As you might've guessed from the title, I won't bury the lede here. Last week, I got the great treat of being able to attend my first ever Bouchercon!
For those who are unaware, Bouchercon is an annual world mystery convention—as well as the world’s premier event bringing together all parts of the mystery and crime fiction community—where readers, writers, publishers, editors, agents, booksellers and other lovers of crime fiction gather for a four-day weekend of education, entertainment, and fun.
The first Bouchercon occurred in 1970 in Santa Monica, California. Subsequent ones have been held in many cities across the United States, as well as in Toronto and the United Kingdom. THIS one was in Nashville, aka Music City.
I naturally took every chance I got to indulge in some of the best of the area's world-renowned cuisine. (Including BUT NOT LIMITED TO fried chicken from S.S. Gai, "croissant-style hundred-layer donuts" [because the word cronut is apparently trademarked and not available for general use by restaurateurs 🙄] from Five Daughters Bakery, birria beef tacos from the Maiz De La Vida taco truck, pizza and tiramisu from Folk, street Thai food from Degthai, and blueberry pancakes from Pancake Pantry.)
When I wasn't pleasuring myself with that, I had a TOTAL blast participating in Bouchercon's array of events.
I spoke before an audience of crime writers, fans, and other industry professionals as part of a panel of distinguished authors (including Marie Sutro, Liz Milliron, Jamie Lane Barber, and Alan Orloff) on Thursday for a session titled "Playground in My Mind." The session, like most at this year's Bouchercon, was named after a song; but the topic was the importance of setting in the world of mysteries and thrillers for young readers.
On Saturday, I moderated a separate panel of equally distinguished authors (including R Weir, M.K. Dean, Winnie Frolik, and the legendary Josh Pachter), once again addressing an audience of crime writers, fans, and other industry professionals as part of a session titled "Back in the Saddle Again." This one dealt with the subject of how writers can avoid the pitfalls of independent publishing.
Besides participating in and moderating those panels, I met up with Kellye Garrett and several other members of Crime Writers of Color (CWOC), which was a true blessing. CWOC is a terrific association of authors seeking to present a strong and united voice for members who self-identify as crime/mystery writers from traditionally underrepresented racial, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds. It's an amazing organization, and membership is a MUST for established and emerging crime fiction writers. I've been part of it for going on a year now and have become familiar with many of its members, but this was the first occasion on which I got to meet most of them in person and fellowship with them in such an affirming setting.
CWOC was awarded the David Thompson Award for Special Service this year; and all members in attendance came onstage to collectively accept. (Just forget that Kellye is actually standing in front of me and rendering me invisible here! This is the only photo that I was able to get. 😂🤣😂)
On the subject of CWOC, I was ALSO able to meet the magnificent S.A. Cosby (who coincidentally won yet ANOTHER Anthony Award this year for his novel All the Sinners Bleed).
I got to meet, and attend a great series of informative crime fiction sessions hosted by, some of THE most legendary writers in the business—including Harlan Coben, Dennis Lehane, Andrew Child, Brad Thor, David Morell, and many more whom I won't name for the sake of time (and space on this blog post 😂). I took pictures with plenty of them so that I'll be able to remind myself a month from now that it happened when I start to doubt my own recollection.
Another major highlight of the conference was being able to attend this year's Debut Author Breakfast, an event hosted by Andrew Child during which the audience got to hear one-minute pitches from thirty plus debut authors regarding the inaugural novels that they either have released this year or will release by the year's end. These people are some of the best emerging crime fiction writers in America; and going by the fantastic pitches that I heard from them, they're all going to become crime fiction legends unto themselves.
I'm particularly looking forward to reading Laura Wetsel's debut mystery novel Burnt Ends, which releases later this month, on September 24. It's basically a Hamlet-esque murder mystery in which a private investigator attempts proving that her 'evil uncle' murdered her father for his barbecue empire—only to find herself the cops' lead suspect when the uncle himself is murdered.
I got to meet Laura after the breakfast, and she is quite an amazing person who deserves all the success that I suspect she'll get once her book releases.
(🤞 Here's hoping she'll give me an interview either for this site or for my YouTube channel once I've actually received and finished reading the book. 🤞)
All told, 2024 Bouchercon was truly a five-star experience like no other. I'm already looking forward to next year's conference (which will be in NEW ORLEANS 🤩🤩🤩), and I hope that this past one will be the first of MANY that I'll attend in the future!
At any rate, that's all for now but definitely not forever.
Until next time, God bless—and stay safe.
Fred
