I know I do – it was at the Monterrey Bouchercon in 1997.

Of course, I am talking about the first time I ever attended a mystery writers conference. What did you think I was talking about?

My husband and I had  been married for a little over a year and we made it into a big vacation, spending more than a week visiting Monterrey, Carmel and the Hearst Castle. Since we are both mystery fiction fans, we both found much to like about that Bouchercon and, whenever we could, have tried to make Bouchercons part of our lives ever since. I will always be grateful to that Bouchercon’s organizers, the gracious Bill and Toby Gottfried and crew.

What struck me most about that conference was the camaraderie of mystery authors and the gathering of like-minded fans. Putting aside differences in religion, politics, cats vs. dogs, and what temperature to set the thermometer, everyone was just focused on the books and the authors who supplied these wonderful stories.

Since that first Bouchercon, more and more regional conferences have popped up, which I applaud.

So I urge anyone who can to attend the Deadly Ink Mystery Conference June 25 to June 27 at the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel in Parsippany, NJ.

The conference program is being finalized, but it looks as if it will be a good event. Here’s a link to registration.

 Guest of honor will be Gillian Roberts, left, author of the Anthony Award winning Amanda Pepper series and the Emma Howe series. Roberts has long been a personal favorite of mine. When I first started to review mysteries, her novels were among the first I focused on. Roberts’ series about English teacher and accidental sleuth Amanda Pepper combine an insightful look at academic life with a view of Philadelphia.

Toastmaster will be Cheryl Solimini, author of Across the River. In addition, Cheryl is a journalist who has written numerous magazine articles. She’s also a colleague whose work often appears in Mystery Scene Magazine, which also is one of the conference sponsors. 

The organizers are another reason why the Deadly Ink Mystery Conference should be worth a visit. Christine Abbott and Debby Buchanan are co-chairing the conference and are both editors at Deadly Ink Press, which publishes, among others, Roberta Rogow’s historical mystery series and Solimini’s novel.

The Deadly Ink conference is another way that lets readers connect with authors.

But by the end of February, Florida weather should be nice — mild and cool and NO SNOW.

David Morrell

It will be the perfect time to come to Florida; and the perfect time to come for Sleuthfest, which will be Feb. 26-28 at the Deerfield Beach Hilton.

With all the myriad mystery writers conferences around, Sleuthfest is still different.  Unlike the fan-based conferences, Sleuthfest is a writers’ conference. It’s meant to help published authors and those who want to be published. It gets your creative juices going and puts your energy in high gear.

Sleuthfest is sponsored by the Florida chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and features an array of  panels and discussions on writing, publishing and crime scene techniques.

As in the past couple of years, Sleuthfest will feature two guests of honor: David Morrell is Friday’s Guest of Honor, and Stephen J. Cannell is Saturday’s Guest of Honor.

Morrell will always be associated with his 1972 novel First Blood, which was made into the movie starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo. But Morrell is known for much more than bringing Rambo to the world. He has written more than 25 thrillers and numerous nonfiction books. His latest thriller is The Shimmer.

Stephen J. Cannell

Cannell is an author, screenwriter, producer and creator of some of TV’s best action series, including The Rockford Files, The A-Team, Baretta, The Commish, 21 Jump Street and Adam-12.

Early registration is $215 until Jan. 15, 2010, and $235 after that date for MWA members; for nonmembers, the early rate is $235 and then, after Jan. 15, 2010, it rises to $255. The rate includes some meals.

Contact Linda Hengerer at SleuthFestLinda@gmail.com or verowriter@gmail.com. The Web site is www.sleuthfest.com.

The nominees and winners were:

Best Novel:
Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen (Penguin Group)
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry (Random House)
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Minotaur Books)

Best First Novel:
Through a Glass, Deadly by Sarah Atwell (Berkley Trade)
The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis (Penguin Group)
Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris (Minotaur Books)
Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet (Midnight Ink)
Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan (Midnight Ink)

Best Non-fiction:
African American Mystery Writers: A Historical & Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey (McFarland & Co.)
How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson (Perseverance Press)
Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography by Jeff Marks (McFarland & Co.)
Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe (Metro Books)
The Suspicions of Mr. Whitcher, or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale (Walker & Co.)

Best Short Story:
“The Night Things Changed” by Dana Cameron, Wolfsbane & Mistletoe (Penguin Group)
“Killing Time” by Jane Cleland, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine – November 2008
“Dangerous Crossing” by Carla Coupe, Chesapeake Crimes 3 (Wildside Press)
“Skull & Cross-Examinations” by Toni L.P. Kelner, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine – February 2008
“A Nice Old Guy” by Nancy Pickard, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine – August 2008

Best Children’s/Young Adult:
Into the Dark by Peter Abrahams (Harper Collins)
A Thief in the Theater (A Kit Mystery) by Sarah Masters Buckey (American Girl Publishers)
The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein (Random House Children’s Books)
The Great Circus Train Robbery by Nancy Means Wright (Hilliard & Harris)

Congratulations to all!

For me, the top four in the U.S. are Bouchercon, Malice Domestic,  Left Coast Crime, (this year in Hawaii where Kate and Brian are now) and Sleuthfest.

While the others are geared toward the fans, Sleuthfest focuses on the craft of writing. It’s designed to help unpublished authors, new authors and those with a few books to their credit improve their writing skills. Panels focus on devising plots, shaping characters, crisp dialogue as well as crime scene detection and insiders’ views of the publishing industry.

Sleuthfest is organized by the Florida chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. Being from Florida, naturally I’ve been to every Sleuthfest since it was first organized in the mid-’90s.

I admit that a few of those Sleuthfests didn’t resonate with me. Maybe because so many conferences meant hearing the same thing over and over. Maybe I was just burned out on conferences for a while.

But the past three or four Sleuthfests have been spot-on. It seems a new kind of energy has been moving through Sleuthfest making the panels and discussions seem new. Sure, we are hearing the same topics on panels as we did before, but there’s a spark that has made them seem fresh.

This year’s Sleuthfest featured two guest speakers, John Hart and Brad Meltzer (at left), in addition to a group of quality authors.

My compliments to the organizers of Sleuthfest who are probably taking a long nap about now….before they start planning next year’s Sleuthfest.

I will frequently be posting blogs based on Sleuthfest panels both at this Mystery Scene magazine blog and at the Sun Sentinel’s Off the Page blog.

If you attended, post your comments here, please.