would You Say Panoply?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Hello from Toronto! With many of the Reds at Bouchercon and Red Julia is running the show from the US.  And today we’re talking about a writing (and reading) element all of us face—whether we’re male or female. Writing (and reading about) the opposite sex.

Jane doesn’t describe things the same way Jake does. Russ and Clare. Gemma and Duncan. All of us who write the opposite sex in our books—which would be, um, all of us—have to explore this minefield. 

Happily, today we have the wonderful Linda Lovely leading the way. And she has a bone to pick (see what we did there?) with writers who don't see the difference. 

Writing Men—When You’re A Woman

By Linda Lovely

Most women know there is a whole panoply of words males don’t tend to use. (Panoply is probably one of them.) Colors are an obvious place to start. My husband would never describe a room’s color as fuchsia or mauve. Nor would he describe a woman’s hair as ginger or chestnut.

Let’s suppose he met a woman friend of mine but couldn’t remember her name. If he tried to describe her, he might tell me she was short or tall, skinny or fat. He might add she had black hair, a big nose, or sizeable knockers. But, as long as she was actually wearing clothes, he would not know (or care) about the details of her outfit. Would he ever mention the brand of a pair of shoes, a purse, or a scarf? Not in a million years.

This is my starting point. If I’m writing dialogue for a man or I’m describing something in his point-of-view, I guard against using colors, brands, and other descriptors I might use if a woman were speaking. Instead I look for the types of details he might notice to communicate subtleties of appearance or class.

That’s the easy part. Listening to what the men I encounter do—and don’t—say in a variety of circumstances. Naturally, male “speak” spans a wide gamut. For example, professors, plumbers, policemen, physicians and pro-football players are bound to have different vocabularies.

The harder part is trying to make sure male characters not only talk like men but think like them.

Or should that be my goal?

 I remember hearing one woman romance author—sorry I don’t remember who—unashamedly boast she wrote characters who reflected what women WISHED their men were like. After all, it’s fiction, why not make your heroes think and act as the bulk of your readers (typically female) dream the ideal male would act and think?

Translated the author might create male characters who display all the admirable qualities women want in heroes—for example, bravery, honesty, and talented lover. However, these traits are also coupled with ones more often linked to the fairer sex—tenderness, empathy, and, most of all, a willingness to verbally share their most intimate feelings and romantic sentiments.

Yes, I know there are men who exhibit the best of yin and yang. I don’t mean to imply men can’t be tender, kind, loving, and empathetic. It’s just that I rarely see them expressing their feelings in the same ways women do. They act. They seldom engage in long monologues about their feelings,

So, let’s suppose you want to make your male characters as realistic as possible, how do you do it?

When I’m writing dialogue, I ask: would my character really say this? Would he use these words? How would he show anger or love, frustration or fear? How would his language change if he were talking with male buddies? With strangers? With a lover, a daughter, a mother? All of us speak differently in private and public settings. The make-up of our audience also has a huge impact on how we express ourselves.

Even with my best efforts, I can easily miss the mark. That’s why I depend on two honest male critique partners to set me straight when I wander off base. In fact, my best advice to women authors is to find males who will read your manuscript and tell you when your men actually sound like women.

While Bones To Pick, my new humorous Brie Hooker Mystery series is “cozy” and doesn’t include even R-rated sex scenes, one of my male critique partners has helped me in the past write better sex scenes for my romantic thrillers. How? He explained in some detail about how circumstances impact the rise and fall of the potential for romantic fulfillment—information only a person with an owner’s manual understands.

If you find a critique partner of the opposite sex, it’s a win-win situation. You can alert him if his female characters fall within a realistic behavior spectrum.

What’s the payoff in attempting to create realistic men—and women—characters? I think it invites readers to more readily suspend disbelief when your characters are thrown into the unusual or dangerous situations that most readers (fortunately) never encounter. 

HANK: SO interesting! Jonathan often reads my pages—but I’ve never asked him: would a man say that? How about you, Reds and readers? Any secrets you’ve discovered about writing the opposite sex?

LINDA LOVELY

 Over the past five years, hundreds of mystery/thriller writers have met Linda Lovely   at check-in for the annual Writers’ Police Academy, which she helps organize. While her new Brie Hooker Mystery series may be “cozy,” she weaves in lots of adrenaline-packed scenes. Hardly a surprise given all the options she’s scoped out at the Writers’ Police Academy. Lovely finds writing pure fiction isn’t a huge stretch given the years she’s spent penning PR and advertising copy. She writes a blend of mystery, thrills, and humor, chuckling as she plots to “disappear” the types of characters who annoy her. Quite satisfying plus there’s no need to pester relatives for bail. She served as president of her local Sisters in Crime chapter for five years and also belongs to International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She’s the award-winning author of five prior mystery/suspense/thriller novels. To learn more, visit her website: www. LindaLovely.com

FB: @LindaLovelyAuthor

Twitter: @LovelyAuthor

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Bouchercon Bound for Name That Red--Can YOU Do it?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  How long have you known us? Long, right? Through think and thin, and triumph and tragedy. We have shared, all of us, our hopes and fears and challenges and, ah, food preferences. Loves and hates and choices and childhoods and dilemmas and punctuation frustrations. 
But how well do you really know us?

One of us won a big prize on Sale of the Century. 
One was propositioned by Warren Beatty. 
One is an expert at bribing people. 
One participated in a professional athletic event as research for one of her novels. She had never been so terrified but she’d do anything for the sake of story. And her husband made out best of all…  
Can you figure out who each is?

We think we can fool you--so that's why our panel at Bouchercon is NAME THAT RED. It's Saturday at 4--and we promise it'l be hilarious. And we're giving prizes!

(Julia will be there in spirit, and she's going to hang out with you all here as keynote speaker at the Red's special on-line Bouchercon.)  

Where I'll be at Bouchercon? Friday, signing at the Forge booth (free books!) 

then moderating the Librarians Tea--wth panelists including Linwood Barclay and Sara Paretsky and Diane Vallere.

Saturday morning I'm moderating the Best Novel nominees: Reed Farrell Coleman, Louise Penny, Megan Abbot, Laura Lippman and Chris Holm. You'll be there, of course, right?

And then the Name that Red panel at 4.  (One of us is a failed majorette. Can you guess? Each the Reds will try to fool you into believing it's them. Will you choose correctly?) 

How about the rest of you? Where can we find you at Bouchercon?  I KNOW there's some exciting stuff coming up in Toronto.

HALLIE EPHRON: I'll be signing books (come and get 'em!) Thursday right after opening reception (8:30 PM) in the Grand Ballroom West. And then Saturday, the Reds Panel. The SinC breakfast of course on Saturday, too. Mostly I'll be looking forward to putting faces to names... so please say HI! 

LUCY BURDETTE: Reds panel of course and wouldn't miss Sisters in Crime breakfast, even at 7:30 am! Otherwise floating through the halls hoping to chat with all of you!

RHYS BOWEN: I'm joining Debs and Louise Penny for something called Three a Friends Chat on Friday at 10 am, then the Reds panel on Saturday and signing after both.

INGRID THOFT: I’ll be at the Reds panel and signing afterwards.  I’ll also be in the bar, the coffee shop, and hopefully, the gym.  I’m working hard to get my back, back to normal.  Maybe I’ll see you by the stability balls!

JENN McKINLAY: Ditto! Reds panel and signing and wherever you can find baked goods, you'll find me sampling. And the bar, always the hotel bar, for chit chat and catching up with friends! Do come find me and I'll bore you with photos/videos of our recent kitten rescue -- King George!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Jenn, I can't wait for in-person updates on King George!! In between, I'll be signing after the Opening Reception Thursday night along with Hallie and lots of other great folks, so come see us (and get some free books!) Then, as Rhys says, on Friday morning, she and I and Louise Penny will just be having a chat, but everyone in the audience gets to listen in. We will all have a great time. Then Saturday at 4, THE REDS PANEL!!! I'll be signing after panels, and will be in the bar, the coffee shop, and wherever friends and readers are hanging out, so please stop and say "hi."
 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: All of you who wish you were going to be in Toronto can hang out here with me. We'll dish on everyone at Bouchercon and they'll never know we were talking about them! (That sounds foolproof, right?) And don't forget to stay tuned to Twitter, where @junglereds will be keeping you up to date with everything going on at the big party!

HANK: Yes, do try that, darling Julia. We will not look at all. We will not even notice that you all are talking about us.

SO--who's here, and who's going to Toronto?
If you are here with Julia or across with border with us in Canada, now you can practice your skills at naming that Red.

For instance:
Which Red wanted to be a movie star, and her first teenage attempts at writing were scripts for her to star in?
Which Red learned to execute a wingover in a glider at 8000 feet?
Which Red played the Artful Dodger in Oliver? (And then flew across the stage as John Darling in Peter Pan?)
Which Red had to sneak out to meet her motorcycle-riding boyfriend by telling her parents she was going to the Young Democrats event?
Which Red  attended Richard Nixon's inaugural parade as a Young Republican?
Which Red went to  Susan Ford's prom at the White house--and why?
Which Red has three former first ladies as fans?

So-- bring it on. Give us your best guesses! 

Then come to our Bouchercon panel Saturday at 4--and see if you can figure out which Red is telling you the truth! (And you can win prizes, too. Of course.) 

PS. And hey--as you can see, we need some photos with Ingrid and Jenn! So we'll publish the ones you all take--right here on Jungle Red!

Oh, Canada

HURRAY! THE OTHER WOMAN  is chosen as a Best of 2012 by Suspense Magazine! Thank you so much!

Now back to our regular programming...

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Oh, Canada has nothing to do with this blog, really, except that I love the Canadian national anthem, and I've been singing it in my head ever since I began chatting with Janet Costello, the editor of CRIME SCENE, the Toronto Chapter Sisters in Crime newsletter. (So now you're singing it too, right?)

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Toronto Chapter of Sisters in Crime, they produced our first anthology, The Whole She-Bang. And Janet--volunteered!--to edit. Ooh, I thought. Good person to grill about what works and what doesn't--just in case any of us want to submit a short story to someone someday... :-)

 HANK: What a task, Janet!  What'd you do first?

Janet and the tools of the trade

JANET: I read Getting the Words Right by Theodore A. R. Cheney. As with non-fiction editing, Cheney emphasized writing basics.   Reduce the word count. Keep the story moving forward. Important ideas should be at the end of a sentence, a paragraph, a story. 

 Our judging was blind, so when I signed on for the project, I had no idea who I would be editing. Canadian Sisters in Crime includes several best-selling and award winning authors. Once the twenty stories were determined, we had a variety of successful authors, short story writers and first publications. 

 HANK: Did it turn out, in the end, that the best stories were by the already-successful people?

 JANET: While we have some excellent stories by established authors, we were delighted to have some wonderful stories from first-published authors too. While members of the mystery community may know some of our authors as established mystery writers, I challenge you to identify the  story that is a first-time publication for that author!

Now available!

A couple of editing factors I had not considered in advance: you need a position on various things. We wouldn’t allow brand names, but how to handle things like “K----x” (tissue) which is the common term for the item? Being a Canadian publication, we wanted all measurements in metric. But an exception was required. An aviation story required “miles”, and accuracy within the story took precedence over being metric.

For a historical entry, I had to check for anachronisms. Do you know how long the Y-incision has been used in autopsies? 

The biggest adjustment for me was editing dialogue. . Little changed between the quotation marks—characters speak how they speak, even with deliberate bad grammar.  But it didn’t take long for the lessons learned for my Erle Stanley Gardner reading to float to the surface. The requirements for snappy back-and-forth dialogue were clear and consistent in those gems. 

HANK:  Talking about dialogue—what made it work? What ruined it?

JANET: As the editor, I don't think we've let anything through in dialogue that ruined the story or plot.

In one story you might not realize, in the first line or two from the character, that he has a local dialect, but that does become evident. And letting you pick up on that, rather than spelling it out, invites the reader to engage with the story. 

In "An Unexpected Christmas Gift", there is one line, which we included in our youtube video (featuring one line from each story), that just melts your heart.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoNmhmXmXG8

HANK:  What were the pitfalls in the stories you rejected?

JANET: I cannot emphasize enough that proof-reading your work for grammar and full thought processes, is critical. Reading your work aloud, or having a friend read it aloud to you is an invaluable tool.

Punctuation can sneak by you, especially when you’re making changes. I would have bet a small amount of cash that I’d caught any exceptions to the standard one space after every period, but our formatter would have enjoyed a nice lunch on me if I had. And now I understand why writers break into an animated discussion around the n and m dashes!

HANK:  What do you hope for before reading a short story?

JANET: Well, to be caught quickly. Drawn in by the voice or a character or the situation.  And surprised at least once before the tale is told. I find the shorter the story, the more likely all of these are likely to occur. 

 Many hours went into the editing of The Whole She-Bang, and many lessons were learned. For our next anthology, the process will be more efficient, but I think our result will be the same. We got the words right.

HANK: Want to read for yourself?  Janet is giving away a copy of The Whole She-Bang with a coupon for an e-reader, or sending you a print copy. And Janet will be here to answer questions about short stories!

And to enter—here’s an EASY one. What’s the best short story you’ve ever read?

BREAKING NEWS:
Sign up for the JRW newsletter by adding your email to our sidebar. Holiday edition coming soon!

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For six years, Janet Costello has been the editor of Crime Scene, the Toronto Chapter Sisters in Crime newsletter. There she has also published interviews, articles and puzzles. She enjoys attending mystery conventions, especially when she can volunteer. Janet works as a commercial insurance underwriter to support her reading habit (and to ensure that habit includes a glass of red wine nearby). The Whole She-Bang, e-vailable for 99 cents on Oct. 18th, is her first anthology.