Brigadoon Once More

Another Crime Bake has come and gone, another sighting of Brigadoon, now gone in the mists of time. As usual, it was a lovely time with good friends in the mystery writing community, as well as fans. Jointly sponsored by the New England chapters of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, Crime Bake is a learning experience, a networking opportunity, and a wonderful time.

We kicked off Friday night with our panel on publishing (self/Indie/other), which was well-attended (about 75 people). 

Many folks came by in the next couple of days to say how much they'd learned from it. Judging by that, I guess we were a hit!

As usual, Tom Lyons was there with the New England Mobile Book Fair to sell the books of all the attending authors on panels.

Here's our Guest of Honor, Ann Cleves, with Ang Pompano

And with Coralie Jensen

Co-chair of the event Edith Maxwell with Susan Oleksiw and Ruth McCarty

To see an interview with Edith, click here

Elisabeth Elo with a photobombing Leigh Perry (who was here on her birthday!)

To see an interview with Leigh, click here

Joanna Schaffhausen

To see an interview with Joanna, click here

The always-dapper Ray Daniel

To see an interview with Ray, click here

Mo Walsh with Sarah Smith

Connie Johnson Hambley and Kate Flora

To see an interview with Connie, click here

To see an interview with Kate, click here

Hank Phillippi Ryan, Elizabeth Elo, Kate Flora, and JR Walcutt

To see an interview with JR, click here

Lisa Lieberman, Dick Cass, and Kate Flora

To see an interview with Dick, click here

Maureen with Bruce Coffin

To see an interview with Bruce, click here

Our GoH Ann Cleves with superstar book bloggers Kristopher Zgorski and Dru Ann Love

Doing my book signing for my latest Zack Taylor mystery (#6), A Darkened Room, with Jeanne

Stephanie Gayle with debut author JR Walcutt

Breakfast is a communal gathering

Sarah Smith (Center) with Frances McNamara

Leslie Wheeler (R)

Me with BJ Magnani

Chris Knopf and Mo Walsh

Leigh Perry, Donna Andrews, and JR Walcutt

Eddie and Cynthia Vincent of Encircle Publications, at the tired end of the conference

So much packed into just a few hours. Can't wait for next year!

Maine Crime Wave Conference 2019

We had a blast at the recent Maine Crime Wave Conference in Portland, ME, which is helped by the Mystery Writers of America, the Sisters in Crime, and the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. Lots of authors- old friends and aspiring writers came together for a weekend of craft sessions, panels on various subjects, and schmoozing with fellow writers.

To see a writeup of the conference from last year, click here.

Nothing says a New England Writer Conference like Connie Johnson Hambley.

To see an interview with Connie, click here

Brenda Buchanan

And we were off to a rousing start, with a good crowd.

Plenty of books for sale by the attending authors.
 Sales were handled by Barbara Kelly of Kelly's Books To Go.

This fellow Dick Cass was instrumental in getting things to run smoothly. 

To see an interview with Dick, click here

Here he is with Jessica Sweet.

 Superstar thriller writer Gayle Lynds with another conference helper, Hannah.

Gerry Boyle with his latest book

And with agent Meg Ruley and the best-selling Lisa Gardner

 

Here's James Hayman checking out my books!

To see an interview with James, click here

More superstars: Tess Gerritsen, Neil Nyren, Kate Flora

To see an interview with Kate, click here

The Milliken crew: Maureen, Rebecca, and daughter

To see an interview with Maureen, click here

Bruce Coffin (R) making a point

Barb Ross and John Clark

To see an interview with Barb, click here

Vaughn Hardacker, who has a Wendigo novel which makes a great pairing with my Shadow of the Wendigo.

The Holms- Chris and Katrina

Julia Spencer-Fleming

And here with Jessica Elliott

Eddie Vincent, of Encircle Publications

Ruth McCarty

James and Meg

A lovely day, with lots of learning and good information being swapped.
Thank sto all who worked to make it happen!

Mystery Author Kate Flora at Groton Library

Our Groton Mystery Book Club invited long-time, award-winning, superstar mystery author (and fellow Sister in Crime) Kate Flora to come and have a chat with some ardent fans.
Many thanks to the library staff and all those who made this event happen!

For an interview with Kate, click here. 

It was a lovely time, as Kate told us stories of her True Crime book, Finding Amy, about a real-life murder case up in Portland, Maine.

People really enjoyed hearing Kate tell about her experiences working with the police up in Maine.

She kept us entertained with anecdotes about her life and work.

It's always great when a well-known, popular author takes time to come and speak with fans like this, especially with clubs so particularly devoted to the mystery genre.