Last weekend I attended the CrimeCONN conference held annually in Westport, CT. It was great fun and interesting for writers as well as readers. Among the people I met was Nina Mansfield, author of the YA mystery novel Swimming Alone. She’s written a good blog post about the conference, the beginning of which I’m re-posting below, with a link to the full post. here’s how she began:
CrimeCONN was an AMAZING CONFERENCE!!!
Seriously.
I had the honor of being on the first panel of the day, Who loves you, baby?: How to make your readers fall in love at first sight. Great openings followed by ways to keep the love alive. When I first saw the line up for the panel, I was more than a bit intimidated. Roberta Islieb (aka Lucy Burdette) has published 14 mysteries and has been short-listed for a host of mystery writing awards. Tom Straw has written numerous New York Times bestsellers under a pseudonym. But if I was the tiniest bit nervous (and I was) moderator John Valeri quickly put my fears to rest. He had fantastic questions, and he really made the panel a very enjoyable experience. You can see in the picture below just how much fun I am having!
Seriously.
I had the honor of being on the first panel of the day, Who loves you, baby?: How to make your readers fall in love at first sight. Great openings followed by ways to keep the love alive. When I first saw the line up for the panel, I was more than a bit intimidated. Roberta Islieb (aka Lucy Burdette) has published 14 mysteries and has been short-listed for a host of mystery writing awards. Tom Straw has written numerous New York Times bestsellers under a pseudonym. But if I was the tiniest bit nervous (and I was) moderator John Valeri quickly put my fears to rest. He had fantastic questions, and he really made the panel a very enjoyable experience. You can see in the picture below just how much fun I am having!
One of the major points that the panel touched upon was whether or not a body needs to drop in the first chapter. The consensus seemed to be – GC. you can read the rest here.
And my next post will be an interview with Nina about how she wrote her first YA novel.
notquiteold
October 5, 2015 - 11:29 am ·I really admire mystery and crime writers. Although I can recognize plot holes pretty well – I’m not sure I could write a crime novel without a hole big enough to drop a library in.
Gabi Coatsworth
October 5, 2015 - 11:57 am ·I know people think it’s easy because there’s a ‘formula’ you have to use, and certain rules (like: you can’t have a completely new character appear as the murderer in the last chapter…). But actually, it’s hard, what with having to plant clues and red herrings and a little love interest but not too much. I tried a mystery short story once and it was baaaad…
cyclingrandma
October 5, 2015 - 3:42 pm ·I’m sure I’d be horrible at it. Fun that all these events are nearby for you!