National Book Month

 

Terry here:

Apparently October is National Book Month. Who knew? For me, every month is National Book Month.

I won't be celebrating with anything other than what I normally do: buy as many books as I can carry out of a bookstore every time I walk in. I wish I had gotten on the ebook bandwagon, and I do occasionally read books on my e-reader. But I much prefer a real, solid, in-my-hand book. I like to be able to flip back and remind myself of some part of the action or of a character I don't remember well. I like the feel of the book, and I like to see it lying on a table somewhere in my house. 

 It doesn't matter that I bought a carload of books in August at Bouchercon (I got to buy extra because I drove to the conference), I've been to bookstores since then and bought books. I've ordered them on-line. I've been sent books for an award I'm judging. 

 By my front door is a stack of books I've read that intend to send on to my sister. We were lucky to have a mother who belonged to a Book of the Month club when we were young. My folks did not have much discretionary income, but books were in that category of "discretionary spending." Mother told me that when she was a child, her daddy, who had a third-grade education, was passionate about reading. She remembered a time when the county library announced that it was culling its books and would be giving away books on the library steps. She said her daddy got the kids in the car and drove there to get as many boxes of books as they could. She passed on that legacy of passion for books to my sister and me. 

 It's fitting that in this National Book Month, the tenth book in my Samuel Craddock Series, Guilt Strikes at Granger's Store came out.

Who knew, ten years ago that I would have ten books published by now? I had a nice reading at a local bookstore, and they sold all the books they ordered, which pleased me. Oh, yeah, and I bought four books while I was there! 

 Two days later I gave a talk to a group of wide-eyed fledgling authors, telling them how I write a book from the beginning (hint: I'm not an outliner). 

 It's also fitting that in this month I just got the cover for my new thriller series, the Jessie Madison Series, that comes out next spring, entitled Perilous Waters.

Isn't it a fabulous cover! 

 And finally, it's fitting that I'm celebrating finishing up the major revisions for the next Craddock book. The next go-round will be an edit, and then it's off to my beta readers. 

 So...Happy National Book month. I hope everyone celebrates by reading...and writing.

Marking National Book Month

October is National Book Month in the US. Do you have any plans to celebrate the month?

Brenda here.

National Book Month is a terrific idea, and I'm not certain if Canada is following the U.S. lead, but we should be!

I personally have a lot of celebrating to do in October, but none that specifically involves this being book month:-) 

Last week saw Ted's and my wedding anniversary, which coincidently is the same date as our friends who live across the street. We decided this called for a road trip and crossed the border to White River Junction, Vermont for a night at the very old, very stately Coolidge Hotel. Then, on to Cooperstown and an inn overlooking a lake with the following morning spent touring the Sports Hall of Fame. From there, back into Canada to an inn near Milford, Ontario in the terrific Prince Edward County, which happens to be wine country - the next day was spent touring vineyards before we hiked it to Westport for supper at The Cove and a final night at our friends' cottage. A whirlwind few days but great fun.

Me and Babe Ruth having a chat

On a personal note since I'm talking Hall of Fame, we will also be celebrating my daughter Lisa Weagle's induction into the Nepean Wall of Fame on October 26 - she is a two-time Olympian and World Champion curler and we couldn't be prouder. 

Now back to our road trip, we did make a stop at a terrific little bookshop on the way home in Bath, Ontario called Books on Main, so that does kind of mark book month. The woman working in the store was delighted we stopped in, posted my photo on their social media and talked about a future signing. They have a fulsome mystery book section and she said crime fiction is the biggest seller. Independent bookshops are the best.

I've got three book events in October on the horizon that could fall under the celebration portfolio. This Monday, I'll be interviewing the NY Time best-selling author Kathy Reichs as she introduces her latest Temperance Brennan book The Bone Hacker. The event is part of the Ottawa International Book Writers Festival. Then on Saturday, I'll be visiting a book club, which is actually two clubs merging for the morning at my local curling club. Finally, next week, I'm guest speaker at our local Canadian Authors Association's October meeting. And I can't forget that my own book club meets in two weeks and we're discussing Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. I'm a third of the way through and enjoying it immensely.

(This is also my birthday month which seems kind of fitting with the book celebration theme.) Come to think of it, for me, every month is book celebration time! 

Cheers, all my fellow crime fiction readers and writers. I raise my glass to you in a toast. May we all have reason to celebrate during this lovely autumn month before winter settles in.

Website: www.brendachapman.ca

Instagram & Facebook: BrendaChapmanAuthor

Twitter (X): brendaAchapman

 

F#ck Bouchercon by Josh Stallings

Christa Faust + Me

Q: Bouchercon San Diego is in the rearview mirror. What is your favorite Bouchercon memory, past or present, and what advice would you give to writers interested in attending Bouchercon, so they could get the most out of their experience?

A: Fuck Bouchercon. 

Really Josh? Damn, you definitely know how to win friends and influence board members.

Okay, not really, this is not entirely how I feel. It’s more complicated and nuanced. To figure out how I feel about it, I need to make a pros and cons list…

PROS:

1. Friends. Where else do I find myself chatting with Christa Faust and Jordan Harper about what color bandana in which pocket signifies your personal sexual proclivities?Spoiler alert - it’s much more complicated than I imagined. Where else do I get into a deep dive conversation with Gary Phillips about LA in the 1980’s, Central LA vs ELA experiences? I had lunch with Gabriel Valjan and chatted about our lives growing up as us. Laughed with Mike McCrary and Kevin Burton Smith. Ate vegan ceviche with Holly West, Curtis Ippolito and a whole table of wonderful folks I’m leaving out for lack of brains, mine not theirs. Chatted too briefly with Lou Berney and Chris Holm. Met an internet friend Beau Johnson, and a very cool horror writer, Johnny Compton. Hung out with many more old and new friends from the crime writing communities. 

2. I got to see an old friend who might become my next editor, (hush hush very secret until it is not.)

3. I met readers I didn’t know who love my books and that felt great. 

 

CONS:

1. Over $2000 in fees, hotel, over priced hotel food, and travel. Would this be better spent taking a vacation to say, anywhere other than a convention hotel? Would it be better spent on a couch surfing research trip to Denmark or the UK? Maybe. Back when I was making Hollywood money I’d say “do both.” But novel money has a very different scale to it. 

2. The ding to my ego when the only panel I’m put on is Sunday morning improv, which was fun as hell, but didn’t help me feel like I had much to share as a writer. And didn’t help bring any new readers to my books. Panel selection can be both a ding to the ego and hard on the business of selling books.

 

(Ego ding sounds small and petty, and it may be. But the thing about writing is it takes a ton of ego to face down the blank page. So having folks you don’t know make you feel less than, only feeds the negative voice in your head.)  

 

3. Most of the panels were the same people talking about the same subjects. A couple were brilliant mostly because the writers on them rose well above the same old standard questions and answers. I would have loved the Ann Cleaves interview if I could have heard it. The PA systems were spotty at best, and the set up in that big room delivered on a low mumble.  

4. It was a COVID super spreader. The Bouchercon’s tweety account said a few people got sick. Bullshit. Out of those attendants that I’m in contact with I’m one of the very few that DIDN’T contract COVID. Some mild cases, some very dire cases. This isn’t BCon’s fault, it’s a fact of life now, and it’s definitely a con to going to cons. 

                                                             ***

Laying it out like this I see that BCon is unjustifiable as a business expense. It also feels like there are a lot more writers than readers these days. If it’s a writer’s conference maybe it needs more workshops and interactive elements. If it is for readers and fans it needs to find ways to attract younger readers or it will die out. 

 

I won’t be going to BCon 2024, after that we’ll have to see. I will miss seeing all my wonderfully bright and talented friends. They really are my people. Maybe we can get together under a different umbrella. A writer’s twenty-four hour flash mob? Marathon weekend Noir Bar crawl? Campout writer's fest in Idyllwild?

Here's a rogues' gallery chocked full of reasons to get together with writers...

Beau Johnson

Mike McCrary

 Chris Holm

Curtis Ippolito

Gabriel Valjan

Gabriel Valjan and Sheryl A Head

Johnny Compton

Kevin Burton Smith

Lou Berney and Alexa Donne

S.A. Cosby 

                                                               ***

Unrelated but equally important - If you haven’t watched Lou Berney’s Good Morning America interview from last week, please check it out. He is humble and honest about his work life, “Maybe failure is part of my process.” If he needs to fail to write his books, maybe we’re all doing better than we think.

Baby seals and other loved ones, by Catriona

Bouchercon San Diego is in the rearview mirror. What is your favorite Bouchercon memory, past or present, and what advice would you give to writers interested in attending Bouchercon, so they could get the most out of their experience?

My first Bouchercon was San Fancisco in 2010, when I had lived in the US for about twelve weeks. Val McDermid and Russel McLean were there from Edinburgh and that helped me feel a bit less at sea. Two abiding memories: I was late checking in and the conference-rate rooms (you know, small with a view of the bins) were finished. Three hotel employees huddled over the computer trying to find a way to not do what they had to do in the end . . . give me a massive room with a balcony overlooking the bay. Result! The downside is that the experience turned me into a serial upgrader. 

The other memory that will stay forever is dancing with Toni Kelner at the 70s disco. 

Note that neither of these memories are about books or writing. That's as good an introduction as I can think of to a pictorial trip through eleven Bcons. (Eleven? In thirteen years? Yes, eleven in thirteen years. Curse you, COVID!)

I met Mary Higgins Clark at the librarians' tea in Cleveland. I also won my first ever award there and MHC was the only one who admitted that I made a complete spectacle of myself accepting it. "Congratulations, Honey. Boy, you were surprised!"

I met the late, great Doris Ann Norris and the incomparable Frankie Bailey at Bcon Albany. Frankie is who I want to be when I grow up (although I think she's younger than me) and Doris Ann is who I plan to be if I'm lucky enough to grow old - waving my ear trumpet and changing my will a lot.

Picked up Celine, the official (baby) seal of the office of the president of Sisters in Crime at Long Beach. Also won an Anthony, which was a raven, who is called Deon, obviously.

Had to hand Celine over to the incoming president, Leslie Budewitz, at Raleigh. Before you scoff that it's a teddy bear and I'm a grown woman, have you tried to do it? Laura de Silverio, who preceded me, said that Celine had heard her use language no one else - including midwives - would believe she knew. 

A very big moment at Bcon New Orleans was organising SinC into Great Writing, on diversity and inclusion in stories: characters of colour, LGBTQ+ characters and characters with disability. It was the other half of my legacy project, Report for Change, which looked at diversity and inclusion for writers. Both seem kind of quaint now, and thank God CWoC and QCW are in charge these days. (If WWD is brewing I'd love to know). But it was a step that needed to be taken and I'm still proud of it.

Sob. I was going to be the Toastmaster, my parents were coming, my serial upgrading had got us a two bedroom suite . . . but 2020 had to 2020. And so did 2021 as it turned out.

So imagine how high we all threw our hats in the air in 2022 at Bcon Minneapolis! It was joyous. Also hilarious to see two of the least attention-enjoying people I have ever met, Devin Abraham and Terri Bischoff, manage to chair a Bcon while reamining functionally invisible throughout.

And finally, this year's Bcon San Diego. I can't believe I made it! The week before it started I got my first positive COVID test and was sure I'd have to cancel. Five days later I was negative. So off I trundled, down through the state to - among other things - witness the Barbification of Kristopher Zgorski's banquet look. 

When I got to the check-in desk I told the clerk I wasn't ten days clear yet so would be eating alone in my room Wed, Thur, Fri and how much would it cost to upgrade to a room with a view. "Nothing!" she said, and threw in a balcony.

So, what makes Bouchercon Bouchercon? For me, it's the people., especially the SinC sibs. But - full disclosure - every file of photos I've just looked in to select these pics has a final snap of the book haul too. Here's just one example:

Which brings me to my top Bouchercon tip. Hang on though. Actually,  I've got three. 

No.3 Ask for late check out when you check in, before they're all sick of us.

No.2 Writers, talk about the books you've read and loved, not about the book you wrote (no matter how much you love it).

No.1 If you've bought so many books you can't get them all in your case for the flight home, put them in first. Then pack your dirty clothes in the conference bag and send that from the UPS kiosk that's laid on. This way, you get home with new books instead of laundry.

Cx

Oh Bouchercon, my Bouchercon! by Cathy Ace

Bouchercon San Diego is in the rearview mirror. What is your favorite Bouchercon memory, past or present, and what advice would you give to writers interested in attending Bouchercon, so they could get the most out of their experience?

 

I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several Bouchercons, including the most recent event, held in San Diego. To be honest, I have so many happy memories, and tips, it’s hard to share them all, but here goes:

 

TIP #1: IF YOU CAN GO, GO. It’s not cheap, and travel isn’t always easy, but you will have a wonderful experience.

PRE-PANELS: With Lori Rader-Day and Catriona McPherson at Bouchercon 2023

 

TIP #2: PACK LOTS OF COMFORTABLE SHOES! The thing about Bouchercon is that you’ll want to go to more panels than you’re physically capable of attending, and I dare say we all know that planning your schedule is key…but…there’s a lot that goes on “between and after” the panels too – and that means you’ll spend a lot longer on your feet than you imagined you would. If your feet are comfy, and you can change shoes during the day, you’ll honestly have a better time!

BETWEEN PANELS: with James W Ziskin at Bouchercon 2023

 

TIP #3: THERE IS SUCH A THING AS BECOMING OVER-PANELLED: authors you’ve wanted to see in person are sitting on the stage, you’ve got a good seat, you’re primed and ready to go and…you zone out! It happens. It’s a real thing. Yes, we can all plan to use our time well, but using it wisely also means allowing for breaks. Brain breaks. Bum breaks. Time to hang out breaks. Plan these too!

AFTER PANELS: with Ann Cleeves at Bouchercon 2023

As for memories? The photos here show how using ALL your time can pay off!

AT A PANEL: with Lori Rader-Day, Martin Edwards, Ovidia Yu, and Elly Griffiths

If you're interested in finding out more about my work - especially my 13th Cait Morgan Mystery, which will be published on 13th November, you can do so at my website: https://www.cathyace.com/

Last night I dreamt I went to Bouchercon for the first time

 

What is your favorite Bouchercon memory, past or present, and what advice would you give to writers interested in attending Bouchercon, so they could get the most out of their experience?

 

My first and favorite Bouchercon was Toronto, in 2017. I was a conference newbie, a published author, and I had no idea what to expect. NONE. I wasn’t Bambi in the forest when it came to travel either, but Toronto was a new destination. My forays into Canada had been limited to Montréal and Québec City.

 

Going into the conference, I knew some authors virtually, either through Facebook or Twitter, so I was eager to match faces to their names online. I stayed within walking distance of the main hotel, and I’m glad that I did because walking into the host hotel was like walking into Las Vegas, with all the lights, bells, and sirens on.  Sensory overload.

 

Raymond Carver’s words came to mind, “I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone’s heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving.”

 

Except, we were moving like Canadian geese, left and right, up and down, to conference rooms for panels, to the Book Room to buy books, to the same Book Room for signings, and to the bar to quench our thirsts or make conversation. For people who are introverts by disposition, the energy drain from being ON for hours on end was real and exhausting.

 

My advice is both practical and idiosyncratic.

 

WEAR GOOD SHOES

Guys are Low Maintenance, but I’d tell the ladies to wear something comfortable for the Panel Hop because the Fitbit will rack up serious step count. Save dress shoes for cocktail hour or dinner. Your dogs will thank you.

 

CASE THE JOINTS

This should be a no-brainer for crime fiction authors, but you’d be surprised. Mark-up that pocket-sized panel booklet, so you don’t miss the panels and authors you want to meet and hear.

 

An extension of this advice is to scope out the city in advance, so you can splurge and treat yourself and your plus-one to a nice dinner. Yes, it’s an indulgence, but you’ve already spent serious coin on registration, on flights, and let’s not kid ourselves: books, so why not maximize the trip.

 

An added benefit to a night out at a restaurant is your ears will thank you for the incessant drone of hundreds of people in a small space. If you dine out with new author friends, you can hear each other, and you are supporting the local economy. We went to Richmond Station in Toronto. Twice.

 

ETIQUETTE, PART 1

When you attend panels, mute your cell phone, and have your questions for panelists pertinent to what an author said, or to the panel’s theme. It’s their moment, not yours. I know this should be self-evident, but without fail, there’s that special someone who wants to scream their own name.

 

Less obvious, and it’s unfortunate, but ask permission to take pictures or to give that author you just met a hug. A Code of Conduct is thing, so read it and abide by the rules.

 

When you meet an author, please know (it is likely that) they are more terrified of you than you are nervous about meeting them. Let them you know appreciate their work. Compliments make all that time at their desk and the days of insecurity worth it.

 

Behave yourself at the bar. Authors are an observant lot, and you don’t want to become the murder victim in someone’s next book, or read about yourself, thinly veiled, as Mr. X or Ms. Y on social media. People talk, for better and for worse.

 

ETIQUETTE, PART 2

If you’re an author, impressions count. Act like a professional.

 

If you’re on a panel, don’t hog the microphone and all the air in the room.

 

What you say at a conference will attract readers, possibly an agent or publisher, so dress well, and have business cards in your pocket.

 

If you have the budget, have bookmarks made so you can insert them into the books you sign.

 

Carry at least two pens for signings: one to use and one to replace the one you lose.

 

VOTE

Voting for the Anthony Awards at Bouchercon isn’t a standardized process, from city to city, so make sure you have your ballot in on time.

 

 

HAVE FUN

 

HYDRATE

 

RECOVER

 

ENJOY THE AUTHORS, their BOOKS and REGISTER FOR NEXT YEAR, especially if there’s a discount.

Dani's back!

 Alas, this week’s question is not current for me. I’ve missed the last couple Bouchercons. My first was in Baltimore ages ago, memorable, before I even had a manuscript polished enough to share. Terry Shames and I went as buddies and while the size, number of people, and atmosphere were new, it was still a thrill rather than scary. One evening, several amazing, multi-published women we didn’t know personally waved us over to join them at the bar and treated us like fellow writers, not imposters. Huge, life-changing impact. If you’re working to get up the nerve to go, do not hesitate… unless you have political qualms about spending money in states that are in a desperate effort to turn back the social clock.

I’m going off topic to share the news that I’ve managed, with help, to re-publish the 3-book Dani O’Rourke mystery series. It got such great critical reviews in its multi-year, multi-format life but never took off. I decided the many boring, content-free covers and limp marketing help from my traditional publishers played a part, so I got the rights back and plunged in with the professional help of a book editor and an illustrator: Covers that help tell the story and make Dani herself visible, handsome POD paperbacks, e-book versions, both available on Amazon. It's my job now to do the marketing, with the wonderful advice of successful crime fiction writers. Will it work? I’m not sure yet, but the covers got lots of positive attention, and I’m going to post reviews next on my Amazon page. Step by step. It isn’t easy, even with help, but hybrid publishing is becoming more common and I like Dani enough to hope she wins more admirers.

“Wickedly funny.” Kirkus Reviews

 

“…great fun. Dani makes for an engaging protagonist [and] is also a keen observer of the human condition, and knows the difference between substance and fluff. Watching her thread her way through crowds of billionaires and mere millionaires is fine entertainment.” – Mystery Scene Magazine

Meanwhile, the trade paper of MURDER VISITS A FRENCH VILLAGE is available for bookstores, so I need to tend to it too while finishing the copyedit stage of the next in that series, MURDER AND THE MISSING DOG. 

 

And I know I’m no busier than my Minds compatriots. We are all introverted while writing, hustlers once our babies are out there! I could take lessons from all of you. 

One Ring - To Scare the Crap Out Of Me

by Abir

 

It’s that time of year. What is the scariest short story or novel you read? 

 

Here’s the thing. I’m one of life’s natural cowards. I say coward, I mean I have an overdeveloped sense of self-preservation. This involves removing myself with utmost haste from any form of danger, real or imaginary, physical, emotional, visual or auditory.

 

This is why I have reached the age of almost fifty without ever being in a fight, (I don’t count stuff that happened before I was seven) and why my skin is still crease-free and my hair still lustrous and black.

 

My unwillingness to get into a fight, I pass off as a principled, Mahatma Gandhi-inspired espousal of an ethos of non-violence, but really it’s cos I don’t want anyone punching my perfect face.

 

As you can imagine, this philosophy of cowardice means I’m not a big fan of horror, and tend to treat anything in the genre as if it were infected with covid or possibly the plague. It is a policy that has served me well, and as though vaccinated against such things, my brain reacts to the slightest hint of fear in a novel by propelling me to shut the book, hurl it across the room and run away, sometimes screaming, sometimes crying. 

 

But like a covid vaccine, it’s not always 100% successful. The odd scary thing has beaten the sensors (and censors). In terms of books, the thing that first scared the bejeezus out of me (and possibly responsible for my lifelong fear of everything) was Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. I can’t recall whatever possessed me to pick it up in the first place. The cover had a ghostly mask of a woman with a single drop of blood hanging from the corner of her mouth – I mean, that should have been enough to let me know it wasn’t exactly easy reading for a ten year old, but I started reading it and have had a negative impression of vampires ever since. I got so scared I even had to cover the book in brown paper.

 

My next few brushes with fear tended to come visually – on the TV of cinema screen, in my teenage years and generally involved some sort of peer pressure (generally not wanting to look like the complete coward I was/am in front of friends or girls). Three such moments spring to mind:

 

1.     Watching the Japanese version of The Ring, with a bunch of friends including a girl I was keen on. This is probably the scariest movie of all time. Rather than spoil it for you, I’d say – just don’t watch it. It might kill you. I would have run out the room crying in fear after five minutes if I hadn’t been trying to pretend to be brave. I was honestly scared witless for seven days and nights.

2.     Watching The Blair Witch Project – again, with friends. I really don’t understand why people watch stuff like this. I’d rather spend an hour at the dentist’s.

3.     Watching The Hand That Rocks the Cradle – This was at the cinema, on a date. Again, not my choice, but it wasn’t that bad until one particular scene where something happens (I can’t even remember what it was now), where I basically screamed in terror and all but jumped into my date’s lap. There was no second date.

 

And that was it. In subsequent years, I realised how to be comfortable in myself and learned that I was impressing no one by watching such films. I learned to embrace happiness and my cowardly side and have managed to get through the rest of life without my heart rate rising above 70 while sitting down.

 

That all changed last week though, when I had to read a new book by Norwegian rockstar author, Jo Nesbø called The Night House, as I was chairing him at a book event. I had expected it to be crime fiction. He’s a crime fiction author after all. Nope. It was horror. And the truth was, I rather enjoyed the book. Maybe I’m braver now, or maybe it’s that my fears these days revolve around mortgage payments and the electricity bill coming through my door. Either way, maybe I’ll give horror another go? Maybe I just needed to experience more of the horrors of real life to realise that the horrors of fiction can just be a pleasant thrill.

 

I’m still never watching The Ring again though. I’m not mental.