Bouchercon 2012 Party Pictures Part 2

More Bouchercon party pictures, this time from Heather Graham's rocking party at the Cleveland House of Blues. The party was held in the restaurant area, and was a lot of fun. There were Halloween decorations, books strewn here and there, lots of music and food. Heather, Daniel Palmer, F. Paul Wilson and Don Bruns were among the folks providing some kickin' entertainment. I thought the venue itself was pretty cool, which will explain why there are mostly pictures of that ...

Enjoy!

Daniel Palmer rocking out on the harmonica.

Sightly blurry party people.

Wall art.

 

 

 

 

Ceiling art.

 

 

 Party decorations.

 

 

 

Next time you're in Cleveland, check the place out.

It's pretty neat.

Love is Murder

Where else can you attend a cocktail party with the theme "Love is Murder"? This was just one of the thrilling events put on by the International Thriller Writers organization at this year's ThrillerFest. Okay, cocktail parties aren't usually of the thrilling variety, but this year's TF was amazing as always. (And I did get some awesome orbs in my pictures at the party.)

"Love is Murder" is the name of the latest Thriller Anthology.  It was edited by Sandra Brown and includes stories by Heather Graham, Lee Child, Allison Brennan, Brenda Novak, Carla Neggers, Mariah Stewart, and many others.

The Love is Murder authors were signing at the party. Here is Heather Graham with a fan.

I snagged Allison Brennan in the hallway.

The ITW event includes CraftFest, two days of writing classes taught by authors and industry professionals. This year's instructors included Sophie Littlefield, Lee Child, John Sandford, Heather Graham, Lisa Gardner, David Hewson, Catherine Coulter, Steven James, and Ann Rule.

John Sandford

Catherine Coulter

Lee Child

Steven James

Needless to say, I learned a lot. Not just at CraftFest but also at ThrillerFest. Although I finally attended a TF (my sixth) with a completed manuscript, I realized that maybe my opus-in-progress was not so complete after all. Most of us aspiring authors out there, and many established authors I am sure, never think we're done even when we write 'The End'. It could always be better. This time it was different though. I didn't come to the conclusion that I was not done because of doubts, although trust me, I have huge doubts, including whether or not I have any sort of talent at this writing thing. There was something just at the edge of my thought process bugging me, and while sitting in one of the classes it hit me. And now I am fixing it, with more confidence than I had before that this will make my work in progress much better.

One of the most thought-provoking things I heard was from Lee Child, the master of thrills brought to us via Jack Reacher. He gave a class on breaking the rules. We have all heard the rules, show, don't tell, don't start with the weather, etc. I personally struggle with show don't tell. It's been drilled into my head so far in that I feel slightly guilty when I tell. When the words flow and seem to work and you go back and think that you are doing it all wrong and try to fix it and it no longer flows, well, it makes you second guess your ability to even do this writing thing. Lee Child told a packed room that it's okay to tell. The exact quote was:

"Liberate yourself from show not tell. It ties you up in little knots."

When he said that I thought, yes, I know exactly what he means. He went on to say that we are storytellers, not story showers. Now, I do know that all tell and no show makes for a lousy book, but hearing a master storyteller say it's okay to break that rule (with exceptions of course) made me feel better.

Another interesting thing I heard was from Ann Rule. She is very entertaining in spite of the subject matter she writes about. I would expect that retaining your sense of humor when dealing with the horrible side of humanity is necessary. She told us that the people she writes about all have one thing in common. They are all ordinary people until their paths cross with another ordinary person and somehow they both become combustible. It made me wonder about the extraordinary what ifs of life. Sometimes the answer can be pretty scary.

The panel discussions were fun. Gayle Lynds interviewed Catherine Coulter. They were both surrounded by fans when the interview ended.

The big name publishers were also represented.

Every year I am also on a mission to get books signed by authors I love and authors I have just discovered. The book-signing area is so calm and peaceful (aka empty) one minute, and utterly delightful chaos the next.

One the authors signing is from my hometown area, Joseph Finder.

We even had an actor in our midst this year. Eriq La Salle was there promoting his new book.

Jeffrey Deaver stopped by for the pre-banquet cocktail party. Here are he and John Gilstrap looking dapper.

And since I am a writer of ghost stories, I have to include these orb pictures that showed up on my camera. Okay, I took them but ... 

The first one is from a panel on the existence of evil. The author whose head is being stalked by the orb is Peter James.

These orbs appeared in pictures taken at the Love is Murder cocktail party. (The pictures were taken without flash.)

The bookstore is run by Barnes & Noble under the watchful eye of Patrick. Words cannot express how awesome Patrick is. Here he is with Dennis Kennett, the TF registration guy.

Patrick makes sure the bookstore stays well-stocked.

Here are two of Patrick's lovely assistants.

I love going to ThrillerFest. I am surrounded by people who do what I aspire to do. I meet old friends and we talk until the wee hours of the morning (okay, 2 a.m. may not be wee to some people but it is to me), I see people on the debut author panel who were pitching to agents alongside me in previous years and feel hope, I meet new authors who prompt me to expand my always growing library of books. And I learn new things that are making me a better writer.




  

Remembering the Titanic Tragedy

I'm remembering the Titanic tragedy, which occurred 100 years ago today, watching The Unsinkable Molly Brown and A Night to Remember.  

One of my favorite Debbie Reynolds films is The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Molly Brown, given name Margaret (née Tobin), was born in 1867 in Hannibal, Missouri, the second of four children to parents John and Johanna who'd each been widowed young. When they met they were both raising a young daughter and added two sons and another daughter aside from Molly to their family.

Molly, or Maggie to her friends, was determined to marry a rich man. Her reasons were noble. According to Wikipedia she said:

"I wanted a rich man, but I loved Jim Brown. I thought about how I wanted comfort for my father and how I had determined to stay single until a man presented himself who could give to the tired old man the things I longed for him. Jim was as poor as we were, and had no better chance in life. I struggled hard with myself in those days. I loved Jim, but he was poor. Finally, I decided that I'd be better off with a poor man whom I loved than with a wealthy one whose money had attracted me. So I married Jim Brown."

Margaret and James were married in the fall of 1886 at the Annunciation Church in Leadville, Colorado. (And in the teeniest of connections, I too was married in the fall at Annunciation Church, although this church is in Ilion, New York.)

They ended up doing quite well for themselves in the end.

Molly was a first class passenger on the Titanic. She boarded in Cherbourg, France. When the ship began to sink she delayed her disembarkment to help others get on lifeboats. When she finally left on Lifeboat 6, she not only helped row but there are reports that she got the lifeboat to go back for more survivors. Hence her nickname "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."

Picture from Wikipedia.

The Between the Lions blog has a fantastic account of her Titanic story. Part One is here and Part Two is here. Part Three is here.

Her home in Denver is now a museum. Margaret did not waste her second chance at life. She went on to do many great things in her lifetime. You can read about her life here.

As for Debbie Reynolds, before the movie begins they show her interviewed by Ben Mankiewicz at the 3rd annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. She tells Ben that "it was a great part for a woman, unsinkable, ain't down yet, gonna get through everything in life, sorta reminds me of me." She also said that it was her favorite film for her, as an actress. "Molly Brown was a wonderful role."

I know one Molly, Molly Bolden. She is the pretty awesome owner of Bent Pages Bookstore and Cafe. I first met Molly at Heather Graham's Writers for New Orleans Conference. I highly recommend this conference. It is a lot of fun!

Back on topic.

I am looking forward to watching A Night to Remember. Although I have read the book, I have never seen the movie. Based on the book written by Walter Lord, who interviewed quite a few survivors during his research, the producer of the movie, William MacQuitty, watched the Titantic being launched when he was six years old. TCM has an informative article about the making of the movie.

Closer to home, as I read up on the various articles about the Titanic, I discovered that there was a gentleman from my area on board.

Mr. Gilbert Milligan Tucker, Jr., native of Albany, New York, was a first class passenger who boarded in Cherbourg and survived. His final destination was home.

I found yet another connection while reading about the Titanic tragedy. Among the passengers who had a ticket but did not sail was a man named Theodore Dreiser. Many years ago I enjoyed a movie called A Place in the Sun which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. I later learned that the movie was based on the book "An American Tragedy" written in 1925 by Mr. Dreiser. The book was inspired by the true story of Chester Gillette and Grace Brown. (Craig Brandon has also written some non-fiction books about their story.)

Chester was tried and convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend Grace. He was executed in 1908 at the Auburn State Prison (Auburn, New York). I learned a lot about their story while researching a book of my own based on the hanging of Roxalana Druse in 1887. Chester and Roxalana had their own connection. They were both housed in the Herkimer County jail and tried at the Herkimer County Courthouse. Both cases brought national attention. And because Roxalana's hanging was so badly botched, New York State began using the electric chair as the means of execution, thereby sparing Chester the ignominy of being hanged. (More about Roxalana and maybe Chester in upcoming posts.)

So here's to the passengers of the Titanic, the heroes, the survivors, the fallen. May you all rest in peace.