Poe book sculpture by raidersofthelostart
If you live near the North Carolina Research Triangle region, "Making Crime Pay" is a workshop for aspiring mystery writers offered by the Halle Cultural Arts Center in Apex on Saturday, April 20. Authors Marcia Talley and Kate Charles will share their expertise in the intensive, one-day workshop including writing tips, preparing a manuscript for submission, agents, reference books, working methods, and publicity.
Authors M R Hall and William Ryan and literary agent David Headley have teamed up as "Hall Ryan Headley" to offer intro workshops to crime writing. On May 11-12, their two-day course in London aimed at everyone from experienced writers to absolute beginners, takes attendees through the elements of a crime novel, from characterization and plotting to choosing a setting and undertaking research.
ThrillerFest is adding a couple of new events to this year's conference: a FanFest and a Tweeting Contest. The former is a cocktail party with authors and their specially-invited fans, but it's also open to all conference attendees; the latter is for attendees and the general public, with winning Tweeters (just use the hashtag #Thriller13) receiving gift cards.
Dana Stabenow (author of the Kate Shugak series) launched a campaign to raise $1 million to build an Alaskan retreat for female writers, Storyknife Writers Retreat, only the second residency of its kind in the world. When the project is complete, writers will be admitted to the residency after a rigorous application process, including statements of need and samples of work. Upon successful admission, writers will come to Storyknife for two-to-eight-week residencies to focus on their diverse projects in uninterrupted peace, an atmosphere made possible by the Storyknife endowment.
The father and son author team Stephen King and Owen King will headline a benefit for PEN Canada on Thursday, October 24 in the Fleck Dance Theatre at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto. Award-winning mystery writer Louise Penny will moderate the discussion. Tickets for the general public will be available starting this Thursday, April 18 by calling the box office or by visiting www.readings.org.
Happy news for libraries and fans of crime fiction: the Library Journal reported that a survey of 232 public libraries found 55% of respondents said mystery continues to be the most popular genre in terms of circulation. The survey also found that in print fiction collections, 24.1% of materials are mysteries.
The Q&A roundup this week includes Irish author Marian Keyes, chatting with Mysterious Musings about her latest cozy/traditional novel, The Mystery of Mercy Close; and Dana Haynes joined Lesa's Book Critiques and talked about his novels under the pen name Conrad Haynes.
The Guardian posted "The 10 best real-life spies -- in pictures."
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