A Weekend Booked for Murder

Murder in the Magic City 2014

Because I have family in and nearby Birmingham, Alabama, I've attended Murder in the Magic City since 2005. MMC is a one-day mystery readers and writers' conference sponsored by the Southern Sisters Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Held the first Saturday in February and coordinated by the extraordinary Margaret Fenton, author of Little Lamb Lost, this event attracts one hundred plus audience members to hear from twenty or more mystery authors. It takes place at the Homewood, Alabama, public library, which has a large auditorium with a stage for speakers, and an adjoining room where books are sold and signed. In the morning, Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee are available. For lunch, everyone lines up in the signing room to get box meals, then sits down in the auditorium, authors and audience together, to eat and talk. Baskets of books and goodies, beautifully prepared by Margaret's mother-in-law, Lynda Fenton, are auctioned off to benefit a local or national cause. This year's recipient is the Shoals Animal Advocates.

This February, I was one of the MMC featured authors, my first occasion to serve as a panelist and sign books. I was tremendously excited about the opportunity. It was like coming home, yet I was nervous about making a good impression. I had the privilege of moderating the first panel of the day. Our topic was the "Long and Short of It" and we discussed how writing short stories influenced and shaped our writing careers. My panelists, distinguished authors of both short story and novel writing, were Kaye George, Bert Goolsby, James M. Jackson, Toni L.P. Kelner (aka Leigh Perry), and Denise Swanson.

Kaye George, Toni Kelner, me, Jim Jackson, Bert Goolsby, Denise Swanson

I struggled, wondering how to present such terrific authors and make the most of our limited time. My introductions came together when, like Cinderella, I discovered the pair of shoes I wanted to wear to the event -- black flats decorated with small silver skeleton heads that reminded me of Toni Kelner/Leigh Perry's character Sid, the ambulatory skeleton featured in A Skeleton in the Family. I looked at the outfit I had chosen and realized it reflected each of the panelists' work: (1) purple for Bert Goolsby's legal novels; (2) gray for the gray matter Jim Jackson's detective Seamus McCree uses to solve his financial investigations; (3) a casual jacket like Denise Swanson's school psychologist Skye Denison might have worn; and (4) a necklace in the shape of a treble clef for Kaye George's Cressa Carraway musical series.

Of course, our time went by quickly. We concluded with each panelist presenting a six word story, a la Hemingway's "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

After we finished, we sat back and enjoyed the rest of the day, which was filled with wonderful presentations. Our guests of honor were Julia Spencer-Fleming, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, Dilys, Barry, Nero Wolfe, and Gumshoe award winning author of the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series, and Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of legal thrillers.

Julia Spencer-Fleming

Julia Spencer-Fleming's first novel, In the Bleak Midwinter, was published as the 2001 winner of the St. Martin Minotaur's "Best First Traditional Mystery" contest and received the Agatha award for Best First Novel. Born at Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Julia moved often with her military family, then studied acting and history at Ithaca College, and received her J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law. She has been an Edgar and Romantic Times RC Award finalist, and her most recent novel, the eighth in her series, Through the Evil Days, is nominated for an Agatha for Best Contemporary Novel this year.

Robert Dugoni is the author of The Jury Master, Damage Control, Wrongful Death, Bodily Harm, and The Conviction. For Murder One, he was selected as a finalist for the American Bar Association's 2012 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. With Joseph Hildorfer, he wrote The Cyanide Canary, a nonfiction account of how EPA agents and a government team prosecuted a case against an environmental polluter. Robert became a writer after working as a journalist, lawyer, and actor, and he is one of ten siblings. I met Robert at the S.C. Book Festival, and have had the privilege of collaborating with him on a short story. He is truly a good friend as well as a terrific writer.

Robert Dugoni

Other featured authors included: Kaye Wilkinson Barley, Brynn Bonner aka Brenda Witchger, Jennifer Brooks, Don Bruns, Karen Cunningham, Flo Fitzpatrick, Polly Iyer, Linda Lovely, Mike Orenduff, Dee Phelps, Neil Plakcy, Jaden Terrell, Jane Tesh, and Ellis Vidler. Some I met prior to MMC, but listening to all of them made me realize I had many more books to explore.

Following the program, we returned to our hotel where Margaret provided a barbeque dinner with all the fixings. A number of us stayed up late talking about writing and publishing.

The next day, we started out early, driving in caravan to Wetumpka, Alabama, best known as the location where the movie Big Fish was filmed. I was delighted to be traveling with Bert Goolsby and his wife Prue. Bert's family is from the area and he showed me some of the local landmarks.

At the Wetumpka Civic Center, we gathered for Murder on the Menu, sponsored by the Friends of the Wetumpka (Alabama) Library. Tammy Lynn, who organized the event, explained that Julia Spencer-Fleming, on a previous visit to MMC, suggested the Library partner with an existing conference in order to attract authors. We shared a wonderful meal with an audience of over a hundred and alternated by going from table to table and participating on panels. Mike Orenduff moderated the panel I served on, including Brenda Witchger, Kaye George, Robert Dugoni, and Jaden Terrell, about the importance of settings. Mike started us off with a great card trick. Again, it was a wonderful day with people who loved books and writing.

Murder on the Menu

I can't thank Margaret Fenton and Tammy Lynn enough for all the work they did in organizing and orchestrating these events. In addition, I'm grateful to Steve Herring, Margaret's brother, and Bob Witchger, Brenda's husband, who took and shared such great pictures. If you would like to read more about the weekend, please see Kaye Wilkinson Barley's and Kaye George's blogs.

Also, I'm so glad that the snow storms came the week before and the week after the events, so we were all able to make it to the meetings, then back home before inclement weather prevented travel!

Have you had the opportunity to attend a mystery conference? Which one would you recommend?