Killer Nashville 2017

by Paula Gail Benson

Going to a writing conference is a wonderful experience. Each has its own personality and focus. For me, Malice Domestic, which occurs near Washington, D.C. at the end of April or beginning of May, is a warm family reunion of readers and writers, all relishing the strategies for puzzling out traditional mysteries. Bouchercon--taking place this year in Toronto, Canada--gathers together writers from all the mystery genres, from cozy to thriller, in a huge celebration of variety and skill.

Killer Nashville is the one conference I’ve attended that consistently has the effect of revving my writing engine. Although it welcomes both readers and writers, its primary focus is on the writing craft and criminal process. It features experts discussing developing characters, structure, and marketing as well as accurately portraying poisons, police procedure, and protocols. Each year, a member of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation sets up a crime scene and participants try to solve who did it. The lucky winner receives a free registration to the next year’s conference.

I have a lot of gratitude for Killer Nashville because it gave me the opportunity to be in the anthology Killer Nashville Noir: Cold Blooded (for “A Matter of Honor” written with Robert Dugoni) among such fabulous talents as Jeffrey Deaver, Anne Perry, and Catriona McPherson. This year, I delighted in being introduced by Guest of Honor Chris Grabenstein to publicly read the opening of the story.

Reading from "A Matter of Honor"

Clay Stafford, the founder and creative genius behind Killer Nashville, gives those attending lots of opportunities to serve on panels. This practice helps authors to develop their confidence in appearing before their peers and also helps panel members to meet and bond. I felt very fortunate this year to participate on four panels.

Subplots Panel

Creating and Weaving Subplots was moderated by Kelly Oliver (who won the Silver Falchion for Best Attending Author) and included Mary Davidsaver, Susan Page Davis, Tracee de Hahn, and Rick Helms (whose extensive work with the South Eastern Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America was recognized with the Magnolia Award). Catherine Dilts did a great job in providing a panel summary in her blog.

Writing Medical and Legal Thrillers, moderated by Charley Pearson and featuring Claire Applewhite, Judith Lucci, Linda Petrilli, and Doug Woodward all with medical backgrounds (I was the sole representative for the legal field), had a fascinating discussion about how reality and imagination can develop truly riveting stories that carefully adhere to medical or legal principles.

Medical/Legal Thriller Panel

I always love talking about writing short stories. Our panel moderated by Jenean McBrearty was a particularly fun group, including my pals Debra Goldstein and Robert Mangeot and new friends Warren Moore (who teaches at Newberry College in South Carolina) and Kathryn Lane (whose novel Waking Up in Medellin won the Silver Falchion for Best Fiction Adult Suspense). Again, Catherine Dilts provided a terrific summary.

Short Story Panel

My final panel, about writing with a collaborator, had just one person attending, but led by our moderator Mike Rubin, we went forward and enjoyed a lively discussion. Barbara Collins, Max Allan Collins (another Guest of Honor), and Susan Page Davis were the other panelists.

Being at Killer Nashville led me to become involved with the board of SEMWA. We have an enthusiastic organization. Our president Maggie Toussaint is a dynamo and board members Stacy Allen, Nancy Sartor, Susan M. Boyer, Phil Hardwick, and John Gordon work diligently to organize programs and retreats to benefit our members. Past President Beth Terrell continues to provide us with wise counsel, and we were very proud and celebrating with her when she was honored with the Builder’s Award at this year’s Killer Nashville. 

Over the years, those who have come as Guests of Honor or attendees have enjoyed the experience so much that they have created four scholarships to enable other writers to attend. Past scholarship holder and a Claymore finalist this year (and a writer to be watched), Kathleen Donnelly, spoke about what the opportunity to attend Killer Nashville had meant for her writing career. Her speech is published on The Stiletto Gang blog.

If you have an interest in a smaller conference that concentrates on writing skills and expert procedural information, please consider coming to Killer Nashville. I think you’ll find a place where you’ll want to return.

How do conferences enrich your writing?

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Salad Bowl Saturday welcomes author Catherine Dilts today. Her post will resonate with many of our readers as she addresses the issues of change--forced or unforced. ~ Jim

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My employer decided to renovate a section of our twenty-year-old building. This was not just a fresh paint and carpet project. We’re talking expanding the chemical testing lab, tearing out stairwells, and cutting windows into the outside walls.

Employees affected by the remodeling went through stages. Anger that we were not included in the planning. Denial, as we ignored deadlines to clean out our filing cabinets for the move. Despair, when we had to vacate our roomy section of the building and occupy a conference room for ten weeks. All nine of us. Adding insult to injury, we could hear the construction noise of drills and hammers incessantly grinding and pounding.

Part of the upset was the fear that we would be relegated to the basement, like Milton in the movie Office Space. Once that rumor was dispelled, new ones raged about the cubicles not having walls, or being the size of hamster cages. 

With two weeks left, we could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We entered the acceptance stage. The conference room at times had a party atmosphere. Employees formerly separated by cubicle walls now knew each other. We shared homemade cookies, fresh antelope sausage, candy and cupcakes.

At last, we moved into our new digs. After a decade in the old office, the change was stunning. Everything was fresh and clean. No more pinkish fuzzy cubicle walls or stolen-from-the-engineering-department chairs. For the first time ever, I had an office chair that fit. My feet no longer dangled inches above the floor. It seems funny now that a positive change caused us so much anxiety.  

I have experienced upheaval in my writing life, as a critique group disbanded, or when I realized the book I’d invested three years of heart and soul into just wasn’t going to work. There have been seasons when I had to put aside writing ambitions in order to deal with “real” life. I expected to have trouble coping with these difficult times. 

What I didn’t expect was that positive changes in my writing life made for challenging adjustments, too. Once I achieved the goal of publication, deadlines replaced a leisurely creative pace. I faced brand new concerns of whether I would sell through my advance or get good reviews. I had learned to cope with positive change at work. Now I needed to apply those lessons to my writing life. 

Lesson One: Fresh Paint Stinks. But once it dries, the room looks a whole lot better. Change rarely comes without disruption and discomfort. Deal with changes in your writing life with confidence that the end result will be an improvement.  

Lesson Two: Don’t Listen to Rumors. Predictions of impending doom in the volatile publishing world circulate every few months. Pessimism among writers abounds. If it was easy, everyone would be published, but on the other hand, if it was impossible, there would never be new authors in magazines or on bookshelves.  

Lesson Three: Bring Cookies.  Having a gracious attitude gets you farther than crankiness and whining.

I’m more of a goal oriented rather than a smell the roses personality, but I’m learning. After my workplace renovation, it dawned on me that nothing in my career changed. I am doing the same work, just in a new environment. The light at the end of my writing tunnel is not publication. It’s the realization that the writing journey itself is the goal. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With permission of
Kari L. Vollaire, Artsy Phartsy Design
 http://artsyphartsydesign.com/

To Catherine Dilts, rock shops are like geodes – both contain amazing treasures hidden inside their plain-as-dirt exteriors. Publishers Weekly calls her novel Stone Cold Dead – A Rock Shop Mystery, an “enjoyable debut,” and that “readers will look forward to seeing more of this endearing and strong protagonist.”

Catherine works as an environmental scientist, and plays at heirloom vegetable gardening, camping, and fishing. She has published short fiction in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Visit her at http://www.catherinedilts.com/