This week I’m heading North-Northwest to Vancouver, British Columbia, for Left Coast Crime 2019. This is a terrific conference, and I’m looking forward to seeing everybody who’s attending. I have a couple of official and semi-official events on the schedule:
Mystery Writers of America reception
Thursday, March 28
Following opening ceremonies — 7:15pm-ish.
Panel: Writing Villains
Friday, March 29
1:30-2:15pm
It should be fun. I hope I’ll see some of you there!
I have a number of events coming up in the next few months. Here’s a preview:
Left Coast Crime
March 28-31, 2019
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Texas Writes at the Sterling City Public Library
April 11, 2019 10:00AM to 1:00PM
Sterling City Public Library
301 Main St.
Sterling City, TX 76951
Edgar Symposium
April 24, 2019
Grand Hyatt New York
New York City
Oklahoma Writers’ Federation: Turning the Page Conference 2019
May 3 & 4, 2019
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
Meg will be the 2019 conference Keynote Speaker
ThrillerFest
July 10-13, 2019
New York City
Bouchercon
October 31 — November 3, 2019
Dallas, Texas
Hope to see some of you along the way!
Posted in Into the Black Nowhere, Writing
Tagged Bouchercon, Edgars, Left Coast Crime, Texas Writes, ThrillerFest
I’m tremendously honored to have been elected the 2019 President of the Mystery Writers of America. This organization supports and promotes thousands of working writers across the country. It presents the Edgar Awards. Being asked to serve in this position is a high point of my career.
Here’s what I said when my name was put forward for the presidency:
From the moment I became eligible to join Mystery Writers of America, I’ve been grateful to be a member. Being awarded an Edgar is one of the greatest honors of my life. That’s because MWA is one of the most significant organizations in the world dedicated to crime and mystery writing. It would be my privilege to serve as its president and support its mission: to promote recognition and respect for crime writing and those who write it, to encourage literacy, and to support aspiring writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, editors, agents, and the wonderful community devoted to the genre.
And before I get too full of myself, I should clarify that the presidency of MWA is highly ceremonial — I’ll have the privilege of emceeing the Edgars this year, and writing some articles for the MWA magazine, and perfecting my royal wave. The day-to-day work of the organization is done by a committed group of volunteers, led by Executive Vice President Donna Andrews. They’re the ones who deserve a tip of the hat.
Though my son did ask if I’ve been given the nuclear codes. Nope; just this shiny presidential badge. Which I’m going to treasure.
As we dive into 2019, it’s time for a fresh round of Ask Me Anything. Leave your questions in the comments — about writing, publishing, books, TV, movies, the squirrel apocalypse foretold in Revelation — whatever you’re interested in. I will endeavor to answer.
Photo: Kermit the Frog, the dashing greeter at Herman Brown Free Library in Burnet, Texas. Yesterday I had a great time speaking at the library’s Coffee Talks author series. Thanks to everyone who turned out!
I spent the weekend as the Guest of Honor at the Deadly Ink mystery conference in New Jersey. I had a blast, felt very honored, and got to enjoy a huge weather show on the flight back to Austin.
Now I’m diving deep into finishing the first draft of my next novel. Even while I was at 36,000 feet, I was digging through the manuscript word by word.
Yep, UNSUB 3 is coming. Catch you again when I come up for air.
The weekend of August 10-12 I’ll be at the Deadly Ink mystery conference in New Jersey. I’m delighted, and excited, to be this year’s Guest of Honor.
I’ll be speaking on several panels, talking about thriller writing, and generally hanging out with folks who adore crime novels as much as I do. And I’ll be crossing my fingers for UNSUB, which is nominated for Deadly Ink’s David Award along with a host of wonderful novels.
I hope I’ll see some of you there.
I’m pretty excited — okay, very excited — to be included in the New York Times Book Review and Book Podcast this week. When I was in NYC for Thrillerfest, I was interviewed by Tina Jordan about writing thrillers. It’s a joy to be included in the podcast with Lee Child, Megan Abbott, Lisa Gardner, and Lisa Scottoline. Check it out:
Making a Killing: Top Thriller Writers Talk about Their Craft
And this weekend’s NYT Book Review includes Into the Black Nowhere in “It’s Thriller Time / Lights Out!”
The Times says: “We’re hereby calling the next title trend: thrillers that stoke our fear of the dark with titles that play on words like ‘black’ or ‘night.'”
Yeah, pretty excited.
Posted in Books, Into the Black Nowhere, Writing
Tagged Creative Writing, Into the Black Nowhere, Thrillers, Writing
Out now
