Bouchercon Recap - Part 2

The first official day of Bouchercon was Thursday the 19th. Everyone is raring to go. There are panels to watch, authors to see, books to be signed, friends to catch up with....and only a few days to do it all in. So we pack in as much as we can.

The first panel I attended was a panel from the folks at William Morrow who have started an ebook first crime fiction imprint called Witness, thus the panel was called "Can I Get a Witness." The panel was composed of an editor, a publicist, an agent and an author.

Now I know I'll get the "ebooks aren't as good as real books" feedback, but the content of their panel was very good. And their rationale is obviously well thought out, and the business plan seems solid. Genre sales in ebook format are still very much on the rise. And their lower price point offers new and lesser known authors a chance to break through because people are more willing to take a chance on an author at a lower price point. A $25 hardcover is an investment for most folks and they want to feel confident they're going to spend that $25 well.

Some concerns that were addressed: reviewers will review ebooks, the Today Show even featured an ebook recently. From a reviewer perspective the format isn't what keeps people from reviewing, it's whether it has been vetted by a publishing house, an editor, etc. With this imprint, WM isn't going to put out more books than they have the resources to promote. So they are going to be well edited, well promoted, etc. Their ebooks will be available on all platforms, so regardless of the device you wish to use, the ebook will be available. They also have the technology to provide signed ebooks.

eBooks can be produced quickly so WM can put an author's backlist out in a short amount of time, but new books will still go through a thorough editing process, new cover art is created, promotional plans are constructed, so those will go to market slower in order to accommodate all the necessary preparations.

And ultimately the books can go to print depending on demand. And all of the titles will be available for Print on Demand.

So I think this is exciting and I'm looking forward to what Witness will have to offer.

The next part of my day was my own panel. All the panels were assigned Billy Joel song titles to go with their descriptions. This one was "You're Only Human" and our description was "Secret powers and other little-known talents that would make us great Super Heroes...or Villains."

My superb panelists were Catriona McPherson, Zoë Sharp, Daniel Palmer, Brad Parks, Michael Wiley and Tom Schreck. They were all amazing. I can't say enough about their good sportsmanship, their humor, their enthusiasm. It made for such an entertaining panel.

Tom shared how he does not have super powers when it comes to his dogs, that they actually have the power over him. Zoë has developed her self-defense powers because she's the "world's slowest runner."

Brad Parks employs his super apology powers when it comes to making mistakes with his wife and Catriona has incredible driving super powers when it comes to round-abouts.

Michael Wiley separates the day job from his crime fiction writing, but murder is often on the minds of both he and his students. And believe it or not, Daniel Palmer really CAN make up a blues song on the spot about any topic. Here's the evidence. With no forewarning about the topic I was choosing, he sang a blues song about meerkats!

We talked about (and laughed about) everything from bad reviews to super powers listed in the authors' obituaries. Everyone on the panel engaged and shared. As an added bonus, Brad Parks pulled a Clark Kent sans the telephone booth. And I had my pronunciation of Albany corrected.

I could not have asked for better panelists. Everyone gave me content to work with for my preparations and the show came off beautifully. I hope the audience had as much fun as we did...I think they did.

The last panel I attended on Thursday was called "An Innocent Man" and their description was "Making the Law Thrilling." This one was moderated by Ken Isaacson with panelists Laura Caldwell, Marcia Clark, Adam Mitzner and Matthew Quirk.

The first question that was offered to the panel was "do you have to MAKE the law thrilling or is it already so?"

Marcia Clark says she feels that there's an inherent drama in the court room and she offered up jury selection as an example. If you haven't read Marcia's newest book Killer Ambition, she shows just how much that's true. The jury selection is where lawyers win or lose their cases.

Adam Mitzner finds fascination in the defendant. He says that person has either crossed a line...and maybe he/she is just your average, everyday good citizen, but something caused them to cross that line. OR the defendant is innocent and their life is about to be changed forever because people will never be able to look at them the same way, simply because they were accused and their character is being called into question.

Laura Caldwell pointed out that for writing purposes, authors pick out the "sexy" cases. So they do a little filtering of the "unthrilling" to begin with.

And Matthew Quirk said the ambiguities of law and the legal process offer intrigue.

Another fascinating question that came up with this panel was whether being able to watch court cases on TV has made the legal thriller more popular. There are pros and cons. The celebrity affects witnesses. Some people come forward who really know nothing but want the attention, while others who may know something won't come forward because they want to stay far away from the limelight. Judges have also been found to pander to the celebrity.

On the flip side of that, when cameras aren't in the courtroom, the great travesties of justice can be more easily hidden from the public.

Also, it was cautioned that Court TV is a representation of how court really is, Law & Order is not.

The panel as a whole came to the conclusion that while sometimes authors have to fictionalize to maintain pace and keep the reader engaged, it's ultimately the kernels of reality that "make the books sing." Interestingly the question of why these authors don't attempt true crime came up and they were pretty much in agreement that true crime is challenging because you can't veer at all from the facts. So being able to employ that creative license is pretty important to these panelists.

Another great, informative and entertaining panel.

The opening ceremonies took place on Thursday night, but I had an outside commitment and then I had more prep work to do for my Friday panel, so I missed those. So we're off and running...stay tuned for my report on my final panel and the remainder of Bouchercon.

Also I want to give special thanks to my wonderful friend Christine McCann who took the great pictures from our Superhero panel. Isn't she talented?

You Have the Right to Six Words - Part VIII

Alright! Week 8 of "You Have the Right to Six Words"! This week we have another diverse group of power house crime fiction writers sharing their six-word memoirs with us. And this group reminds me of how many sub-sets of this genre exist. There is really something for everyone.

So let's start out with our interview recap. Diane A.S. Stuckart writes a historical crime fiction series with her Leonardo Da Vinci series, which includes THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT and PORTRAIT OF A LADY. PORTRAIT OF A LADY was released early this year and a third installment of the Leonardo Da Vinci series should be forthcoming in 2010. Diane is a born and bred Texan who was recently transplanted to Florida. Before writing historical mysteries, she wrote historical romance. This lady knows her history. She also knows ghosts. She is a founding member of the Gold Coast Paranormal Society that searches for ghosts in the South Florida area. Like me, Diane is a pet person. She has four dogs and two cats. And now that she's in Florida, she has to keep an eye on those gators. Diane is juggling an awful lot of balls in the air at any one time, so it should come as no surprise that her memoir is:

I've always wanted to try that.

We'll go from historical mystery to traditional mystery...well, sort of traditional. I don't know how traditional we can consider a tattoo artist. Karen Olson began her crime fiction writing career with the Annie Seymour Mysteries. SACRED COWS, the first book in this series centered around a police reporter, was nominated for a Gumshoe Award and won the Sarah Ann Freed Memorial Award. Last week, Karen released the first book in her new series, THE MISSING INK. With this book Karen has moved from police reporter in New Haven, Connecticut, to tattoo artist in Las Vegas, Nevada. As I said, I don't know if "traditional" fits Karen Olson! Karen started her career in advertising then moved on to writing policies and procedures for a securities and investigations company. These positions both preceded 20 years in journalism. While working a night-shift copy editor position, Karen started writing fiction. As easy as Karen makes it seem, she'll be the first to tell you that it's:

Not as easy as it seems.

From traditional mystery we can move on to the legal thriller. Ken Isaacson is a lawyer who completed his undergraduate degree at MIT, his law degree at Columbia, worked as an attorney on Wall Street and now is still practicing law as an in-house general counsel to an international transportation company - WHILE writing legal thrillers! And as if that wasn't enough to keep him busy, he's very active with the Mystery Writers of America, where he received the Silver Noose Award. His first book, SILENT COUNSEL, was released in 2007 to great reviews. And he's hard at work on book number two where he'll deviate from Scott Heller, his SILENT COUNSEL protagonist, to work with a young lawyer just out of law school. His second novel does not have a release date as of yet, but stay tuned! I'll keep you apprised. Ken is also an animal lover. He and his wife have a dog, Oakley, and four cats. Ken is also a proud father, step-father, and while I find this hard to believe, he's also a grandfather. Family is an important part of his life...and his memoir:

Son, brother, husband, father. Enjoying journey.

Today I'm going to wrap up the memoirs with one of the most recent Edgar award winners and an author of police procedurals, sort of. C.J. Box is the author of the award-winning Joe Pickett series. Joe isn't a police officer per se, but he is a trained, armed law enforcement official...a Wyoming game warden. C.J. is also the author of two stand-alone novels: BLUE HEAVEN, for which he won the 2008 Edgar award for best novel, and THREE WEEKS TO SAY GOODBYE. His most recent release, BELOW ZERO, continues the Joe Pickett series and was released in June of this year. Like his protagonist, C.J. also lives in Wyoming and is quite the outdoorsman. He's worked as a ranch hand, a surveyor, a fishing guide; he found his start in writing as a small town newspaper reporter and editor. Even his hobbies revolve around Wyoming's great out doors. He hunts, fishes, hikes and skis. When I asked C.J. for his six-word memoir, his response was:

He hoped he got it right.

Well, if he hasn't gotten it right, the man is pretty darned close! My most sincere thanks to all my special guests today: Diane A.S. Stuckart, Karen Olson, Ken Isaacson, and C.J. Box. It means a lot to me, and to everyone reading, that you took the time to share in the fun with us.

Each week I finish up this post and sit back in awe. I really am humbled that so many wonderfully talented writers have contributed to this project. It has turned out greater than my wildest dreams because of everyone's contribution, and especially all the folks who turn out to read it each week and make it the most popular element of this blog! Thank you everyone. And I'm not done! I still have plenty more to share with you. I hope you'll come back next week for Week 9 and see who hangs out with us then!

Happy Reading!

SILENT COUNSEL - Ken Isaacson

Ken Isaacson's debut legal thriller SILENT COUNSEL centers around the attorney client priviledge. When a man driving recklessly simply for the thrill runs down and kills an innocent six-year-old boy, no one is around to witness. The driver takes off but later has an attack of guilty conscience, but not so guilty that he wants to pay a high penalty. So, he hires an attorney to negotiate a plea for him. The catch is this: the attorney can't reveal the driver's name - attorney client priviledge.

The plot of SILENT COUNSEL mimics Vince's BMW Z4: sleak, fast, powerful. You needn't even bother trying to figure this one out because as soon as you think you have it pegged, Isaacson will pull the rug out from under you, leaving you to wonder what the heck just happened. Which is not to say that Isaacson pulls things out of the air. All the pieces parts are there, they're just weaved together ingeniously so you don't always see them there. Kind of like an Escher piece. It doesn't seem like it would be possible, but you're looking at it right there, so it must be.

The characters in this novel will cause your emotions to run the gamet. You want to feel sympathy but at the same time if they don't scare the be-geebers out of you, something's wrong. I would wring my hands and say out loud, "WHAT are you thinking?" And at the same time wonder exactly what I would do under the same circumstances. Isaacson interjects many viable ethical situations, and while they are at the extreme (or let's hope they're the extreme) of the possible circumstances, they are still viable.

The themes are infused with contraversy, many of the same contraversies that arise in our legal system on a daily basis. Exactly how far should our laws go, the laws that are in place to protect the innocent? The same laws that often end up freeing the guilty.

This is definitely NOT a thoughtless read. You're going to tax your own beliefs as you race through the events that compose SILENT COUNSEL. And at the end, you may have more questions than when you started. I challenge you not to think about them after you've closed the book!