Memories of conferences past - by Harini Nagendra

It’s Bouchercon week where crime writers from all over will gather. We’ve talked a lot about the pros and cons of conferences, but I want to know your most memorable conference experience- good and bad. What’s the conference moment you’ll never forget?

I've never been to Bouchercon - indeed, I've never been to a mystery writer's conference in the US, though of course I've been to plenty of academic conferences in the country. I'd love to make it to Bouchercon or any of the big mystery writer events in the US some day, but it takes over 24 hours for me to travel one way, so this needs a bit of planning. 

I love the writer conferences and literature festivals I've attended across India, of course. No matter how many times one does this, it's always a fresh thrill to meet readers in person, listen to them tell you what exactly they felt when they read specific sections of your book, and hear about their own life experiences, or those of their parents and grandparents (since I write historical mysteries set in the 1920s) which gave them a personal connection to my characters and their fictional lives.

Thanks to an invite from the conference organizers, I did make it to Motive - the big Toronto crime and mystery writer festival - in 2023, and had an absolute blast. One of the biggest thrills - seeing my name on a massive billboard at the Toronto Harbourfront, alongside other authors whose work I love! 

And last year, I was invited to the Indo-American Arts Council Lit Fest in New York, speaking to a hall packed with readers, about 1920s India, women's education and empowerment, princely states and Maharajas, and much more. Such fun.

Meeting and chatting with other authors is one of the best perks of attending these conferences. Sadly, I've missed being at the big US meetings this far, but I'd love to, one day. Meanwhile, several of our Minds co-bloggers are gathering at Bouchercon soon, and I look forward to raising a virtual toast to them!  

    

Remembrance of Bouchercons Past

It's Bouchercon week where crime writers from all over will gather. We've talked a lot about the pros and cons of conferences, but what’s your most memorable conference experience, good and bad. What's the conference moment you'll never forget?

Alas, I am not able to attend Bouchercon this year, but I have so many wonderful memories of years past. My most memorable experience had to be in 2017 in Toronto, when HEART OF STONE won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original and the Macavity Award (Sue Feder Memorial) for Best Historical Mystery.

2021 might have been equally as memorable, but it was the pandemic and Bouchercon was held remotely. Still, TURN TO STONE won the Barry Award for Best Paperback Original and the Sue Feder Macavity Award for Best Historical Mystery. See far below.

I’ve tried to locate photos from each of the eight Bouchercon I’ve attended, but some were harder to find than others.

I hope you’ll enjoy my trip down Memory Lane, presented here in random order.

Toronto 2017

With Louise Penny and Art Taylor (Macavity winners)

With Terry Shames

Macavity and Anthony awards HEART OF STONE

With fellow Criminal Minds

With the Royal Mounties

Dallas 2019

Nominees for Best Paperback Original. Lori Rader-Day (winner) Kellye Garrett, Alison Gaylin, and me (losers)

With Lori Rader-Day

With Gabriel Valjan

With Katrina Niidas Holm and Chris Holm

2013 Albany

With Lynne Raimondo, Mark Pryor, and Terry Shames

2014 Long Beach

Sara Paretsky et al. (I’m off in the distance)

Terry Shames winning the Macavity Award

With Cathy Ace

2015 Raleigh

With Larry D. Sweazy and Lori Rader-Day

With Lynne Raimondo

2016 New Orleans

With Kathy Boone Reel

2018 St. Petersburg

Best Paperback Original panel with Erik Pruitt, Greg Herren,
Thomas Pluck, Nadine Nettman, Lori Rader-Day

With Shaun Harris, Stephanie Gayle, Terry Shames,
Jennifer Kincheloe, Steven Cooper

With 7 Criminal Minds

The Flask

2023 San Diego

With Camille Minichino (RIP)

2021 Virtual

George Easter announcing TURN TO STONE Barry Award

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Hell or High Water — Anchovies Included

It's Bouchercon week where crime writers from all over will gather. We've talked a lot about the pros and cons of conferences, but what’s your most memorable conference experience, good and bad. What's the conference moment you'll never forget?

by Dietrich

My first Bouchercon in 2013 was a wild ride. My publisher, Jack David, kindly arranged for me to travel from Toronto to Albany, New York, with a favorite Canadian writer, John McFetridge. I was thrilled to meet an author I admired and grateful for the road trip setup. After landing in Toronto, full of anticipation, I grabbed a late dinner—pizza with anchovies. Big mistake. I promptly came down with the worst case of food poisoning, which knocked me for such a loop I wondered if I’d make it to Albany at all. But come hell, high water, or anchovies, I was determined to attend.

I called John, explained my weakened state, and asked if, instead of meeting across town, he’d mind picking me up all the way across town where I was staying. He was a good sport, agreeing to chauffeur a relative stranger in hopes I’d recover by morning. Thankfully, I rallied. After a quick stop at an all-night pharmacy for Pepto and electrolyte drinks, we hit the road. I started feeling human again—until we reached the Peace Bridge border crossing. A CBP officer detained me for about an hour over some vague “incident” flagged by my passport. I could only imagine what John was thinking about his sickly, now-suspicious passenger. Eventually, we sorted it out and continued to Albany.

We arrived late, but the conference was worth it. Over the next few days, I met writers from all over, said hello to Sue Grafton and Jeffery Deaver, and watched a lively panel moderated by the witty Scottish author Catriona McPherson. A highlight was when Eric Beetner asked me to sign a copy of my debut, Ride the Lightning. The ride back to Toronto with John was mercifully smooth.

The next year, I skipped the anchovies and attended Bouchercon in Long Beach, reconnecting with friends from the previous year. Then came “Murder Under the Oaks” in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jack David arranged a big van for four writers, including John McFetridge, for the long drive from Toronto. The road trip sparked some fascinating discussions—crime plots, publishing woes, baseball, rock ’n roll, you name it. Despite arriving bleary-eyed at 2 a.m., we had a blast over the next few days.

I’ve missed a few Bouchercons since, especially during the plague years, and I won’t make it to New Orleans this year. But I’m already looking forward to Calgary next year.

Best Of Bouchercon

I love Bouchercon and have attended the conference many times. So many memorable moments! 

Meeting authors I long admired, attending panels that had big effects on my writing, getting to know other authors struggling with the same things I struggled with. Not to mention getting to visit cities I probably never would have visited, getting to explore and enjoy. For example, being shown around the city of Toronto by a native who took me to “the spots.” 

 Probably the night my first book was awarded the Macavity Award should be my favorite memory. After all I was sitting between Charmaine Harris and Kent Krueger and both of the gave me big hugs. Giddy times. But my favorite happened before I was a published author. I attended Bouchercon because my friends, authors Marilyn Wallace and Judy Greber urged me to go. They knew I was an aspiring mystery author and thought I would enjoy it. They were so right. It was fun and informative and a wonderful getaway. I was a new mom with a nine-month old. He’s now 38, so that’s how long ago this incident occurred. But I always remembered it fondly. 

 I knew very few people and the ones I knew had events with their publishers, so I was on my own for dinner. That was fine with me, so I struck off for a nearby restaurant. I walked in and told the hostess I was “one.” Suddenly I saw someone waving at me from a table. She beckoned me over. “Hi,” she said. You’re with the conference, aren’t you?” I said I was. “Please join us.” I told her I didn’t want to be any trouble and she insisted that wouldn’t be a problem. She asked the hostess to bring another chair to squeeze in next to her. And that’s how I got to meet Mary Higgins Clark. She was more than gracious. Asked me about myself, what I was writing, about my family, including my 9-month-old. It was a lovely evening, and I’ve never forgotten it. It was my first taste of the real kinship that exists among crime writers. 

At the same conference I met other writers who were happy to share information about writing, query letters, agents they thought might be interested in my work, other conferences. 

 Not to mention that at that same conference I attended a powerful gathering of women crime writers who were hearing for the first time about a new idea. Sara Paretsky presented the idea of an organization to support women crime writers. The organization was to be called Sisters in Crime. There was such excitement in the room, and of course we all know the result of that meeting. A large, complex organization that has grown to be a nationwide force for women crime writers. 

 There’s a coda to the story about Mary Higgins Clark. I attended Bouchercon again the next year. I was walking down the hallways and MHC saw me and came over. “How’s your son?” After a year. With all the people she met daily, she remembered a wanna-be writer whom she was kind to.

Bouchercon Memories - by Matthew Greene

 It’s Bouchercon week where crime writers from all over will gather. We’ve talked a lot about the pros and cons of conferences, but I want to know your most memorable conference experience- good and bad. What’s the conference moment you’ll never forget?

I’m not usually the FOMO type, but I have to admit this question got me feeling all nostalgic for Bouchercon. And I’ve only been once!

As a publishing newbie last year, I got my feet wet with Malice Domestic—since it was just a quick Acela ride from home—but Bouchercon was the first conference I attended after my first novel was published. I showed up in Nashville last August with a carry-on full of just-in-case copies of There’s No Murder Like Show Murder (foreshadowing…) and a whole lot of anxiety.

The prospect of navigating crowds, networking, and courting new readers was intimidating, for sure. But it helped that I’d made some new friends at Malice and had been not-so-subtly hinting via email that I wanted to connect. Fortunately for me, the cozy mystery community might just be the warmest group of people in the world, and I was welcomed with open arms. 

Bouchercon 2024 brought a lot of “firsts” for me—first time in Nashville, first panel as a published novelist, first spontaneous book signing in line for a Cinnabon, first time “selling out” at a convention…and the list goes on.

About that last point. It might be time to come clean. There was a bit of a hiccup getting a lot of titles into the book room that year, and authors were encouraged to sell any copies they had on consignment. Remember that carry-on I mentioned with a half dozen copies? Turns out, that was a smart move. Not only was I able to set up shop in the book room, but by the end of the day (and six sales later) I was able to post on social media that I was “Sold Out at Bouchercon!” Was this a little misleading? Maybe. But since when is anyone 100% honest on social media? 

I could go into detail about the panels, the new author events, the cozy cocktail party (which I highly recommend to anyone attending this year), and the organized meetups. But the most indelible memory I have of that week is of the community. So many authors were generous enough to sit down for coffee, drinks, or meals with me while I picked their brains and mined their experience for advice. (Shoutout to Ellen, Lisa, Leslie, Rob, Raquel, and so many others!) I may have been nervous stepping off that plane in Nashville, but by the time I boarded my return flight at the end of the week, I was filled with gratitude for the things I’d learned and the friends I’d made.

So, I hope all the newbie authors attending this week find similar opportunities to connect with fabulous folks willing to share their wisdom. I hope social media is full of “sold out” posts. And I hope to join the fun again next year.

The strange and wondrous beauty of the quiet-in-between by Poppy Gee

CRAFT: Let’s talk about the quiet business: how do you maintain your writing life during the “in-between” seasons? How do you keep going between book deals, day jobs, drafts, or deadlines? What systems or habits help you stay connected to your work when there’s no external validation?

The paradox of my writing life is that I prefer the ‘in between’ seasons between book deals and publicity commitments to those intense, heady, long-yearned for days of celebration and achievement.

I found the publication process quite stressful. I loved getting the news that I would be published, signing the contract and working with amazing editors. What made me anxious was the reviews, the publicity commitments, the invitations to speak and, more often, the lack of invitations to speak. I know I’m not alone. I have a writer friend who began seeing a psychologist to help manage the stress of the first few months of a new book being published. I tried to do the same, but it was during Covid, and the psychologists were all booked out unless it was a matter of life or death. It wasn’t.

The public speaking requirements of being a published author used to scare me. It’s an important part of being a writer, especially because it’s how we all support other writers with their work. I made a conscious decision to overcome my fear by accepting every invitation to host my friends’ book launches. Gradually, I became more comfortable sitting up the front holding a microphone. Now, I look forward to having a wonderful, thoughtful conversation. I'm proud of this! And during the quiet-in-between, these conversations are what keep me connected with my writing community.

For most of us, the quiet-in-between is what defines the writing life. We write for joy, to process sadness, to make sense of the world, to understand ourselves and others. Even writing this blog post gives me a sense of calm, a reprieve from disorder, and the quiet pleasure you get from creating something small and meaningful. I’m grateful for the time and ability to sit here on a veranda on a warm morning, with a cup of coffee, looking over a beautiful garden, writing.

I have work I am constantly working on that I don’t ever intend to show to anyone, let alone publish. My tip for writers who might feel unvalidated, or worried about reaching their writing goals, is to do this too. Have a secret, private piece of work that’s only for yourself. It’s a wonderfully liberating feeling know that no one will ever read it, that you can be as honest and vulnerable and revealing as you need to be. That quiet piece of secret joy can soothe a writer's restless soul.

Here in the Upside Down, by Catriona

How do you maintain your writing life during the “in-between” seasons? How do you keep going between book deals, day jobs, drafts, or deadlines? What systems or habits help you stay connected to your work when there’s no external validation?

Attention librarians, reviewers
booksellers and bloggers!
This is on NetGalley

The blog title is because I really feel this question is the wrong way round for me. Or, maybe, I don't understand the idea that the bit where there's no publishing business going on is the "in-between" season.

For me, an entire month with no meetings, negotiations, publication days, proofs etc is delicious. It's just me and the story, holed up together, hand in hand, day by day, making steady progress. That is the job. And I still love it, twenty-five years and thirty-eight books in. 

This is serious lemonade I'm making here, by the way. I'm at home with another ten weeks of twice weekly physiotherapy (and the brutal three times a day, twenty reps of eight exercises each, in between appointments). So I've got a vested interest in focussing the fact that an unexpectedly quiet summer has given me the time and space to attempt a great big structural leap for my next book. 

I should be in Scotland, researching, and nipping down to London on the train to meet my agent and one editor for lavish lunches, then driving into the wilds of Yorshhire to meet my other editor for a deli lunch involving more cheese than a Barry Manilow tribute karaoke night at a dairy farm. And, of course, Bloody Scotland.

And even if I wasn't there, I should be at Bouchercon. Hmphrey Bogart! Which is the biggest hmph there is.

But here I am instead, busy at draft one of standalone eleven - The Railway Adults (working title (obviously)) - literally two things in my diary for the whole of September and October combined. 

But what two things they are! First of all, I'm presenting a craft workshop on clues at the renowned Sisters In Crime, Desert Sleuths WriteNOW!2025.

I'm also joining a panel on keeping the creative juices flowing, as it happens. Thankfully, this was always meant to be virtual so I don't have to get to Arizona lashed to the roofrack, like a Romney dog. 

In October - when surely I'll be able to bend this &*%$ing knee - I'm going to be joining the real live physical fun of my own SinC chapter's craft workshop Criminally Good, as keynote speaker. 

And then . . . Christmas. Or rather, and then . . . the whole of November and three weeks of December hammering out the first draft of Last Ditch number eight, SCOT SOMETHING (working title (obviously)), before collapsing onto the couch with a pile of books and chocolate. 

I will break off around the 2nd of December to launch SCOT'S EGGS, but it won't be much of a break. In fact, I'll have to concentrate hard to keep talking about the right book. Seriously. I was pounding out the first draft of HOP SCOT - the Christmas one - when SCOT IN A TRAP - the Thanksgiving one - came out and I took totally the wrong decorations and nibbles to the party. 

Just kidding - it wasn't quite that bad

In conclusion, you can't really complain too much about your woes when the cancellation of everything you were looking forward to results in more of what you love most anyway.

Cx

How to Keep Writing When the Publishing World Hits Snooze

How do you maintain your writing life during the “in-between” seasons? How do you keep going between book deals, day jobs, drafts, or deadlines? What systems or habits help you stay connected to your work when there’s no external validation?

 

Ah, the “in-between” seasons — that curious stretch of time when you’re not riding the wave of a book deal, no shiny deadline is flashing on your calendar, and your day job is demanding all your attention. It’s literary Purgatory where motivation takes a coffee break and external validation is as scarce as a unicorn in Times Square.

 

So, how do you keep your writing life alive when the publishing industry isn’t exactly sending you bouquets? Here’s my no-nonsense, slightly sweaty (thanks to exercise), and hopeful guide to staying connected to your craft:

 

1. Move Your Body, Free Your Mind

Let’s get real — sitting for hours chained to a desk isn’t doing your hip flexors or creativity any favors. My secret weapon? Walking. Not just any walk, but a daily 10K-step meditation. There’s something magical about pacing the neighborhood, letting plot problems unravel and dialogue dance in your head like a jazz trio. Beachbody workouts help me mix it up, breaking the sitting curse and reminding me to pay myself first — physical fitness is the ultimate self-investment.

 

2. Feed Your Brain With Stories — On Screen and Page

Sure, I read — but I also watch movies like a writer on a secret mission. My favorite? Films from the Thirties. Why? Because back then, writers had to get clever with dialogue, dodging censors left and right. That sharp economy of words is a masterclass in storytelling. Plus, watching how the camera narrates helps me rethink scene construction and pacing in fresh ways.

 

3. Chuck the Validation Game — You’re Not Missing a Box

Let’s face it: the publishing industry is a fickle beast. It’s less about merit and more about timing, trends, and connections — many totally out of your control. You can tick every box and still get a resounding NO because someone’s looking for a box that doesn’t even exist (maybe it’s hidden behind the fridge).

 

Here’s the thing: just showing up, day after day, time in the chair and fingers on the keyboard like a concert pianist, that’s the real win. If you’re still writing despite the noise and the silence, you’ve already proven something huge: writing isn’t just work, it’s joy disguised as discipline.

 

So, whether you’re mid-draft, stuck in query limbo, or just trying to keep your writing life humming during the “meh” seasons, remember — moving your body, feeding your brain, and ditching the validation treadmill are the best systems I know.

 

Keep showing up.

Keep creating.

The rest? It’ll come when it’s ready.

Of George MacDonald and Lewis Carroll - by Harini Nagendra

Who's a writer—past or present—you believe deserves more attention? What makes their work meaningful to you, and how has it influenced your own?

Rather than talk about contemporary published writers, I'm going to speak of two older writers, writers whose language entranced me, who made me fall in love with books when I was much younger. Both writers wrote prose that was like poetry, prose that transported me into worlds of romance and adventure, through tales of daring and intrigue. They are known even today, but less so than before - I worry that their memories are beginning to fade from our collective consciousness. 

The first is George MacDonald, who lived between 1825 and 1905 - a Scottish priest, author and poet who wrote some absolutely lovely books. His influence on fantasy was tremendous - his works inspired the likes of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein and Madeleine D'Engle. The Princess and the Goblin was an early childhood favourite. Now of course, I read it through adult eyes, using a 21st century moral standpoint and I am disturbed by the usual careless (and nasty) fantasy tropes - ugly and evil goblins, a fair and beautiful princess etc. But I still like the spunky princess. Curdy, her young miner friend, helps her escape - but she helps him escape too. And her great grandmother is as capable as she is old. So there's still a lot to love in the book. Most of all, I love the way MacDonald paints landscapes with words. There's an art there, and one that's not easy to achieve at all.

The second is Lewis Carroll, who continues to be hugely influential of course - so I can't say he lacks attention, though of course all writers deserve more readers and more attention. I used a section from Hunting of the Snark in my PhD thesis, which was on the topic of making maps from satellite images. I was so delighted when I found this excerpt - it was perfect!

(Lewis Clark, the Hunting of the Snark - Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carroll_-_The_Hunting_of_the_snark,_1876.djvu) 

He had bought a large map representing the sea,

Without the least vestige of land:
And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand.

"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"
So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply
"They are merely conventional signs!

"Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!
But we've got our brave Captain to thank"
(So the crew would protest) "that he's bought us the best--

A perfect and absolute blank!" 

Lynne Raimondo from James W. Ziskin

Shine a light on another writer. Who's a writer you believe deserves more attention?

What a bittersweet question. Or rather my answer to it is bittersweet. But more on that in a moment.

Lynne Raimondo

Let me tell you about Lynne Raimondo, a brilliant writer who richly deserves more attention. She’s the author of three wonderfully complex, smart crime novels featuring blind psychologist Mark Angelotti.

Before she became a writer, Lynne Raimondo was a trial lawyer at a major Chicago law firm, the general counsel of Arthur Andersen LLP, and the general counsel of the Illinois Department of Revenue. In case you don’t realize, those were huge jobs. In fact, Lynne handled the winding down of Arthur Andersen after the Enron and WorldCom accounting frauds in the early 2000s. A thankless job, as you might imagine, and one she feared at the time might land her name on the front page of The New York Times. Luckily, that didn’t happen. Lynne had nothing to do with the scandal that led to the Arthur Andersen collapse. She just had to clean up the mess.

When my writing career was just getting started, Lynne was the first writer I met. Our editor put us in touch via e-mail, and we hit it off immediately. She read my first book and provided me with my very first blurb. I read her wonderful novels with great enthusiasm and attention.

Her Mark Angelotti trilogy is comprised of Dante’s Wood (2013), Dante’s Poison (2014), and Dante’s Dilemma (2015). This is a remarkable series, not only compelling for its careful depiction of a blind man's daily struggles, but for its intelligence, superb plotting, and tight twists. Deeper and more complex with each episode, these three books are richly rewarding.

In the series opener, Dante's Wood, we meet Mark Angelotti, a troubled, complex character whose failings—and their consequences—have scarred him deeply. His unflinching honesty with himself (and the reader) about his sins is what opens the door for redemption in our eyes. The burden is a heavy one to bear, and his blindness may be the least of his penance. Lynne navigates the Dante (Divine Comedy) angle deftly, without beating us over the head with the irony of Mark's punishment. No heavy hand here. And, as in the Comedy, there are paths to "salvation."

Now the bitter part. Dear Lynne died unexpectedly on November 12, 2020. Five years ago, amazing award-winning writer (and super awesome friend) Lori Rader-Day phoned me to break the sad news. Lori, Lynne, and I all got our starts with the same publisher—our fellow Criminal Mind Terry Shames, too. We were a close-knit bunch, and I know Lori and Terry loved Lynne as I did. With her sharp wit and generous heart, Lynne inspired respect and love throughout our writing community.

I spoke to Lynne about three weeks before she passed away. Just chatting over the phone. Everything was fine, aside from the lingering effects of her painful bout with Lyme disease, but she was slowly feeling better. We were making plans to get together in Maine with her husband, Stanley, and my wife, who truly thought the world of Lynne. Then, a short time later when I heard the news of her death, I cursed. Felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Not fair. And unreal.

Anyone who knew Lynne knew she was incredibly talented. A great writer, lawyer, chef, and painter. She was one of the smartest people I ever met and wickedly funny, too. We traded humorous insults in our respective books. In her third novel, Dante’s Dilemma, she named (patterned) a doddering professor after me. And I returned the favor, calling a screeching soprano “La Raimondo” in my Heart Of Stone.

But more than the laughs we shared, I will always be grateful to Lynne for helping me find my moral compass. Years ago, I was faced with a difficult ethical choice in the promotion of my writing career. I felt uncomfortable participating in a certain event, and Lynne talked me through it. She helped me realize that no publicity was worth sacrificing my principles, even a small measure of my principles. She did it without preaching or arguing, and I’ll never forget her sage counsel.

Yes, Lynne was a cherished friend. But she was also a terrific writer. So, for reasons both critical and personal, I urge you to read Lynne’s three Dante novels, which deserve a lot more attention than they’ve received. 

I invite anyone who knew Lynne to leave a little comment below. May her memory be a blessing.

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