Why Should Writers Attend the C3 Con?

In the last few weeks I’ve used this blog to chatter about what was going on in my writing life and my publishing life. But now, within a month of my company’s event of the year, I need to spend some time reminding you of all the reasons you should attend the Creatures, Crimes& Creativity (C3) Con.

This year the C3 Con runs from noon on Friday, October 10 to Sunday October 12. At the Hunt Valley Inn, just outside Baltimore, we will gather readers and writers of mystery, suspense, thriller, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal fiction.

           

The $275 registration fee includes 36 panels and master classes, two keynote addresses, interviews with two bestselling authors, and five meals: Friday’s dinner, 3 meals Saturday and Sunday breakfast. The meals are included to encourage all the authors and readers to dine side-by-side.  It creates a chance for fans to ask those questions they’ve always wanted to ask.

And BTW, members of major fiction writer organizations (MWA, ITW, SFFAA, SinC) get a substantial discount off the registration cost.

The C3 Con offers a lot to published authors.  It is a great opportunity to spend time with their fans, and to expose new readers to their writing by presenting on panels.  Their books will be available in our on-site bookstore set up by Novel Books. There will be two big book signings, Friday and Saturday before dinner.  Each author’s name is posted on the C3 website with a link to their website or their book. Their photo and bio will be posted in the C3 program book and they are all invited to contribute to the C3 blog. 

Pitch sessions are available with two literary agents.  One, Dawn Dowdle runs the Blue Ridge Literary Agency, a Virginia firm focused on helping authors, especially new authors. The other, Alec Shane, is with Writers House, one of the biggest New York agencies.

Among the great presentations, bestselling mystery author Brad Parks will teach a Master Class called “Where Papa Going With That Ax?” He says writing page-turning fiction that seizes a reader’s imagination and then holds it for 350 pages is hard, but the concepts behind it are actually quite simple. As a matter of fact, one novel he will discuss accomplishes everything you want fiction to do in just four paragraphs. Attendees will also study voice, character, pacing and unveil the patented Brad Parks Formula For Suspense.

International bestselling romantic suspense/sci-fi/fantasy author Rebecca York will also teach a Master Class. She says, "A novel must look, sound, smell and taste real to the reader.  But it’s not reality.  It’s a world you build.  From plot and character to setting and dialogue, you make the decisions that define your fictional universe." And she will show you how.

There are more good reasons for writers to attend, but next week I’ll want to focus on reasons readers and fans will want to be there.  Meanwhile you can gather more details, and register if you’re smart, at http://creaturescrimesandcreativity.com

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

There is a handful of questions that every published author hears from time to time.  One of the most frequent is, “Where do you get your ideas?”  I usually give some smart aleck response like, “Over at Ideas-R-Us” or “Aisle 4 at Costco – cuz I need a lot of ideas.” If the actual question is, “Where do you get your ideas from?” I might say, “From behind the preposition at the end of that sentence.”  But today I’ll try to actually answer that query.

THE NEWS – Most of the ideas for  my crime novels and short stories come from newspapers and television newscasts.  Despite their efforts to be objective, reporters can’t help but present some theories about crimes they report on.  Whenever I hear that I like to play a “what if” game.  What if that isn’t what happened at all?  What if there’s a totally different motive? What if the witness (the arresting officer, the spouse) is lying?  Then I spin a story from that.  And it doesn’t have to be a crime story.  Sometimes a creative journalist will report on someone just doing something weird or unexplained.  I can make up a reason for the person to have base jumped from a city building or started a flash mob in the Metro that relates to a crime.

OTHER WRITERS – Sometimes another writer and I will brainstorm story ideas.  This can be a lot of fun, each reacting to the other’s plot points with a lively, “and then THIS might happen” or, “but at the same time, across town THIS is going on.”  We might leave that conversation with a clear story in mind, but the result is always that we go home and end up writing two very different stories that happen to take off from the same place.  This can even happen when I’m reading someone else’s story.  I might get to a point and say, “No no no… THAT’S not what happens next…” and then I’m off on a story all my own.

YOU – Story ideas often come up in unrelated conversations with friend and fans, and not even always in person.  For example, in trying to be both funny and provocative, I posted this on Facebook recently:

“Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...”

Well, it did turn out to be a conversation starter, but among the responses was a friend’s post with evidence that the low speed limit might actually help stop the bad guys.  It was a news story with this headline: Teens Chase Kidnapping Suspect on Bikes, save5-year old girl.  Two teenage boys are being hailed as heroes after they chased a car carrying a kidnapped girl… on their bicycles.  Depending on your audience it may or may not matter that the teens were African American and the little girl was white.  But really… with a little imagination I could pull half a dozen good stories out of that little report.  Couldn't you?

So that’s where I get MY story ideas.  How about you?  AND, if you’re a writer, what common questions do YOU get?