Mystery in the Midlands

by Paula Gail Benson

On Saturday, July 28, 2018, in the “famously hot” city of Columbia, S.C., the Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the South East Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America (SEMWA) presented the inaugural Mystery in the Midlands conference (so named because Columbia is at the state’s center, halfway between the Low Country and the Upstate, in an area often designated as “the Midlands”). Since last summer's highly successful SEMWA sponsored Jeffery Deaver program, our two organizations had discussed having another event in Columbia. When Sisters in Crime National paid for Elaine Viets to come to Columbia as part of its Speakers’ Bureau program (many thanks for this terrific program!), we knew we had a fantastic guest of honor and set to building a mystery book festival around her appearance.

Presidents Riley Miller (Palmetto Chapter) and Maggie Toussaint (SEMWA) headed our planning committee, which included Carla Damron, Maxine Henry, Debra H. Goldstein, Lynn Chandler Willis, and myself as liaison and event coordinator for each group. We sent out a call to SinC chapters and SEMWA members in the region, asking who might want to participate in a day of master classes and panels. We were delighted by the overwhelming response. In addition to Elaine Viets, 20 authors served on 4 panels and 3 authors taught master classes.



Jaden (Beth) Terrell

Richard Helms

Debra H. Goldstein

We began the morning with Krispy Kremes and caffeine. (By the end of the day, our excellent assistant Billy Itter, a talented cartoonist, told me he now understood that authors were fueled by regular, not decaffeinated, coffee.) The first presentations of the day were the three master classes featuring Jaden (Beth) Terrell (“Don’t Sweat It. Get It Done!”), Debra H. Goldstein (“Turning Up the Heat with Conflict”), and Richard Helms (“The Brains Behind the Words”). All these classes were well attended and the only complaint I heard was that folks wanted to be in all three at the same time. Our gracious presenters have agreed that we may post their materials on our website. YAY!

Lynn Hesse, Brian Thiem, Roger Johns, Paul A. Barra, Lynn Chandler Willis

Following the master classes, our first panel had Lynn Chandler Willis moderating “Getting Real with Crime Fiction” with Lynn Hesse, Brian Thiem, Roger Johns, and Paul A. Barra. Then, we had a lively interview of Elaine Viets by Cathy Pickens. What amazing experiences Elaine has had in conducting research for her novels and short stories! She thrilled us throughout the day with tidbits of what she had discovered about hotel maids, bookstore employees, and male strippers!

Elaine Viets and Cathy Pickens

Riley Miller

During a buffet lunch, Riley Miller presented a super “Hot Leads” introduction of authors. Each table had a composite of author “mug shots.” Riley told the audience an unknown fact about each author in the composite group. The person who guessed the author won a center piece (each beautifully designed by Donna Robison), then the author had a few minutes to tell the audience about his or her work.

After lunch, we continued with “Hot Shorts: The Art of the Short Story.” I was delighted to moderate for Robert Mangeot, Warren Moore, Karen McCullough, Claire Count, and Elaine Viets. I’ll have to brag a little. Robert Mangeot got an acceptance from an editor during our panel discussion! Another YAY!

PGB, Elaine Viets, Robert Mangeot, Claire Count, Warren Moore, Karen McCullough

The final panels were “Characters That Sizzle on the Page,” a lively consideration with Riley Miller moderating Maggie Toussaint, Stacy Allen, and Reagan Teller, and “Turning Up The Heat: Defining Genres,” a great round up moderated by Sally Handley with Leslie Conner, JR Ripley aka Marie Celine, Kathleen Delaney, and Sharon Marchisello.

Riley Miller, Maggie Toussaint, Reagan Teller, Stacy Allen

As you can see, the “famously hot” theme dominated, but the heat remained outside and on the page. Inside, we had to turn up the thermostat because the air conditioning became a little cold! Thank you to St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (my home church) for letting us use the facilities!

Sally Handley, Kathleen Delaney, JR Ripley, Sharon Marchisello, Leslie Conner

Our bookseller was Books on Broad from Camden, S.C. Thank you, Kim McCathern, for all you did to ensure you had the authors’ books or could offer them by consignment!

Kim McCathern, Books on Broad

Special thanks to Billy Itter (who took care of us throughout the day), Dean Long (who managed audio), Della Carmichael (who provided assistance and materials from the Columbia Visitors’ Bureau), and Krista Merle Anderson (who created our logo). So many Palmetto Chapter and SEMWA members (and their spouses) worked diligently behind the scenes to make the event a true success. Many thanks to them all!

Elysabeth Eldering

Robert Mangeot

We also had a silent auction, to which many of our authors contributed books. Elaine Viets graciously offered a 20 page critique. Special kudos to Marie Waller, Susan Husman, and Michelle McGee for helping to create and transport the baskets.

The proceeds from the auction (totaling $468) will benefit the My First Books SC -- Midlands program, a statewide partnership led by the Palmetto Project and affiliated with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. It provides books for any registered child from birth to age five.

Seventy-eight people registered for Mystery in the Midlands this year and almost all attended. We were delighted with the participation and look forward to continuing the new

tradition!

Won’t you come to Columbia for next year’s Mystery in the Midlands?