Jan 21, 2025 | #reviews
This is a Russian nesting doll of a book, with multiple literary devices nested inside a wider puzzle. The pundits have called it a thriller, which is stretching the definition in my view, but it sure drips with intrigue and deception!
The book has a mathematical theme, not surprising given the author’s PhD in the subject, but that’s secondary to the stellar craftsmanship and attention to detail.
Julia Hart is an ambitious book editor in conversation with Grant McAllister, a reclusive mathematician who once wrote a collection of 7 short stories called The White Murders. They’re on a remote Mediterranean island where he’s lived in seclusion for years. Julia’s publishing hour wants to republish the collection.
One by one, Julia reads the stories out loud to Grant and they discuss how each aligns with his mathematical theory of what constitutes detective fiction. Along the way, Julia grows suspicious that Grant is hiding something from her.
The narrative is delivered in slices. First Story #1, then a slice of Julia and Grant discussing theory, then Story #2, then another slice of discussion and so on. Julia and Grant are the only “real” characters, others merely serve Grant’s formula.
Each story stands alone. The only continuity is how a story correlates to Grant’s detective fiction formula. It’s fun to pick out the elements as you read.
Both the stories and the Julia and Grant sections are written in the same omniscient narration style. This gives the book a sense of cohesion and prevents what otherwise could have been a disjointed reading experience.
There are 7 stories with a character who acts as a detective. Julia herself is the 8th, which isn’t hard to guess, but the how and why creates a twist you never see coming.
Unique and compelling, THE 8th DETECTIVE is a real brain-teaser.
Jan 18, 2025 | #authorlife, #EmiliaCruz
The top question I get from readers?
“Is Detective Emilia Cruz based on a real person?”
Yes, sort of.
Emilia is a composite of three different people. All contribute in unique ways to the character, including Emilia’s analytic skills, innate suspicion of others’ motives, and ability to role play.
The first is a woman who held a senior position in Mexico’s intelligence apparatus, whom I met during my CIA career. She was the only woman in that arena, just like Emilia, but more deferential and careful to toe the line, less inclined to buck culture.
The second was our housekeeper in Mexico, a brilliant woman trapped by Mexico’s social hierarchy and expectations for a woman of her class. Capable and observant, she knew how to get things done.
The third is me.
I was often the only woman in the room, too. (Why didn’t I choose an easier career?!) The scene in CLIFF DIVER when Silvio tells Emilia he’ll make her life miserable until she quits because he doesn’t want to work with a woman?
Exact same thing happened to me.
I told the colleague what Emilia says in the book: “Tell me something I don’t know” and got on with the job.
(That colleague left a few months later, following his wife who got a job in a different state. Ironic.)
I think characters that really resonate with us are authentic and relatable because we see our own strengths and weaknesses, resilience and hopes, in them.
Related post: The Detective Emilia Cruz Dreamcast
Dec 31, 2024 | #authorlife
Phew! 2024 was quite a year. Here’s a swift recap:
2024 in review: New releases
New cover, new edits, new tagline: “It’s time to save your soul.” Romantic suspense with a paranormal twist.
1 Backlist glow-up: AWAKENING MACBETH, 2nd edition
2 Audiobooks: MADE IN ACAPULCO and THE LISTMAKER OF ACAPULCO
1 Box Set: THE COMPLETE GALLIANO CLUB SERIES
4 Large Print Editions: ROAD TO THE GALLIANO CLUB, MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB, BLACKMAIL AT THE GALLIANO CLUB, REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB
1 Anthology: Short story “Warm Nights in Cold Shelter” was included in SMOKING GUNS edited by Kay George
Although I didn’t release a new novel this year, it was still a good year for both me and mystery lovers: 17,438 books went out into the world and nearly 400,000 pages were pored over by Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
CLIFF DIVER, the 1st Detective Emilia Cruz, continues to be my best seller. THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY, published 12 years ago, had an outstanding year.
Never underestimate the power of the backlist.
Outstanding events in 2024
It was a busy year, judging from how cluttered my poor Moleskine planner got.
- Founding Member of The Dangerous Pen Society (and yes, we do have fancy pens) focusing on author education and partnerships,
- Co-hosting the Literary Crime Club, a series of quarterly ticketed events,
- Spending 10 days at the Oneida Community Mansion, reveling in the vast library of first editions,
- Participating in the Stitches and Secrets Book Club conceived by a knitwear designer and hosted by a fiber arts store/studio that pairs my Galliano Club books with custom knitting projects,
- Moving the Mystery Ahead newsletter to Substack and meeting a whole new cadre of mystery readers there,
- A Zoom discussion with narco-journalist Ioan Grillo, and
- Attending the Killer Nashville mystery author conference for the 6th time, being a judge for the Claymore Award and co-presenting a 3-hour workshop with fellow authors Ashley Sargeant Hagen and Lisa Wysocky. I was Runner-up for Best Attending Author and REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB was a Finalist for the Silver Falchion Award.
What’s Ahead in 2025
2025 promises to be just as busy, with BARRACUDA BAY: Detective Emilia Cruz #9 coming 20 Feb! After a 2-year hiatus while I worked on the Galliano Club historical fiction thrillers, it was a joy to get back to the first female police detective in Acapulco and the mystery series that draws on my counterdrug and espionage background.
Matt Chase created another stunning cover, too. Each one is better than the last! I’ve officially dubbed BARRACUDA BAY The Big Yellow Book.
It’s a Big Story, too, reaching across the US-Mexico border to deliver a series of shocks you’ll never see coming.
If you’d like to be part of the Cheer Squad that helps get the news out about the release (Amazon/BookBub/Goodreads), please email me asap: carmen@carmenamato.net.
FYI: Detective Emilia Cruz #10 is already in the works, too.
Ending 2024 on a note of gratitude
2024 was rough in some respects. It was a year of hard losses.
I lost my mother, my uncle and Hazel, our senior German Shepherd. My husband had a score of health issues, including (I’m not making this up) getting chased and stung by a swarm of angry hornets.
My website was the target of Russian hackers, necessitating a $$$ rescue operation. The email service which hosted this newsletter for 7 years tripled prices, prompting the move to Substack, which is more complex than the pundits claim.
Yet wonderful things happened, too, including our first grandchild. He’s adorable and I was able to spend 2 weeks helping out when he first arrived.
Plus, you all kept me writing. Lots of emails, kind reviews, invitations, and so much moral support! You recommend Mystery Ahead, take Emilia Cruz to your heart and followed my detour into historical fiction with the Galliano Club thrillers. It’s always an absolute thrill to get an email asking when the next Emilia Cruz is coming out or saying you recognize the landmarks in one of my books.
You all are the best, most enthusiastic and loyal readers any author could ask for. Thank you and cheers to 2025!
In conclusion
Wishing you health, happiness, and more great reads.
All the best, Carmen
PS: To keep the newsletter free, consider buying a book. Or invite me on your podcast or book blog to promote the release of BARRACUDA BAY on 20 Feb 2025. Thank you!
PPS: Were you looking for all my free downloads including the Detective Emilia Cruz Starter Library? Find them here.
Nov 22, 2024 | #reviews
It’s been 12 years since I released THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY. On the eve of Mexico’s presidential elections, an attorney discovers collusion between the country’s powerful Minister of Public Security and a notorious drug cartel leader, making him a target hunted by both the cartel and his own government. Literary Fiction Review called it “Enthralling political drama.” it was longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award.
Yet, agents said that no publisher wanted a book with all Mexican characters. I should make the heroine Luz de Maria a college student from the United States.
Related post: Worst writing advice ever.
Well, I’m glad to see that this attitude has gone by the wayside. ALL OUR WARS by US writer Stephanie Vasquez is a Mexican family drama pitted against pending presidential elections, very similar to HIDDEN LIGHT but with narco protagonists as in Jeanine Kitchel’s 2-volume WHEELS Up series about narco Layla Navarro.
If you like literary fiction with a deep dose of Mexican authenticity, ALL OUR WARS is a must-read.
Sofia De Luna left Mexico—and the mid-tier drug cartel run by her father—after her mother was murdered. More than a decade later, she is summoned home to Cuernavaca because her drug kingpin father is going to “retire.” As the family gathers, the unspoken question is who will inherit the mantle of jefe. Odds are that the old man will anoint one of Sofia’s two brother or two male cousins.
Instead, he points to her.
Sofia is reluctantly plunged into the role of cartel dealmaker. A presidential election is coming up, the cartels are fighting for territory and candidates want their support. One in particular is willing to strike a deal, knowing Sofia wans out of the business. The deal is being enabled by a partner in the drug business who was Sofia’s first true love as well as the man rumored to be responsible for her mother’s death.
At the same time, her cousins are tired of moving cocaine and are moving into the more lucrative human trafficking business, plus causing trouble by tweaking the nose of Mexico City law enforcement.
This is a heavily dialogue-driven story, with lots of enigmatic conversations. Everyone wants Sofia to make deals but the actual terms are opaque and it’s hard to know if that was a deliberate device by the author or not. Sofia is bound by family ties, a theme repeated over and over, basically keeping her from really doing anything until she finds out about the human smuggling and suddenly has something to trade.
The book would have moved more swiftly without the asides about her dead mother, although the flashbacks from that woman’s point of view are very well done. I assumed that the flashbacks would point to Sofia’s father as the mother’s killer, which would have freed Sophia to act more independently, but that was not the case.
Who is revealed to be the killer? Will Sophia break free of her family’s dirty business? Those are the questions that drive the book and come together in a riveting climax.
I devoured the book in two days. You will, too.
Find ALL OUR WARS on Amazon.
Nov 20, 2024 | #EmiliaCruz
Drum roll, please!
Graphic artist Matt Chase has created another signature piece of art for the next book in the Detective Emilia Cruz series, BARRACUDA BAY.
Cover Reveal
The background color was inspired by the cover for PACIFIC REAPER, which both Matt and I love, while ocean tones of blue and green evoke Acapulco Bay. The pop of red adds even more menace to the dark denizen of the deep.
This is the 10th cover Matt has created for the series, fitting it in around his work for major publications including The Washington Post and the New York Times Review of Books.
I hope you love it as much as I do.
Release date
In honor of my mother, who passed away late last month, BARRACUDA BAY will be released on her birthday, 20 February 2025.
She was a huge supporter of my second career as a mystery author. Even after dementia prevented her from reading, she kept a dog-eared copy of CLIFF DIVER in the storage compartment of her walker.
Shout Club
If you’d like to help get the word out about Detective Emilia Cruz’s return, after a nearly 2 year hiatus (while I wrote and published the Galliano Club historical fiction series) I’d love to have you aboard.
You’ll get an Advance Reader Copy of BARRACUDA BAY and a box full of Mexican-themed goodies. In return, be first to share reviews, list the book on Goodreads, and let social media friends know about the book. More to come but if you love books and would like to participate, please drop an email to carmen@carmenamato.net.
Nov 20, 2024 | #EmiliaCruz
Just another day in paradise, except for the dead police lieutenant in the bottom of a speedboat drifting in the still waters of Puerto Marques, the small bay-within-a-bay on the southeastern tip of Acapulco.
That’s really when the story gets rolling for Detective Emilia Cruz in CLIFF DIVER, the first book in the series. I had the opportunity to rewrite the whole shocking day in a blog post for the “Day in the Life” column on on Dru Ann Love’s popular drusbookmusing.com blog.
It’s called This is how it began…Just Another Day in Paradise. Find the post here: https://drusbookmusing.com/emilia-cruz/
As the narrator of the post, Emilia tells the tale of the fateful career-changing day herself.
Here’s a sample:
My partner Rico Portillo squinted up at me as he knelt by the body. “It’s the lieutenant all right,” he said. “This is gonna be bad.”
I knew what he meant.
Lieutenant Inocente was a dirty cop.
Two years ago, he had tried to prevent me from becoming the first female police detective in Acapulco and would have succeeded if Rico hadn’t agreed to partner with me. In retaliation, Rico and I were assigned to minor cases and administrative tasks. Bigger investigations were reserved for favored detectives who generated bribes and kickbacks and shared with the boss.
This is different, because Emilia is not the narrator of the books. From CLIFF DIVER to NARCO NOIR, and BARRACUDA BAY coming in 2025, you the reader experiences the action through Emilia’s deep point of view. That is, you are absorbing what she is thinking and feeling every step of the way, plus getting a dose of the environment that impacts her, from Acapulco’s beach resorts and deluxe hotels to poverty-stricken and gang-riddled streets far from the ocean.
What would you do if your boss suddenly turned up dead and you had to handle the situation? Could you figure out what it takes to survive as an honest (mostly) cop in today’s Mexico?
Here’s that link again: https://drusbookmusing.com/emilia-cruz/
Also, stay up to date with news about BARRACUDA BAY, Detective Emilia Cruz #9 when you join me on Substack: https://mysteryahead.substack.com.
Nov 3, 2024 | #authorlife
My mother passed in October at age 95.
Although she’d been declining for some time and dementia had robbed us of who she really was, the loss still hit like a hammer blow.
Many of my writer friends know that I wrote the Galliano Club series during the pandemic, using the project to get her talking about positive things during our nightly phone call. With some prompting she would tell me about growing up in Rome, NY, in the Italian section known as East Rome. Her recollections fueled the creation of the fictional city of Lido and the East Lido Italian neighborhood.
She was a huge supporter of my second career as a mystery author, arranging me to speak to a woman’s club she belonged to and invited everyone she knew when I was inducted into the Rome Arts Hall of Fame in 2019. Even after dementia prevented her from reading, she kept a dog-eared copy of CLIFF DIVER in the storage compartment of her walker.
It fell to me to write her obituary. It started this way:
Marietta Jean (Sestito) Booton of Rome, known to all as Jean, passed in her 96th year. She leaves an enduring legacy of personal strength, steadfast perseverance, loyal friendships, and love of family.
There are many things I could say about my mother. That she was terrible at telling jokes, hated fast food, always set her table with cloth napkins, was the Class Treasurer of the Rome Free Academy Class of ’46 and enabled class reunions for 70 years. A single mother of 4 at a time when few women were. A financial whiz, an accomplished pianist, a standard shift driver who once owned a Corvair.
She insisted that we all go to college and we did. Three of us have advanced degrees.
She was firmly anchored in her home town of Rome, but loved to travel. When I was in college in Paris, she spent several weeks with me. When my spring break rolled around we took a bus tour through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria. She kept a record of the trip, which has sadly disappeared.
I particularly recall getting off the bus in Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber, a picturesque medieval walled village in West Germany (before the wall came down). An outdoor beer garden was right in front of us, so of course we had to absorb culture—as in have a beer right there and then. Having slaked our thirst we found our hotel. My mother made a beeline for the closet housing the toilet. She came out two minutes later giggling hysterically.
Apparently, the cubicle had a wooden board over the plumbing, set into the wall in a frame. Drunk on a single beer, my mother thought it was a mirror and couldn’t figure out why she looked so plain.
We staggered around the hotel room together, laughing until we cried.
I’ve lost my mother, but oh, how lucky I am.
My mother jean, around age 18.
Jean getting ready for her wedding, age 21.
Jean and children circa 1963. I’m the youngest in red.
Oct 23, 2024 | #reviews
DEAD WATER is a deep dive into a British police investigation, set against the beautiful light and harsh seas of the Cornwall coast. First in Berrick Ford’s new Cornish Crime series, the compelling atmosphere and relatable characters make it a fast, page-turning read. In short, a great start to a new British mystery series.
Tamsyn Poldhu, whose Cornish last name translates to “Blackpool,” reports for her first day as a police officer trainee and is immediately plunged into a murder investigation. Robert Rego is a Detective Inspector who accepted a transfer from Manchester to Cornwall as a way to burnish his already significant career credentials but the urban cop immediately finds himself out of his element in the harbors around Penzance where fishermen still struggle to make a living from the sea.
The narrative moves easily between the two points of view, which offers a nice contrast between the wide-eyed Tamsyn doing her best in a new and highly-charged situation, and Rego who knows procedure inside and out. He’s also smarting from a run-in with an Albanian drug kingpin, basically the one that got away.
An unidentified body of a woman with her tongue cut out starts gets the story rolling. Who was she, where did the body come from, what resources does Rego have in his new job to track down a killer? Suspense and questionable relationships abound as her identity is pieced together.
I liked the pace of clues and progress on the case; nothing comes easy, just as it should in a good whodunit.
Tamsyn’s inner voice is the real driver of the book and we can’t help but walk in her shoes, especially in the riveting climax. By becoming a cop, she risks alienating friends and worrying her grandparents, the only family she has left. She’s learning on the job but circumstances have arranged themselves so that she’s drinking from a firehose and dealing with a new boss no one really knows.
The book is frontloaded with British police procedures and departmental acronyms, giving it an unquestioned authenticity. The momentum picks up after that and stays consistent, building to a strong climax.
By the time I finished the book, I was totally invested in Tamsyn’s police career and immediately downloaded the next in the series. DEAD MAN’S DIVE has such a great first chapter I can’t wait to jump into it!
If you like British mystery series, add the Cornish Crime thrillers to your TBR list now.
Get DEAD WATER on Amazon
P.S. if you have seen the television show Doc Martin, you can easily imagine the setting for DEAD WATER. If not, here’s a guide to locations in Cornwall. https://www.thegeographicalcure.com/post/doc-martin-filming-locations-in-cornwall-england
Oct 10, 2024 | #booknews
I’m thrilled to announce that Laurel & Croton has released a brand new edition of AWAKENING MACBETH, a suspenseful, page-turning paranormal romance novel. It’s available now in Kindle and paperback formats, with audiobook coming soon.
?? Paranormal romance ??
Yep, you read that right.
AWAKENING MACBETH stands alone among my contemporary mystery and historical fiction thriller books but it was inspired by my grandmother, the Claudette Colbert lookalike married to the deputy sheriff whose stories inspired the Galliano Club historical fiction thrillers. (Yes, I have a very inspirational family!)
When we granddaughters had children of our own, my grandmother cautioned us to always wake a child gently, never abruptly.
“The soul wanders while we sleep,” she said. “It needs time to come back to us before we’re fully awake.”
My older sisters dismissed her caution as a silly superstition. But for years I woke my children gently, even as I wondered why a soul would wander while we slept.
What are our souls looking for?
The obvious answer
I was walking through Edinburgh, that city of narrow streets and a thousand ghosts and a fabulous place to set a scene or two, when I finally answered my own question.
It’s love. Our souls are always searching for love.
But there’s a dangerous side to love. Lost love, unrequited love, and grief at the loss of a loved one all demand a reason why love–so ardently desired–has slipped out of our grasp. As a result, brokenhearted and grief-stricken souls wander in search of answers.
That restlessness takes place in dreams–limbo, really–where evil stalks in an unending quest for souls to steal.
That evil is revealed in the eyes, of course. We all know that the eyes are the windows of the soul.
But if evil steals a soul, what happens next?
Now for the paranormal romance trope
Here’s the recipe to answer that question:
Take one brilliant history professor recovering from her father’s shocking death.
Add an Iraq War vet who recognizes another survivor when he sees one.
Mix in a baffling inheritance.
Sprinkle with scenes from British history, which play out in terrifying nightmares.
Oh, and there’s a dog. Mouse has instincts which shouldn’t be ignored. (She’s based on our first German Shepherd, Rudi the Wonder Dog who lived with us in 5 different countries.)
The result? From Virginia’s most famous university to the Scottish highlands to a dusty road in Iraq, not even Shakespeare could have predicted the secret that AWAKENING MACBETH will reveal.
Grab your copy on Amazon today!
Oct 8, 2024 | #reviews
It’s the long-awaited next book in the mystery series set on Mexico’s Isla Mujeres on the Caribbean coast. TANGLED ISLA is full of island atmosphere, familiar characters, and the real places that have made the series such a fan favorite.
When last we saw her, Jessica Sanderson had left the island and followed vintner Mike Lyons back home to Canada. (There to star in Lock’s new Death in the Vineyard series.) But homesick for the dear friends she left on Isla Mujeres, she heads back for a visit without Mike or crime-sniffing pooch Sparky (Based on Lock’s own pup of the same name).
Of course, she promptly ends up at a crime scene.
A young American woman goes missing. She worked in the restaurant owned by Jessica’s close friends Yasmin and Carlos. At the same time, a folk parade is disrupted, a costume stolen, and the islander leading the event is assaulted. Later, the woman’s body is retrieved from the ocean. She was killed and cut in a peculiar way that harkens back to several unsolved murders in Florida.
In a clever turn of star characters, the central investigator in this Isla book isn’t Jessica but Diego, a charter boat captain. Jessica gets involved (sorry, no spoilers) but Diego does the legwork which puts him in a great position to be the main character in forthcoming Isla books.
As a native islander, his preeminence gives the books a subtly tougher vibe. He’s got more to lose when crime hits the island. Diego also has insider knowledge and leverage against the local cop who likes to drink and cut corners.
Loose ends are wrapped up at the end, but Lock has left me impatient to find out what’s ahead for the residents of Isla Mujeres. Will a new version of Jessica arrive and drive the next book? Will Diego continue to solve crimes while raising 4 kids and eking out a living as a charter boat captain (my vote)? Or will Yasmin and Carlos come to the fore as in previous books?
No matter where the Isla Mujeres series goes, I’m there!
Get TANGLED ISLA on Amazon
Sep 8, 2024 | #authorlife, #GallianoClub
A mystery author, a knitting pattern designer, a fiber arts store owner and a custom yarn maker all walk into a bar . . . The result is knitting, crochet and weaving kits inspired by the Galliano Club historical fiction thriller series!
Choose your craft and custom yarn color and join the club!
Elizabeth Kay Booth, a knitting pattern designer, is the creative force behind 3 kits based on the Galliano Club books for those who love to knit, crochet or weave. Each kit takes inspiration from a different Galliano Club book, with designs like a delicate cowl scarf and a cloche style hat to evoke the New York setting and 1920’s vibe of the book.
If you love to be part of a creative community, it doesn’t get much better than this!
There will be 3 kits released over the next 6 months. Each includes a Galliano Club book, a pattern and custom yarn to complete the project. Each kit also contains a special gift from me. Check out the Pinterest board here.
Anyone who buys a kit is invited to a series of online and in-person meetups starting in October to talk about the books and the knit/crochet/weaving projects. I’ll be there to chat about the books and Elizabeth will be on hand to answer questions about the pattern and help knitters and crocheters. You will also meet Juli Rathbun, indie yarn dyer of Maple and Barley Fiber Co. and Cynthia Rice, owner of Sunshine Weaving and Fiber Arts who is creating the weaving patterns and selling the kits.
Knitting test by knitwear pattern designer Elizabeth Boothe
Kit #1 is available for preorder now through 20 September from Sunshine Weaving and Fiber Arts.
Kit #1 contains:
- 2 paperback books (prequel ROAD TO THE GALLIANO CLUB, plus MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB, the award-winning first novel in the series)
- The project bag with 2 full-size skeins of custom-dyed yarn of your choice,
- Additional mini-skein,
- Stitch markers,
- Project pattern QR code,
- A surprise gift from the author (me).
Preorders for Kit #1 close 20 September. Given the time needed to stock books and custom dye the yarn, your kit will be shipped 3-4 weeks later, in time for the first meetup on 22 October 6:00-7:30 pm CST.
Here’s the link to order Kit #1 at Sunshine Weaving and Fiber Arts:
https://sunshineweaving.com/product/stitches-secrets-the-galliano-thriller-book-club/
To order, first choose the type of project:
Next, choose a custom yarn color:
- Mohawk River Winter, a pale silvery gray
- Luca’s Olive Groves, a mid-tone muted olive green
- Ruth’s Scarlet Scandal, a deep ruby red
The specially-dyed yarn colors evoke the setting and characters in the books. See all the colors for Kits 1-3 on this Pinterest board.
The sales page lets you toggle through the colors to see each one. Once you have made your project type and color choices, click the button to “Sign Up Today.” You’ll be directed to the checkout page.
Sales close 20 September so order now and mark your calendar for the kickoff on 22 October!
PS: Find Elizabeth’s other knitwear patterns on Ravelry.com.
Aug 17, 2024 | #authorlife, #friends
Summer is the season for author “cons.”
My hands down favorite is Killer Nashville, right in my (almost) back yard.
Killer Nashville
This annual author conference is a 4-day whirl of writing tradecraft seminars and networking opportunities. If you are going 22-25 August, please introduce yourself!
You can find the schedule here: https://www.killernashville.com/
This year, I’m co-teaching a Masterclass on “Presenting Yourself as a Professional Author,” with Lisa Wysocky and Ashley Hagen. It’s sponsored by the Dangerous Pen Society, an author fellowship focusing on networking activities, professional development, and promotional partnerships.
I’ll also be on panels talking about independent publishing, historical fiction, author websites, and creating compelling settings.
Written after the 2022 conference, here’s what I think makes Killer Nashville so special: https://carmenamato.net/killer-nashville-success-story/
Related post: An Excellent Bunch of Murderers
Bouchercon
Bouchercon is a conference for both writers and readers, geared to entertain and promote the mystery genre. This year Bouchercon is also in Nashville, 28 Aug – 1 Sept at the Gaylord Opryland Resort.
You can find out more here: https://www.bouchercon2024.com/
Catch me at the Speed Dating event on Thursday, teamed with Jim Nesbitt, author of the Ed Earl Burch hard-boiled series. We’ll be handing out book swag and meeting new readers.
Finally, I’ll be on two panels (Thursday, Thinking about a Life of Crime; and Sunday, Books that Inspired).
Hope to see you at a “con” soon!
