Killer Nashville, shiny and bright

I always have to catch my breath after a conference, and this one is no exception. As a card-carrying introvert, being social for extended lengths of time totally zaps me. It's like I end up drawing energy from the days ahead while I'm there because I want to see and do so much.

From the moment I arrived at Killer Nashville 2015, I felt like I'd come home again. The group at registration are so sweet to let me hang out with them on Friday morning. They do all the hard work of fielding questions and being there for the entire conference. And they're all volunteers!

The hostess with the mostest: Jaden (Beth) Terrell

Conference manager Jaden  (Beth) Terrell has her fingers on the pulse of the conference at all times. Just about anytime on the conference Friday, there's a line of people waiting to talk to her about something important.

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The Killer Nashville Anthology got a lot of buzz at the conference. I am proud to have had a story in the collection. The book hit the Top 100 list on Kindle for Anthologies on the second day of it's release. Proceeds from this book benefit new and/or struggling writers. "High Noon at Dollar Central," the prelude to my ongoing Dreamwalker series, is in Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded. Check out the anthology at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

I barely had time to say hello to my pals Paula Benson and Debra Goldstein, but someone did snap a pic or two of us with the anthology. I had some face time with C Hope Clark, another SEMWA board member, which was nice.

This year I found myself on three panels, two for the conference and one for the new BookCon. We had good attendance at all the panels and lots of questions about our topics of mysteries and genres.

Booklover's Bench founder, Terry Odell, posed for a quick pic with me

Thursday evening, Terry Odell and I hit "movie night" at the conference, with a short from John Gilstrap's high school days. The clip was funny, but the best part was running into friends there, both new and old. So nice to see Clay Stafford and Jacquie, Stacy and Ron Allen, and to meet some of the Atlanta SINC crew.

From left, Rae James, Terry Odell, Maggie, and Jenna Bennett

Friday, I was in session 4, "What's Your Genre?" ably moderated by Rae James, with co-panelists Jenna Bennett and Terry Odell.

Deni Dietz of Five Star and Maggie take a selfie

After a SEMWA board meeting at lunch, I filled in the afternoon giving critiques, and then capped off the day with editor Deni Dietz. A good time was had by all!

From left, Diane Kelly, Maggie, Jenna Bennett

Saturday, my first panel was session 35, "Secrets to Successful Series," led by Diane Kelly and with co-panelist Jenna Bennett.

Right after that, I headed over to the BookCon, where Jaden Terrell posed questions to  Jenna Bennett, Phyllis Goebell, and me on the topic of "Cozy Mysteries and Writing Across Genres."

Saturday afternoon I facilitated for Clay Stafford's interview of John Gilstrap.

The Southeast Mystery Writers of America reception preceded the banquet, and we had a great turnout for the SEMWA reception. The banquet was amazing, as always, with great food and live music. Next came speakers and award announcements. This year I was honored to announce the Silver Falchion Award for Best Mystery, which I won last year. And the winner was: Hunting Shadows, Charles Todd.

The conference continued for another day, but I was homeward bound. Lots of hugs and see you next year's came as I was leaving. I totally love coming to this conference and seeing my mystery writing friends.

Oddly, people kept approaching me to meet me, as if I was a big celebrity or something. I didn't know what to make of that and felt like Candid Camera might pop out from behind a column to reveal the prank. Whatever. I can pull off being a celebrity for a few days, if that's what's needed. But man oh man, am I glad to be home and comfy cozy.

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And in a marketing aside, Kindle Press has my mystery set in the future on sale for the entire month of November. If you like my writing but weren't too sure about the whole science fiction thing, I guarantee you, all the bad guys in G-1 are people! Check it out: G-1 on Kindle

Maggie Toussaint
aka Rigel Carson

My Series
Mossy Bog Series (romantic suspense)
Cleopatra Jones series (cozy mystery)
Dreamwalker series (paranormal mystery)
Guardian of Earth series (dystopian thriller)

A tale of two conferences



Laura Hayden of Author Author, center

 Bookends. That’s how it worked out. Killer Nashville ran from Aug 24 to 26 and Dragon*Con was from Aug 30 to Sept 3. During my three days of down time I barely had time to empty the suitcase and reload it.

Not sure I’ll book back-to-back events again, but when the dates to things you want to attend are preset, sometimes you don’t have any choice. Killer Nashville is my favorite mystery conference and I don’t want to miss that. I have two science fiction books written so I needed to attend a conference in that genre. Dragon*Con is held in Atlanta, which is a five-hour drive, so it all seemed feasible.

Since the conferences were so different, I’ll talk about each one separately.

 

KILLER NASHVILLE



Beth Terrell, me, Robbie from B&N

What fun to hang out with Clay Stafford and Beth “Jaden” Terrell again! I met this conference producer and director duo at my first KN and we’ve kept in touch ever since. Beth was her Energizer Bunny self, keeping the train moving without ever losing her cool. Despite Clay’s recent accidents, he was on hand to welcome folks and that was much appreciated.

 The first night was a hoot with Mystery Bingo, created by Greg and Mary Bruss. They created clever cards with mysterious categories. In the “I” category were means of death. You wouldn’t believe how many times “gas” came up as the answer. After a dozen rounds of bingo and no gas at all on my card, I traded that loser in for one with gas on it, and three games later, came up a winner. The prizes were free mysteries from the Bruss’ store Mysteries and More. I selected Murder of a Sleeping Beauty by Denise Swanson, which I read in one night. (good book!)

 


me with Dr. Bill Bass

Friday, I helped with Registration, from 7:30 a.m. until nearly noon. I took a brief time-out to hear part of Dr. Bill Bass’ talk about forsenics at a fireworks factory explosion. While the slides were gruesome, the reality is that people aren’t whole after an explosion, and it takes a big effort to reassemble them. (What a job, right?) One interesting aside is that he said that shaved legs are common for women, so if they find a shaved leg, they automatically place it into a female pile of limbs.

My husband and I had lunch with Robert Spiller of Colorado and my agent, Holly McClure of Sullivan Maxx at the nearby brew pub. The food was great, the conversation even better.

 

I participated in the E-revolution panel on Friday. Peter Green, the moderator, did a good job of keeping the discussion on track, and I felt like I got my message across. E-publishing isn’t for wimps. It’s hard work, though the payoffs can be wonderful.

The crime scene dummy and an intrepid author

I shopped at the Barnes and Noble bookstore onsite as well as at the Mysteries and More site where I purchased crime scene bandaids. I can’t wait to use them! The Crime Scene was great, and though I thought the wife did it, I didn't have the patience to prove it.

For dinner, my husband and I met up with my editor Deni Dietz of Five Star and we drove to The Speckled Elephant for Thai food. Deni’s dish of Phad Thai (spelling?) was the best, we all agreed.

me with Jennie Bentley

 I caught up with old friends and made new ones including Ernie Lancaster, Glen Allison, and Stacy Allen. NYT bestseller Jennie Bentley was all smiles during the conference. And we had a great time catching up on news. Alana White, fellow Five Star author, and her husband sat at the banquet table with us on Saturday night, along with Outer Banks writer Joseph Terrell and Veronica. The food and the music at KN were outta sight.

During the conference, I met up with three unpublished writers for critique purposes. We talked about their works, and I hope my remarks will continue to move them along the road to publication. I also staffed the MWA booth with Stacy Allen and SEMWA president Rick Helms.

Maggie, Jay, Marsha, Addie, Terri Lynn

 On Sunday, I had the honor of moderating a panel on Murder and Mayhem which was staffed by four lawyers telling true tales from the courtroom. Jay Drescher, Terri Lynn Cooper, Marsha Lyons, and Addie King – you folks rock.

 
DRAGON*CON

Doris and Steve Covey

 My posse of Stephen Covey (the live one, as he likes to say), Doris Covey, and Jean Osborn arrived in Atlanta a little after one on Thursday. We checked into our hotel, hopped on MARTA, and picked up our badges at the conference site. Downtown looked busy to a smalltown gal like me, but I  had NO IDEA of the crowds to come, about 30,000 strong.

Jean with the Ghostbuster mobile

 Jean had signed up for a special program which ran from 10 to 4 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so I didn’t hang with her much during the con, though she was the best roommate ever.

 I elected to attend the Writers Workshop track at Dragon*Con, which is chaired by Nancy Knight. She kindly offerred to place me on a panel of my choosing, so I selected “Creating Memorable Characters” on Sunday morning. We sat through a couple of excellent panels and then decided to stretch our legs.

costumed participant

My first thought was “where’d all these people come from?” The hallways were thronged with people between sessions from each of the 62 tracks spread over 4 downtown hotels. Skywalks and connectors were crammed with people and you couldn’t move without the whole group stepping forward. For a claustrophobic person, this was extremely challenging.

 Steve and I toured the marketplaces associated with the conference and the art show. Lots of weapons, costumes, comics, bustiers, books, space toys, masks, hoodwinks, fantasy toys, and more. I couldn’t take it all in. There was an excess of everything.

costumed folks took to the streets during the parade

Did I mention a lot of folks were in costume? You could be walking down the hall next to Princess Leia, a steampunk character, a comicbook character, and so much more. Words fail me even now. It’s as if a firehose of people were sprayed over my mind. Lots of rich color and texture.

 I resolved to only come out of the Writers Track for food, bathroom breaks, and to return to our hotel six metro stops to the north. I met some folks, even some who knew me, which is always a pleasant surprise. Mary Marvella, who I’ve run across online for years, saw my name on my badge and stood up and hugged me like a long-lost relative. We had a two-hour lunch where we talked about everything under the sun. Ran into Laura Hayden at DragonCon as well - what fun! She was dressed as Dr. Who.

periodic table elements in the parade

 My panel on Sunday went well, though I was one of half a dozen authors with such serious scifi credentials that I should have been too humbled to speak. But memorable characters are something I know a lot about, from personal experience and writing, so I said my piece. During Q&A, questions were directed at me, so I felt my presence had made an impact. Afterwards, I sat down with a rheumatologist and talked writing for nearly a half hour. What fun.

parade float

 All too soon it was time to head back to the hotel. Monday was a travel day, but Steve and Jean wanted to hit a few more sessions. Doris and I went to Lennox Center, shopped at Macy’s, and had lunch at Panera. The car ride home that afternoon was accented by thunderstorms, a bad accident on I-75 between Atlanta and Macon, and catnaps.

all tuckered out on Marta

 Again. Either experience would have exhausted me. But doing two so close together has me still reeling a bit. I hope you’ve enjoyed the pics. Remember to follow your dreams. And don’t forget to spend time with your friends. These are important!!!

 Maggie Toussaint

www.maggietoussaint.com

My Impressions of Killer Nashville



Dr. Bill Bass, forensic expert

Once again Clay Stafford, Beth "Jaden" Terrell, and an army of volunteers have put on a super mystery conference. Killer Nashville has tracts for writers just learning their craft, writers who need a nudge to promote their work, fans, agent & editor appointments, and an all-star lineup of forensics experts. With Robert Dugoni, Donald Bain, and Dr. Bill Bass on the program, it was a can't-lose proposition for attendees - and it delivered!

I mix-and-matched tracts, attending a bit of everything. The experts were knowledgable, the panels interesting, and the crime scene was quite a challenge. And at every turn, there were friendly faces, writers, fans, published authors, agents, editors.

I was lucky enough to be on two panels which were well-attended. I connected with old friends and made new ones. What a delight it was to put faces to so many Guppy (a Sisters In Crime chapter) names I've been seeing on various loops!



Pacing panel: Michael Salisbury (mod), AJ Scudiere, Maggie, Lynda Fitzgerald

 This was the first year I attended the banquet and I had a very good time. Deni Dietz, my editor extraordinaire, sat at my dinner table. I also met Alana White, a newly signed Five Star writer with a book coming out Dec. 2012.

And I should back up to the Mystery Trivia contest on Thursday night. Greg and Mary Bruss did an outstanding job on making the game fun and testing our knowledge. Of the three teams, I was on the red team, same as last year. And even though my contributions were slight, our team displayed excellence on the trivia field and won the night. I'm officially two for two at Mystery Trivia.



Cozy panel: Luisa Buehler, CS Challinor, Jennie Bentley (mod), Lisa Wysocky, Maggie

 My take-home message? Do more social media connecting. Consistent networking is my new goal.

Now I'm back home, trying to keep my feet walking on sunshine for a little longer, but starting to wade through the piled up mail, dirty laundry, and other necessaries of living. But I'm already looking forward to next year!

Maggie Toussaint

Killer Nashville

Last week I attended Killer Nashville where I was on the Southern Fried Sleuths panel. Moderator Glen Allison kept the atmosphere light and fun, inviting panelists and the attendees to comment about what makes the South so memorable. From left to right, Glen Allison, Maggie Toussaint, Barbara Graham, Deborah Sharp, and Tony Burton.

I was also lucky enough to be interviewed by the Nashville Examiner. My interview is posted at: http://www.examiner.com/authors-in-nashville/spotlighting-author-maggie-toussaint

I enjoyed meeting up with Barbara Graham, another Five Star mystery author. Barbara and I met at another mystery conference and hit it off, so it was very enjoyable to catch up with her. Other friendships, those with Beth Terrell-Hicks and Clay Stafford, were also renewed. Nothing like the fine wine of friendship.

I also made a new friend, Nelda Copas. She joined me for breakfast one morning and we had a few great chats about publishing and the conference.


Another conference highlight was finally meeting my Five Star editor, Deni Dietz. Deni is a force to be reckoned with, both her pen and her opinions are firm and sure. She signed one of her books to me as one of her favorite authors, which warmed my heart.

I also met Sunny Frazier of Oak Tree Press. She's a marketing dynamo and I enjoyed hearing about her possee on the marketing panel.

All too soon the weekend came to an end and we headed back to southern Georgia. I love this conference and highly recommend it to published and unpublished authors.

Hoping everyone is enjoying the last little bit of summer!

Maggie Toussaint
MUDDY WATERS coming October 22