Mystery Conferences

I went to my first mystery conference in 2007. When I mention mystery conferences to some people I get questions such as, “What is it? Do you have to figure out clues to determine where the conference is?” I try to attend at least two mystery fan conferences a year. I’ll be going to the Left Coast Crime Conference in Sacramento March 29 through April 1. I’ll be moderating the Meet the New Writers Breakfast on Friday morning. This is an enjoyable event where I have the privilege of introducing twenty-two writers who published their first mystery novel in 2011. Here’s the list of writers with their books:

Wayne Arthurson Fall from Grace
Saylor Billings St. Charles Place
Kathy Bennett A Dozen Deadly Roses
Audrey Braun A Small Fortune
Sally Carpenter The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper
Robert Downs Falling Immortality
Michele Drier Edited for Death
Susan Goldstein Hollywood Forever
Heather Haven Murder Is a Family Business
Darrell James Nazareth Child
Tammy Kaehler Dead Man’s Switch
Clark Lohr Devil’s Kitchen
Elle Lothlorien Virgin
Elaine Macko Armed
Robert O’Hanneson Possum Belly Queen
Christopher Allan Poe The Portal
Amy Rogers Petroplague
Charles Rosenberg Death on a High Floor
Johnny Shaw Dove Season
Rochelle Staab Who Do, Voodoo?
Susan Tornga Seashells in the Desert
Tina Whittle The Dangerous Edge of Things

If you enjoy finding new mystery authors, add these to your list. I’ll also be on a Men of Mystery panel and a panel titled Retirement Can Kill You, right up the alley for my geezer-lit mysteries.
From April 27 through April 29 I’ll be attending the Malice Domestic Conference in Bethesda. There, I’ll be on a panel titled Occupy Malice.

In addition to the two mystery fan conferences, I’ll be attending one writer’s conference this year, the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in Denver September 7 through 9. I’m very loyal to this conference because I sold my first novel at a pitch session there in 2005.