This year’s Sleuthfest, the convention given by the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America – will be in Orlando. Femme Charlaine Harris is the convention Guest of Honor, and many of us will be on panels and participating in other events.
We’re looking forward to seeing you at the Royal Plaza Hotel March 1-4.
We wish Femmes Mary Saums and Kris Neri could be with us.
"Oh, how I wish I could be at Sleuthfest with the other Femmes," Kris said. "It all sounds so wonderful -- you're going to have the best time. While you're there, I'll be busy here in Arizona teaching my popular online UCLA class, COMMITTING THE PERFECT CRIME: WRITING YOUR FIRST MYSTERY, and preparing to teach a local novel writing class. I'll be with all of you in spirit!"
Here’s what the rest of us are up to at Sleuthfest:
Hank Phillippi Ryan: Thursday, I’ll be teaching a seminar called "Get Your Motor Going"---you'll never have writer's block again! (And I’ll be talking a bit about my new book THE OTHER WOMAN! Which just went up on Amazon, by the way, very exciting.)
But back to Sleuthfest--
Friday, moderating a panel on FAMILY TIES with panelists including Julie Compton and Reed Farrel Coleman.
Saturday morning, the SEX panel – with panelists including Michael Wiley and Sharon Potts, and Saturday afternoon: WHAT I WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME! with panelists including Lisa Unger, Lisa Black, and Joan Johnston! Hope to see you there!
Toni Kelner: Snow is predicted for my flight time out of Boston--is it any wonder that I can't wait to fly down to Orlando for Sleuthfest? And that's before you factor in the panels, conversations about mystery, Heather Graham's party at the House of Blues, and of course, a bevy of Femmes, including Guest of Honor Charlaine!
I'll be participating on two panels. First up is a panel on Traditional Mysteries--I'm sure we can stir up some trouble there. I love the way the traditional mystery tea cozy is stretching to keep all kinds of exciting books warm. (I may be stretching that metaphor just a touch.) Femmes Dana and Elaine, plus Joelle Charbonneau and Alan Orloff all have different takes on traditional mysteries, and I expect this to be lots of fun. A little information may sneak in, too--you never know.
Then I'll be on "Charlaine & Friends." I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I am quite sure I'll have a good time. The focus will be on short stories and anthologies. Charlaine and I co-edit them, and have included stories by panelists Dana and Chris Grabenstein. And Charlaine did a solo editing job on an anthology that included stories by Dana, me, and panelist Brendan DuBois. It makes for a web of intrigue!
Looking forward to getting down to Florida and having a great time. If you can't find me wandering around Sleuthfest, hunt me up at the Disney Pin Traders store at Downtown Disney. As you might have guessed from the photos, both of my daughters and I are enthusiastic pin traders, and I'm looking forward to adding to our collections!
Dana Cameron: I'm so excited to be returning to Sleuthfest -- I always leave charged up
and ready to write! On Friday morning, I'm tackling the Traditional Mystery with Femmes Toni
and Elaine (who'll be moderating) and Alan Orloff and Joelle Charbonneau.
On Saturday morning, the Short Story is the topic under discussion, with Brendan DuBois, Smita Harish Jain, Terrie Moran, Elaine Togneri, and Becky Swope (m).
Then Saturday afternoon, I'll be participating with Femmes Charlaine (our Guest of Honor!), Elaine (m), and Toni, as well as Chris Grabenstein and Brendan DuBois in the "Charlaine & Friends" panel.
Elaine Viets: Sleuthfest will be a lot of fun – and a lot of work.
Third-Degree Thursday is devoted to the craft of writing. I teach a workshop, "There's Nothing Slight about Short Fiction" starting at 11:30 and try to help stalled short story writers. We’ll discuss ways to diagnose the problem with your short story and fix it. One short story can be harder to write than an entire novel.
At 9:50 Friday I moderate a panel on traditional mysteries with two more Femmes, Dana Cameron and Toni Kelner, along with Joelle Charbonneau and Alan Orloff. We’ll discuss where the traditional mystery is today, how it got there and where it's going. It’s been fun reading their mysteries. You’ve read Dana and Toni, but if you don’t know Joelle’s skating mysteries or Alan’s Last Laff comedy club novels, you’re in for a treat.
Guest of Honor Charlaine Harris is the lunch speaker, and then at 3:30 that afternoon I moderate another Femme-filled panel, "Charlaine & Friends" with Charlaine, Toni Kelner, Dana Cameron, as well as Brendan DuBois and Chris Grabenstein. I’m expecting these champion talkers to do my work for me.
Saturday starts with a 9:00 a.m. panel: "Laugh if You Must: Dying Is Easy, Comedy is Hard." I’m with Femme Donna Andrews, as well as the hilarious Deborah Sharp and Joelle Charbonneau. We’ll give you our novel approach to mystery writing. Vincent O'Neil is moderating, heaven help him.
Then at 10 I moderate "Does Your Muse Need a Makeover: What to Do When Your Series Has Run Its Course" with veteran bestselling writers Lisa Unger, Julie Kramer, and Peter Abrahams, also known as Spencer Quinn.
After that, I take it easy. But I plan to go to Heather Graham’s party at 8:30 Saturday night. The very generous Heather is throwing a costume party and Charlaine will be the judge.
Charlaine Harris: I'll be the judge of the COSTUMES. Your behavior is up to you, ladies.
Donna Andrews: I'll be teaching a session Thursday on revisions. One of my favorite things--to teach. Doing it's another thing entirely--which is why I've developed a whole arsenal of ways to make it easier, or at least easier to make myself do it. I'll be sharing those with the class.
Hank and Elaine have already mentioned the panels I'm on that they're moderating--Family Ties on Friday, and the Laugh If You Must panel on Saturday. I'm also another panel Saturday morning: GET A JOB: Finding the right occupation for your sleuth, with Jamie Freveletti, Alan S. Orloff, Donna Andrews, Ellen Crosby, Keith Thomson and moderator Sandra Balzo.
Here's hoping we see many of you there!
Looking forward to seeing so many of you Femmes there! Like all of you, I'll be working hard-- teaching two workshops on e-publishing, moderating two panel discussions on the same topic, and introducing our fabulous Thursday guest of honor Chris Grabenstein.
Posted by: Neil Plakcy | February 29, 2012 at 05:46 AM
See you soon, Neil!
Posted by: Dana | February 29, 2012 at 11:05 AM
I'm in Orlando. Took the train from Fort Lauderdale -- very relaxing way to travel. Tomorrow the fun begins.
Posted by: Elaine Viets | February 29, 2012 at 01:50 PM