Bouchercon
By the time this post comes out, I’ll be down in Nashville at Bouchercon 2024.
Bouchercon is one of the two bigger North American writing conferences (for crime/mystery/suspense writers and fans, and just about everyone else) that I’m familiar with, the other being Thrillerfest, which takes place in New York every year. They’re similar in many ways, featuring author and craft panels, book signings, meet & greets, and a host of other events. They’re a great, mostly informal chance to get together with other writers and commiserate about the art, the business, and the state of the publishing industry.
Even when I was splitting my time between writing and DEA, I tried to take the opportunity to go to at least one of these conference every couple of years. Beyond these events, I don’t really have much of a “writing community,” although that’s starting to change now that I’ve met some local writers here in Kentucky. Still, conferences like Bouchercon are a chance to network and “work without working.” Sure, I’ll still get some writing done while I’m there, but I’ll also meet with my publisher, my agent, and share a few beers with some other folks down in the salt mines.
Speaking of the salt mines—
Work continues!
I’ll hopefully be sharing some Substack notes while I’m in Nashville, so keep an eye out.
As always, feel free to—