Saturday, September 7, 2024

Big News from Bouchercon by Mary Dutta

Last week I headed to Nashville to attend Bouchercon, the world mystery convention for writers and fans. The conference is named for Anthony Boucher, a mystery author, critic and editor, and 2024 marks its fifty-fifth year.

Bouchercon is big. Really big.

The crowds are big. Attendance tops fifteen hundred people.

This year’s venue was beyond big—it was huge. The resort and conference center sprawled over three million square feet, and boasted indoor waterfalls and gardens. One late-arriving panelist explained that he couldn’t figure out how to get to the meeting room from the opposite side of the hotel.

The conference had some big-name authors, like Harlan Coben and international guest of honor Mick Herron. The streaming adaptation of Herron’s Slow Horses spy series launched its third season this week.

The Anthony Awards, voted on by conference attendees, can put authors in the big leagues, as can the other honors given out at the conference like the Barry, Derringer, and Shamus awards.

My story “The Boyz in the Band” was chosen for inclusion in the Bouchercon anthology Tales of Music, Murder, and Mayhem, which was a very big deal for me!

I came up with some big story ideas while there, inspired by both the child beauty pageant and the clogger competition happening in other parts of the hotel.

I brought home a big haul of books, promising many happy hours of reading.

And in a big coincidence, a random woman who joined me at a table in the lobby turned out to be from the Sisters-in-Crime Central Virginia chapter, the first mystery writing group I joined. I had met members of the group at the very first mystery conference I ever attended—Bouchercon 2015.

I had gone to Raleigh, North Carolina that October as an aspiring writer with big dreams, some of which have come true. There’s more I want to achieve, though, so I’ve already got big plans for next year’s conference in New Orleans.

Are you a fan of mystery writing conferences, as a writer or a reader?



12 comments:

  1. I am a BIG fan of mystery conferences although Bouchercon sometimes feels too big.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've enjoyed the ones I've been able to attend. However, work seems to get in the way of me attending them as often as I would like.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been to a few conferences, Bouchercon among them, and I love them. Between caring for my husband, COVID and my own health, I haven't been to many lately (did make Shortcon for short stories) but I hope to make Malice Domestic this spring, and Bouchercon. at least when it comes to DC in 27, if not before.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was big fun running into you at Bouchercon, Mary!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congrats on your anthology story! Can't wait to read it. Glad you had such a good time at Bouchercon. It tends to be too big from me - I'm afraid I'd end up hiding out in my room.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats! Great news on your anthology story. B'con and Malice are both on my bucket list.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It certainly was a huge hotel. So happy that you had a good time and congratulations on getting your story in the anthology.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've never been to Bouchercon, but I'd love to go. Congratulations on your story being published in the anthology!

    ReplyDelete