Showing posts with label Murder and Mayhem in Muskego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Murder and Mayhem in Muskego. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Murder & Mayhem in Muskego - Part 2

Saturday is the main part of the Murder & Mayhem conference. This year's line-up of authors was another doozy so the entire day was filled with crime fiction goodness.

There was some kind of accident or something on the highway, so Judy Bobalik and I had to take the back roads route to the library and I was doing a slight panic on the way because this was the first year my duties were in the morning. Holy cow if I was late I'd have been mortified. But  no sweat, we made it in plenty of time for me to see a little bit of Bryan's first gig as panel moderator!

He led Marcus Sakey, Alex Segura, Sean Doolittle and Kieran Shea in a panel called "Flip the Switch." Bryan's last question to everyone was, "what would your last meal be?"


Pie!


And next came my interview with Gregg Hurwitz. What fun and how animated Gregg is. I've said many times, Gregg is simply a natural-born storyteller. He spoke about the beginning of his interest in writing, his research, his work on scriptwriting and of course his new book TELL NO LIES. By the way, I'm absolutely mortified to realize I never posted my review of the book here. I reviewed it for Shelf but wanted to add to the review...so I promise I will get that for you all. In the mean time, I have video of the interview if you care to watch. This year I managed to stay in the chair and Gregg even got me to blush at one point. It's the full interview, so give yourself some time and I hope you enjoy. Also a special shout out to my wonderful friend Larry who handled the activation of the video camera for this one. Thanks Larry!


Following our interview, Kate Malmon took the moderator's reigns to lead Duane Swierczynski, Howard Chaykin, Dana Cameron, Chris Holm and Harry Hunsicker in the "Riff Raff" panel. It started off in riff raff fashion with a phone interruption for Howard.

Sadly, Chris was not telling his bug story here.

Following lunch the noirish-types took the stage for the "Back in Black" panel led by Tim Hennessey and featuring Frank Wheeler, Megan Abbott, Reed Farrel Coleman, Frank Bill, Jedidiah Ayres, and Hilary Davidson. In the picture you'll notice Reed and Frank Bill in their matching hats. I would love to say those are for my Elyria alma mater, but in fact they were a "hat tip" to Rod Wiethop a prominent member of the crime fiction community who has had a stellar year with his sports teams at Effingham High School (hopefully I spelled that correctly).
Frank looks guilty and Megan looks livid - not sure how I managed the timing on this shot.
The rest of the panel is watching to see if a fight breaks out. Noir panels...whatdaya expect?

The rowdy group was up next. Katrina Holm moderated "Sink the Pink." Julie Hyzy dressed accordingly for this panel. Gregg, the Shakespeare "dilettante" and Dan O'Shea who has Shakespeare as his protagonist made for a interesting couple on this panel. Joelle Charbonneau talked about the differences in writing cozies and writing YA. And Tom Schreck, as usual, was the hit of the panel.
Tom's question was "Things that make you go hmmmm."
Even though the panel was "sink the pink" Julie stayed completely dry.
Gregg appears to be very confused. Could it be because of Dan's jacket?

The highlight of my day, second of course to interviewing Gregg, was watching Michael Koryta and Marcia Clark in conversation. They are funny, intelligent and great writers. The stories they shared were captivating. After almost 6 years now, I still haven't lost my interest and fascination in listening to great authors tell stories.
Who looks scary and prosecutorial? "Me. I do." Marcia intimidated Michael before he first met her.
Two wonderfully talented writers. An exceptional session at M&M.

I have to end with an apology because the final session of the day was William Kent Krueger's interview by Libby Fischer Hellmann. I didn't get any snaps of that session, but Kent started off the discussion with a grand praise of libraries and friends of libraries organizations.  A fitting way to cap the day held in a fantastic library.

I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to regularly attend this fabulous event for the last five years now. It's exceptional. If you have the chance to experience it, I encourage you to DO IT!!

Thanks for sticking through to the end of this post; hope you enjoyed it. Happy Reading friends!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Murder & Mayhem in Muskego 2013 - Part 1

As you know, last weekend was the annual Murder & Mayhem in Muskego conference in Wisconsin. The majority of the fun takes place on Saturday, but Friday night is a meet-and-greet with many of the authors. At the meet-and-greet, one panel is hosted and this year I was asked to moderate that panel.

I had a panel full of fun people and laughs are always welcome at the end of the week. So I decided on a game show format for the Liar, Liar panel. Each of the authors sent me fun tidbits about themselves before hand and I took one of those tidbits as their "truth" then altered the others ones. The volunteers/contestants had to guess which was the truth.

My authors on the panel included Dana Cameron, Julie Hyzy, Sean Doolittle, Marcia Clark, and Chris Holm. They were all super fantastic and I can share the entire panel with you since I video taped it. Special thanks go out to my friend George Lichman who ensured the camera kept running during the panel. So when you have some time to kick back and enjoy some laughs, here is the Friday night panel from the 2013 Murder & Mayhem in Muskego, LIAR, LIAR:

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Top 10 Things I Learned at Murder & Mayhem in Muskego 2012

As you already know, last weekend was Murder and Mayhem in Muskego. I have to admit that this was the best one yet since I've been attending. You know about my interview with Robert Crais. If you had problems viewing it here on the blog (some did), I broke it in two shorter segments and posted those on the Facebook page. So hopefully that will work better for folks who had problems.

And by the way, the Facebook page is an open page, so even if you haven't liked the page...or if you don't have a Facebook account...you should still be able to access the page and see the video if you want.

But believe it or not, other stuff happened at M&M this weekend! So here is my minor recap of a weekend full of wonderfulness.

The Top Ten Things I Learned at Murder & Mayhem in Muskego, 2012

10. Daniel Palmer thinks writing is like a boiling cauldron and his favorite character (that is not of his own creation) is Jaws. His least favorite character--not his own--is also Jaws. This man is hysterical; if you've never met him in person, remedy that at your earliest convenience.



9. Craig McDonald says the Prologue is the over-used device he likes the least. Down with the prologue!


8. Lisa Lutz once (unknowingly) told a New York Times bestselling author that his mother was a major pain!


7. Chris Holm can not start writing a story without a title. To date he has been fortunate. The titles he's picked for his books have stuck, no publishing changes there.



6. Brad Parks knows a lot about fracking--actually I learned that one at lunch on Friday, but still...



5. Marcus Sakey is making a new television show. It won't be Hidden City, but a similar concept for the Travel Channel. 



4. Lou Berney is ambidextrous....and smart....and funny...and talented...and kind...and...



3. Jeff Lindsey has some very scary fans, and his minister likes to sermonize about Dexter!



2. Most of the panelists with Ayo Onatade didn't want to fess up to a character they didn't like (that wasn't their own) but John Lutz had no problems proclaiming Susan Silverman...with the caveat that he loved the Spenser books.



1. George Pelecanos is even more amazing than I thought he was last week!



I wanted to save this last one to the end of my list because there are several things I want to share with you. You may know them already, but this was my first chance to meet George Pelecanos and I can't even put into words how in awe I was. And he's not the kind of person who makes you feel uncomfortable or like you need to bow down and kiss his ring. He's down to earth, funny, kind, generous...and oh my goodness so smart.



If you followed my tweets during the interview with George, you already know that he will be working as an executive producer (as will Dennis Lehane) for Boardwalk Empire following the end of Treme. He also has the sequel to THE CUT coming out next year and it's called THE DOUBLE.



But I just have to tell you how this man won my heart in his interview. I don't even remember what the actual question was that brought this up, but he told the audience that he was acutely aware of the fact that he would leave a nice job, drive in his nice car to his nice house and live a comfortable life as a result of his writing about people far less privileged than he. So, he felt a need to give back. He's doing that through writing and reading programs in urban schools and prisons. One of the most incredible statements he made was, "If you give a kid in prison a book, that's how he escapes the cell."

Each year this one-day conference reminds me of the power of the story...the inspiration, the friendships, the fulfillment, the fun. The world always looks a little brighter after this conference for me. I highly recommend making an honest effort to attend it at some point. Save your pennies, plan your vacation, and get here. You won't regret it!

I'm going to leave you today with the other video I recorded this weekend. This is the panel I moderated Friday night...really I just pointed to people and said, "you share your story now." The panelists did the hard part--and they did it well. I apologize profusely. I thought I had the camera set up to get all the panelists, but poor Marcus got cut off. He's off to the left of the screen, but you can hear him when he talks. A couple times he leans into the picture. I hope you enjoy the show!






Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Murder & Mayhem in Muskego: The Interview!

O.k. so you all know that this past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to interview Robert Crais. I videotaped the first part of the interview (sorry, but my camera batteries bit the dust mid-way through). I loaded it on to my computer and then the video seemed to have vanished. I was seriously questioning whether I actually DID interview him or it had just been a vivid dream.

Turns out I did indeed interview my hero--the man responsible for my love of crime fiction. I would like to say that it turned out completely gloriously, but I can't exactly say that. I was very nervous at first so I didn't deliver the Ezra Pound stuff near as elegantly as I'd hoped, but once we got going, I felt far fewer butterflies and RC never had to whack me on the back of the head to undo any tied tongues.

You'll notice my utter lack of gracefulness in that chair I'm sitting...sort of sitting...in. RC had the good sense to swap his chair for one of the green ones with a back, which I should have done. I'm just thankful I didn't try to tackle that chair in a dress! And all the times it appears as though I'm sliding out of the chair...I am! That chair was not made for people with plentiful back ends. Anyhow...

Since the interview did cut off before the end, there is one part I really wanted you to know about that missed the video, and that is RC's response to my question:

You’ve written for television, with SUSPECT you’ll have published 19 novels, had a novel adapted for the big screen, hit #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list, won numerous awards for your books, what goals do you have for your career at this point?

His response was (paraphrased): "hey, all those things are great and I'm not going to say I don't like them, but my goal has always been and continues to be--write better." I think that says a tremendous amount about him.

This was a spectacular experience--I'm still a little drunk on the thrill of it--and I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity. I'll have more to share with you on the rest of Murder and Mayhem in Muskego, but for now, here is THE interview:


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Books Are the Markers of Your Life

"Books are the Markers of Your Life" was one of the most poignant statements I heard during Murder & Mayhem in Muskego this year and I thought it a fitting title for this post.

Yet another wonderful convention hosted by the Muskego Library with mucho support from Jon and Ruth Jordan.

This weekend is always filled with wonderful fun. The program starts out with an informal meet and greet session on Friday night. There's usually one panel that takes place and this year, Dana Kaye moderated John Connolly, Marcus Sakey, Duane Swierczynski and Dana Cameron. If you haven't seen any of these people in person, they are all incredibly funny and together it was wonderful entertainment. Dana ended up putting her feet up and just relaxing while the panelists did all the work!


Meanwhile, the other authors were all looking on from the audience.



During lunch on Saturday, one of the women sitting at the table commented on how accessible the authors are at M&M. She had hoped to see an author at Bouchercon but said author was always surrounded by people, but she didn't run into that issue at this convention. And I think that's a big reason so many people enjoy this weekend. It's a hidden gem.

Speaking of Saturday, the panels started off with excitement as the moderator, Alison Janssen-Dasho, was M.I.A. However, Reed Farrel Coleman surprised the conference goers by being present - he wasn't on the author list this year. So, Reed filled in on the "Playing Fair With the Reader" panel until Alison arrived. Also on this panel were Joelle Charbonneau, Alison Gaylen, Gar Anthony Haywood and Andrew Grant. In this panel we learned that Alison Gaylin feels every character should have a part of the author in them, thereby allowing the reader to understand motivation. Joelle keeps a running document about her characters and as they develop in the writing process she adds to the document. And Gar was in Annie Get Your Gun in junior high school! Unfortunately, he didn't sing for us.


The other panel before lunch highlighted historical writers: "My Generation: Mysteries of the Past." Sadly Tony Hayes and Tasha Alexander were unable to make the festivities, so Andrew Grant sat in as moderator and Reed filled in again, since his books are somewhat historical. Not quite as historical as Jeri Westerson and Kelli Stanely, but it worked out well nonetheless. Kelli talked about enjoying her ability to enter the dark elements of a time period we like to romanticize now. And Jeri emphasized the need to be sensible to the time and its people. Kelli's bit of advice in this panel is for writers to learn to self-edit. Which was not a signal to do away with outside editors but rather to complement their work with your own editing.


Following lunch, my panel took the stage. We were titled: "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: Writing Without Borders." I was so excited to be moderating Megan Abbott, Martyn Waites, Hilary Davidson and Sean Chercover. They were funny and energetic and no one killed me when I asked them to pick their theme songs.



Martyn told us about his experiences writing with his wife. He types because he's faster and she tells him what to type. However, he isn't permitted to help with her job as a costume designer! And in the series he writes alone, he was so proud of himself for "creating" the idea of an information brokerage until an ex-girlfriend called him and threatened to sue him if he was stealing her idea as she'd just started an information brokerage as her job.

We learned Megan doesn't like to write about sex and body parts. No matter what, she can't help but think about her mother reading what she writes.

Sean opted to set his books in Chicago over a Canadian location because he had experience as a P.I. in Chicago and there are more people in the U.S....thereby, more people to buy and read his books!

Hilary shared with us her tendency to get so caught up in the world she's writing in, she can't find her friend's apartment or cross the street without assistance. 

As you can see these four talented writers were both entertaining and informative. It was such a pleasure to moderate this panel with them.

After us the panel "We're Not Going to Take It: Breaking Out of the Traditional" took the stage. Meanwhile, Tom gave boxing lessons.



This panel was led by moderator Jennifer Jordan with authors Gary Phillips (who does NOT need a microphone by the way), Stephanie Pintoff (who does), Duane Swierczynski, and F. Paul Wilson. This panel discussed Father Knox's Decalogue: The Ten Rules of (Golden Age) Detective Fiction. The panel came to the conclusion that "Father Knox is full of shit."


The final panel of the day was "Who Are You? Characters CAn Make or Break a Story" featuring Tom Schreck as the moderator, Dana Cameron, Gar Anthony Haywood, Jess Loury and Marcus Sakey.


Jess Loury recommended not over-planning. characters. And Gar said he starts off by deciding what he doesn't want his characters to be. Marcus doesn't start with a superman-type character because then the action has to be more elaborate and exaggerated and that can quickly become silly. As did this panel when Tom began talking about his farting dogs.

The actual conference was wrapped up with Ruth Jordan's interview of John Connolly. And John is the one who gets the credit for talking about books as markers of your life. He emphasized the continued value of print books...and not by disparaging electronic books but by saying that what we choose to keep in print still tells a story about us individually. He spoke specifically to a beat-up paperback he had that was a marker of a relationship earlier in his life.


When John spoke about Irish crime fiction specifically he said that it's a way for Irish writers to connect with their history.


And he also recommended that writers never underestimate the power of the chip on your shoulder.

A truly spectacular day that continued with dinner and time with the authors. This wonderful picture I'm having framed!


I also have a few new pictures to add to the Most Wanted wall, so look for those soon (I hope).

I want to send out a very special thank you to everyone who took the time to stop and tell me they enjoyed the panel or that they read the blog. In person I'm sometimes so overwhelmed by these kindnesses that I don't know how to appropriately express how much that means to me. I hope you know, you make my heart smile. Thank you so much for that gift.

I'm always sad when Muskego is over. It's such a bonding time for me and the whole fan-girl experience hasn't lessened one iota. If you have the opportunity I highly recommend you attend a Murder & Mayhem in Muskego. Even if you think you don't have the opportunity, MAKE it. This weekend is well worth it.

Happy Reading!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A Look at What's Going On...

In all the traveling craziness lately, I haven't done a look at what fun things are going on around the web. So I thought I'd share what's come across my computer screen today and then you can share other things YOU know about in the comments!

Brilliance Audio has a podcast with Iris Johansen about her upcoming suspense novel, BONNIE.

Things are gearing up for the Murder and Mayhem in Muskego conference. You should really try to come if you can. I mean, look at this awesome lineup!

And speaking of conferences, don't forget that you can register for Bouchercon 2012 now. It's in my neck of the woods next year, and if you register before the end of the year, you can get a $25 discount.

Don't forget to go and nominate your favorite 2011 crime novels in the Independent Literary Awards! I'm part of the committee reading and voting on the short list, so nominate a good bunch of books for me to choose from. Make my job VERY HARD! :-)

Those of you looking forward to Stephen King's 11/22/63, Simon and Schuster are posting audio samples on Mondays and Fridays through October 24th. 

Todd Ritter has his Magical Mystery Tour going on right now. If he's in your area, stop out and say "hi." Buy a book and you could be a big winner!

Tama Ryder is making her debut with a memoir about Len Lesser who passed away in February. You probably know him from Seinfeld as "Uncle Leo" but he has also had character parts in many television crime dramas, including Hardcastle and McCormick (remember that one?), The Rockford Files, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Simon & Simon, Remington Steele, and more.

Mark Harmon's role as Lucas Davenport in a TV movie adaptation of Certain Prey was announced earlier this year and it's set to air on November 6th. I'm wondering if I should watch this. I'm a huge Harmon fan; Davenport, not so much. Wondering if the movie might change my feelings about Sandford's character.

It isn't coming out until December, but I'm reading Craig McDonald's EL GAVILAN right now, and I can't recommend highly enough that you check this book out. It's just...WOW! You'll hear more about it from me later, but in the mean time, check out his website and here's the trailer for the book.



This is a book that will come in under the 2011 wire and make my favorite's list. Few books are able to keep me up past my normal bed time these days, this is one of the exceptions.

O.k., your turn. What do you have to share for the good of the order?

Monday, November 15, 2010

Ridley Pearson at Murder & Mayhem in Muskego

I must apologize profusely. I've fallen behind on the Crime Writers Caught Recommending Crime - for the holidays. Don't fear, I have many more recommendations for you. I just have to get caught up. Today however, I want to share the Ridley Pearson interview with you. Originally I was going to just edit snippets of it together and give you the mini-version, but he's so incredible that I couldn't decide what to leave out. Therefore, you'll find the interview below in 6 pieces, each piece in the vicinity of 8 to 10 minutes. This was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I hope you enjoy it.

I'll have more video posts coming in the near future - still have my panel from Bouchercon to share, plus I'll give you a rundown of the whole Murder & Mayhem in Muskego event. Wednesday I'll have the next holiday recommendation for you. So much fun stuff. But for now...Ridley Pearson:

Part 1:




Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:



Part 5:



Finale:

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