conferences
Conferences I love
Corte Madera is a small town on the freeway just north of San Francisco, out of the main summer fog belt but close enough to feel its cooling effects. Every July, Book Passage runs a mystery writing conference, limited to around 80 people, although it seems as if the published writers outnumber the would-be writers,…
Read MoreThe mystery scene
Thanks so much for Alice and her driving-elf Merrily for taking over the blog for the last couple of weeks, and giving me both a fun read and a holiday from blog-writing. But I’m back now, kids. Well, more or less. I’m in Corte Madera (that’s just across the Golden Gate from San Francisco, still…
Read MoreThe devil’s in the details
I hate plots. Why do I need a plot, anyway? I have 300 pages of all these great scenes with all these grand characters, and then I have to sit down and do a rewrite that makes sure it all makes sense. Because a mystery novel kind of needs to make sense. Mainstream fiction can…
Read MoreCalifornia Writin’
The California Crime Writers Conference began life as “No Crime Unpublished,” a writing conference run by the Southern California chapter of Sisters in Crime. Which excellent organization you should join instantly, by the way, if you haven’t already, for their general helpfulness, intelligence, and positive energy. And no, you don’t have to be published to join,…
Read MoreLaurie’s where?
Head still spinning from the road, I now have four days to sit and let my spirit catch up with me before I get on another plane and leave it behind again. I have a number of thoughts on the whole touring business, and on specific places and events, but in the meantime, here’s LRK…
Read MoreTropical Distractions
Oh dear. Whales. And waves, and palm trees. To say nothing of wind-surfers, kite-boarders, and other decorative events. This is the view from the condo. Not distracting at all.
Read MoreFlexible definitions
My area of northern California is sub-tropical. Meaning, you can grow tender things like citrus and hibiscus most of the time, but then a freeze comes along and you’re back in the 1-gallon department of the garden center. Hawaii is the tropics proper, where plants you think of as indoor/greenhouse babies rioting twenty feet high.…
Read MoreSlaving away in paradise
As I may have mentioned, I’m at Left Coast Crime in Hawaii, on the big island of Kona. Although from what I’ve seen of the place, I might as well have been in some well-watered resort anywhere in throwing distance of the equator. Without any imput on my part, the planners (Judy Greber and Louise…
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