Tuesday, November 02, 2010

A First Novel at Magna cum Murder XVI

Magna cum Murder XVI is behind us. I have had a solid night's sleep to clear my head. It is time to put down a few thoughts about what it was like to be at Magna with a first novel. The fans were awesome. They packed the room for the First Novel panel and asked great questions about the plot, characters, and the history behind Circle of Dishonor. Some of them sought me out to ask more questions later in the day. A few even came to the next panel with me just to hear more about my writing. It was a great way to start the day.

After lunch I did my first TV interview. That's an interesting experience. I had never sat down with a talk show host and answered questions before. It went very fast. Nancy Carlson, the host of "Voices in Mystery," is very good at putting her guests at ease. I am looking forward to seeing the results of my interview when the show airs in February.

One of the things I liked best about attending Magna is that the conference is intimate enough to allow authors and fans to have excellent conversations. It is wonderful to sit and talk to writers that understand the problems in the industry and the ins and outs of promoting a new book. It was also great to meet authors that I hadn't seen before and talk about books, writing, publishing, and anything else that came up.

Saturday night's costume party was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed dressing as Baby Face Nelson, and Sarah was outstanding as Gangster Moll Darla. It could have turned to gangster war when the two of us were beat out for best costume by Bonnie and Clyde. We was robbed! I contend that the real Bonnie never wore skirts that short...to be fair, I don't think the original Bonnie had legs as good as her 21st Century fan. I could be wrong though. Bonnie wasn't in the habit of showing her legs to everyone in the room.

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