Marilyn's Musings

The first I learned about while I was at Sisters in Crime. The speaker, Sharon Latham, is the author of Jane Austen books--what happened after the books ended. I mentioned that I'd be seeing her at the Jane Austen Fest coming in April. She got a stricken expression and said, "Oh, haven't you heard. We had to cancel the fest." No, I hadn't heard and was shocked. She didn't give a reason, though it sounded like ti might have been some problems with people. Though I always thought it was strange that I was invited to this event, I enjoyed myself when I was there and had sold books. So, I struck that one off my calendar. Of course it meant calling the hotel where I'd made a reservation. Now, I'm waiting to see how long it'll be before I get the fee back for reserving a table. Then, this week, I received an e-mail notice from the chairperson of Mayhem in the Midlands that this, one of my most favorite conferences has been cancelled. Not that's ...

Fortunately I cut down on my conference going this year--mainly because I didn't want to make a bunch of transfers while flying. I say fortunately, because my calendar is filling fast. I'm on a book tour in March, one I paid for, and I'll be appearing on some more blogs in April to keep the momentum going. I'm really busy in April with the first event being the Jane Austen Festival in Fresno on the 9th and 10th all day. I went last year and really enjoyed myself. I'm hoping some of my Fresno friends will come visit me. I may have been the first person to make room reservations at the hotel arranged for by the festival chairman as it took a really long time for the registration person to figure out what I was talking about. On the 12th, I'm headed up to Turlock to visit a reading club. On the 16th we'll be driving to a Burbank Library for a Sisters in Crime panel at 2. (We'll spend the night with my daughter in Oxnard--free place to stay a...

There are many mystery conventions to choose from. I'm only going to talk about the ones I've attended. The biggest, of course, is Bouchercon, where I am right now. Bouchercon moves all over the country and I've attended them in lots of different places including Wisconsin twice, Texas, and Alaska. Bouchercon is big--big name writers and lots of fans attend--as well as small press writers like me. It can be overwhelming and a good idea if you have a roommate. While there though, be sure not only to take advantage of the panels, and there are lots to choose from, also go take advantage of the other things offered to do. Talk to everyone, make new friends, speak to your favorite authors, let them know that you love their books. Have a good time. Left Coast Crime is probably the next biggest I've attended and they are always supposed to be in the west somewhere. Not quite as many attend, though there are still a lot of people and the con is much like Bouchercon, just small...

This photo was taken at Mayhem by Carl Brookins, fellow mystery author and terrific photographer. I was sitting at the signing table after being on a panel waiting and hoping for someone to purchase my book and come ask for a signature. The photo looks just like me--and an awful lot like my mom, though she never dyed her hair and by the time she was my age, it was snow white. My grandson who lives with us refers to our trips away from home as vacations. Indignant, I told him they weren't vacations, they were work. He said, "Then why do you talk about all the great meals and the fun people you spent time with?" Good question, so I suppose I should call what we're doing working vacations, though some are more work than others. At Mayhem, I was on three panels and moderated another. As soon as I knew who I was going to be on panels with I ordered books by the authors I'd never read--and read the books so I'd be knowledgeable sounding on the panels. (I think I was...

When I read about these authors who are on book tours traveling from city to city, state to state, I feel like a piker. I have been out of the state this year, New Orleans to be exact, to attend Epicon. The flying and changing planes and airlines about did us in. Never again. In fact it changed my mind about going to some out of state cons that require too many airplane changes. We're getting to old to do all that hustling and bustling to get to one place from another while hauling our carry-ons. I've done plenty in other places in California: author workshop in Morro Bay, author panel in Clovis, joint author signing in Morro Bay, book store signing in Porterville, a library author signing in Visalia, craft fairs in Oxnard and Fresno. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter have kept me busy too. Next up is Mayhem in the Midlands in Omaha. We've been to everyone of these except the very first one. This one is special, I'm on a panel, moderating a panel, and doing an author chat wit...

What does the phrase really mean? I have no idea. Plotting a book means to figure out what you are going to write and how you'll get there. I have my own manner of plotting and I've written about it before. Some people plot their entire lives--risky since things seldom turn out the way we expect them to. Lately I've been plotting the course for the promotion of Dispel the Mist. and I have some great events lined up, but would really like some more--especially during the week. Because I don't have the books yet I can't start the process of sending out books to reviewers, an essential part of the promotion. I'll be having a blog tour in October--waited until then to make sure I had books by then. Since my in person promotion officially begins with my talk at the Porterville Library I'm hoping I have books by then. I've also been plotting the course as far as writing and mystery conferences go. I passed on Bouchercon in Indiana this year because it is the ...

This is a photo of me and my hubby and Radine Trees Nehring and hers, taken after the spouse's panel at Mayhem. It's really frustrating that I still can't find my notes from Mayhem. I've been very busy working on the ghost writing project that has consumed me during the time that I'm home. It is drawing to a close and I believe it is what the client was hoping for. It will be up to him to find a publisher. We took our son and wife out to dinner for his birthday. We went to his favorite Thai place. We don't get to see him or her much because he's a truck driver and salesman for Bonnie Farms and works down in the southern part of the state. His wife works with him, though she takes breaks ever so often. Since coming home from Mayhem, that's the only fun thing we've done. Hubby is busy finishing up on the bedroom remodeling while I've been writing. Because I'm going to be giving two talks in the near future about e-publishing, I go ahead and buy...

Now I can tell you who exactly was in the photo yesterday--Jan and Time Burke, Jessica and Sean Doolittle, Andy Butler and Zoe Sharp, Hap and Marilyn Meredith, John and Radine Nehring. The panel the spouses were on was called: Marriage is a Mystery: Meet the Spouses. Sally Fellows, one of the organizers of Mayhem, moderated and had some great questions for our spouses. Here are some tidbits of what we learned: Tim Burke said, "I like to hear what Jan writes before anyone else does." Jessica Doolittle said, "When Sean becomes more secretive about his writing it means he's stuck." Andy Butler said, "I can read pages over her shoulder." (They share an office. He's a writer of non-fiction.) Hap said, "All is well as long as I'm quiet and don't interrupt." John said, "He travels with Radine to places she might set a book and takes photos for her." Other interesting tidbits we learned was from Tim, that when Jan is creating, w...

One of the panels that drew the most people and got the most laughs was the panel with the spouses of writers. My husband and good friend Radine Trees Nehring's husband were on that panel along with Jan Burke's husband and others. All my notes are in the luggage which didn't come home with us. In case you haven't read my tweets and other postings, we were stranded in the Denver airport because of weather overnight. We could not get a plane to Bakersfield the next day either so had to fly into Fresno. Our son-in-law, God bless him, drove our other car all the way up there to fetch us, then drove us to Bakersfield to get our car. So glad to be home. When and if my notes arrive I'll have lots more to say about Mayhem, which was wonderful as usual. Marilyn

Anyone who knows me, knows that Mayhem in the Midlands is one of my favorite mystery cons. Hubby likes this one too. We both enjoy Omaha, especially the Old Marketplace which is right by the hotel, with wonderful restaurants and unique shops. Most of what I like about Mayhem is the wonderful people who attend--and many are returnees year after year. We've made good friends with a teacher who lives in Omaha and always look forward to catching up with her. A mother and daughter who are avid mystery fans we love spending time with and usually enjoy a meal together. One of my favorite authors, Radine Trees Nehring and her husband will be there, and we haven't seen them for a couple of years, so it'll be a real treat so spend time with them. I'm going to be on two panels and moderate one--and hubby gets to be on one this year called Spouses of Writers. He did this once before and it was a hoot! Of course I have to pack the books I hope will sell there and the clothes I think...

Planning for what I'll be doing in the area of promotional events always takes up a great deal of my time. I'm planning into next year. There's a big complication though--my granddaughter got engaged last week and is planning her wedding for next spring. She doesn't have a date yet which means I better be very, very careful about what things I sign up for. Right now I'll just avoid anything that happens from April through June. Hopefully I'll know the exact date before we start planning for PSWA's conference in 2010 since this year's is in June. For this April I have two book fests/festivals--a small one in the city of Hanford and the enormous L.A. Book Festival on the UCLA campus. I received an application for Exeter's Fourth of July Celebration in the Park and I'll be signing up for that. I'll also be teaching the Yosemite Romance Writers how to write a mystery. First Saturday in May I'm talking to the SAn Joaquin Sisters in Crime in Fr...

Every mystery con or writers conference has its own personality. Mayhem has a super friendly atmosphere--and is attended by many mystery fans and readers. Over the years I've been blessed by making good friends with several of these fans. Also, for a small con (less than 200 this year), they manage to draw some big name writers such as: Jeff Abbott, Jan Burke, Sean Doolittle, JT Ellison, Chris Grabenstein, Charlaine Harris, Libby Fischer Hellman, J.A. Konrath, Twist Phelan and a slew of mid-listers and small press authors, like I am. For the most part, the authors are friendly and accessible too. In some ways, this particular con feels like a family reunion. It's so good to spend time with those you've grown to love, it's also fun to meet and greet the newbies, and easy to ignore those who are caught up in their own importance. Of course hubby and I have particular favorites among the folks. He loves Mayhem because he has a bevy of admirers. (Of course that's not un...

Because I have three other posts I need to do I'm not always up-to-date on my own. Wanted to share a bit about the Public Safety Writers Association conference held last weekend in Las Vegas. The photo is of Sunny Frazier who gave a great and entertaining presentation on book covers. This conference is small, which is a good thing, because everyone has the opportunity to really get-aquainted and network with one another. Hopefully, we'll soon have a date and place for our next get-together which will have a name, Crime Writers and Fighters. My next conference coming up is Mayhem in the Midlands, another favorite. It's held in Omaha every year, which has become a favorite city for hubby and me to visit. That's it for now. Marilyn http://fcitionforyou.com

What a vacation! We are usually only gone for a weekend with a day or two on either side. This time we were gone for about ten days. We had a great time. The down side was coming home to a stack of phone messages to return and a foot high stack of mail. Mayhem as usual was great fun! We had Thursday a.m. to visit the Heritage Museum. Chose that over the zoo because it was pouring rain. For lunch, we went to our favorite Ahmad’s Persian Restaurant and we weren’t disappointed. Ahmad remembered us and called us California as soon as spotted us. Speaking of restaurants we found another good in the Old Marketplace, M’s Pub. When we returned to our hotel, Pat Lang, our Omaha friend, came to visit us in our room. The opening buffet was that night. Mayhem is a bit like a family reunion because so many of the same people, writers and readers, attend year after year. So much fun to see and visit with everyone. I won’t name all the authors and fans that I’m particularly fond of–suffice it to say ...

Though I’ve managed to catch up on most of my work, and my latest manuscript in progress is now in the second go-round of editing by me, things will once again start moving at a fast pace. Here’s some of the fun stuff that I’ve managed to squeeze in. I spent a late afternoon visiting over appetizers with Becca Buckley, the organizer of WOW (Wizards of Words) and Heather Howard, the author of The Chore Whore. We were celebrating the fact that Heather’s book may be made into a TV series. The book is about a personal assistant to the stars. Very funny and would make a terrific series. We also laughed a lot. My weekend was great. My sis and her hubby, her daughter and two kids all came to visit. The event was to celebrate our little church’s 50th anniversary. We had a great turnout, wonderful food, and my good friend, mystery writer and gospel singer, Lorie Ham was our guest performer. Three of our teens also performed and did really well after one of them managed to get over the giggles. ...

I'd really like to do this once a week, but something I just get two darn busy. I've been doing lots of classes for the residential care business which is time consuming and requires a lot of paperwork--but it does pay my credit card bill (much needed.) Our church is planning it's 50th anniversary, and I've been involved writing articles for the newspaper about it. It was fun to tell everyone that our little church had its beginnings in a home, a gas station, and a chicken coop. I'm still working on my latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree book and hope to come up with some ideas for a Rocky Bluff P.D. book. The next one in both series is supposed to be out this fall. Tempe's book is called Judgement Fire and the Rocky Bluff one is Smell of Death. As far as trips, our next one is to Mayhem in the Midlands in Omaha. This is another favorite as we've made a lot of friends in Omaha. It will be in a different hotel this year, more modern and closer to all the wonderful r...