New England Crime Bake: Cooking up the Inspiration

Ever since I first learned about the New England Crime Bake about ten years ago, I’ve wanted to attend. The conference is organized by the New England Chapters of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Unfortunately, November has traditionally been a very busy month for me. But this year the stars aligned, and last Friday I hopped in my car and headed toward Dedham, Massachusetts. I’m so glad I did.

Rather than giving a synopsis of the entire conference, I will simply mention a few of my favorite moments. Otherwise, I could write like 12 different blog posts about this weekend, and I’m Not Even Joking! So here are some highlights:

BEING STAR STRUCK

OK, I have to admit, I was more than a little star struck being in the presence of conference guest of honor Elizabeth George. I went through a major Elizabeth George phase a number of years ago, when I read almost all of her books. I’m now starting to catch up on the ones I missed. The two times I spoke with her, I am sure I came across like a deranged fan.

THE FUTURE OF PUBLISHING: A CONVERSATION

On Friday night there was a great presentation on the future of publishing, featuring bookseller, editor and publisher Jim Huang, agent Victoria Skurnick and moderated by author and publisher Chris Knopf (who incidentally organized Connecticut CrimeCONN which I wrote about a couple of months ago.) The conversation was frank and  incredibly entertaining. The world of publishing is certainly changing, but there is hope for the future. People still want their stories!

AMAZING ADVICE FROM VETERAN WRITERS

There was quite a bit of amazing advice dispensed. One panel, The Body of Death: How Four Successful Writers Make it Work, moderated by Mystery Writers of America, New England Chapter President and conference co-chair Ray Daniel, was full of information. Below are a few nuggets of wisdom. I apologize in advance if I am misquoting. I was writing as fast as I could!

From L to R: Peter Abrahams, Ray Daniel, ElizabethGeorge, Gayle Lynds and Hallie Ephron.

Elizabeth George: “Nobody knows what’s going to stand the test of time.”

Hallie Ephron: “Be generous to other writers.”

Gayle Lynds: “Writing well is writing well.”

Peter Abrahams: “What’s the engine that drives the story?”

Elizabeth George also mentioned how she uses a computer that is not hooked up to the internet for her writing. I am totally going to do that.

I also love, love, LOVE that Hallie Ephron suggested taking an acting class in order to help with channeling emotions onto the page, and Gayle Lynds went on to discuss Stanislavsky. I have always been a firm believer that my background in the theater has helped me with my writing.

GETTING HONORED WITH FELLOW DEBUT NOVELISTS

Receiving my debut novelist ribbon from award winning mystery author Donna Andrews.

There were about twenty debut novelists honored at this year’s conference. I was one of them for my debut YA Mystery Swimming Alone. It felt really cool to be in some pretty fantastic company.

A SUITABLE VENGEANCE: WRITING UNTRADITIONAL HEROES

Moderated by the amazing Hank Phillippi Ryan, this may have been the most entertaining panel I attended, and that’s saying a lot because everything was so great. The authors discussed their nontraditional heroes, and by doing so, really taught us what it is that makes a compelling character. Plus, I have added some more great books to my TO READ  list:

• Night of the Jaguar by Joe Gannon
• Shady Cross by James Hankins
• The Killing Kind by Chris Holm
• Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk
• What You See by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Shannon Kirk also suggested reading The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout, PhD, which I will certainly do in the very near future.

FUN, FUN, FUN… and INSPIRATION

This is in me in my banquet costume: mysterious woman in black wig.

I had so many great conversations with fellow writers and mystery fans. And  I got some direction for my writing. I think I have figured out what my next major writing project will be. I even started to take some notes!

I could go on and on.  There were wonderful panels on writing historical mysteries and forensics, both major interests of mine. There was an extremely entertaining presentation about Cyber-Crime. There was an expert round table, where I got to ask Leslie Budewitz, president of Sisters in Crime, some legal questions for a novel I plan to write. Plus, there were many panels and workshops that I did not have time to attend. There was dancing. There was wine. There was some super yummy Sheppard’s pie.

Plenty of dancing going on at the banquet Saturday night.

Thank you to conference co-chairs Julie Hennrikus and Ray Daniel, everyone on the conference committee and all of the volunteers for an incredible weekend. My one regret is that it took me this long to get my butt to Crime Bake. I certainly hope that the stars align for me again next year.