Just wanted to recap this year\u2019s Deadly Ink Conference, which took place at the Sheraton Parsippany in NJ. As usual, it offered a lively mix of entertaining presentations, helpful information for both writers and readers, and general networking and bonding among all concerned.<\/p>\n
Friday night\u2019s Deadly Dessert Party introduced Guest of Honor Gillian Roberts, author of the award-winning Amanda Pepper mystery series, and Toastmaster (mistress?) Cheryl Solimini, author of the novel ACROSS THE RIVER from Deadly Ink Press.<\/p>\n
I started Saturday off by attending the panel, \u201cWhat Makes It a Mystery?\u201d M. E. Kemp acted as moderator, as E. J. Rand, Ilene Schneider, Gillian Roberts and Hallie Ephron dissected the variations among mysteries, from cozies to thrillers. Ephron recommended that aspiring writers should learn \u201cwhat\u2019s clich\u00e9 in your subgenre.\u201d Rand and Roberts, who both write sleuth characters who meet and marry within their series, discussed mixing mystery and romance. Ephron noted, \u201cIn many mysteries, there\u2019s the story of the detective and the story of how he or she solves the crime. In the story of the detective, romance can play a part.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stuck with Hallie Ephron for her workshop on \u201cWriting Suspense.\u201d She defined suspense as \u201cthe potential for something bad to happen\u2014that moment before something bad happens, or doesn\u2019t happen.\u201d She advised building tension by \u201cslowing down\u201d the writing, and distinguished between the \u201cfalse payoff,\u201d where something innocuous happens, versus the \u201ctrue payoff,\u201d where something dramatic occurs. She read a taut scene by Dick Francis that built suspense through pure description, with no clue as to the protagonist\u2019s physical or emotional reactions.<\/p>\n
Next, novelist and retired forensic psychologist Rick Helms gave a workshop on \u201cInductive and Deductive Profiling.\u201d He said much of what we see demonstrated in movies and TV is inductive profiling that generalizes about a group of people to catch one individual. In reality, he said, this is a flawed approach. It\u2019s more effective to use deductive profiling based on evidence from the crime scene and the behavior of that individual criminal. He gave examples of many well-known serial killers who did not fit the typical FBI profile. <\/p>\n
During lunch, Deborah Buchanan announced the novels nominated for the 2010 David G. Sasher Sr. Award. The authors who were present, Mary Jane Clark and Hallie Ephron, talked a bit about their nominated books. Then Cheryl Solimini interviewed Gillian Roberts, who related how she \u201cgraduated\u201d from teaching high school English to writing fiction full-time. Christine Abbott also announced that there had been a \u201cmurder\u201d at the conference, of a famous mystery author named Stephanie King. She pointed out certain key players and suspects (including yours truly) and encouraged the other attendees to question us closely during the con.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon, I took part in the \u201cCrossing Genres\u201d panel with Sheila York and Elena Santangelo, moderated by Roberta Rogow. The predominant mix seemed to be mystery\/paranormal (Santangelo and I) and mystery\/history (York, Rogow and Santangelo). We all seemed to feel that crossing genres came naturally to us and enhanced our stories, although at times it did seem to baffle prospective publishers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, author and detective Joe Paglino conducted a two-part workshop called \u201cWhodunit: 101 Mistakes Mystery Writers Make,\u201d including slides of real crime scenes. Another program highlighted \u201cSleuths We Love, in Print and on Screen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following this, Irene Fleming screened some intriguing vintage mystery films in the Morris Room, while Sisters in Crime\/Central Jersey hosted a getting-to-know-you tea in the Troy Hills Room.<\/p>\n
At the Saturday night awards dinner, Gillian Roberts delivered a speech she\u2019d prepared five years ago, when she had to cancel her appearance at Deadly Ink due to illness. She talked about feeling her way into mystery writing in the early 1960s, when the genre still received little respect. (She admitted, \u201cI was one of the few women of my generation who never read Nancy Drew.\u201d) <\/p>\n
Sunday morning, I moderated the panel \u201cWriting as the Opposite Sex\u201d \u2014 a hoot, because the five other panelists were all male! Steve Rigolosi complained that male characters written by women are rarely same the type that men admire. I said I also felt that way about many female characters written by male authors. It soon became a (mostly humorous) battle of the sexes!<\/p>\n
At lunch, \u201cdetective\u201d Ilene Schneider interviewed several of the suspects in the conference murder, including me. I expressed such open hostility towards the deceased, and evasiveness about my whereabouts at the time of the murder, that I guess everyone figured I must be innocent.<\/p>\n
Because my Sunday afternoon panel on \u201cAuthors Who Live in NJ But Set Stories in Other Locales\u201d drew no interest whatsoever, I and my fellow panelists swelled the audience for the competing panel, \u201cCreating Characters: Qualities of Heroes and Villains.\u201d Hey, if you can\u2019t beat \u2018em\u2026! Among the highlights, Gillian Roberts admitted she had fictionally \u201ckilled off\u201d a real person she knew and disliked, and added, \u201cIt was a wonderful experience \u2014 he truly deserved it.\u201d Rick Helms quoted John D. MacDonald in saying, \u201cThere are no 100-percent heroes,\u201d and added that the same should be true of villains.<\/p>\n
Finally, both post- and pre-published writers who had the stamina to stay a bit longer joined in a roundtable. We discussed our publication experiences, favorite underrated authors, flakiest suggestions we\u2019ve gotten from editors and most outrageous rejection stories. <\/p>\n
Oh yes, and a vote determined that Jeff Markowitz -\u2013 or at least, his alter ego \u2013 had killed Stephanie King.<\/p>\n
It was a fun weekend, which needed only a few more participants among mystery readers. If you enjoy mysteries, put Deadly Ink 2011 on your calendar and please spread the word among your friends!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just wanted to recap this year\u2019s Deadly Ink Conference, which took place at the Sheraton Parsippany in NJ. As usual, it offered a lively mix of entertaining presentations, helpful information for both writers and readers, and general networking and bonding … Continue reading