Left Coast Crime Conference Wraps up in Los Angeles

I just got back from the Left Coast Crime Conference in Los Angeles, in addition to an enjoyable conference I had a chance to see my kids and grandkids who live in the area. I didn’t win the Lefty Award for best humorous mystery novel, but Rita Lakin who did, is a good friend and deserves the award. I had the opportunity to introduce nineteen new authors (two more added at the last minute), moderate a Freshman Panel and moderate a Geezer Lit Panel. I always come away from mystery conference inspired and ready to jump back into writing. I had a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Next year Left Coast Crime will be in Santa Fe. The program committee is already working ideas for a wide variety of interesting panels. I’ve signed up and will be attending again.

New Authors at the Left Coast Crime Conference

At the Left Coast Crime Conference in Los Angeles I’ll be introducing seventeen debut authors at a breakfast on Friday, March 12. These are all writers whose first mystery/crime book appeared between January 1, 2009 and March 1, 2010. Their work represents the spectrum from cozy to noir; mystery, suspense and thriller; and take place all over the world. The authors and their debut books are:
Annamaria Alfieri - City of Silver
Eric Beetner - One Too Many Blows to the Head
Rachel Brady - Final Approach
Graham Brown - Black Rain
Teresa Burrell - The Advocate
Kate Carlisle - Homicide in Hardcover
Rebecca Cantrell - A Trace of Smoke
Adam Eisenberg - A Different Shade of Blue
Jamie Freveletti - Running from the Devil
Lenny Kleinfeld - Shooters and Chasers
Deborah Ledford - Staccato
Sophie Littlefield - A Bad Day For Sorry
George Mastras - Fidali’s Way
Ken Mercer - Slow Fire
Diana Orgain - Bundle of Trouble
Linda Reid - Dead Air
Stephen Jay Schwartz - Boulevard
If you’re looking for a good read, you can pick up any on this list.

Freshman Class Panel at the Left Coast Crime Conference

One of the panels I’ll be moderating at the Left Coast Crime Conference in Los Angeles in March is titled Freshman Class. This is a group of five authors whose first mystery novels were published within the last year. The panelists and their novels are: Rachel Brady-Final Approach, Jamie Freveletti-Running from the Devil, Lenny Kleinfeld-Shooters and Chasers, Sophie Littlefield-A Bad Day for Sorry and Ken Mercer-Slow Fire. So far I’ve read A Bad Day for Sorry and Shooters and Chasers, am in the middle of Running from the Devil with Final Approach and Slow Fire on my reading table to complete before the conference. From the two and a half I’ve read so far, this is an outstanding group of debut mystery novels. Sophie has a kick-butt protagonist, and Larry tells a tale that kept me turning pages. Larry and I share the same publisher, Five Star. I’m looking forward to my reading ahead, and then we’ll have quite a panel at LCC.

Author Signing Events

Author signing events are a crap shoot. You never know how many people will show up or what the weather will be. But if it’s a group signing, there’s the opportunity to share stories with other authors. Last Thursday night authors Linda Berry, Beth Groundwater and I did a signing event at the Mont Blanc Boutique in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver. This is the second time in two months that the three of us have been scheduled together for an event. And guess what? It snowed both times. In December the weather was so bad that only Linda made it through the snow. This time all three of us braved the elements and appeared. We didn’t have a very large turnout, but I enjoyed the camaraderie of catching up on what we had all been doing in the last several months. Group signings are always more fun than sitting at a table by yourself.

Left Coast Crime Conference

Over the next month I’ll be reading a whole bunch of mystery novels. At the Left Coast Crime Conference in Los Angeles in March I’ll be moderating two panels: a Geezer Lit session with Rita Lakin, Cynthia Riggs and Margaret Grace and a New Author panel with Rachel Brady, Sophie Littlefield, Lenny Kleinfeld and Barbara Graham. I’ll also be Master of Ceremony for the New Author Introduction Breakfast. I’ve read books by Rita, Cynthia and Barbara and am looking forward to becoming familiar with the other authors. I have a big stack of book sitting on a table next to my easy chair in the living room. I’ll be watching some of the winter Olympics but also immersing myself in a fine list of mysteries.

The Writer's Life

I have a number of writing projects going on. I just finished a thriller that I sent off to my agent. We’ll see what happens with that one. I’m now in the process of rewriting and expanding the first novel in a new geezer-lit mystery series. I’m also working on a short story to submit for consideration for a Mystery Writers of America anthology. Then I’m preparing two workshops to give at the Northern Colorado Writers Conference in March. I continue to give my presentation, Aging and Other Minor Inconveniences, to groups—one retirement home and two service organizations scheduled next week. I was thinking this morning about the contrast between having a day job and being retired to write full time. One difference I can find is now I work seven days a week instead of five. But it's on my terms!

Writing a Synopsis

I enjoy writing novels and even like coming up with short, punchy blurbs or tag lines. But crafting a synopsis is a different story. I start with a basic outline when I’m beginning a novel. I then print this out to use as a guideline as I write. But my stories always go off in their own direction so when a novel is completed, I look back at my outline and find only part that has remained true to my original concept. I then use this outline to write a synopsis after the novel is completed. I write over the outline and have to change a great deal because of how the novel evolved. When I look at the first draft of a synopsis, I want to throw up. It’s a boring cut-out. Then I have to rewrite it to put some life into it. My druthers would be to skip a synopsis completely. I prefer someone reading my novel and getting caught up in the story and characters rather than having to digest a two-page summary.