Why Attend Mystery Conferences?

First of all, what are mystery conferences? These are annual gatherings of mystery fans and mystery writers to share our mutual love of the mystery/suspense/crime/thriller genres. They range in size from three hundred to two thousand attendees.

As an author, I attend anywhere from one to three of these a year. Upcoming is The Left Coast Crime Conference in Reno, Nevada.
I don’t sell a whole lot of books at these conferences, but they are a great opportunity to connect with avid mystery readers and schmooze with fellow writers. I always attend a number of the panels, which give me new ideas for my writing and help to re-energize me. At The Left Coast Crime Conference I have volunteered for the last eleven years to moderate the Meet the New Authors Breakfast. Through this event, I meet new authors and then have the opportunity to track their writing careers. This year I will also moderate a panel on writing in different genres. This is a subject dear to my heart because I write geezer-lit mysteries, paranormal mysteries, theater mysteries, historical mysteries, sports mysteries, thrillers and biographies.
Next post I'll share some of my experiences at this year’s conference.