Turns out I bought the wrong hangover nostrum. Found out the hard way when I woke to find myself drenched in blood! Amazing how fast and furiously a nose can bleed!
Waking up drenched in blood at ThrillerFest is a bit too ironic even for me. Clearly I needed a cup of joe and a muffin to get myself back on track. Thinking I'd save money and not order room service, I headed downstairs. By the time I slunk back to my room, I was feeling rather subdued.
Fortunately croissants and coffee do solve all problems and I was soon ready to attack the day. I slithered down to the bar, yes the bar! at noon! to see who'd swim by.
And this is one of the many many benefits of going to a conference. As I sat in the bar reading I reconnected with a pal from other conferences, an editor I'd seen just casually before and a couple other people who had some interesting things to talk about. It was three hours of allowing serendipity to work its magic.
By the end of the day though I'd still not connected with one of the editors I'd hoped to meet. He's from out of town and this weekend was an ideal time for connecting over more than a phone line.
But, no luck. So I flagged a cab, settled in and headed back to the office. At 35th and Madison my phone chirruped the theme from Jaws.
"Hello!"
Yes, it was the editor I'd been stalking!
He had time to meet.
Yay! When?
NOW?
Yikes!
Cab driver, stop! Break right! What do you mean it's a one way street? Right! Right!
Levitate if you must!
A quick vault over oncoming traffic and we were on Park Ave heading north. A quick zip up the overpass and there I was, back at the Hyatt. My seven dollar cab ride to the second floor!
I threw myself out of the cab, clutching my luggage and messenger bag, heading straight home to the bar.
And yes, we had a lovely meeting.
If you're a writer and you're looking to make connections, there's a whole lot to be said for a conference. I met with several writers outside the pitch fest, just very casually, and I read two manuscripts over night for writers I'm interested in. That doesn't happen often, but it does happen. The ONLY way it happens is if you're there, ready to take advantage of an opportunity.
Saturday, July 09, 2011
um yea good morning
Ah yes, morning at ThrillerFest.
Wearing my shark jammies and a fierce scowl, I stumble to the elevator for a quick sortie downstairs to replenish my caffeine cells.
Ding! Elevator doors open.
Who is in the elevator looking chipper?
Oh yes. Good morning Robert Crais.
And to up the ante, who's standing next to him?
Oh yes. Good morning Editor Extraordinaire Keith Kahla.
Keith Kahla takes one look at me and chirps "oh ho! It's Janet Reid before coffee!"
Yea. Yea it is.
Good morning gents. Fine day for an elevator ride. In my jammies. Fin askew. Looking as tidy as a Jackson Pollack painting. Oh yes, goooooood start to the morning.
I'm not sure who was a brighter red....me, or Bob Crais' Hawaiian shirt.
Moral of this shark tale: Room service is your friend!
Wearing my shark jammies and a fierce scowl, I stumble to the elevator for a quick sortie downstairs to replenish my caffeine cells.
Ding! Elevator doors open.
Who is in the elevator looking chipper?
Oh yes. Good morning Robert Crais.
And to up the ante, who's standing next to him?
Oh yes. Good morning Editor Extraordinaire Keith Kahla.
Keith Kahla takes one look at me and chirps "oh ho! It's Janet Reid before coffee!"
Yea. Yea it is.
Good morning gents. Fine day for an elevator ride. In my jammies. Fin askew. Looking as tidy as a Jackson Pollack painting. Oh yes, goooooood start to the morning.
I'm not sure who was a brighter red....me, or Bob Crais' Hawaiian shirt.
Moral of this shark tale: Room service is your friend!
Friday, July 08, 2011
The Sentry by Robert Crais
There are a LOT of good reasons to read THE SENTRY by Robert Crais. It's a Joe Pike novel, which means there's not enough Elvis Cole (there's never enough Elvis Cole even in Elvis Cole novels, so that can't be helped) but other than that it's a terrific read. Come for the characters, stay for the plot.
But, if you are a writer, really study the prologue. The prologue in this book is brilliant. Utterly breathtakingly brilliant. What it does is show character. And it shows character in a way that illuminates every chapter of the book. It's exactly the reason you would have a prologue. And since I
um...no. No. And also, no. "YA Fiction" panel at ThrillerFest
I planned to take notes at the YA Thriller panel to write a blog post like I did for Mark Tavani's panel yesterday. I settled in the back, shark pen and paper at the ready. During the introductions, the first thing I noticed was that each of the authors on the panel is also published in adult trade categories. All of them. That turns out to have some bearing on what happened next.
Because what happened next was kind of frightening.
It was as if the panelists didn't know what they were talking about. Statements were made about the kind of events that would be cataclysmic in a teen's life--and "end of the world" was dismissed because teens were mostly concerned about themselves and their lives.
I about dropped my fangs. The last two YA books I had my mitts on, both of which sold in nice juicy deals are about stakes MUCH larger than one teen's life. And there are some other good examples: HUNGER GAMES for starters.
I kept shaking my head at what I was hearing. I think the guy sitting next to me thought I was jamming to my Ipod at one point.
"Sex has no place in a YA thriller" almost pushed me out of my chair. That's absolutely wrong. Teens are sexual beasts like the rest of us. Sex is part of their lives whether they are participating in overt sexual acts or just trying their damnedest to do so. Leaving that out of YA is like leaving out the color blue.
One of the panelists kept chiming in with views that were closer to mine, but she's a nicer person than I am and didn't just bellow "you're kidding, right?"
There were a lot of other statements made that I profoundly disagreed with but by that time I'd stopped making notes and started steaming. I was rather annoyed that a really diverse and engaging category was being given such short shrift.
I swear I was within seconds of standing on my chair, raising my arms like a football referee signaling a touchdown and screaming
then grabbing the microphone, when I realized the panelists knew only their own books (or at least those were the only books they referred to often.) Aha! They just hadn't read enough in the genre. They could certainly comment on their own experiences, and their own interactions with readers, but anything past that was unknown territory. These panelists were YA tourists, not residents.
And I think the reason they're not well-read in YA is probably that they're simply writing a LOT of books. It's hard enough to find time to read for pleasure writing one novel a year. It's probably impossible when writing more than that. And for most of these panelists, I got the sense YA was their secondary market. I'd wager they are a LOT better informed about adult thrillers cause they read them for fun.
I have no idea how a person attending the panel would know these guys were wrong about a lot of stuff. If you're ever at a panel and you hear a choking sound from the back of the room, and I'm back there turning blue from holding my tongue...well, that's a clue.
It was an interesting and illuminating panel, but not for the reasons I thought it might be!
Because what happened next was kind of frightening.
It was as if the panelists didn't know what they were talking about. Statements were made about the kind of events that would be cataclysmic in a teen's life--and "end of the world" was dismissed because teens were mostly concerned about themselves and their lives.
I about dropped my fangs. The last two YA books I had my mitts on, both of which sold in nice juicy deals are about stakes MUCH larger than one teen's life. And there are some other good examples: HUNGER GAMES for starters.
I kept shaking my head at what I was hearing. I think the guy sitting next to me thought I was jamming to my Ipod at one point.
"Sex has no place in a YA thriller" almost pushed me out of my chair. That's absolutely wrong. Teens are sexual beasts like the rest of us. Sex is part of their lives whether they are participating in overt sexual acts or just trying their damnedest to do so. Leaving that out of YA is like leaving out the color blue.
One of the panelists kept chiming in with views that were closer to mine, but she's a nicer person than I am and didn't just bellow "you're kidding, right?"
There were a lot of other statements made that I profoundly disagreed with but by that time I'd stopped making notes and started steaming. I was rather annoyed that a really diverse and engaging category was being given such short shrift.
I swear I was within seconds of standing on my chair, raising my arms like a football referee signaling a touchdown and screaming
"DAUNTLESS!!!!"
And I think the reason they're not well-read in YA is probably that they're simply writing a LOT of books. It's hard enough to find time to read for pleasure writing one novel a year. It's probably impossible when writing more than that. And for most of these panelists, I got the sense YA was their secondary market. I'd wager they are a LOT better informed about adult thrillers cause they read them for fun.
I have no idea how a person attending the panel would know these guys were wrong about a lot of stuff. If you're ever at a panel and you hear a choking sound from the back of the room, and I'm back there turning blue from holding my tongue...well, that's a clue.
It was an interesting and illuminating panel, but not for the reasons I thought it might be!
Thursday, July 07, 2011
"Forget Your Weaknesses; Attack Your Strengths" a Thrillerfest workshop with Mark Tavani
One of the things I value about conferences like Thrillerfest, Bouchercon, Left Coast Crime and Malice Domestic is the chance to hear editors and writers talk about craft. I'm not a writer. I'm sure as heck not a novelist. I'm a reader. Yet, I have to talk to writers about writing as part of my job. I go to these panels to pick up tricks of the trade. I feel a bit like a spy!
This is the second day of Thrillerfest and I adore the Grand Hyatt Bar, so this morning I wasright there in the front row, brighteyed and bushytailed hungover and squinty eyed in the back of the room for Ballantine editor Mark Tavani's talk about thrillers.
He started with a list of ways that thrillers can be driven.
Here's the list:
1. CONCEPT
It can be high or low but most thrillers have a succinctly explainable concept. Mark used JURASSIC PARK as an example of a concept driven thriller: A scientist clones dinosaurs and the experiment goes terribly awry. When you're finished reading the book, what you want to talk about is the concept of the book: the very cool idea of cloning dinosaurs. The book has other elements but the "calling card" is the concept.
2. PLOT.
It can be the continuous twists as in TELL NO ONE by Harlan Coben, or it can be the ending as in PRIMAL FEAR by William Diehl but when what happens is the "real fun" of the book, that's a plot driven thriller.
3. PROSE.
It can be the beautiful prose of books like NIGHT SOLDIERS by Alan Furst ("that man can really write!") or brutal prose like that of Charlie Huston in CAUGHT STEALING -- when it's the writing you talk about, that's when prose is the strongest point of a novel.
4. CHARACTER: When the people you meet are why you like the book. They can be the good guy like the Reacher novels by Lee Child, or the villain as in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS but when you want to talk about the characters, that's when CHARACTER is one of the novel's strengths.
5. SUSPENSE (or tension)
FAITHFUL SPY by Alex Berenson has an immediate ticking clock that lets the reader know something must happen soon. Almost anything by Stephen King will be masterful suspense; one of his best is MISERY. This can also be thought of as "page-turning."
6. EMOTIONAL IMPACT
How much the reader gets attached to the characters and their ordeal. A great example of a novel with intense emotional impact is MYSTIC RIVER by Dennis Lehane.
7. RELEVANCE
A classic example of a book published at just the right moment in time was THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. It had information that wasn't available to the everyday reader and came out at a time when the tensions with the Soviet Union were ratcheting up. Historical novels can also have relevance: history is key to the story in THE DANTE CLUB by Matthew Pearl.
8. VERISIMILITUDE
Does the reader believe the story can happen? John LeCarre's TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY made us all believe in the world of spies. (Mark didn't mention THE WIRE but that's always my example when I talk about fiction feeling very very real)
Mark used this list to help us decide what the strengths of a novel are. There can be more than one (he used GORKY PARK as an example and gave it 10 out of 10 in each category except plot and emotional impact) Knowing what a novel's strengths are helps an agent talk about it to an editor. It helps the author know what s/he's good at. And you don't have to be good in all things. A high concept novel may not have great prose. It might not have much plot (JAWS doesn't have much plot but oh boy does it have suspense!)
This was a terrific presentation; the only drawback was it wasn't long enough. Just about the time I'd finished feverishly writing notes, it was over.
This is the second day of Thrillerfest and I adore the Grand Hyatt Bar, so this morning I was
He started with a list of ways that thrillers can be driven.
Here's the list:
1. CONCEPT
It can be high or low but most thrillers have a succinctly explainable concept. Mark used JURASSIC PARK as an example of a concept driven thriller: A scientist clones dinosaurs and the experiment goes terribly awry. When you're finished reading the book, what you want to talk about is the concept of the book: the very cool idea of cloning dinosaurs. The book has other elements but the "calling card" is the concept.
2. PLOT.
It can be the continuous twists as in TELL NO ONE by Harlan Coben, or it can be the ending as in PRIMAL FEAR by William Diehl but when what happens is the "real fun" of the book, that's a plot driven thriller.
3. PROSE.
It can be the beautiful prose of books like NIGHT SOLDIERS by Alan Furst ("that man can really write!") or brutal prose like that of Charlie Huston in CAUGHT STEALING -- when it's the writing you talk about, that's when prose is the strongest point of a novel.
4. CHARACTER: When the people you meet are why you like the book. They can be the good guy like the Reacher novels by Lee Child, or the villain as in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS but when you want to talk about the characters, that's when CHARACTER is one of the novel's strengths.
5. SUSPENSE (or tension)
FAITHFUL SPY by Alex Berenson has an immediate ticking clock that lets the reader know something must happen soon. Almost anything by Stephen King will be masterful suspense; one of his best is MISERY. This can also be thought of as "page-turning."
6. EMOTIONAL IMPACT
How much the reader gets attached to the characters and their ordeal. A great example of a novel with intense emotional impact is MYSTIC RIVER by Dennis Lehane.
7. RELEVANCE
A classic example of a book published at just the right moment in time was THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. It had information that wasn't available to the everyday reader and came out at a time when the tensions with the Soviet Union were ratcheting up. Historical novels can also have relevance: history is key to the story in THE DANTE CLUB by Matthew Pearl.
8. VERISIMILITUDE
Does the reader believe the story can happen? John LeCarre's TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY made us all believe in the world of spies. (Mark didn't mention THE WIRE but that's always my example when I talk about fiction feeling very very real)
Mark used this list to help us decide what the strengths of a novel are. There can be more than one (he used GORKY PARK as an example and gave it 10 out of 10 in each category except plot and emotional impact) Knowing what a novel's strengths are helps an agent talk about it to an editor. It helps the author know what s/he's good at. And you don't have to be good in all things. A high concept novel may not have great prose. It might not have much plot (JAWS doesn't have much plot but oh boy does it have suspense!)
This was a terrific presentation; the only drawback was it wasn't long enough. Just about the time I'd finished feverishly writing notes, it was over.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Monday, July 04, 2011
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