Month: June 2019

Hope Within the Violence: An Interview with E.A. Aymar at LARB

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So my interview with the awesome E. A. Aymar is up today at Los Angeles Review of Books. We talk about his excellent crime fiction novel, The Unrepentant, which is one of my favorites of this year. Despite its dark subject matter of sex trafficking, it has heart and humor. Ed and I talk about his fascination with violence and the daunting task of examining the impact of violence against women when writing The Unrepentant. It was no small undertaking to tackle this subject yet he pulls it off with grace and wit. As always, I enjoyed our conversation and his stupid jokes.

California Crime Writers Conference wrap-up

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Whew! What a whirlwind weekend. I meant to post something sooner but it took me a day or so to recover. Then I took advantage of the momentum and inspiration I felt over the weekend and have actually been plotting. Yes, you got that right – PLOTTING! This coming from a die-hard “I don’t outline” writer.  I’m resurrecting my WIP from a few years ago which is about 3/4 of the way done.  I’m now fired up to finish it. But I need a road map so am pretty much going to have to start over because already, my road map veers way off from my WIP. But I’m excited and that’s what counts.  I even signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo so I have no excuse.

Anyhoo, here are some pics from the conference. You may recognize someone who sat at my table at lunch!  Yup, that’s Walter Mosley.

And here I am moderating the writer – agent – editor panel. It was a full room and nobody seemed like they were falling asleep!

And this was the perfect way to wrap up the conference: fried chicken at Dinah’s with my closest writer friends. Gluten free diet be damned!

 

California Crime Writers Conference June 8 – 9, 2019

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It’s almost here! The California Crime Writers Conference is one of my favorite conferences. And it’s in my backyard! Added bonus I don’t have to fly anywhere or stay in a hotel. It’s biennial which makes it all the more exciting when it does arrive. And even though I’m the treasurer, I loved this conference before I became a volunteer.

It’s not a fan conference. It’s mostly learning craft and meeting agents and editors. It’s a chance for me to catch up with friends I haven’t seen in a while while also meeting new ones. This year the tireless co-chairs, Laura Brennan and Jennifer Younger, have done a stellar job organizing and coming up with cool new panels like the Ask Me Anything panel as well as a Hollywood Insiders track. I always come away from the conference feeling invigorated and ready to get behind that keyboard and start typing!

This year I’ll be on two panels: The Winning Team: Writer, Agent, and Editor (which I’m moderating)…

….and The Art and Business of Short Stories.

Can’t wait!

The Thrill Begins Interview with Dea Poirier

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I’m a little late posting about this but I interviewed debut thriller author, Dea Poirier, about her new book, Next Girl To Die. Normally I don’t read serial killer thrillers but this was a good one. Lots of hot and heavy romance too! To learn more about Dea and her book, go to The Thrill Begins.