The Pluses at Killer Nashville

One of the major pluses of any conference is meeting new people and seeing friends you've made at other conferences, and Nashville was no exception.

Though this photo was taken at the PSWA conference, it is of a friend I've made because of the conferences--Shauna Washington. Mystery author Michael Black introduced her to me at Mayhem in the Midlands, and we met again at another PSWA conference and this past weekend at Killer Nashville. She has become a special friend to me. We sat together during a couple of panels and had lots of fun visiting with one another.

A bitter sweet connection we made at this conference was with the Nehrings, John and Radine. We've become great friends over the years at many conferences. Radine is like a best friend that I always know we can pick up right where we left off. We both admire one another's writing and we have a lot more in common. When I went to a conference without hubby, John always took it upon himself to look out for me--and I appreciated it. It's possible that this may be the last time we'll be together. You see, they live in Arkansas and we live in California. John and Radine only go to conferences they can drive to. Hubby and I have decided we're not going to make any more long exhausting flights to go to a conference. (If Mayhem were resurrected, we'd reconsider.) In fact we've about decided, that with the exception of PSWA in Vegas, we're going to stick to events in California.

I also got to spend a lot of time with my Oak Tree Press publisher, Billie Johnson. We always have fun with her--and she and I did talk business too.

Other friends I hadn't seen for a long time were Luisa Buehler, Randy Rawls, Chester Campbell and his lovely wife. So much fun to chat with them all.

And of course, meeting new friends is always a big plus. Because Killer Nashville is a long way from home, I was tickled to make new friends who I hope will keep in touch via email or Facebook.

And to me, though I participated on a couple of panels and enjoyed many others, the connection with people was to me the big pluses of Killer Nashville.

Marilyn