Crimebake 2009: Awesome Again!

Just returned from Crimebake, the New England mystery conference for writers and readers. Wow! What fun.

It's hard to pass on a chance to brag, so here it is. I submitted a Flash Fiction piece to the conference contest and was one of three winners! You can read my winning entry and more about the contest here.

Too many thoughts to give a coherent "report" but here are random experiences mixed with a few of the many factoids I picked up:

• An authors' panel called "T is for Traditional" was asked to share the name of the author that they most admired. Interestingly, two authors (Mark Arsenault and Cynthia Riggs) named Donald Westlake (aka Richard Stark) - the author that our Book Club is currently reading. See a subsequent comment to me from Cynthia Riggs.
  
• Criminalists (in the past) did not have the ability to make absolute ID's from hair analysis. All they could do was narrow it down. Now, DNA analysis from a hair root can be, potentially, absolute. And also - DNA from fingerprints can sometimes be more significant than the fingerprint left behind! Great presentation from Mary Kate McGilvray, former acting director of the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab.
  
• Speaking of stuff related to CSI - in real life, what is portrayed by a single crime scene technician is frequently the work of many, many specialists.
• Want to be a writer? Can you put up with 50 "rejections" before getting an acceptance - or maybe never getting an acceptance for a book. Chocolate brownies was mentioned a few times! (I can relate!) Several panels addressed this but none more bluntly than "P is for Persistance." Several spoke of turning to different projects: short stories, other novels, true crime, or just personal activities as distractions. Keeping stories in "inventory" was mentioned; often, a request for a particular type of book/story could come up several years later.
• What creates tension or fear in a book? One panel of authors totally agrees that it is not violence or blood. Among other things it is pacing. One insight - humor accentuates tension; tension accentuates humor. I have to agree with comments of one of my favorite authors (and favorite persons), Michael Palmer - it is understanding the emotion of fear, in other words, successfully conveying the experience of the character, from being in the character's shoes. A helpless character contributes to that, and no one is more helpless than a hospital patient. Dr. Palmer has a lot of insight into that and brings it out well in his medical thrillers. That's Michael Palmer on the right (with me) - below.
  

• Sue Grafton gives credit to her attendance at a Jack Canfield workshop for helping her to get onto the Best Seller list. (Just a tiny nugget from an extensive list of tidbits from her interesting luncheon speech.)
  
• Highly published short story author Stephen Rogers has managed to get 13 stories published by Women's Day. That magazine pays well at about $500 per story. On the other hand, he has had some 200 other stories published many of which pay poorly. It's too bad - short stories is a great art form in itself. I had a very enjoyable time chatting with Stephen on Friday evening as well as receiving some helpful tips on a short story manuscript.
• The best way to remove the serial number from a handgun is to use a power drill and take out the metallic ridges. Of course that wouldn't work if the imprint is inside the gun barrel. That from a ballistics expert.
• Solving a mystery-game-crime with clues scattered on 30 tables and 250+ participants must be "impossible" given that none of us solved the crime exactly! LOL - maybe it was the script?
  

Michael Palmer's New Book

Michael Palmer is one of my favorite authors - not only can he deliver an awesome medical thriller plot, but he does so with concern and often a bit of a message.

He announced today that his newest book, The Second Opinion, is out in mid-February. A conspiracy surrounds the hit and run accident that puts Dr Thea Sperelakis' father into a coma. But beyond the tension and plot, there is the character of Thea. She has Asperger syndrome, which gives her an obsession with details, a near-encyclopedic memory, and a rather charming awkwardness in social settings. The novel is not merely a thriller but also an exploration of its central character’s unique gifts and her determination to communicate with her comatose father despite overwhelming odds. I am looking forward to reading this one!

He will launch his new book at a fundraiser for the Asperger’s Association of New England. Palmer writes: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 from 7-9:30 we will be having a party to celebrate the book and to raise money to benefit the Aspergers Association of New England (AANE). Venue will be the utterly funky Scout House; 74 Walden Street, Concord, MA. Admission of $20 will go entirely to AANE, as well as a portion of all booksales. There will be music, piles of pastries and some great guests including New York Times best selling authors Tess Gerritsen, Joe Finder, and Mark Vonnegut, who will be signing their books. Featured speaker will be John Elder Robison, author of the best selling Asperger memoir, LOOK ME IN THE EYE.

To Reserve a spot or just make a donation to AANE, send a check to: Asperger’s Association of New England; 85 Main Street; Suite 101; Watertown, MA 02472-4409. You are welcome to come even if you haven't reserved a spot, but reservations will be admitted first, and if the Scout House fills up, you will have to wait until there is room. So register early!

Jabberwocky Bookstore Hosts Michael Palmer

I have always enjoyed a good medical thriller by Michael Palmer. Although he lives locally (Marblehead, MA), I have not had the opportunity to meet him. But I hear that he will be signing his latest book, The First Patient, at the Jabberwocky Bookshop, at the Tannery (50 Water St) in Newburyport, MA.

Time: Friday, March 14, 2008 7:00 p.m.
Location: Jabberwocky Bookshop
Title of Event: Michael Palmer
Join best-selling medical thriller author Michael Palmer as he discusses his latest white-knuckle read, The First Patient.

From the advert...

Gabe Singleton and Andrew Stoddard were roommates at the Naval Academy in Annapolis years ago. Today, Gabe is a country doctor and his friend Andrew has gone from war hero to governor to President of the United States. One day, while the United States is embroiled in a bitter presidential election campaign, "Marine One" lands on Gabe's Wyoming ranch, and President Stoddard delivers a disturbing revelation and a startling request. His personal physician has suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, and he desperately needs Gabe to take the man's place. Despite serious misgivings, Gabe agrees to come to Washington. It is not until he is ensconced in the White House medical office that Gabe realizes there is strong evidence that the President is going insane. Facing a crisis of conscience--as President Stoddard's physician, he has the power to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment to transfer presidential power to the Vice President--Gabe uncovers increasing evidence that his friend's condition may not be due to natural causes.


Who? Why? And how? The President's life is at stake. A small-town doctor suddenly finds himself in the most powerful position on earth, and the safety of the world is in jeopardy. Gabe Singleton must find the answers, and the clock is ticking. . . .

The Book Version or the Movie Version

What do you like best, the movie version of a mystery/thriller or the book version?

I was thinking of the movie versions of books by my favorite authors. Here's some examples:

I love the Easy Rawlins series by Walter Moseley. When Moseley finishes a paragraph you can feel the sub-culture of 1950s LA - I am there! The history is live! So when Devil in a Blue Dress was made into a movie with one of my favorite actors (Denzel Washington), I put it into my VCR with huge anticipation. What a let down! It just couldn't capture it. I wish I could put better words on "it." Is "it" - ambience? flavor? aroma? emotion? stress? I just don't know how Moseley does it but it wasn't in the film. More importantly, I couldn't follow the plot as done on film... and supposedly I already knew it! Nope, the book is better.

I also love Vic Warshawsky, the tough feminist-minded insurance investigator created by Sara Paretsky. I enjoy the realism in the book and the lead character is very believable. The plots are well developed. Extremely fun reads. Then a movie was made with the title "VI Warshawski- Detective in High Heels." My overall impression from the book is that Vic is not exactly a high heels kind of gal-- so right off, you know something is amiss. Then the script plays more like a comic mystery - I assure you that is not the case in the books. The movie was not based on one specific book. As someone on Paretsky's forum states: It "kind of cobbles together some of the stories. It stars Kathleen Turner. It's an ok movie, but doesn't really do justice to Sara's books - a single book made into a movie would be good!" How true.

I could go on, but generally the book is the real deal. Extreme Measures might be an exception. This was a great movie and a great book IMHO.

Here's something I wonder about: Which is more to the point-- ?
(1)People who read a book they like, will spend money to see the movie.OR
(2)People who see a movie they like, will go out and buy the book.