Killer Nashville Strikes Again!

Hello all- here's a writeup of my recent visit to Killer Nashville, an excellent conference for mystery writers down in Tennessee. 

This was my second time down there, the first being 4 years ago. 

Writeup of that magical one here.

Well, this was yet another magical event, full of great people, great writers, and loads of information for those working in the writing field. Run by Clay Stafford, who had to scramble extra hard this year when he lost most of his support crew. Still pulled it off in spectacular fashion! 

So many attendees from my groups Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. 

Two of my books were even up as Finalists for different awards! 

One, Locust Time was up for a Silver Falchion Award (graphic by Gabriel Valjan)

and the unpublished Desert Heat was up for a Claymore Award. Neither won it all, but it was great to get the Finalist nod for both.

I was on two panels, one on Most Common Questions about Self-publishing (I wrote a book to address those many questions, How to be a Successful Indie Writer) 

L to R: Jacob Moon, Sonja Dewing, Kate Anslinger, Jane B. Lee, Kiersten Modglin

And another on producing ebooks and audio books for Independent writers. 

L to R: Kiersten Modglin, Kate Gable, Lee Clark, Cathy Tully, Terry Shepherd (standing, our terrific moderator!)

Our panel attendees had many questions!

Along with Kiersten Modglin and Avram Lavinsky, we were guests on an on-site podcast:  Authors on the Air, with our hosts Nola Nash and Laura Kemp.

L to R: Nola, Avram, Kiersten, Laura

The conference Guest of Honor was none other than our own Hank Phillippi Ryan, who shone, as always. 

Not hard for her to stand out, even when surrounded by other superstars

L to R: James Etoile, Hank, Rich Zahradnik, Bruce Coffin, Baron Birtcher

To see an interview with Bruce Coffin, click here.

Sandy Manning, a thriller writer and recovering attorney, took a turn as a stand-up comic, and did a good 20 minutes on stage. Brave lady, especially since I was heckling...

Jaden (Beth) Terrell worked all weekend to support us all and make sure things ran smoothly.

Had a few friends there from my last Killer Nashville visit. 

Here's Guy Cote, a fellow Mainer, who has a couple of books out now.

And Mike Faricy, who has 80 books out now. Slacker...

And Carmen Amato, author of quite a few.

To see an interview with Carmen, click here.

We were able to sell books in the bookstore room. Thing is, with all those authors present, no one could buy and real them all, or carry them home. 

But if you'd like to check out some of these great books, head to the website links by the images of authors. Support writers, and if you like the books, please leave a good review.

Here's my corner.

And all the rest of the huge room

Met a few folks while selling. 

Here's Carol Orange

And Kaira Rouda

Luis Rosas and Lori Roberts

Here's a team of writers who retired as policemen. Boy, do they have some stories to tell! 

Chris Berg and Paul James Smith

So many other nice people who understood and loved the business of writing books.

Here's Diane Sismour

And Baron, getting all the love

Brent Spencer, who does a lot of audio work

The Embassy Hotel was grand, and very wide open.

Thanks to all who worked to make this valuable for everyone attending.

We bid the conference goodbye for another year, while we work on all the things we learned, which were many. 

For anybody in the mystery field, this, along with our own New England Crime Bake, are the best conferences to attend.