Malice Domestic 2024 Recap

 by Sybil Johnson

In my last post, I talked about the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. A few days after that event, I headed to Maryland for Malice Domestic.

I usually arrive late in the day on Wednesday. This gives me Thursday to adjust to the 3 hour time change and do a little sightseeing. This year we went to the zoo and the National Postal Museum, which is across the street from Union Station. The Postal Museum is part of the Smithsonian so it’s free. This one didn’t require a timed ticket like some of the museums so we just walked in. We took a 1-hour guided tour, which was very good. Our guide was a retired history teacher. He described the museum as history through stamps, an apt description. I highly recommend it.

Friday it was time for Malice! As usual, it was great fun. I saw people I hadn’t seen in a while, learned about new books, met new people. I was on a panel titled “Love and Murder: ‘Rom-Cozies’”. Besides me, panelists were Barbara Barrett (moderator), Misty Simon, Sally Handley and Jackie Layton. As you can tell from this picture, we had a great time. Probably the most fun I’ve had on a panel so far.

 

I didn’t get in the Go Round this year, but I sat and listened to the authors who did. Even though this is tiring, even from a listener’s standpoint, I do enjoy it. It’s interesting to see how people describe their books in 2 minutes. One author wrote a poem about the book, which was quite fun to listen to. Several of them did flashcards so people could see their names and other relevant information since it’s sometimes hard to hear in the room. Another author had everyone at the table sign their copy of the book so she’d have a memento of the event.

I attended the Agatha Awards banquet. Not everyone does. For me, it’s less about seeing who wins and more about the conversation at the table I’m seated at. I’ve met a lot of interesting people and enjoyed great conversations that I wouldn’t have if I’d skipped the banquet. It’s one of my favorite parts of Malice, which is odd since I’m not the most outgoing person.

Agatha Award winners: 

Best Contemporary Novel: The Weekend Retreat by Tara Laskowski (for the first time I know every person who was nominated) 

Best Historical Novel: The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey 

Best First Novel: Crime and Parchment by Daphne Silver 

Best Short Story: “Ticket to Ride”, Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski, Happiness is a Warm Gun 

Best Children’s/YA Mystery: The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary by K.B. Jackson 

Best Non-Fiction: Finders: Justice, Faith and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction by Anjiili Babbar 

Next year LATFOB and Malice are going to be on the same weekend so I will have to decide which to attend. I’ll probably go to Malice since I enjoy it so much. Also, Lucy Worsley will be there getting the Poirot Award. I love her! And my friend, Gigi Pandian, will be Toastmaster.

Malice Domestic Recap 2022

 

by Sybil Johnson

I recently attended Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland at the Bethesda North Marriott (really it’s in Rockville, Maryland). Here’s my recap of Malice 32-33-34. Yep, 3 years in one! It was 32-33-34 because, even though an in person Malice didn’t happen for all of them, the Agatha Award winners were selected for each year. 

I was traveling from California to D.C. on the 20th, hence no blog post that day. I know, I know, I know, I could have done it ahead of time. Anyway, I like to get to the hotel on Wednesday so I have Thursday free to adjust to the time change.

Traveling on a plane wasn’t particularly odd for me. I’ve been on a number of them since last June either to Seattle or Las Vegas. This was the first on what I would characterize as a long flight for me though. The flight was fine. I got to the hotel around 11 pm at night and slept in a bit on Thursday

Since I had Thursday free I went to the zoo which is a pretty easy subway ride away from the hotel. The National Zoo requires a ticket to get in these days. They’re free and you can get them when you get to the zoo, but it’s easier to make the arrangements ahead of time. Also, you won’t run into the possibility that they’ll deny you entrance because they have given away all of the tickets.

I visited the pandas and the cheetah, my two favorite animals there. I didn’t put the plural on cheetah because I only saw one of them while I saw more than one panda. Saw lots of other animals as well. All in all, I had a really nice time walking around.

The conference itself was very nice, though smaller than usual. If I had to guess I’d say that about half of the usual number of people attended. That’s purely a guess made with absolutely no statistics to back it up.

Everyone was very happy to be back together. I think we were all trying to get back into the swing of things. I saw many people I haven’t seen since the last Malice I attended in 2019. Had a good time attending panels, guest speaker interviews and talking to people in the lobby/halls/break room. Ellen Byron and I laughed that, even though we both live in Los Angeles County, we had to cross the country to see each other.

Libby Klein, Becky Clark, me, Laura Oles (photo courtesy of Laura Oles, used with her permission)

photo courtesy of Laura Oles used with her permission

I also did a podcast interview with Angela Marie Hart, Cozy Mystery Book Club founder. We had a wonderful conversation about writing and my books.

 

Angela Marie Hart and me

I was on a panel entitled “Can You Google the Killer? How Sleuths Navigate Tech and Social Media” moderated by Vincent O’Neil. Besides me, the panelists were Nicole Asselin, Sarah E. Burr, Barry Fulton and Korina Moss. It was a fun panel and an interesting topic, but I feel like we only scratched the surface. We could have talked for a lot longer about the use of tech and social media in mysteries.

The panel I was on (photo courtesy of Laura Oles, used with her permission)

The Agatha Banquet was fun, as usual. I was lucky to be at Dru Ann Love’s table, Fan Guest of Honor. Had a lot of fun and interesting conversations. The awards for Malice 32, 33 and 34 were all given out. Tears were shed at some of the acceptance speeches, including Ellen Byron’s who won the Agatha for Best Contemporary Novel for Cajun Kiss of Death. The Faithful Few, those who have attended every single Malice since its inception, were honored with the Amelia Award.

After Malice, I spent some time with a friend from college who now lives in Virginia. On the way to the airport, we visited the Pentagon Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Air Force Memorial. The Pentagon Memorial was particularly touching.

Iwo Jima Memorial

Me in front of the Iwo Jima Memorial

The Agatha Award winners for 2022: 

Best Contemporary Novel – Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron

Best Historical Novel – Death at Greenway by Lori Rader Day 

Best Short Story – “Bay of Reckoning” by Shawn Reilly Simmons in the Murder on the Beach anthology 

Best First Novel – Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Best Non-Fiction – How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America, Lee Child and Laurie King, Editors 

Best Children’s/YA Mystery – I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff 

Malice Domestic is my favorite conference. I gladly cross the country to go to it. Hope to see more people there next time around. 

A couple other recaps you might find interesting: 

Edith Maxwell’s: https://wickedauthors.com/2022/04/25/malice-domestic-in-3d-plus-giveaway/

Dru Ann Love’s: https://drusbookmusing.com/2022/05/02/malice-domestic-recap-2022/

Malice Domestic Bound

 

It’s been quite awhile since I attended a mystery conference. The last one was Bouchercon in Dallas in 2019. I was all set to attend Malice in 2020, then the world stopped.

So I’m very excited to be going to Malice this year. I have my plane flights, my hotel room and my panel assignment. I'm getting my hair cut on Friday because there will be pictures and a second Covid booster on Monday. I am so looking forward to seeing people I haven’t seen in what seems ages. I’m also fully aware that things can change at the drop of a hat so I’ll just say I’m cautiously optimistic that nothing will happen that prevents me from attending.

For Malice this year, my panel assignment is on Friday afternoon, April 22, at 3 p.m. With a three hour time change, that’s the perfect time for me. The panel is titled Can You Google the Killer? How Sleuths Navigate Tech & Social Media Besides me, the panelists are: Moderator: Vincent O’Neil, Nicole Asselin, Sarah E. Burr, Barry Fulton and Korina Moss

You can see the full panel list here

I haven’t gone to a conference in so long, I have to remind myself what I need to do to prepare. I’ve pretty much spent the last couple years in jeans and t-shirts so it’ll be a little odd to wear nicer clothes.

I also am slightly embarrassed about my lack of progress on my writing during the pandemic. My last book came out at the end of 2019. Haven’t had anything published anywhere since then. I’m just now finishing up edits to my next book, which I don’t have a publisher for but am considering self-publishing. I did write a short story that I submitted to an anthology, but haven’t heard anything back about it yet. I’ve decided, though, to not worry about it too much. I’ll just plod along and enjoy myself at the conference.

If you’re attending Malice, stop me in the halls and say hi.

Malice Domestic 2019 Recap

I recently attended Malice Domestic in Bethesda, MD. I came home with lots and lots of books and some wonderful memories.

Our usual routine (the hubby comes with) is to fly into D.C. Wednesday evening, getting to the hotel about 10 p.m. That way we have a day to sleep in a bit and do a little sightseeing before the conference begins. I’m not great with 3 hour time changes so it gives me a little adjustment period.

This year we went to Ford’s Theater, which was very interesting. Learned lots about the U.S. Civil War as well as Lincoln himself. Part of the tour was a short play about the assassination. Then we went across the street to the house where Lincoln was taken and where he died.

Inside of Ford's Theater

That evening, the Malice festivities began with showings of Murdoch Mysteries and Queens of Mystery. I attended the Murdoch event where we viewed an episode of the series (which I love) and got a chance to ask questions of Maureen Jennings who writes the books the series is based on. Then it was off to do a little catching up with my fellow Henery Press authors.

The highlight of Friday for me was the Malice Go Round aka Speed Dating with Authors. Picture 20 tables in a large room. Authors go from table to table in pairs and have 2 minutes each to talk about their books. This was the first year in a long time where I got the chance to listen to people’s pitches instead of giving one. Found a lot of new books and authors to try.

The rest of the weekend was a flurry of panels, catching up with people I hadn’t seen in a while and, of course, the Agatha Award banquet. I was on a panel called “Murder Most Crafty” Saturday morning with other authors who write traditional mysteries featuring crafts. We had a good time with lots of interesting questions to answer.

Murder Most Crafty Panel

The Agatha Award banquet has become my favorite part of Malice. I always meet interesting people and have a great time. This year I was at the table hosted by Nance Cole Silverman and Margaret Dumas, both fellow Henery Press authors. Had a really nice time. One of the other people at the table was someone who has been to every single Malice! This was the 31st. That’s a lot of years to come. It turns out we were at the same table at the first Malice I attended and, purely by coincidence, at the second one I attended as well. So this is the third time around for us! Maybe we’ll end up at the same table next year. Who knows. That’s my quick summary. I’m sure there’s more I could say but, well, I’m tired. If you’re going to the Pasadena LitFest in Pasadena, CA, I’ll be on a panel called “Three Shades of Mystery: From Cozy to Dark Mysteries” with other Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles members. Saturday, May 18, 3-4pm. For more info on LitFest go to www.litfestpasadena.org

Conventions - Are They Worth Attending?

I’m back from Malice Domestic, my last convention of the year. While I’ve enjoyed the conventions I’ve attended, I’m glad to be home with no plans to travel in the near future. The last couple years I’ve done a painting convention in Las Vegas end of February/early March, Left Coast Crime in Hawaii/Reno a couple weeks later, and Malice Domestic end of April. I’m now reassessing my attendance at mystery conventions. Are they worth the expense and time away from home and writing?

Up until last year when LCC was in Hawaii, I only attended once before when it was in Downtown Los Angeles, a 45-minute drive. LCC often coincided with my painting convention, which won out because, well, I have my priorities. But the lure of Hawaii and the timing around my birthday made this a must attend event. I signed up for LCC in Reno for two reasons: we could drive there and one of the guests of honor was a friend. I had some great conversations with fellow authors at both events, but I’m not sure I picked up any new readers.

This was my fifth Malice and my favorite so far. Even though it was held at a different hotel this time around, I still felt like I was coming home, so to speak. I know a lot of people who attend and I feel like I belong there more than at other conventions. Cozy/traditional mystery are the books I enjoy reading most and the kind of stories I enjoy writing. Sometimes, at LCC and Bouchercon (I’ve attended that one once when it was in Long Beach), I almost feel like I have to apologize for writing the lighter side of mystery. Not so at Malice.

I think I also enjoyed it more because I filled my time with a lot of different things. I did the Malice Go Round (aka speed dating with authors), attended the Sisters in Crime breakfast for the first time, was on a panel, did a Facebook Live interview and co-hosted a table at the Agatha Awards banquet.

The banquet is my favorite part of the event. I never thought I would say that. I’m not good at small talk, but I always seem to have a good time there. This time around, I teamed up with Agatha award nominee Kathleen Valenti and co-hosted a table. Turns out I’m much better at small talk when I’m a host. I feel like it’s my responsibility to make sure everyone has a good time so that seems to get me out of my shell.

Giveaways for our table. Missing is a pill bottle filled with M&Ms from Kathleen. Give me M&Ms and I eat them!

Another reason I enjoy Malice is I get to see my Henery Press peeps. While we stay in touch online, it’s nice to see them in person. How many HP authors attend depends on the year. This time around it was 14 or so. We attend each others panels, get together for drinks and compare notes on writing and the publishing world.

Henery Press at Malice. Photo taken by Eleanor Cawood Jones

I also enjoy going to Washington, D.C., and taking some time before the convention starts to go to a museum or two and just walk around. We often visit the pandas at the National Zoo.

But, it’s a long flight across the country and not exactly cheap. Still, if I were to attend only one convention a year, it would be Malice. I feel like I’ve picked up some readers there and I enjoy talking to readers as well as authors. I know many authors who don’t attend any conventions, saying it’s not worth it. They don’t sell enough extra books to warrant the time and money spent. I certainly don’t get my “money back” in sales. For me, right now, it’s more about exposure and about feeling like I’m part of a community.

Still, I’ve pretty much decided I’m cutting down on mystery conventions next year. I won’t be attending LCC, but I’ll most likely do Bouchercon since it’s in Dallas where my publisher is. While I enjoy Malice, I’m still on the fence about attending next year. I have plenty of time to decide.

What about you writers out there? Do you think conventions are worth attending?

Malice Domestic Recap

Like Vicki, I attended Malice Domestic at the end of April. I've been back for over a week, but somehow it seems like it was only yesterday. I think this is the 4th Malice I've attended, the third as a published author. There's such a great sense of camaraderie there. A lot of Henery Press authors attend and it's a chance for me to meet face to face with my editors. All of us stay in touch throughout the year via email, Facebook, etc., but it's always nice to actually see each other. That's my favorite part of Malice, spending time with friends I haven't see in a while.

I'm in the center, surrounded by my wonderful editors Erin and Rachel

My next favorite part of the convention is the Agatha awards banquet. I'm really not great at small talk, but I've always had a fun time talking with the people at my banquet table. This year was especially great because several HP authors were nominated for Agathas. Cynthia Kuhn won for Best First and Art Taylor won for Best Short Story (this is his third win in this category.) I was seated at Cynthia's table, which erupted in shouts of joy when she won. Tears were flowing, people were jumping up and down in excitement. It was great to see. You might remember Cynthia from her recent guest post.

Agatha Award Winners Cynthia Kuhn and Art Taylor

This year fellow HP author Gretchen Archer and I explored the possibility that we might actually be related through my husband's family and her son-in-law's family. We're exchanging genealogy info and looking into the possibility. The jury's still out, but it's fun to entertain the possibility.

I enjoyed the panel I was on, "Murder and Crafts" with Mollie Cox Bryan, Peggy Ehrhart, Maggie Sefton, moderated by the wonderful Aimee Hix. We had a great time discussing how we incorporate our craft into our stories. Knitting needles used as weapons came up a lot in the discussion with the audience. And I mean a lot. And, just so you know, knitting needles are allowed on planes.

The Murder and Crafts Panel

Next year Malice will be at a new hotel, 3 Metro stops north of the one this year. We'll have to learn a whole new area of Bethesda, but we'll actually have a bar. That was one thing that was sorely missed at this conference. The lobby bar bit the dust in the hotel's renovations. Not that I drink much, but it was a convenient place to find people you were looking for.

Just one more convention for me this year. June will find me at the California Crime Writers Conference here in Southern California. I'll be moderating my first panel there, so if anyone has any helpful hints, I'll take 'em.

Malice Go Round

At the recent Malice Domestic convention, I participated in the Malice Go Round, aka Speed Dating With Authors. It’s quite an experience, whether you’re presenting or listening.

Imagine 20 tables of 10. Eight of the chairs at each table are filled with listeners. The other two are for authors who are pitching their latest book(s). All of the listeners stay put while the pairs of authors move around from table to table. At each table, each author has 2 minutes to pass out postcards, bookmarks, etc. and talk about their book(s). Every 4 minutes the authors move on to the next table. There’s a 21st table where the authors get a four-minute break. Approximately an hour and 45 minutes later all the pitches have been done and everyone is exhausted.

For those listening, it’s a great way to learn about books and authors you haven’t heard of before. On the pitching side, it’s a great way to make others aware of your work.

I teamed up with fellow Henery Press author, Christina Freeburn, who writes the Faith Hunter Scrap This mystery series. Here we are looking chipper as we wait to begin pitching.

Christina’s giveaway was a stamped frame with a postcard of her latest book while my giveaway was a set of postcards of the two books in my Aurora Anderson Mystery series.

We put both our items in Ziploc bags so they’d be faster to give out. Here are our packets of giveaways.

Here’s the ballroom as the authors gather and get ready. Tip: If you’re pitching get there early and snag a table as close to #10 as you can get. That way your break will be halfway through your round.

And here’s the ballroom when the Go Round is in full swing.

Type Mer Vicki Delany and Cathy Ace were right behind me so I kept on hearing “We’re the Criminous Canucks...” every time we moved to a new table. I have to admit I wanted to hear the rest of their pitch. I learned later it continued “We kill people, but we do it politely.” My pitch wasn’t quite as interesting, but I think I did okay for the first time. It was definitely an experience I’m glad I had. So that’s my experience at Malice Go Round.

Oh, and by the way, I sent my third book to my publisher on Monday. Yay!

Writer's Conferences I Have Known And Loved

I (Donis) am not actually here today, Dear Reader. I am attending the Left Coast Crime conference in Phoenix. I thought it would be interesting to post photos from the conference, but I am new to my phone/camera and don't yet know how to post pictures without being in physical contact with my computer. Perhaps if someone will lend me their ten-year-old to teach me, I'll learn how before my next picture-taking event.

So, in the interim, I am posting for your enjoyment photos from some of the many writer's/fan conferences I have attended over the past ten years. There are too many to cover every one, so I just picked out some highlights, especially if they are photos in which I look pretty good. Join me on my virtual trip down conference memory lane.

With Larry Karp, Bouchercon, Anchorage, AK

Women Writing the West, Colorado Springs, CO

Hmm. I'm wearing the same wrap, though these photos were taken some years apart. I like that durn wrap. I still wear it a lot.

Tucson, AZ

I like the red sunglasses. I do the Tucson Festival of Books every year. It is huge. Hundreds of authors and tens of thousands of readers attend.

Tucson, AZ

Of course the one thing an author almost always does at a conference is sign books. This signing is at Tucson with Elizabeth Gunn and Hilary Davidson

Malice Domestic, Bethesda, MD

My first Malice Domestic, With Charlotte Hinger and Clea Simon

OWFI Annual Conference, Oklahoma City, OK

Oklahoma Writer's Federation International. I'm standing on a mezzanine landing in the conference hotel. I taught three workshops here that year.

Murder Mysteries and the West, Tempe, AZ

That's me in the blue talking to a reader after the panel discussion. Barbara Peters, my editor and owner of Poisoned Pen Bookstore, is in the white, and the cowboy-hatted Reavis Wortham is next to her. Susan Slater is trying to hide behind the pillar.

Cozy Con, Phoenix, AZ

This event had so many well-known writers that I don't have room to list them all. (Besides the fact that this was a few years ago and I don't remember who a couple of these people are) How many can you name?

Cozy Con, Phoenix, AZ

Though I do have to mention these three, sitting on the left side, next to me on the end, because they are three of my favorite people: left to right, Carolyn Hart, Hannah Dennison, and Earlene Fowler.










(All photos taken by Donis Casey, Donald Koozer, or an obliging waiter.)

Off to Malice

It was a good experience. Met some nice people, sold a few books, and generally had a good time. Even though I had a book due less than a week after the festival, I decided to push that to the back of my mind while I was there and be “present” for the experience.

I’ve since turned in Paint the Town Dead and am heading to Bethesda, MD, for Malice Domestic. Not looking forward to the 3 hour time change or plane trip, but I am looking forward to the convention. I’ll be on a panel with fellow Type M’er Vicki Delany as well as participating in the New Author Breakfast. I’m glad I attended the conference last year to get the lay of the land, so to speak. I have to admit I found it a bit overwhelming. Everyone was very nice, just so many people! The other conferences I’d attended up until then had been fairly small.

In June, I’ll be attending the California Crime Writers Conference presented by Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles and the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America. This one is very familiar to me since I co-chaired the conference back in 2011. This time around I’ll be on a panel for the first time and have contributed a basket to auction off.

It’s all kind of surrealistic, but is slowly becoming the new normal for me as a published author.

Well, I must get packing. Now, where did I put those socks...