Q&A with Beth Groundwater discussion
Reports from Left Coast Crime
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My roommate, Rachel Brady, and I set an alarm so we could get up early and make it to the New Authors Breakfast. Sixteen first-time authors took turns pitching their mystery books in 1-2 minute speeches while the rest of us nibbled on our continental breakfasts and listened. it will be my turn tomorrow during the Established Authors Breakfast.
After that, I attended the "Crafts, Hobbies & Murders" panel with good friends and cozy mystery authors Christine Goff (birdwatcher series), Maggie Sefton (knitting series), Avery Aames (cheese shop series), and Camille Minichino (miniature series). It was a great panel, with a lot of interesting reader statistics from moderator Chris and lots of laughs. (Who knew Camille disliked children, who think expertly-crafted dollhouses are playthings? ;-) ) After that I sat in on the "Industry Professionals on Publishing" panel manned by agents and editors with their thoughts on the state of the mystery business, and the publishing business in general. They had some negative things to say about Barry Eisler's decision to self-publish his next book as an ebook.
Then came my panel, which I both moderated and spoke on: "Murder in the Great Outdoors" with Sandi Ault, Twist Phelan, and Michael Norman. Our goal was to make it fun, and we each brought props of a few of the items we took with us into the great outdoors while researching our books. Mine were a PFD (personal floatation device), whistle, and pocketknife. Also, Sandi and her husband crafted a wonderful slide show of photos we all sent her of us doing outdoor activities & research and of some joke images of celebrities holding our photo-shopped-in books. We showed that before and after the panel. And, we gave away 4 free books (one each) to randomly drawn members of the audience. People kept coming up to me later in the day to tell me how much they enjoyed the panel, so I'm very pleased with its reception!
Next was a late lunch at Cafe Pasquel's with historical mystery author and long-time friend Ann Parker. I had delicious chicken mole enchiladas. We got back to La Fonda in time for Toastmaster Steve Brewer's interview of New Mexico author Steven Havill, which was very interesting and entertaining. We reconvened in the ballroom a half hour later for a blessing ceremony performed by the Ice Mountain Dance Group from the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. The dancers were children and teens, and I was especially tickled by a little boy whose buffalo headdress was as big as he was! We rewarded the outstanding performance with a standing ovation.
After some announcements and thank-yous, the bar and food stations were opened for the reception. The appetizers were plentiful and delicious enough to make a very filling dinner. And the "Mass Market Murderers" made a concerted effort to get liquored-up enough to gather our courage for our performance. We performed a raunchy rendition of the Beatles song, "Paperback Writer". We were so awful we were funny--I hope! Parnell Hall recorded us for his latest video which is themed, "Support Your Local Bookstore," and other video cameras were going in the audience. So, I won't be surprised if this performance shows up on YouTube soon. Ack!
Thoroughly exhausted after that, I skipped out on David Morrell's talk about "Route 66 in Santa Fe," which I'm sure was wonderful, and came back to the room. Signing off for the night, now!
Mod
The alarm rang again at 6:30 am, so my roommate and I could get up and be at the Established Author breakfast by 7:30 am. After most people had gone through the continental buffet line and started eating, Donna Andrews MC'ed a whirlwind introduction to the established authors at the conference (those with more than one book published). We each had 1-2 minutes to pitch our latest book. In addition to summarizing the plot setup for Deadly Currents, I pointed out my New Books article, "Deadly Research" in the Mystery Scene magazine issue that everyone received in their book bags, and mentioned that the June 2011 Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine includes a great review of the book. My publicist had just emailed the review to me yesterday. (In fact, I've received a flood of positive publicity about Deadly Currents lately--see my blog post about it at: http://bethgroundwater.blogspot.com/.)
Becke Martin, the moderator of the Barnes & Noble on-line Mystery Book Club found me at the breakfast. After a warm hug, we sat and whispered to each other through most of the rest of the meal. I'm guesting at the club this week and providing them with these daily LCC reports. I introduced her to some author friends that I hope she'll invite to visit the club in the months to come. I skipped the first two morning sessions to chat with people, return to my room and catch up on email, to turn in my awards ballot, and to talk to the the representative of Read West, the literacy nonprofit that will receive the money raised at the silent auction. We found we had a number of connections and common interests. Then I found Becke again, chatting with Rosemary Harris in the book room, and I introduced her to Don & Jennifer Longmuir of Scene of the Crime Books.
At 11:30 I listened to Craig Johnson's delightful interview of Margaret Coel, during which she told a funny story about overheating during an Arapahoe sweat lodge experience, among other tales. Next was lunch with the Sisters in Crime Guppies chapter members who were attending the conference, about a dozen of us. I'd already met many in-person at other conferences, but three were first-time face-to-face encounters, though we knew each other on-line. Fun times and lots of photos ensued. After lunch, I attended the "Series vs Standalones" panel of authors who have written both: Rosemary & Larry Mild, Michael A. Black, Janet Dawson, G.M. Malliet, and Penny Warner. Penny was a real hoot on this panel, cracking jokes right and left with a straight face.
After that panel, I took my turn as a volunteer in the Hospitality and Silent Auction Room. Then at 4, with my energy seriously lagging, I returned to my room for a nap and shower before dressing up for the banquet festivities. Drinks and socializing began at 6, and a buffet dinner about 7:15. Then Steve Brewer, the Toastmaster, ran an efficient and smooth presentation of the awards: Louise Penny won the Dilys given by the independent Mystery Booksellers Assn., J. Michael Orenduff won the Lefty for most humorous mystery, Jacqueline Winspear won the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award, Margaret Coel won the Hillerman Sky Award, and Craig Johnson won the Watson Award for best sidekick. Pari Noskin Taichert thanked her committee one last time and I want to add my thanks to Pari and her crew. They put on a marvelous conference!!!
And now, here I am back in the room, reporting to you!
Sounds like an amazing event! I'll try and get there next year. So glad you had a great time.
Mod
I feel the same way...I just want to write but I have to admit I love meeting the readers. Travel and always being "on" is tiring.
Glad you had a good time.
Mod
http://bethgroundwater.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
Looks like you had a great time. Wonderful shots. Thanks for sharing.
Mod
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo38z8...
I drove down to Santa Fe from Colorado Springs on Wednesday and went to Los Alamos for an evening signing, so I didn't check in for the conference until Thursday.
After sleeping in and breakfasting in the room (I'd brought yogurt & fruit from home), I headed over to the La Fonda hotel (the host hotel for the conference) one block away. I spent a couple of hours registering, putting out my bookmarks and Sisters in Crime bookmarks at the freebies tables, talking to the booksellers and checking that copies of my books were for sale, turning in my silent auction contribution (a certificate for a character name in Wicked Eddies), and finding all the conference rooms, and most importantly the bathrooms! Hugs and chatting with mystery reading and writing friends as I spotted them in the hallways slowed the process, but that's all part of the fun.
I went back to the room to drop off the heavy bookbag full of free books, eat lunch and regroup, then returned to La Fonda for the first panel I attended, "Santa Fe, the City of Different, with Susan Paturzo, Joe Badal, Margaret Coel, and Susan Shea. Margaret was smooth and entertaining as always, but Joe had done his homework and had lots of interesting facts and observations about Santa Fe. Then I took a break from panels to talk hang out in the Hospitality/Silent Auction room, bid on waaay too many items, and chat with anyone I knew--or met--who showed up. It was nice to see quite a few people today that I've only met "on-line" before.
Then I went to the "Short But Not Sweet: Short Stories" panel with Jane Burfield, Michael Bracken, Patricia Morin, Stephen D. Rogers, and Lance Zarimba. Most of these people were on-line acquaintances from the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Michael and Stephen are especially prolific short story writers with hundreds written and published. I really enjoy well-written short stories, and this was a great panel.
After that was a dinner at Milagro 139 with 20 members of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America that I had arranged. The meals were delicious, the margaritas were flowing, and Denise Dietz, editor for Five Star, gave a very brief talk and answered a few questions. Again, it was good to see members of the chapter in person who haven't been able to make it to our monthly Denver meetings.
Then, I returned to La Fonda to hear Anne Hillerman's presentation about her and her photographer husband Don Strel's book, Tony Hillerman's Landscape. This was an excellent talk, and having Craig Johnson read well-chosen excerpts from Hillerman's novels was a stroke of genius. His Wyoming accent was perfect for Hillerman's Western prose. I rounded out the evening with a raucous rehearsal with the other "Mass Market Murderers," an impromptu signing ensemble pulled together by Sandi Ault to sing "Paperback Writer" tomorrow at the Opening Reception. We were absolutely terrible, so the audience should be in stitches by the time the act is over! I needed two margaritas to work up the courage for the rehearsal, and I think I'll need three tomorrow night before the actual show. Pray for us. Please!