Gloria
Alden
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| Me, on the left with my panelists |
This
was my tenth year attending Malice Domestic. I’ve been to other conferences,
too, but Malice is by far the friendliest one so I always look forward to going
to it. I enjoy meeting other authors and/or fans who I’ve met over the years as
well as new people. When I’m at Malice I feel I’m with my people; people who
love mysteries as much as I do.
This
year as well as last year I was the moderator for Small Town Murder, and three
of my panelists were ones I had last year. I’d been busy for weeks before Malice
reading their books so when I got there, I felt like I personally knew each
author even those I was meeting for the first time. Two of the authors wrote
two series, so that meant more reading. Fortunately, I enjoyed all their books
and plan on keeping up with their series. My panelists were Barbara Early/Beverly
Allen, Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett, Liz Mugavero, Wendy Tyson, and Susan
Van Kirk. The panel went well with the only glitch being that in the next room
was a panel with Dorothy Cannell as moderator, and two of her six panelists
were Parnell Hall and Margaret Maron. With authors like that, the laughter that
came through the closed door between us was quite loud. Also, that panel
attracted more people, of course.
I
sat in on other panels off and on, and I went to Malice Go Round. This year I
emailed the person in charge to take my name off the list because I’d been an
author who participated the past two years and felt that other authors should
have a chance. The only problem with it this year, and I heard it from numerous
people, was that it was so loud it was hard hearing each author give their two
minute talk about their books before moving on. One author didn’t feel that
way, and it was her third or fourth time doing it.
On
Friday, I went to the Boogey Monger for lunch with some of the Guppies. I
always enjoy eating with fellow Guppies and catching up with what’s been going
on in their lives.
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| This is the gift that all at our table received from our two authors. |
At
5:00 on Saturday, I had a book signing in the atrium filled with table after
table with 70 authors, names. Not everyone showed up, but most of them did.
What was strange to me is this was the first year I didn’t see lines and lines
of fans wanting their books signed even though some of these authors are
popular authors. I sat next to Frankie Y. Bailey, and author I loved, and I
don’t recall seeing anyone come up to have their book signed, but then I don’t
think she has a recent book signed. As for me, the woman who won my Silent
Auction basket with six of my books, garden gloves, a trowel and claw as well
as seeds came to my table for me to sign all the books. She couldn’t wait to
get home and start reading them. Someone else came up to have me sign my first
book and another with my middle-grade book, The
Sherlock Holmes Detective Club. The signings were supposed to last an hour,
but everyone started to go long before then.
The
Agatha Banquet is always filled with hundreds of people wanting to know who
would win the Agatha Award for Best
Children’s/Young Adult Novel (Penny
Warner for The Secret of the Puzzle Box).
Best Nonfiction, (Jane K. Cleland
for Mastering Suspense, Structure, and
Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories That Keep Readers on the Edge of Their
Seats)) Best First Novel (Cynthia
Kuhn) Best Historical Novel, (Catriona
McPherson for The Reck of Red Herrings)
Best Contemporary Novel (Louise
Penny for A Great Reckoning)
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| Paula, me, Irma and Shari at La Madeleine |
Almost
all of the days were enjoyable, but I have to say what I enjoyed more than
anything was going to La Madeleine, a French restaurant, Friday evening with
fellow bloggers, Paula Benson, Shari Randall, my friend Irma Baker, who goes
with us every year, and Sasscer Hill, a writer who was looking for someone to go
to supper with. The food was excellent and reasonable, the ambience so
soothing, and no loud music or loud talking. Although Sasscer left as soon as
she was done eating, the other four of us spent three hours visiting and
catching up on our lives. I was only sorry K.M. and Grace had other plans for
that evening.
Grace
Topping
One
of the speakers at Malice said it best when she said that attending Malice is
like going to a family reunion. It truly is. The family of mystery writers and
fans is friendly, supportive, and a lot of fun, even if we commit murder on
paper. I went from knowing no one at the first Malice I attended to being
warmly greeted by dozens of writers and fans that I have come to know over the
years. But one of the greatest pleasures of attending Malice is getting to talk
to the authors of books that I have loved. Imagine my thrill at getting to discuss
the character of Bess Armstrong with Caroline Todd, half of the Charles Todd
writing team. Or at my first Malice when author Katherine Neville told me that
she was writing a sequel to one of my favorite books, The Eight. I couldn’t believe it when I actually had a long chat
years ago with Edward Marston, who had come in from England for the conference.
Okay,
I confess. Although I’m a mystery writer (hopefully one who will be published
someday soon), I go to Malice with my “fan” hat on. So whether you are a
mystery writer or a fan of traditional mysteries, add attendance at a Malice
Domestic Conference to your bucket list. You will be folded into the family.
Shari
Randall
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| Shari with Barbara Ross |
Malice,
Exhausting , Wonderful Malice. This was my fourth (!) Malice and I still
haven’t figured out how to see every panel I want to see, or talk with everyone
I want to talk to. We surge by each other in the hallways and the elevator,
stopping for a quick word or hug, and then surge on again. The key to Malice is
planning, but even thought I highlight my program and plan to have
get-
togethers, there is always more I want to do.
For
example, I planned to take lots of pictures but only managed to get one, this
one of me with Barb Ross, the author of the Maine Clambake mysteries. Since I’m
doing a lobster shack series, we joke that we’ll be on panels together for the
foreseeable future, the All Crustacean panel with Maya Corrigan who did “Scam
Chowder” in her Five Ingredients series.
K.M.
Rockwood
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| Kathleen at the far right with her panelists. |
I
enjoy each Malice Domestic more than the last. I see old friends, get to meet
new ones and love to connect actual living people with names on e-mail
accounts. This year’s Malice was no exception.
I didn’t have time to fit in all the activities and meet-ups I would
have liked, but tried to make good use of my time.
The
highlight for me this year was a short story panel. I have been concentrating
on writing short stories lately, and was thrilled to be included on the panel
with several talented writers who are very active in the field. I found the
panel, like short stories themselves, to be fun! In response to a question from
the moderator,
I told a story on myself. We were asked about our first
published short story. Mine was a longish short story named The Automatic Therapist which was
published by the unfortunately now-defunct Nautilus
Engine, which specialized in speculative fiction. I’d submitted it to
several more prestigious venues (ones that paid more!) and kept the submission
log saved at the end of the story. Hint to anyone who does that: remove the
submission log before resubmitting. I didn’t. In the e-mail accepting the story
for publication, the editor suggested I might consider doing that in future
submissions to him or anyone else.
I
was thrilled to see the story appear in the next edition of Nautilus Engine. When I got the rights
back, I self-published it as an e-book on Amazon, and there it sits today, a
reminder of the kindness of an editor to a newbie and for me to be much more
careful with my submissions.
Paula
Gail Benson
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| Shari, Me, Paula and Jim Jackson from a previous Malice |
This
year more than any other, I felt I had too little time at Malice. I thoroughly
enjoyed catching up with blogging partners Gloria Alden, Shari Randall and
Grace Topping at meals. I didn’t get to dine with the Guppies, but saw the group
gathering in the lobby and had my picture taken with them at the SinC
breakfast. What a pleasure to talk with fellow short story writers Kaye George,
Debra Goldstein, and Terrie Moran, and to celebrate Kaye’s new series, Debra’s
publication in AHMM, and Terrie’s Derringer. The panel of best short story
nominees was expertly moderated by Linda Landrigan, editor of AHMM.
I
laughed at the wonderfully inventive stories created by Charlaine Harris,
Parnell Hall, Joan Hess, and Margaret Maron for the “Chopped” panel. I had the
privilege of moderating the “Oh to be in Britain!” panel featuring G.M.
Malliet, Molly MacRae, Leslie Meier, and Melinda Mullet, who follow in the
footsteps of Agatha Christie by writing contemporary mysteries in British
settings.
At
the banquet, I reconnected with dear friends Dorothy St. James and B.K.
Stevens, and B.K.’s wonderful husband and daughter. Thank you, Art Taylor, for
letting me be a guest at your table (with your lovely wife Tara Laskowski – it
was great to see Dash earlier at your panel, and to celebrate your Agatha win
for “Parallel Play.”
Is
it really all over until next year? It seems as if it’s only begun!
Have
you ever attended Malice? If so what did you think of it?
