BOUCHERCON 2017: A WORLD-CLASS MYSTERY CONVENTION

L-R: Crime Thriller Co-authors, Gloria Ferris &  Donna Warner at Bouchercon 2017 World Mystery Convention

 Day one, after attending Bouchercon 2017 held in Toronto, Ontario, Oct. 12-15. I’m told we had over 1,700 crime mystery authors, editors, publishers, literary agents, and fans attending. This is the second Bouchercon I’ve attended, and I can’t say enough good things about it.  Although, I’m feeling slightly sluggish today, the after effects from trying to digest a wealth of information valuable to me as a Canadian author with two novellas under her belt,  I’m excited to have new ideas to add to my tool box of writing and marketing skills. I must admit it was a bit of a challenge to decide on which events to attend since there were many running simultaneously. Thankfully, my writers’ group, the Guelph Genre 5 Authors, Gloria Ferris, Liz Lindsay, Pam Blance, and Donna Houghton, solved my dilemma by agreeing to attend sessions I couldn’t and taking notes to share.

The networking opportunities alone were staggering.  I’m emptying out pockets of my purse and book bag to ensure I don’t misplace bookmarks from new author friends. Kudos to the many volunteers who organized and ensured this event ran so smoothly.

The photo above is of my co-author, Gloria Ferris and I encouraging our shy crime thriller novellas, “Targeted”, and “Death’s Footprint” to socialize with the impressive number of books that were on display and available to purchase at Bouchercon 2017.

Tomorrow, I’m tasked to finalize preparations for the writers’ workshop I’m facilitating at the Elora Library, 144 Geddes St., Elora, Ontario on Oct. 19 (Registration is free and details and agenda are below). Since we’re 12 days from Halloween, and Elora is well known for getting into the spirit of this event, we’ve named this workshop, “Conjuring Up a Work of Fiction: Author Entrepreneur….the Business of Writing.  If these topics interest you, please consider joining us.

Author Panel L-R: Gloria Ferris, Donna Houghton, Liz Lindsay, Donna Warner, Cheryl Cowtan

 CONJURING UP A WORK OF FICTION

Author Entrepreneur: The Business of Writing

Thursday, October 19, 2017

    6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Wellington County Library, Elora Branch, 144 Geddes St., Elora   Phone: 519-846-0190

Author Team:  Cheryl Cowtan, Alison Bruce, Gloria Ferris, Liz Lindsay (aka Jamie Tremain), Donna Warner

Program:       

1.      Plot development (Cheryl Cowtan)                                       

2.      Character development (Alison Bruce)         

3.      Naming your characters (Donna Warner)      

4.      Humour in fiction (Gloria Ferris)                   

5.      Co-authoring (Liz Lindsay)                                       

6.      Self-editing your first draft (Donna Warner)                        

7.      Organizations to benefit writers (Alison Bruce)        

8.      Building your author brand (Liz Lindsay)                             

9.      The diverse paths to publication (Gloria Ferris)

10.  Participants to receive workshop notes followed by an open forum

11.  Authors book sales, signings, and socializing