Q: There’s only so much time, and there’s only so much money, while the opportunities are plentiful. How do you decide which writing conferences and conventions to attend? (ie, what are your criteria?)
By Catriona
Well, I don't go to conferences, so that's a time-saving and money-saving start right there. Except it's not true. I sometimes go to conferences - events where writers take classes to become better writers - if someone has asked me to teach a session and for some reason I've failed to say no.
But, every single time, I feel panicked and fraudulent, sure I'll never be able to think up 40 or even 90 minutes worth of stuff to spout that everyone in the class hasn't heard before, put better, by someone who knows what she or he is talking about.
(Just as I can't come on here every other Thursday and write "What Cathy Ace said" though, I can't stand up in front of a class and say "read Stephen King's On Writing".)
This isn't false modesty. I know I can write. I just don't know much about how to describe how to write. I've got three fiction workshop sessions up my sleeve now - on character, on dialogue and on synopses - and two science-writing classes as well. But each of them came from me saying yes (being married to the person asking, in the case of the science ones), panicking, racking my brain and deciding to offer myself up warts and all as a shining example / dire warning and let the chips fall where they might.
The relief when people don't walk out in droves is always tremendous.
In short, I'm not much of a conference-goer.
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| In teaching mode |
Conventions and festivals are another matter.
So, how to decide about Bouchercon, Malice Domestic, Thrillerfest, Left Coast Crime, KiIler Nashville, New England Crimebake, Crimefest, Sleuthfest, Harrogate, and Bloody Scotland???
If I was solely based in America, I'd go to the Big One, plus the one that fits my sub-genre best, plus the nearest regional one.
So that's Bouchercon - it's our community's AGM; missing it feels unthinkable.
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| First Bcon, San Francisco 2010, with Clare O'Donohue and Ellen Crosby |
And . . . Thrillerfest or Malice. How can I not know which one? Well, Thrillerfest isn't just for thriller-writers. And Malice definitely isn't just for cozy writers. Both are much wider in scope than they get credit for and they overlap in the middle of the genre, coming from opposite ends. I got in the habit of going to Malice because I started out over here with a historical traditional series. If I had started with the standalones, I'd maybe be in the habit of going to Thrillerfest, but Malice is in my blood now. It's the mothership, the tribal homeland. And I make no apology for being so unbusiness-like, so sentimental. Writing is lonely, and publishing can be cruel. Community matters.
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| Criminal Minds at Malice 2016 |
And . . . because I'm on the left coast, Left Coast Crime. I went to LCC when it was in Colorado and when it was in Hawaii. so it's not exactly convenient every year, but it's a lot closer than Malice and . . . community matters. Left Coast Crime is a hugfest. With occasional ukuleles.
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| Marla Cooper at Left Coast Crime in Hawaii |
That takes care of the US. I'm also back in the old country every summer to launch books, see my agent and UK editors and do research. Bloody Scotland is a tantalisingly long stretch after Harrogate so I can't go to both every year. (It's Bloody Scotland this year.) And Crimefest is at completely the wrong time for me, in terms of writing commitments and book launches. (But I've just looked at the Crimefest website for 2018 and now I'm pining.)
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| Interviewing MC Beaton at Bloody Scotland 2015 |
So what's the answer? What are the criteria? Time seems to weigh more than money for me. The rhythm of my year is basically: write for two months, Left Coast, write for two months, Malice, write for two months, summer [Edinburgh, London, research, mum, dad, sisters, new babies, old friends], Bloody Scotland, write a wee bit, Bouchercon, write like mad till Christmas, collapse.
And the other criteria are: family, tribe, mothership, hugs, laughter, love. You're a long time dead.
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