Last Year in Review

Wow- it's been over a month since I last blogged. The trouble is, I usually get burned out in December, when the end of the year is nigh. Too many social engagements, too much left undone.

Last year was especially bad, and I was too depressed to write, due to the clown show that passes for government in this nation, from the treasonous, Russian-puppet, madman-in-chief, to his traitorous oligarch accomplices. They left the country to burn while they lined their pockets with bribes and stolen money amid their encouragement of racism and bigotry and hatred. The French peasantry had the right idea when their aristocracy went too far; too bad we can't have a dose of that here. There's a long list of villains I'd nominate for guillotine bait. But enough of that.

This last year was a busy one, but one in which I didn't publish a new novel. I wrote, but not enough. Worked on several novels, but only published a single new book of short stories, The Last Crooked Paths, and the collection of all three short books into one: All The Crooked Paths. Not as many stories out as in previous years. Am doing better this year, with over 15,000 new words in less than the first three weeks.

But still it was a banner year, with much going on. Here's some of what happened.
Don't let people tell you you can't be successful as an Independent author!
Attended book launches for friends, including Don Kaplan, Lee McIntyre, and Leslie Wheeler, and a group Noir at the Bar up in Maine.

Interviewed some pretty cool people, including Maine writer Dick Cass, local TV star reporter (and voice narrator) Josh Brogadir, forensic expert Geoff Symon, and journalist Dan Szczesny.
Attended Jeffrey Deaver's workshop, courtesy of the Mystery Writers of America.

Got featured on some awesome sites: the blog of top writer Carmen Amato, on Sci-Fi Saturday Night, on Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, on the blog of fellow mystery author Dana King, and on Vlad Vaslyn's site, and a video interview by Kameel Nasr!

Gave workshops at the Derry, NH Author Fest and at the Lancaster, MA library, and did a talk at the Pelham, NH library. Sold books at the Boston Book Fair. Spoke on a panel about Sherlock Holmes at the Huntington Theater. Helped put on a Sherlock Holmes talk by Bob Fritsch, and a Christmas event for the Sisters in Crime.

It was a great year for bookstores (for a complete list of places that carry my books on their shelves, check out my website). We had a great signing at a Barnes and Noble in Conn. Got my books into new Indie bookstores in NH, CT, and MA. Thanks to new friends at Water Street Books, The Silver Unicorn, The Freethinker’s Corner Bookstore, and RiverRun Books.

And did book-signing events at my favorite local bookstore, the New England Mobile Book Fair, for Small Business Saturday, Independent Bookstore Day, and the fabulous annual Gala Mystery Night.

Sold books at some fun events, including the Chelmsford Farmer's Market, the Chelmsford Library, and the very cool Moxie Festival, up in Maine.

Lastly, I went to some awesome conferences. Crime Wave in Maine, Crime Bake in MA, Bouchercon, in FL (meeting the grandson of John D. MacDonald, Andrew, was an honor and a highlight), and best of all, Killer Nashville, in TN, where I got to meet a bunch of fun people, including one of my online idols, Indie guru JA Konrath, who is one cool and supportive writer.

So one wild ride last year. Going to be tough to top it, But this year have planned to publish three novels, and more stories. We'll see what the year brings.

Bouchercon 18

This year’s Bouchercon was awesome, as usual. It had a high bar for doing so, because I’d just been to Killer Nashville, for an amazing experience. But Bouchercon came through and did not disappoint. There were lots of fellow members of the Mystery Writers of America and the Sisters in Crime.

St. Petersburg was pretty, but sweltering. The conference hotel was lovely, with spacious halls and lots of glass pieces by Dale Chihuly.

I got to meet  few celebrities- here's our "Dolly Parton"

And a trio of superheroes!

I did get to the Dali Museum to see the work showcased. If you’re down there, make that a must-do.

The best part of the conference itself was talking with Andrew MacDonald, the grandson of John D. MacDonald, who was the “Ghost” of Honor at the conference, with a panel (led by John D. scholar Cal Branche) that discussed his work and influence.

And after explaining that my Zack Taylor series is direct homage to John D.’s Travis McGee, Andrew accepted a signed copy of the first Zack Taylor mystery, AMemory of Grief. So honored to have a connection to the master, who was a major influence in me becoming a mystery writer. 

With Cal and Andrew

There were many other panels as well, like the one on Action, so well moderated by Neliza Drew.

And this one, with the usual suspects: Rick Ollerman and Dana King with John Shepphird

I’m linking to many writers here, and you’re definitely going to want to check out their work. Some I've even interviewed on the blog, so check them out.

Here’s Linda Sands, who I met at Killer Nashville.

Here’s Linda with her basket donation for the charity auction.

And with Angela Durden

Some fellow Maineiacs:

Barb Ross

To see an interview with Barb, click here

Guy Cote and Bruce Robert Coffin

To see an interview with Bruce, click here 

Dick Cass
 To see an interview with Dick, click here 

James Hayman

To see an interview with James, click here

Dinner Group (Brenda Buchanan on the R)

Chris and Katrina Holm with Erica Ruth Neubauer

And some other folks. Leigh Perry

To see an interview with Leigh, click here
 

Sherry Harris

James, Linda, and I with Joanna Schaffhausen (R)

To see an interview with Joanna, click here

Daniel Dark (another Killer Nashville contact) with Steve Cooper and MattLeyshon

And there were podcasts happening during the event, like the popular one Authors on the Air by Pam Stack. Here’s Pam with her helper Joan (R) with Guy and Deb (Center).

So Pam scored an interview with Michael Connolly, who went on right before me on the podcast-
so my story is that he was my opening act!

Not to say people enjoy getting their picture taken with Linda, but here’s Rick Ollerman doing so.

And Brendan DuBois

Not as good-looking, but still terrific guys, Robert Downs and Warren Moore, who I’ve met at Bouchercons past.

And speaking of nice, here’s Mindy Meija, of the Twin CitiesSisters in Crime, vamping it up

Paula Munier, who has her first book just out!

Are we going to call this fellow nice? Sure, let’s go with that. Josh Stallings.

Jordan Harper, whose book She Rides Shotgun is amazing. More so that it’s his debut novel.

Terence McCauley, here with Pam and Heather Graham

Clea Simon

Christine Carbo

Daniel Palmer and Rebecca Drake

Pamela Winston

And those I didn't get a chance to shoot with my camera like our Canadian attendee Ryan Aldred

Having a Blast at Bouchercon 17

Well, that was fun! Bouchercon '17 has come and gone, leaving a Niagara of good memories, seeing old friends, and making new friends.

We dashed through heavy Toronto traffic in the early morning light, to get me there on time for Author Speed Dating, where a partner and I pitched our writer chops to 20 different tables of people. Arriving barely in time, I was a wee bit pumped, and my partner, the estimable Warren Moore, said of me: "The combination of adrenaline and coffee had placed him somewhere between “ebullient” and “auctioneer on meth"..."

Here's one of our soon-to-be stars from Boston, Joanna Schaffhausen, taking part.

 

And a Maine star, Bruce Robert Coffin, stopping by.

To see an interview with Bruce, click here

Had a blast telling our author pitch story 20 times over, as people took notes on new authors and books they'd like to try.
As soon as this event was done, it was off to the bookroom, with all the book vendors.
I was delighted that I'd gone with Myth Hawker Books as a vendor, because the long-suffering Pat loves Indies, and put up with me and my antics all weekend, while I did what I could to sell my Zack Taylor series.

Must have done something right- before Pat had even rung in the books to her inventory, my favorite new fan came by and bought all five books- the entire series! Many thanks to Michelle.

Other authors came by to see how their books were selling. Here's EC Bell and Lisa Lieberman

Mary Feliz

 Melissa Yi

 Pat with Amy Reade

And the sassy and successful S G Wong

Angela Neary

There were gents as well. Here's Charles Salzburg

 And debut authors galore, with their first book out, like Roger Johns and Douglas Lutz

Another debut author, R. Daniel Lester

 A big part of the conference is author panels, explaining many different topics. 

Ours was on the dark side of fiction.

L to R: Mark Edwards, Me, Alexandra Sokoloff, Steven Cooper, Moderator Ben Coes

The crowd was good- more filled in as they kept coming.

And we got to sign books in the big room afterward. Someone who'd attended our panel bought the first Zack Taylor mystery, A Memory of Grief, because of what she'd heard in that hour.

So there were meals, in between seeing people and panels- here's lunch with Lisa Lieberman

And Sheila Connolly. Yes, that is octopus you see in her dish. I can't imagine how hungry I would have to be to ingest that...

And at the next table over were writing superstars Louise Penny and Ann Cleeves, 
who graciously allowed me to interrupt their meal and even posed for publicity.

And we had a celebratory official Sisters in Crime breakfast.
Here's outgoing President Diane Vallere saying her giving-up-office speech.

 

Leslie Budewitz (L), also a former President of SinC, along with Sheila

 

Saw lots more people I know from previous adventures, like Holly West and Neliza Drew
Sadly did not get a pic of their cohort, Josh Stallings

And Lou Berney, Katrina and Chris Holm, flanked by the ever-wonderful Hank Phillippi Ryan

Dana King, a man who knows the mystery genre and writes good ones

 To see an interview with Dana, click here

Ray Daniel with some friends- almost didn't recognize him, because Jay Shephard wasn't with him! (Which one is the sidekick?)

To see an interview with Ray, click here

Tom Pluck, with a fan, signing copies of his latest novel, Bad Boy Boogie

To see an interview with Tom, click here

Then photobombing Chris Irvin (right)

Other authors were out signing their books at publisher tables.

Like Barb Ross (L) and fan

To see an interview with Barb, click here

 Cheryl Hollon

To see an interview with Cheryl, click here

The irrepressible Edith Maxwell 

To see an interview with Edith, click here

One of my new buds, Jessica Ellis Laine, with Sherry Harris

 

 Maine author James Hayman, looking wicked surprised!

Another person I had fun meeting- Rick Ollerman

Here's Kat Richardson with Leigh Perry/Toni Kelner

To see an interview with Leigh, click here

Kate Stine, of  Mystery Scene Magazine, with Hank

Doug with Brendan DuBois, who did better on Jeopardy than I did

Can you tell we're in Canada? That's a real live Mountie keeping a close eye on Edith

And more uniforms- Jayne Barnard adds a steampunk vibe

Writing legend David Morrell with Hank

Some fun folks I met from the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime chapter.
So we threw together a team for the Author Trivia, got the outer-outer-outlying table, and proceeded to heckle after we were treated like troublemakers.
So we escaped- a perilous adventure.
After a dangerous journey, we made it to the bar, where we calmed our nerves and wrote a musical about our escapade. It's sure to win all major awards- as long as Lin-Manuel Miranda has nothing in the running.
L to R- Mindy Mejia, Jessica Ellis Laine, Devin Abraham, Sherry Roberts

Bruce Coffin signing books, here with Mo Walsh, our New England Chapter President of the Mystery Writers of America.

Here's authors Helen Wilkie and Cynthia Drew

More of our local folks I said hi to but didn't get a chance to see more of:
Julie Hennrikus
 Hallie Ephron
Paula Munier
Clea Simon

 And so many more! Once again, it was magical, and a great time. If you're a mystery fan or a writer, you should come take part in a Bouchercon. Next year, St. Petersburg, Fla!