We are Working Hard. Really.

Today Jungle Red comes to you from Deerfield Beach, Florida, where Mystery Writers of America's Florida chapter hold its annual writer's conference, Sleuthfest.

Sleuthfest is a writer's conference, rather than a fan conference, with workshops, programs, and panels designed to help aspiring writers improve their work and get it published.

This year's Guests of Honor are Denis Lehane, Meg Gardiner, and SJ Rozan--a steller line-up. Yesterday Meg Gardiner gave the keynote speech at lunch, then a poolside chat later in the afternoon. Let me repeat. POOLSIDE.

Meg is charming, gracious, articulate, and passionate about writing. In fact, I was so impressed that I bought Meg's China Lake as my first Kindle book, as in first ever.
(Marcia Talley and I pose by the pool with Meg.)

Today, Dennis Lehane will be speaking at lunch, then later giving a poolside chat about the film adaptation of his book, Gone, Baby, Gone. And tonight there's a poolside party with Heather Graham's band.

Sound fun? It is. But it's also a great opportunity for aspiring writers to meet pros and learn what it really takes to be successful at this business, and a way for those of us in the business to stay connected, and learn about new writers. We all were, after all, fans before we were writers.

That's what it's all about.

And then there's the hot tub.

Wish you all were here.

Escape to Sleuthfest

JRW: Maybe you're in a last minute panic about a gift for a mystery writer or reader. Or maybe you're looking for a warm getaway this winter? We invited Julie Compton to come and talk to us about the Sleuthfest mystery conference, coming in March. Welcome Julie!

What is SleuthFest? Is it for writers or readers?

JULIE: SleuthFest is Florida's premier mystery writer's conference, held every year in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The conference is sponsored by the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and is usually held in late February or early March. Our next conference is just a few months away – March 3 to March 6. It's a great time of year to visit Florida, especially for our northern friends who crave some warm, balmy weather.

SleuthFest is for mystery writers and mystery fans alike. Third Degree Thursday is chock full of hands-on workshops that focus on the craft of writing, but the Friday and Saturday schedule is loaded with workshops, panels and other events that will appeal to both writers and fans. We're a smaller conference, so fans have a chance to mingle and meet some of their favorite authors in an intimate setting.

Tell us about the special features of the conference that set your
event apart from some of the other mystery conferences.

Florida in March!

Seriously, although Florida in March may be reason enough for some, SleuthFest offers so much more. Our Third Degree Thursday continues to grow in popularity, so in response, we've expanded the schedule to include more workshops, with beginner, intermediate and advanced tracks to benefit writers at all levels. We also have a full track each day devoted to forensics. We have our SleuthFest 101 Dinner, where first-timers have the opportunity to meet other first-timers and learn how to get the most from their SleuthFest experience. We have Readers Corner, where unpublished writers have a chance to read a ten minute segment of their work and get feedback from listeners (and if there’s time, published writers can read, too). After the end of the regular programming on Friday and Saturday, our guests of honor will participate in a book discussion (poolside!) with attendees. Friday night is movie night. This year we'll show Gone, Baby, Gone, which will be followed by a film discussion with a surprise guest. We have our Author Auction, where guests can bid to win, for example, manuscript critiques by bestselling authors or the chance to name a character in their next books. On Saturday night, we have the Agents and Editors Poolside Cocktail Party. It's a great chance to meet an agent or editor in a casual setting. If you're a fan of more structured meetings, you can sign up for a pitch session.

To see everything SleuthFest offers, including the workshop and panel topics, check out the full schedule at www.sleuthfest.com.

Oh, and did I mention SleuthFest is held in Florida?

You have two guests of honor this year and a Spotlight Speaker--tell us about those writers.

We are so pleased to have bestselling authors Dennis Lehane and Meg Gardiner join us this March as our guests of honor.

Dennis Lehane is the critically acclaimed author of nine novels, including Mystic River, Gone, Baby Gone, and Shutter Island, and the recently released Moonlight Mile. Mystic River was a finalist for the PEN/Winship Award and won both the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for Best Novel as well as the Massachusetts Book Award in Fiction given by the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

Meg Gardiner is an award winning author of eight novels, including China Lake, which won a 2009 Edgar, The Dirty Secrets Club, which won the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award in 2008, and her most recent, The Liar's Lullaby.

We’re also happy to welcome S.J. Rozan as our Thursday Spotlight Speaker. S.J. is the author of twelve novels. Her work has won the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, and Macavity awards for Best Novel and the Edgar for Best Short Story. She's also the recipient of the Japanese Maltese Falcon Award.

How much does it cost to attend SleuthFest?

Our early bird discounted pricing is available until January 15, 2011, and it starts at $235 for MWA members, $255 for non-members. (I say “starts” because some things are extra, such as the SleuthFest 101 dinner.) The hotel, the Hilton Deerfield Beach, has kept our low rate of $139 per night.

As a special incentive to register early, everyone who registers before December 31, 2010 will be entered in a drawing to win signed books by Dennis Lehane and Meg Gardiner, plus a 10 page manuscript critique by one of the agents or editors in attendance.

Anything else you’d like readers to know?

Just that it’s a great conference and would make a great gift for yourself or for the mystery writer or fan in your family! Personally, SleuthFest was the first mystery conference I ever attended, and I didn’t know a soul. I was welcomed with open arms by the MWA Florida chapter members and immediately made to feel part of the family.

Beyond that, almost anything readers might want to know about the conference can be found on the website at www.sleuthfest.com. They’ll find a pretty extensive Frequently Asked Questions page. I also invite anyone who has questions to email me at julie@julie-compton.com. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find someone who does.

Roberta, thank you for allowing me to tell your readers about the conference!

Based on a True Story

RO: Some years ago I read a book called An Inconvenient Woman by Dominick Dunne. I thought it was pretty good and was surprised to learn after the fact that it was based on the true story of Alfred Bloomingdale (as in "would you like a sample of Daisy by Marc Jacobs?"...that Bloomingdale)and his longtime mistress Vicki Morgan.

I wasn't so naive as to think all fiction sprung full-blown from the author's head - even Shakespeare ripped things from the headlines - but I was a little surprised that there weren't legal ramifications in creating a story so close to an actual event.How close do you tread to that line? And does the line move as you get more involved in a story?

JAN: I once wrote three quarters of a fictional book based largely on a true story. I worried that even though I had the protagonist's okay on the book, that I might get sued by one of the more minor characters. It also started to make me feel a little queasy about what I was doing with a real person's tragedy.(The victims, not the perpetrators), but I don't think there's anything wrong, ethically or creatively, with it.I don't know how Dominick Dunne, who I believe has based more than one novel on a true crime event, avoids a legal suit. Especially since he is a bestseller and thus, a potentially profitable target. But I'd guess that he knows what he has to change, character-wise, to avoid liability. And he's an awesome writer, so ripping that closely from real life creates some great books.

HALLIE: The legal issue for the writer is 1) are the characters recognizable and 2) if they are, is what you tell about them the truth. As I undertand it, if you create a character recognizably based on a real person and defame them in your characterization, you can be (successfully) sued. So, if you write a character based on an ex-friend and disguise that person's identity by making her horrendously ugly, only people still recognize her, she could sue you and win.

My first book was based on a true case. I decided not to pursue publishing it for the same reason Jan said so perfectly above -- because I got queasy about what I'd be doing to the survivors. Everything I've written since is 150% made up, though news stories do inspire. Anyone see that story last week about a wealthy relator who was bludgeoned to death with a yoga stick (whatever that is) by her assistant who said she was provoked because "she wouldn't stop yelling at me." Truth is often stranger than fiction.

Ro: Do any of you Beantown babes know if Gone, Baby, Gone was based on a true story?

HANK: Hmm.. Don't know. And a quick Google search did not produce any clues. Google aside, though, I did hear that the movie's release was delayed because the plot was too close to the story of Madeleine McCann, the little girl who vanished from her parents' hotel room in Portugal.

As for real vs fiction. Well. I must say my closest brush with disaster in that realm is how angry my mother was (briefly, but unpleasantly) about the portrayal of Charlie McNally's mother in Face Time. Seriously. And the more I insisted it was fiction, the more she insisted I was being absurd. Now THAT was just about as close as I want to get to the line. Now that's she's read it of course, she's delighted. Although she still thinks she's Mrs. McNally. Even though she isn't.
The more I write fiction, the more careful I am not to get anywhere near reality. Everyone always thinks it's them.

Plus, I had someone say to me--oh, you're so lucky to have a husband who's a lawyer. It makes it so easy for you. You don't need to make up plots, you can just get them all from him.
Snort. Thanks lady. Straight to the moon.

RO: I just had a friend tell me that she couldn't recognize anyone in my book...as if I was going to describe all my pals in excruciating detail. Cheesh.
OTOH, Hank, I'm very disappointed to learn that your own mom is nothing like Charlie's. I think she's a riot! Haven't finished the book yet, but hope we haven't heard the last of her.