Bye-bye Bouchercon
Today's the final day of Bouchercon, the international conference that brought hundreds of mystery writers and fans here. Throughout the week, visting authors have been writing guest posts about their experiences and about the craft of writing. Our sincere thanks to the more than 20 authors who contributed.
This doesn't end our Bouchercon coverage -- tomorrow we'll give away books by several of our guest posters, and Nancy is preparing some video of the conference. Meanwhile, here are some highlights and insights:
"A good mystery novel makes you stop and think, how will the hero solve this puzzle? A good horror novel makes you stop and think, should I check the locks?" — Mario Acevedo, on combining horror and mystery.
"Your powers of observation are always tested. When people argue around a dinner table, for example, do they touch? Do they shout? Do they guard their language, or pour it on? Do women join in, or drift to the margins?" — Dan Fesperman, on writing about foreign locales.
"Hard-boiled detectives are always outsiders, but in the case of black detectives, it's easy to understand why. White clients may expect them to have a hidden, anti-white agenda. Other African-Americans, distrustful of authority figures in general, sometimes have a special resentment of black men who question them or try to associate them with crimes." — Austin Camacho, on race.
"We were astonished how this supposedly second-string character took over and elbowed himself into the number one position. We were obviously naive, because we had thought that writers controlled their characters rather than the other way around." — Stanley Trollip, half of the writing team Michael Stanley
"Death is something that has increasingly become hidden in our culture, been tucked away behind the curtain. It remains, not to be too awesomely cheesy or literal, the ultimate mystery." — Jonathan Hays
"And unlike the majority of average citizens, I know what it’s like to pull a gun on someone, feel my heart pounding, wondering if I’m going to have to kill this person I’m facing." — Robin Burcell, who has worked in law enforcement
"Once I traveled relentlessly; now, I rarely leave the house. ... Once I stayed awake at night plotting growth strategies. Now, I’m still awake, just plotting." — Andrew Gross, former sportswear executive
Categories: Bouchercon/Charmed to Death
While she always preferred The Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew, 
