Killer Nashville--Double the Killer Fun

by Jackie King

Looking forward to a trip is half of the fun. Looking back at delightful memories is another half of the fun. That leaves 100 percent of fun to enjoy at the time of the experience. (I’ve been told that my math leaves something to be desired. But I seldom listen.) So you can say that I plan to have double the fun at KN. This will be my first time to this conference. I’ve been to Bouchercon twice, once in Dallas and once in St. Louis. Both times were fabulous, and I’m eager to experience KN. Mystery Cons ROCK!

Book One

Book Two

Packing is always a nightmare for me. I think it’s because I’m wishy-washy. Undecided. I’m one of those women who want to take everything I own with me, and at the same time I’m sensible enough to know that’s ridiculous. So right now, a few days away from the trip, I’m trying to make a list of what to take.

Happy Smile--Me Thinking of Killer Nashville

Nothing looks right. First of all, I need to lose about 20 pounds so that the clothes I like best would fit again. Since I don’t think that’s going to happen overnight, my backup plan is to pack what fits and remember not to look in mirrors.

I’m traveling with the most delightful writer, T.D. Hart. She writes thrillers and I write cozies, and that’s pretty much where our differences stop. (Unless you’re talking about our ages, our weight, and our energy levels. Mine is high, high, and low. T.D.’s is the opposite. She’s a living doll.)

T D Hart, Glamorous Gal Who Writes Thrillers

We’re driving from Tulsa, OK, and our plan is to go a day early. We will talk plotting on the way. She’s a much better plotter than I am, so I’m hoping to learn how to pace and plot my stories better.

But back to packing: Do you think T.D. would consider it outrageous if I told her I’m taking a steamer trunk and two suitcases?

Probably not. I doubt if she even knows what a steamer trunk is.

Killer Nashville's Coming

By Beth Terrell


It's that time again. That time of year when Killer Nashville founder Clay Stafford and I survive on four hours of sleep a night as we chip our way through to-do lists longer than our legs (and Clay has very long legs). It's all worth it, though, because the final result is going to be...well...Killer.


Jeffery Deaver is our Guest of Honor, and I hear Jeff is not only a delightful speaker, but a pretty fair guitar player as well. We're hoping he can be persuaded to join us around the pool for music and conversation. Don Bruns (who won the Silver Falchion Award two years ago for Stuff to Die For) will be there will his guitar, as will Stacy Allen, who sang for us at last year's awards dinner.


Since the conference begins early on Friday, many attendees arrive at the hotel on Thursday night. In the past, there have been no Killer Nashville festivities that night, but this year, Greg and Mary Bruss of Mysteries & More independent bookstore, are hosting Mystery Team Trivia at 7:30. Greg asked me to be sure and emphasize that valuable prizes will be awarded.

On Friday morning, the fun begins with a presentation called "CSI Don't Think So," in which law enforcement consultant Lee Lofland discusses how television gets it right--and wrong. Lee will intersperse interesting forensic science tidbits throughout the presentation. There are five tracks this year, because we had too many wonderful authors coming to fit them into four. Attendees will hear from a Marine sniper/sniper trainer, forensic psychologists, TBI agents, private investigators, attorneys, and police officers, in addition to agents, editors, and a host of terrific authors, including our own Chester Campbell (who won last year's Silver Falchion) and our own Bente Gallagher (aka Jennie Bentley). Among those attending are Charles Todd (NYT bestseller), Steven Womack (Edgar winner), David J. Walker (Edgar winner), PJ Parrish (Shamus and Anthony winner) and Annie Solomon (Rita Award winnier). There are sessions on character, pacing, dialogue, YA, historical fiction, marketing and promotion, and many that are designed to appeal especially to readers. And, oh yes, there's the mock crime scene staged by TBI agents Dan Royse and Mike Breedlove and solved by attendees.

I could go on and on, but I'd be sure to leave out something important; there's a detailed schedule on the conference site. (Warning: it's a slow-loading site.) As you can see, you don't have to be a crime fiction writer--or even a writer at all--to have the time of your life at the Killer Nashville Crime Literature Conference.

Last year, on Sunday afternoon of the conference, one of my fellow conference organizers came to the registration table where I was sitting and said, "Beth, there are writers sleeping all over the lobby."

I knew we'd done our job.

Killer Nashville and the Silver Falchion

By Beth Terrell

This past weekend, the Killer Nashville Crime Literature Conference went by in a blur for me. As one of the conference organizers, I rarely get to see or hear the sessions, but I have the time of my life anyway. This year, I was thrilled to meet guest of honor J.A. Jance and law enforcement expert Lee Lofland, whom I've been wanting to snag for the conference for years. (Lee did six presentations that blew the attendees away.)

The high point of the conference for me, though, was Saturday's Guest of Honor/award dinner. There were a number of great moments at the dinner, including the look of surprise and utter delight on J.A. Jance's face when she was presented with the traditional Killer Nashville guitar. Of course, being given the SEMWA Magnolia Award for service to the chapter made me tingle from head to toe. (I've worn the little silver magnolia every single day since then.) But of all the wonderful things that happened at the dinner--and, in fact, the whole conference--the best was when event founder Clay Stafford announced the 2009 winner of the Silver Falchion.

The Silver Falchion is awarded to the attending author of the best novel published during the current or previous year, as voted on by the other conference attendees. With approximately 175 people in attendance, that's quite an honor. There were 14 fine authors nominated for the award, and the competition was fierce. Then Clay held up the shiny black-and-silver plaque and said, "And the winner is...Chester D. Campbell, for The Surest Poison."

Chester is the author of two mystery series, one featuring private detectives Greg and Jill McKenzie and the other, of which The Surest Poison is the first, featuring PI Sid Chance. Chester is a classy writer. His books are crisp, clean, and always professional. He's also a classy guy. "He'll do anything for anybody," his wife, Sarah said to me, and that is the absolute truth. Chester and I have been in the same critique group for more than a decade, and he has helped me every step of the way. He helped me get my first agent, he helped me get my self-published book reissued by a better publisher, and he's helped me become a better writer. He's also a role model when it comes to marketing and promotion: twittering, tweeting, Facebooking, Crimespacing, blog touring, live touring...whatever it takes, he's out there doing it, tirelessly and with gentility and grace.

Chester is a true gentleman, in the very best sense of the word. He's always been a winner, and now he has the plaque to prove it. I'm honored that he is my friend.

And congratulations, Chester. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

The Magnolia Award Goes To . . .

By Chester Campbell

One of our own was honored last Saturday night at the 2009 Killer Nashville Mystery Conference dinner. The Magnolia Award, which is given annually in recognition of outstanding dedication and service to the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America (SEMWA), was presented to Beth Terrell, who blogs here on Thursdays.

The award was presented by Karen McCullough, president of the Chapter. Beth worked tirelessly for months helping put together the myriad of details required to get the conference and its program ready. Clay Stafford, conference producer, said Beth was the indispensable person he could not have done without.

Killer Nashville is co-sponsored by SEMWA and serves as the Chapter’s main educational event for the year. McCullough was host for a Chapter gathering at the hotel on Friday night.

Beth and I have been members of a Nashville writers group for the past 15 or so years. She is an accomplished mystery writer and a great editor. At our twice-monthly meetings, she can be counted on to offer both encouraging praise and focused criticism that suggests ways the story can be improved.

She works fulltime, and the effort required to get everything ready for the conference severely reduced the amount of time she could devote to her writing. During the days leading up to the opening of Killer Nashville, she was lucky to get in four hours of sleep.

In addition to all her other duties, Beth is serving in her second year as Vice President of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of Sisters in Crime. I nominate her for the Murderous Musings Tenacious Spirit of the Year Award.

Once Upon a Time...

By Chester Campbell


That's the way stories are supposed to begin, isn't it? I think I remember. I used to be a mystery writer once upon a time. I created colorful characters and exciting scenes where breathtaking actions occurred. I dreamed up plots that could get the old ticker pounding away. It was a lot of fun.

With my first published book, I sat down to write after spending two weeks roaming the Holy Land with a group of wide-eyed tourists. At times it was hot and sweaty, but never dull. Gazing out across the Dead Sea from the Herod's mountain fortress at Masada was awesome. Back home I relived those moments through the eyes of my characters as they took the same routes.

The second book involved a balcony collapse at a high-rise condo on the beach at Perdido Key, Florida. I wrote part of it while sitting with my laptop in my brother's condo on the beach at Perdido Key. That's the kind of roughing it a writer should be forced to do. The research also involved a side trip to a casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. What I call going all out for your craft.

For the third book, I took on a stay-at-home assignment. The story was set around Nashville, though I did a lot of nosing in areas I hadn't visited in years. I also did a ride-along with a Metro Nashville homicide detective. I learned such interesting things as their fascination with racing through the streets whether in an emergency or not, and doing U-turns just because they could. I delved a bit into Scottish heritage to fill out Greg McKenzie's family background in the military. That was fun.

Book four was particularly fascinating because it involved a restored 1914 auto factory. I nosed around the area where I lived for a year after serving in the Korean War. And for this one I also brought in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. That required a revealing tour of the TBI facility, where I made some good contacts. I also visited a small town not too far away several times, checking locations where I busily committed several murders. A writer's work is never done.

The fifth book brought a new character and new challenges. He's a single guy with an entirely different background. Plus I wanted to switch from first person to third, putting a different perspective on the writing. On this project, I mostly indulged my habit of working on my laptop in the living room instead of on the PC up in the office. It got me away from the distraction of email, though with wireless internet I still had Google at my fingertips.

As I said at the beginning, I used to be a mystery writer. However, lately I have become a blogger and a Twitterer, a newsletter writer and a website designer. My mailbox fills with hundreds of emails daily from 19 different Yahoo groups and countless others from who-knows-where. I Google my name and book titles to see who's writing about them, and I check my Amazon rankings for clues on whether I'm selling.

I guess I've become a promoter and a marketer. I don't expect to get rich. Heck, I'd be happy to break even for a change. But I crave the feeling that people are reading and enjoying what I write. That means I've got to sell. And nobody's going to do it but me.

I've about reached the point, though, where I'm ready to chuck it all, grab my laptop, head back down to the living room, and become a writer again. Wouldn't that be fun! (But first I've got to get this post up on the blogsite.)

The Nashville I Write About

By Chester Campbell

I write mysteries set in and around Nashville. But it isn’t the Nashville that most folks are familiar with. You’ve probably heard about it primarily as Music City USA, home of the Grand Ole Opry, the number three recording center in the country. A place where names like Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, and Keith Urban are tossed about. And, of course, the home area of Mylie Cyrus (alias Hannah Montana) and her dad, Billy Ray.

If you're a sports fan, maybe it's the place where the Tennessee Titans play, or home of the Nashville Predators NHL team.

The music industry merits an occasional mention in my books, but the locations I use are seldom connected to it. The last Greg McKenzie mystery, The Marathon Murders, deals with a part of town that hasn’t had the best reputation in recent years. The plot is built around the old Marathon Motor Works just beyond downtown, in an area where a low-rent housing project became such an eyesore it was demolished.

When a Type A entrepreneur bought the badly run-down buildings of the auto maker that went out of business in 1914, he had to clean up the debris left by years of homeless squatters. A cop told him he’d better carry a big gun if he wanted to survive around there. After all the restoration work, it’s a neat place, housing studios for artists, photographers, and musicians. The housing project has been rebuilt as modern multi-family houses.

The entrepreneur, who renamed his venture Marathon Village, scoured the country and found a couple of rebuilt 1912 and 1914 Marathon touring cars and put them in the old showroom. That’s where I had my launch party for The Marathon Murders.

I visited the opposite extreme in that book with a couple of characters who live in the city’s most posh suburb, Belle Meade. In that case I alluded to an old sobriquet for Nashville—the Son-in-Law Town. Years ago when I was publishing a local magazine, the popular refrain referred to young out-of-towners who came to Vanderbilt University, stayed on and married girls whose dad’s were captains of industry. When the dads retired, the sons-in-law took over the businesses.

In the new Sid Chance series, the main character comes from my side of town, a traditional middle class area. His sometimes associate lives in a mansion among the upper crust, just across the line from Williamson County, one of the highest income counties in the nation. It provides an opportunity to show some contrasting lifestyles and the possibility for conflict that brings.

My aim is to get beyond the stereotypes and show the city as it really exists where the people live. I’ve only scratched the surface so far, which leaves a lot more to tell.

The Surest Poison will be out in a couple of weeks. Keep an eye on my Mystery Mania blog and my website for news about the book launch.

The "It" Factor

By Beth Terrell

This past weekend, I had lunch with a friend who works in the publishing industry. She's a publicist who sometimes acts as an acquisitions editor. Our conversation turned to a member of my critique group, a man who had pitched his novel to her at last year's Killer Nashville conference.

I don't know what 'it' is," she said, "but he has it in spades. I know he's going to make it, bigtime."

I know exactly what she means, but I'm no more able to say exactly what "it" is than she was. All I know is that my friend has it. But what exactly IS it? Maybe it's a kind of charisma, or the way he's genuinely interested in other people and genuinely wishes the best for them. Maybe it's a sense that he is man of very real integrity. Maybe it's his intensity, hidden beneath a shy, boyish demeanor. You can tell he won't run over anybody to get to his goal, but that he won't give up until he does get there. Maybe it's all those things rolled into one.

Is 'it' something that can be cultivated, or is it inborn. like the color of your hair or the ability to curl your tongue? Maybe, like so many things, it grows through a complex interplay between nature and nurture.

Maybe "it" is something different for each of us. For some, like my friend, it shines like a sun to everyone he meets. For others, it's more understated, less visible. Maybe it's a dynamic, dramatic energy, like J.T. Ellison's, or a quiet, humble generosity like Mary Saums's. What about your favorite writers? Do they have "it?" Is "it" the same thing for all of them?

Maybe "it" is just being the best, most genuine you you can possibly be.

If you think of your favorite or the most popular authors, do they all have something in common? And do those somethings combine to create the indefinable "it?"

I don't know for sure, but I do know that the most successful authors I know have some traits in common. One is focus. They are extremely good at "keeping their eye on the ball"--at setting a goal and heading straight for it without being derailed by things like unmade beds and Minesweeper. They are also, more often than not, gracious and generous people who are willing, within reason, to offer help and advice to others. A friend once met Stephen King at a local science fiction convention at which King was the speaker. After his speech, Mr. King spent the evening in the hospitality suite chatting with my friend about books and other common interests. Stephen King didn't have to be so generous with his time; he gave it anyway.

In my opinion, the "it" factor is something that draws others to you and makes you memorable. Something that gives people a good feeling when they think about you.

How about you all? What do you think "it" is? And how important is it to a writer?

Plus C'est la Meme Chose, Plus ca Change

By Beth Terrell

In John Knowles's A Separate Peace, the narrator, Gene, says, "Plus c'est la meme chose, plus ca change." It means, "The more things remain the same, the more they change." I interpret this to mean that our own changing perceptions make even the most familiar things unfamiliar. I love that saying, but I always get it backwards. I mean to get it right, but instead I say, "The more things change, the more they remain the same." These days I think both versions are true.

Our world has gone through a lot of changes in the past century or so. Messages that once took months to deliver can now be "instant messaged" in the blink of an eye. When I think about the fact that my Honda Accord can take me across the Kentucky line in less than an hour, it boggles my mind to realize that my grandmother personally knew a woman who had gone west in a covered wagon and survived being scalped by Indians. The more things change...

We've been talking about our personal brushes with crime lately, and sometimes it seems that the world is getting more and more brutal. Sometimes it seems there's a Ted Bundy or a BTK killer under every rock. It's easy to think of serial and spree killers as thoroughly modern inventions. But a few days ago as I was tooling around on the internet (I like to call this "research"), I came across an unsolved homicide in a Nashville community called Paradise Ridge. This coldest of cold cases dates from 1897, more than a century ago. ...The more they stay the same.

The article reminded me of the Clutter family murders Truman Capote wrote about in In Cold Blood, but in this case, the killer or killers torched the house after committing their crimes. It was ten o'clock at night on March 23 when a neighbor, Justice Simpson, came outside to get a drink of water and noticed that the nearby Ade house was ablaze. He rode the half mile to the house, which was already collapsing. The fire had been burning for about an hour and a half, and had spread to the smokehouse and several other small outbuildings. Simpson called out for the family to help him douse the flames. When there was no answer, he apparently went into the burning house and found five bodies.

The victims were 60-year-old Jacob Ade, his 50-year-old wife, Pauline, their two children (Lizze, 20, and Henry, 13), and a 10-year-old girl, Rosa Moirer. Rosa was the daughter of a neighbor, and I was unable to find out why she was at the Ade house that night. It was the wounds found on Rosa's body, which was less badly burned than the rest, that convinced investigators that the family had been murdered. Although there was no way to be certain, investigators pieced together the crime. It looked like the entire family had been in the parlor when the murderer entered the house and killed Mr. Ade. The others attempted to escape through the windows but were either struck down before they could escape or forced back by an accomplice. Because of the condition and position of little Rosa's body, investigators surmised that she had escaped the initial attack, then been caught and killed and her body thrown into the already burning house.

The motive? Surely a murder so brutal must have been prompted by personal animosity. But no. The Ades were well-liked and well-respected in their community. John had once accused a neighbor of stealing hogs, but that issue had been resolved, and besides, the neighbor had an alibi. Robbery, perhaps? Maybe. John Ade had recently withdrawn $300 from a bank in Nashville. He'd planned to lend the money to a friend. If the killer(s) had known about the withdrawal, might they have gone to the Ade home to take it by force? If so, they were frustrated in the attempt, because the money was later found in an oyster can in what remained of the bedroom closet.

But the killers did not go away empty-handed. John was said to have been storing a large quantity of meat, which was never found. I don't know what a large quantity of meat would have been, but surely there is no amount of meat that would have been worth the lives of five human beings. Surely nothing would have been worth that.

The killers were never apprehended. The fire and a rainstorm destroyed any evidence investigators may have found. The murderers will never be brought to justice--not in this life anyway, not in the courts of men. They, like their victims, are long dead. I wonder if they were haunted by the memory of what they'd done, or if they simply moved from Paradise Ridge to some other small town, some other easy mark. With no FBI databases, no national media, and no internet, how would anyone ever have known?

The more things change, the more they remain the same. There have always been monsters among us. I hold out the hope that one day this will no longer be true.

In the meantime...I'd like to thank those real-life heroes--the police officers, detectives, and special agents--who stand between us and the monsters. We don't say it enough, but we're glad you're out there, doing what you do.

Killer Conference

By Beth Terrell

Wednesday. Time to write the blog entry, because I am the Thursday person and I positively promised Chester that I would not wait until midnight of "the day of" to post my offering.

I wracked my poor cluttered brain for a topic of interest: How can we create riveting plots that keep readers on the edge of their seats? What makes such diverse characters as Jack Reacher and Stephanie Plum beloved by readers? Will Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the handsome actor from the ill-fated T.V. show New Amsterdam, ever call to option my book for the movie in which he plays my Nashville-based private detective? Oops, sorry. A soupcon of fantasy crept in.

What about Amazon's new plot to take over the world? Everybody's talking about that, right?

Then the distractions begin their assault.

Oh, my gosh! Did I remember to pick up the name tags?
Did I send out the emails with directions to the Guest of Honor dinner?
Did I remember to update the database and send out the last batch of confirmation letters and...

Well, you get the gist of it. The reason for all this angst is also the highlight of my summer--and maybe some of yours. I've been helping producer Clay Stafford and Assistant Producer Phillip Lacy coordinate the 2008 Killer Nashville Mystery and Thriller Conference. Clay even gave me my very own title: Associate Producer. It makes me feel all warm and important. And if that sounds like sarcasm, it's not.

I never realized what went into the making of a conference. I've been to some great ones: Sleuthfest, Cape Fear, Bouchercon, Harriett Austin, and the Lost State Writer's Conference. Events magically occurred, and I went to and enjoyed them. But thanks to Killer Nashville, I have a much better idea of what it takes to attract a Guest of Honor (world-renowned forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass), contact agents and editors (there will be one of each available for pitches at the conference), get panelists assigned, answer questions from attendees, arrange critiques and pitch times and schedules, assemble conference materials, contact sponsors, and the host of other tasks it takes to get a thing like this up and running. Not that I did all those things myself. We all did them: Clay (whose vision it is), Phillip, PJ Parrish, me, and an army of wonderful, dedicated volunteers (including our beloved Chester Campbell, author of the Greg McKenzie mystery series and the Tuesday writer for this blog). For months, we've eaten, drunk, and breathed Killer Nashville. Our to-do lists have gone from scribbles on Post-its to page-long treatises.

Even so, I know we've probably overlooked some things, that minor things will go awry, and that, in spite of this--or even because of it--this is going to be an incredible conference. With Body Farm creator Bill Bass, a killer schedule (see it at http://www.killernashville.com/), and authors like PJ Parrish, Mary Saums, Don Bruns, Edgar-nominee David J. Walker, and two of our own (Chester Campbell and Ben Small), how could it not be?

So if you're in the neighborhood and would like a chance to hobnob with fellow mystery and thriller lovers, hone your writing and marketing skills, vote on the first annual Silver Falcion Award (best novel written in 2007-2008 by a registered attendee), or just say hi, we'd love to have you hurry on over to the website and register. Besides, Don has promised to play his guitar, and Ben just might be persuaded to tell us where the bodies are hidden.

(And Nikolaj, if you're reading this, please stop by. There's a movie option I'd like to discuss.)