Road Work

I'm not much of a traveller. I like being in new places. It's that part about getting there and back that bugs me. For the last two weeks, I've been on the road with book-related events, so I thought I'd share the good part of road trips, the nice people you get to see.

First stop - Malice Domestic, the convention that celebrates the traditional mystery. Here's a photo of the big highlight of the weekend. Two fellow Femmes had the spotlight when Toni Kelner interviewed the convention's Guest of Honor, Charlaine Harris. Both of them kept the audience laughing with stories about Charlaine's life and her successful career, including news about the upcoming HBO series based on her Sookie books. See previous blog about her trip to a filming when the HBO folks were in Louisiana.

I caught two of my favorite authors in the hospitality room for this picture. Dean James and Frankie Bailey know how to spin a good Southern story. Besides their natural writing talents, they bring depth to their works through keen eyes on important social issues. I also love the way they use history to broaden the scope of their books. In addition to their mystery series, both are award-winning non-fiction writers.

After Malice, I flew west to Austin, Texas. This was for a writing workshop from the Free-Expressions folks. Literary agent Don Maass led a three-and-a-half day seminar called High Tension. What a lot of work! But I enjoyed learning the many new approaches to make my writing stronger.

It was great meeting other writers from all over the country. About 100 attendees brought their works-in-progress to apply what they learned on the spot. The photo on the left is of a couple of my Nashville friends who also attended. Left to right - Nancy Sartor who is working on an emotionally-packed thriller, her husband, the composer David Sartor, and Beth Terrell-Hicks who is writing a terrific series with a male protagonist, a former cop now working as a private eye.

It's nice to be home for a while. My new book, Mighty Old Bones, comes out May 27th, so I'll be on the road again in June. Until then, I'll be trying out the High Tension techniques as I work on the third Thistle & Twigg book. I think I'm going to need more pen refills .....