On Saturday, October 27th, I attended the Magna cum Murder Conference in Muncie, Indiana, with my friend and fellow author, Sue Myers (author of Deception coming next year). They had a wonderful continental breakfast where we could mix and mingle with our fellow authors and with readers who were attending followed by panel discussions.
    The first panel discussion was entitled “Infinitely Cozy”. Elaine Orr moderated this panel of Cozy authors which included Sheila Boneham, Monica Ferris, Molly MacRae, and C. L. Shore. They discussed the challenges and rewards of writing the traditional mystery in an age of noir and gore.
    The second panel discussion, “Ripped from the Headlines” featured Tony Perona as the moderator, with Marian Allen, John Billheimer, and D. C. Brod.  These panelists discussed how current social issues inspire their writing.
    At lunch, I had the pleasure of sitting at a table with Elaine Orr, Molly MacRae, Sarah Wisseman, Sue Myers, Brandt Dodson, and Crystal Rhodes. Our lunchtime speaker was multi-award winning, bestselling author, S. J. Rozan. She was interviewed by Terence Faherty. It was wonderful to get to know her better and the lunch was top-notch as well.
    After lunch, a panel discussion, “Thrilled to Death” was presented. Authors Randy Overbeck (moderator), E. S. Abramson, John Desjarlais, and Tony Perona talked about the popularity of edge-of your-seat reads. Then we sat in on a “The Cold Dead Hand of the Past” where the past is used as an active agent in novels. The moderator was Brenda Stewart with fellow authors Jeanne M. Dams, Brandt Dodson, and David J. Walker.
    The last presentation I attended was “The Antidote is Vodka” by Luci Zahray. Luci is a pharmacist with a Masters in Toxicology from Texas A&M and has been dubbed the poison lady. Her talk on certain poisons and how to use Vodka as the antidote was quite interesting. She also gave us many good ideas on how to use these poisons to our advantage…in our writing, of course.
     That was the end of my day at the conference. My grandson, Kodey, and his roommate who are attending Ball State University, picked me up for dinner at the local Olive Garden. It was wonderful to see him and catch up. All-in-all, a wonderful end to a great day. 
    I anxiously await next year’s conference, which will be held in Indianapolis.

Until next time.

    On October 13, 2012, I attended a Writing Workshop sponsored by Sisters in Crime of Chicago and the Schaumburg Township District Library in Schaumburg, Illinois. There were four wonderful authors who presented and then gave us opportunities to complete and discuss short exercises.
    Gail Lukasik, whose latest novel The Lost Artist is now available, worked with us on "Creating Memorable Characters".  One of the points she emphasized was to know your characters intimately. One way to accomplish this when you are getting started is to do a Character Sketch. Write down the character's physical appearance, background, and what overwhelming desire he/she may have. Of course, not all of these details need to be written in the novel in detail. "Sprinkle" these characteristics in throughout the book showing them, not telling them. This can be done through actions and dialogue.  Gail also made suggestions on how to pick character names and gave us hints on how to make our protagonist and antagonist memorable.
    Patricia Rosemoor, has written 30+ books from romance to mystery to paranormal, and her latest novel, Born to Be Wild is now available on e-book.  Patricia advised us on Crafting Suspense, suspense simply meaning anticipation.  What makes the reader want to keep turning the page. There are several methods which include the "ticking clock", distancing the character from his/her goal, creating a dangerous environment, isolating the character physically or emotionally, and foreshadowing.  The most important thing to remember is to give suspense in bits and pieces to keep the reader interested and anxious to move onto the next scene--keep the action intense, emotions high, and make the danger feel real.
    Our third session was Point of View presented by Michael Allen Dymmoch whose latest novel M. I. A. is now available.  Michael reminded us that we as authors have an unwritten contract with our readers to be unobtrusive, clear, and to create a flow to keep the reader mesmerized and unconfused.  She went over each type of point of view, its advantages and disadvantages and limitations. We were given handouts as references to point of view with samples of poorly written paragraphs, editing abbreviations, and  a bibliography of sources for writers.
    The last session conducted was Killer Opening Scenes presented by Clare O'Donohue, author of Life without Parole: A Kate Conway Mystery.  She read the opening paragraphs from several novels of well-known authors. Clare pointed out that many think of that first chapter as a "hook", she prefers to call it the "tease".  The very first paragraphs of the first chapter or prologue must give the reader a desire to want more. The reader must be able to determine the mood of the book and leave the reader wanting to know what happens next.  The opening must tie into the rest of the book. Don't introduce a character if he/she isn't seen again or an action if it is not going to be explained. You may want to introduce the main character right away, but don't fill the first chapter with backstory. Backstory should be introduced in bits and pieces. Also, don't introduce too many characters in the first scene. This will leave the reader confused and make it necessary to turn back pages to remember who they are.  Most importantly is to intrigue the reader enough to keep them reading.
    For me this was a day well spent. I'm now anxious to get out some of my recent work and make sure I've hit all of the points from yesterday's lessons.  Thank you so much ladies for this wonderful workshop. 
    You can find out more about these wonderful authors at the following websites:
        Gail Lukasik:    http://gaillukasik.com/
        Patricia Rosemoor:    http://www.patriciarosemoor.com/PRBooks.html
       Michael Allen Dymmoch:  http://michaelallendymmoch.com/
        Clare O'Donohue:    http://clareodonohue.com/

Until next time!