And how was your week?

from Jacqueline

(Sorry, no pics with this post. I had one particularly good one of Cornelia and me together, however, we both look as if we're about to enter the "I look like a fresh tomato" contest. Paid good money for that camera, and look what happens, not one shot worth sharing! I have entertained the thought that it might be me. I'm also clueless about Photoshop and iPhoto. Oh well ...)


It’s been what my mother would call a “funny old week” (sometimes she'll refer to a “funny old year” or a “funny old day”). What that means is that it’s been a bit of this and a bit of that, neither exceptionally great, but on the other hand, no catastrophic events, at least not in my house – and if the gods are listening, I would just as soon it stays that way, thank you.

Actually, there was a major highlight that, technically, was last week – which is why you didn’t hear from me. I thought I would have time to pen something, hence not lining up a stand-in, but then the demands of the Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference just ran away with me. I have the honor, along with Sheldon Siegel, of being Co-chair of the conference, which means I run around with a clip-board trying to look efficient. All joking aside now, the conference is one of the best events of the year. Originally the brainchild of the late Marilyn Wallace (who passed away last year), and her dear friend, Judy Greber (aka Gillian Roberts), the conference is for aspiring mystery writers at all stages of the game, who come to immerse themselves in a four-day program jam-packed with panels, writing intensives, “in conversation” sessions and other delights. And the conference is all about those aspiring writers. Established mystery writers fall over themselves to be invited onto the faculty, and the great thing is that ... it’s all about those aspiring writers. You don’t see any grandstanding, no one going on about the books they’ve published – they are there to teach, and boy, do they do that job well. The faculty just put their all into planning the sessions, and to advising the attendees on a one-to-one basis. They are “on” all the time. The collegial atmosphere is one of the conference hallmarks, and though we all go home tired (on Monday I walked around as if I had just disembarked from a really long transatlantic flight), it leaves you feeling as if you’ve done a really good long-weekend’s worth of work.

Our Cornelia was on the faculty, and not only that, she’s a conference alum – which makes her really famous in the annals of the Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference. MInd you, she's really famous anyway. This year I asked her to be on a panel called “The Arc of Grief.” We first added this panel last year, not quite knowing how it might fly. Tony Broadbent, David Corbett and I were “in conversation” on the subject of grief and how it can be touched in the mystery genre. The idea grew out of a conversation between David and I about the fact that, here we are, in a genre where there is great loss (of life, of belongings, reputation ... etc), and it’s rare to see a writer address the issue of grief. We continued talking about the idea with Tony, and then we stopped talking about it. The “in conversation” sessions are unscripted, with no preparation, so if we spoke about it beforehand, then there would be nothing to talk about in the session. It was among the best sessions last year, and gave our attendees a new dimension to explore in their fiction. The root words for “conversation” mean “learning together” – and it worked. This year I decided to sit on the sidelines and instead invite Cornelia to be part of the panel to bring a fresh voice to that conversation, and again, it went really well.

The other big winner, in terms of additions to the conference, was the “Inside The Writer’s Loft.” I have always loved “Inside The Actors’ Studio,” with James Lipton, and thought it would be great to adapt it to the author’s path. Tony Broadbent accepted the invitation to channel James Lipton, and Mike Connolly was his guest. It was a blast! Tony followed Lipton’s interviewing technique to the letter, and put in hours and hours of work researching Mike’s history as a writer and journalist, and it was brilliant! We all learned so much, and Mike was game from the start, although seemed really quite taken aback when Tony kicked off with a list of his accomplishments and awards before inviting him up to the podium. And at the end, when Tony turned to Mike and said, “Here are your students ...” the first question came from a woman who gamely said, “My name is [x] and I am a first year writing student.”

Oh, and Tony did include the French bloke’s questionnaire – and Mike’s favorite cuss word is “Shit.” To the blog censors of this world: Put that in your R-rating and smoke it!

I can’t list all the faculty here, but if you go to the Book Passage website (www.bookpassage.com) you will see their names listed. One of the delights was Evan, the youngest ever attendee at the conference. At fourteen years of age, he wowed us all (though he had to run from the late-night session with, “My dad’s outside waiting for me.”). Watch out for that boy, in a few years he’ll be writing up a storm and keeping his parents in the manner to which they dream to be accustomed – which will make waiting outside Book Passage all worthwhile.

OK, that’s it from me this week. Amazing, no politics. I didn’t even mention Scooter Libby and the miscarriage of justice once.