Murderous March conference

 My apologies for not having a real post today. Sisters in Crime-Upper Hudson chapter ("Mavens of Mayhem") is hosting our 4th annual Murderous March conference this afternoon and all day tomorrow. We were forced to cancel in 2020 because of the pandemic. This year we are going virtual.

There may still be spaces available, so please drop by and register if you would like to join us for this afternoon's workshops and/or tomorrow's panels. The conference is free and open to the public.

https://upperhudsonsinc.com/murderous-march-conference/

 

Upcoming Events

 I finally got my Friday right. With the beginning of spring semester and half a dozen other things happening, I've been lagging behind and trying to get on track with my life. Of course, it would have helped if my 2021 appointment book had arrived on time. Or, I had ordered with delays in mind. 

But I'm back. And I want to begin by thanking John Corrigan, my Type M blogmate, for inviting me to do a virtual visit to his class. The class had read "In Her Fashion," the Lizzie Stuart story that was published in EQMM six years ago. I did a podcast reading (intimidating) of the story while attending Malice Domestic for the mag podcast https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/eqmm/episodes/2014-06-27T06_59_34-07_00

It was fun talking to John's class about the story and about writing in general, with a few criminal justice questions mixed in. 

Now, for two upcoming events. On March 19th and 20th, Sisters in Crime, Upper Hudson chapter, will have a virtual conference. This will be our fourth Murderous March (annual conference). We were forced to cancel our expanded conference in March 2020, so this year we are picking up where we left off. With the help of our new webmaven, we are making use of the technology to bring together our own members, members of MWA-NY, and writers from Murder on Ice, the western NY chapter of SinC, and from New England and elsewhere. Here is the link with the registration information and the program: https://upperhudsonsinc.com/murderous-march-conference/

I am hosting a symposium that is an unrelated event, but will be that same week just prior to Murderous March. Another unexpected good thing with the use of technology to bring us all together is that I finally have the opportunity to host another symposium of crime writers of color. The first such symposium was years ago -- a pre-Bouchercon event in the late 1990s, sponsored by the University of Minnesota and the Givens Foundation. This time, I am hosting wearing my UAlbany, School of Criminal Justice faculty hat. I'm the project director of our Justice and Multiculturalism in the 21st Century initiative, and I want to take this opportunity to gather -- virtually -- members of the Crime Writers of Color (CWoC) organization and other guests to talk about crime fiction and social issues. Of course, we'll also be talking about writing, publishing, and their books. The symposium will be on that Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. The program and registration information (free and open to the public) will be up shortly. I will be tweeting it out, and it will be posted on our UAlbany, School of CJ website.

So, that's the news from Albany. The snow is falling, but it's much warmer here than Texas has been. I and Harry, my cat -- who had a vet appointment this morning -- and Fergus, my puppy, who is a bundle of energy and came along for the ride -- are all tucked back in for the afternoon. Thoughts and prayers to the folks in the southern and southwest US who are dealing with all the fallout from the last snowstorm. 

And back to work -- I'm still trying, even after months, to get into the pace of working at home. Still trying to figure out separating day job from my fiction writing schedule. I'm hoping to spend some time in my campus office where many of the books and articles that I need are stored. I'm running out of space in my house for all the material from the office that I need. But I'll figure it out. It's just a matter of getting organized, right?

 Take care, everyone. Keep warm and have a good weekend.

My First Conference

Frankie here. I don't have time to write a blog post today because I'd busy at school with our visiting student weekend. So I'd like to ask our readers and my Type M colleagues to share your individual and collective wisdom. .

Next weekend, the Upper Hudson chapter of Sisters in Crime (SinC) will be collaborating  with the East Greenbush Community Library to present our chapter's second annual "Murderous March" conference.  Our own Vicki Delany will be the Keynote Speaker (invited after another chapter member nominated her from the list of available speakers and we had done an anonymous chapter poll on Survey Monkey ranking our nominees -- how's that for transparent?). Vicki is coming to us courtesy of the SinC National speakers bureau that helps chapters to bring great writers to their communities.

Our Special Guest for the conference will be Edwin Hill, who works in academic publishing and is now a well-received mystery writer. Edwin and I were on a panel together at a conference, and I was delighted when he accepted the invitation from our chapter to join us. One of the highlights of the conference should be the conversation that he and Vicki will have about "Breaking and Entering . . .Into the Field."

Please go to our Mavens of Mayhem website if you're nearby and interested in attending:

 https://upperhudsonsinc.com/

Getting to the title of my post:  I'm moderating a panel on attending crime fiction conferences. We want to provide the audience (which will include both unpublished writers and readers) with information and tips about what is available and what they might find useful based on their interests. We also want to talk about how to navigate a conference when you have never been to one (not counting the one they're sitting in).

I would really appreciate input from anyone with thoughts to share. I will compile for our attendees. What is the one tip you would offer? Can be serious. Can be humorous. No names attached unless you'd comfortable being identified. In that case, just include your name after the tip.


 

Not There Research . . . and a Question

I've been following the discussion about research and setting, and it reminded me once again of the dilemma I've created for myself. I use real places, but because of my slowly-developing series arcs and my reluctance to write in a "present" that can change in a moment, I can't physically be in the places I write about at the time of the story.

When I write about Gallagher, Virginia, my fictional stand-in for my hometown, Danville, Virginia, I can go home to Danville and walk through history. As in this photo of the courthouse. The statue is of Mayor Harry Wooding, who was a young officer in the Civil War and served as mayor for over 40 years.

But then there's the matter of  Danville/Gallagher in 2004. I have no memories of the city or the state during that era because I lived in Albany, New York. I made occasional visits home, but I don't have the same sensory memories that I have of the years when I lived in Virginia. When I write a Lizzie Stuart book, I need to rely on newspaper accounts of the city to provide the chronicle of changes and fill in the empty spaces based on what I know and remember.

The books set in Albany in the near-future are a different matter. I can see what exists now, and I need to walk into an imagined future. I imagined what Central Avenue would look like if the traffic pattern changed. I imagined a building downtown with a vertical garden and an attached restaurant.

Now, I'm imagining what urban explorers would find inside a deserted building. Sometimes, I'm ahead of the curve. I gave Albany a convention center because it was being discussed. Now, there is one. Not my convention center because my Albany exists in a fictional, parallel universe. But it's a little creepy -- if I conjure it, will it come?

I have another unrelated question. Tomorrow, the Mavens of Mayhem (our Sisters in Crime chapter) will host our first, "annual" Murderous March afternoon event at a public library (East Greenbush). I think we know why writers attend such events even if they aren't on panels. I've been thinking about readers. What brings readers in, even when the weather outside has a hint of spring, and there are other competing events?  Thoughts?