Why these writers and book fans are gathering is no mysteryTop of Form
By Janet Mendelsohn Globe correspondent November 08, 2014
In a Dedham hotel room this weekend, 250 people are searching for evidence related to a crime. Without benefit of high-tech tools, they’re scrutinizing the scene for signs of struggle, blood spatter, or other clues. Exactly what happened? Was it a crime of opportunity? Or was it was planned? But the investigators are not with any security or police force. They’re mystery writers and the room is a mock crime scene reenacting an actual case of an elderly brother and sister killed in their apartment kitchen. On Sunday morning, in the thrilling conclusion to New England Crime Bake 2014, they’ll discover what a veteran CSI analyst with the Massachusetts State Police saw that they missed.
Next weekend in Long Beach, Calif., many times that number of people will gather for “Murder on the Beach,” this year’s edition of the Bouchercon Annual World Mystery Convention. There will be optional tours of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Venice Beach; a Young Adult FanFest on the Queen Mary; and an 80th anniversary celebration of the creation of Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout’s fictional detective genius. There will be dozens of panels and more book signings by more authors than attendees can reasonably hope to meet. Prestigious awards will be presented.
Every year, thousands of people come from near and far to Bouchercon, Crime Bake, and other mystery writing conferences to share their love of books filled with surprise twists, startling revelations, and ruthless intrigue. During the weekend events, which last from one to three days, published authors talk about and sign their books, and aspiring writers receive manuscript critiques and pitch agents they hope will represent their work. Readers discover more books, more series, to add to their bedside tables.
Mostly volunteer-run and nonprofit, the conferences have twists of their own — true crime, thrillers, historical and romance mysteries, noir, suspense, whatever the mystery genre. Some, like Sleuthfest in Florida and New England Crime Bake, are primarily for writers, focusing on craft and the business of selling books. Sponsored by regional chapters of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, or other writer organizations, these are heavy on master classes in plot structure, voice or character development, and presentations where agents and publishers discuss social media marketing and what’s selling now. Outside experts are brought in to provide accurate information on such crime novel essentials as hostage negotiations, ballistics, and poisons. You thought writing mysteries was easy? Hardly. But these gatherings prove there’s a whole community willing to help.
Other conventions are especially for readers, designed by fans for fans. Readers, writers, everyone is welcome, regardless of focus.
Continue reading it below
Selected mystery conferences in 2015 – see below
“There is a real joy in being among people who love books,” said Hank Phillippi Ryan, Emmy award-winning investigative reporter for WHDH-TV in Boston, 2013 president of national Sisters in Crime, and author of seven best-selling mystery novels, including her newest, “Truth Be Told” (Forge Books, 2014).
“They’re like big book groups. Readers come to talk about why they loved a book, or didn’t, and to meet the authors who have provided so many hours of entertainment. Reading and writing are activities generally done alone, but a convention brings both ends of the equation together in a mutual admiration society. It becomes a celebration of the written word. Sharing dinner and chatting at the bar are conference traditions,” Ryan said. “That’s where many a memory and many a friendship are made.”
Where else can you meet not just one or two but many authors whose books take you out of the day-to-day? And not just first-timers. Best-loved authors, who are like movie stars to their admirers, sometimes mingle with the crowd. At Crime Bake in 2007, the keynote speaker was best-selling author Lee Child of the Jack Reacher series. During a casual conversation, Child persuaded an aspiring New England writer to use a pseudonym. He even helped choose one on the spot. Now Ray Daniel has a just-published book, “Terminated,” and credits Child with advice that made a real difference in his work. Child, by the way, ended up in handcuffs that weekend when he portrayed Reacher, his legendary character, in a mock trial.
Keynote speakers during 2014 include such big names as James Patterson at Sleuthfest, Louise Penny at Left Coast Crime, Scott Turow at ThrillerFest, Kathy Lynn Emerson at Malice Domestic, and “Longmire” series author Craig Johnson at Crime Bake.
Malice Domestic is for those who love what’s known as “cozy,” or traditional, mysteries, featuring an amateur detective, with sex and violence generally off-stage. Think Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple or HerculePoirot. Left Coast Crime, also for fans, meets west of the Rockies, in large and small cities and resort destinations, a list as varied as Los Angeles, Sacramento, Boulder, Anchorage, and Waikoloa on the left coast of Hawaii. In 2006, it was in Bristol, on the left coast of England, where enthusiastic Brits subsequently launched CrimeFest, an international crime fan conference of their own. That in turn spawned collaboration with Ball State University’s Magna cum Murder, in Indianapolis. ThrillerFest modestly bills itself as the “Premier Conference for Thriller Enthusiasts.” Websites make clear who is the intended audience.
Destination drives attendance, say planners, as does the list of favorite authors to meet. Left Coast Crime registers from 350 to more than 800 attendees, according to Stan Ulrich, a volunteer on the standing committee, with scenic Monterey and Santa Fe among their biggest draws. The California venue proved especially enticing with side trips for whale watching, wine tasting, and tours of the Steinbeck Museum and movie locations. Others stay put year after year with no loss of appeal. For Malice Domestic, roughly 85 percent of attendees travel to the DC area, including several from other countries, mostly the United Kingdom. One regular flies in from Bahrain, according to author Shawn Reilly Simmons, registrar and public relations chair.
Bouchercon, biggest and oldest of the bunch, was founded in 1970 and welcomes as many as 2,500 people. Past locations have included Nottingham, England, and Toronto but also Albany, N.Y., which was not a record-breaker.
“I knew no one, and I was terrified,” said Ryan recalling her first mystery convention, Crime Bake 2007. She was still an aspiring writer. “It was a way for me to get introduced to the world of writing, to learn craft, as an utter newbie. But I had joined Sisters in Crime and that gives you instant friends. It’s a community of people who have the same joys, frustrations, and interests as you. Where else can you sit over coffee or wine and discuss how to kill someone?”
Bill and Toby Gottfried of Orinda, Calif., claim they typically travel to three fan conventions a year, a total of 60 so far. Neither Gottfried is a writer. “We’re mystery people,” he said. “Through these events, we’ve made friends all over the world.” They are also collectors who own 35,000 books, 18,000 of which are mysteries.
For writers, trips to conventions yield a bonus: a chance to do research.
When a tour of the Medical Examiner’s office was arranged in New York, Rhonda Lane signed up. And during ThrillerFest, a group seminar yielded a day in the New York field office of the FBI. Now finishing her first crime novel, Lane said along-the-way travel experiences like these prompted her to revise her work.
“From tourism bureau photos and footage shot for the movie, ‘Logan’s Run,’ I thought Fort Worth Water Gardens would be a great setting for a romantic scene,” said Lane. “Once I arrived, I realized the din of the crashing water in the main pool and the dizzying movement of the water flowing under the walkway steps freaked me out enough that I couldn’t write that scene the way I’d intended.”
Janet Mendelsohn, a freelance writer and aspiring mystery writer, can be reached at
Selected mystery conferences in 2015
SleuthFest
Feb. 26-March 1
Deerfield Beach, Fla.
Left Coast Crime
Continue reading below
March 12-15, Portland, Ore.
Maine Crime Wave
April 11, Portland, Maine
Malice Domestic
May 1-3, Bethesda, Md.
CrimeFest
May 14-17, Bristol, England
ThrillerFest
July 7-11, New York
Bouchercon
Oct. 8-11, Raleigh, N.C.
Killer Nashville
Oct. 29-Nov. 1, Nashville
Magna cum Murder
Oct. 30-Nov. 1, Indianapolis
New England Crime Bake
Nov. 6-8, Dedham