Killer Conferences: A Guest Blog by Cindy Martin

Anxious anticipation filled my veins as I stepped out of the Uber and into the conference hotel of my first Killer Nashville. It had been three years since I attended my very first writer’s conference, SleuthFest in Florida. (Since that time, I’ve had five short stories published in several anthologies, and I’ve written two drafts of my novel. I’m told the first dozen awful half-drafts don’t count.)

My eyes landed on a very recognizable woman dressed in black with long, silver hair. Heather Graham, an award-winning novelist of over two hundred books was sitting in the lobby. She’s also a fellow Floridian, and an author I have mingled with at Mystery Writer of America meetings in south Florida. I was relieved when she hugged me and introduced me to her paranormal friends. Let me clarify—her author pals who write ghost    stories. Clay Stafford, the sponsor and host of Killer Nashville, whom I only knew through promotional emails and the Killer Nashville website, joined us.

It was a thrill to meet up with Clay Stafford and Heather Graham 

my first afternoon at Killer Nashville.

 
That was a fabulous beginning. It only got better as the weekend flew by, filled with panels, keynote speeches, and happy hour. Every morning kicked off with the breakfast club, headed by my Sisters in Crime mentor, Martha Reed, and joined by my writer friends from Florida. Each day, our long table became increasingly crowded with new friends including former CNN editor and author, John DeDakis.

MWA Breakfast Club

Being an aspiring author without an edited and fine-tuned manuscript, there’s a level of uncertainty that goes through your head when you join a room full of accomplished writers who write one, two, three books a year. You ask yourself questions: Should I be here? Will authors accept me? Do I have what it takes to become a published author?

Now that I have survived Killer Nashville, I know the answer to all those questions is yes.

The takeaways from the conference are priceless. In a masterclass with J.J. Cagney and Carol Potenza, I learned to start my novel in the middle. From Noelle Ihli, one guest of honor, said, “Throw clay at the wall. Something will stick.” Reed Farell Coleman, another guest of honor, said to be courageous and heighten the stakes in writing. John DeDakis encouraged organization with a book journal of each draft, and covered structure, senses, and dialogue.

Noelle Ihli's words really stuck with me. "Throw clay at the wall. Something will stick!"

One of my favorite workshops was the last one, and not because I was exhausted, but because it was about writing psychological characters. Panelist Jennifer Sadera, my new favorite author and friend, went into detail about psychopaths and sociopaths. How fun is that when you’re writing a psychological thriller? I left there with new ways to develop tension and create paranoid and flawed characters. No doubt, I know a few in real life. Disclaimer: Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, will be purely coincidental.

My last workshop of the conference with J.T. Ellison (left) and Jennifer Sadera (right).

I’m not completely new to writing. For twenty years, I was a producer for the TV show America’s Most Wanted. I have written hundreds of scripts on true crime cases with a beginning, middle, and end—which often included a call-to-action for tips on fugitives, unknown suspects, and missing persons. I’m proud of my work. Our team of crime fighters caught more than a thousand fugitives, brought over fifty missing children home, and aided law enforcement in their mission to solve cases. Most importantly, we gave families hope. 

After retiring, I took my passion for crime writing to the next level and began my thriller novel. It’s more challenging than I imagined it would be. Nonfiction script writing and fiction novel writing are two different animals. There were days when I told my husband, a retired cop, that I quit. He reminded me of one of our favorite wine mottos: Corks are for quitters. So, I uncorked and got my butt back into the chair—with coffee. Armed with this newfound knowledge and inspiration from Killer Nashville, I’m tackling Draft Three.

Another challenge I took on is being the co-chair of SleuthFest, a writer’s conference to be held in Orlando, Florida in March 2027. Our chair, Daniel G. Miller, a bestselling mystery-thriller author and president of the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and I are working together to make this conference memorable, helpful, and fun. I’m thrilled to have Guests of Honor Lisa Scottoline and Riley Sager, along with several notable guest faculty, agents, editors, and forensic experts participate in SleuthFest.

I hope you'll join me at Florida MWA's Sleuthfest March 18-21, 2027 to learn from our Guests of Honor Lisa Scottoline and Riley Sager and so many others . For more information, visit www.Sleuthfest.com.

Attending Killer Nashville provided me with renewed energy and ideas, not only in my writing but in planning the upcoming conference. For years, I’ve heard authors say it’s important to be part of a writing community. Now I know why. It reminds me I’m not creating my novel in a silo. There are authors everywhere who are generous with their time, their expertise, and want to help fellow writers to succeed. I’m grateful to the friends I have met along the way.

With anxious anticipation, I look forward to continuing my conference journey and transforming my writing. 

My question to you: What conference is the most memorable for you and why?