James O. Born
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| Michael Haskins |
Over the past decade I've attended a lot of conferences. I tried to give them support before and after. Some of them have been good. Some have not. At almost all of them I at least see good friends and have a lot of fun. An upcoming conference I want to mention to everyone who is a fan of crime fiction is the Mystery Writers Key West Fest that runs from August 14 through August 16, 2015. There is much more information here:
Mystery Writers Key West Fest
The organizer of the conference, Michael Haskins, is an excellent mystery writer from our southern most point and has done a phenomenal job putting together the conference in one of the most entertaining and unusual venues in the country.
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| Jeff Deaver |
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| Heather Graham |
This year Mister Haskins has managed to convince bestseller Jeffrey Deaver, the wonderful Heather Graham and a host of other mystery authors to attend. Of course I will be there or I wouldn't be blabbing about it now. There is no downside to this conference. The location alone makes the trip worthwhile. The one on one time with authors and the panels are all just gravy. That's my new favorite phrase "Just gravy." It sums up the Keys' attitude. It's all good so anything beyond just being in the keys is great.
One of the highlights of the weekend is a new award called "the Jerry," after crime author Jeremiah Healy. It's a kind of thing he would've approved of wholeheartedly and so do I. Many of the events are set at bars or local restaurants and feature alcohol. Something I wish some events had more of.
There is also a law enforcement panel featuring the big hitters in the field. I am moderating the panel and look forward to it. Incredibly, it is the first time I've ever moderated a panel featuring real cops.
Even the hotel is ridiculously cheap for that area coming in at under $200 a night, so I would expect to see some people get off their asses and sign up for this thing soon. The conference is starting to fill up, but I would definitely recommend it over some of the larger, busier conferences where you can get lost in the shuffle.
If you have any questions you can contact Mr. Haskins directly, or the conference or even drop me an e-mail and I will forward it. Hope to see you there.
Sounds like fun. I've always wanted to go to the Keys. I spent this last weekend at the California Crime Writers Conference with keynote speakers Charlaine Harris and Anne Perry. Another great/small conference. In 2013, I co-chaired the whole conference. This year I chaired the Forensics and Law Enforcement Track, which was great fun. I was also on a panel discussing blogging. Har.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the Keys. I like my house anymore and it has to be something good to get me to leave.
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