{"id":1941,"date":"2015-10-11T16:08:02","date_gmt":"2015-10-11T20:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=1941"},"modified":"2019-09-12T14:43:05","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T18:43:05","slug":"bouchercon-2015-raleigh-writing-not-jazz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2015\/10\/bouchercon-2015-raleigh-writing-not-jazz.html","title":{"rendered":"Bouchercon 2015 Raleigh (writing not jazz)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A crime writing conference attracting 1400-some authors and readers, flush for four days with panels and book talk — that was the 45th annual Bouchercon<\/a> “world \"bouchercon\"<\/a>mystery convention,” held in Raleigh NC Oct. 8 through 11 at downtown Sheraton and Marriott hotels. Taking a break from music immersion, I attended as a fan with a draft of a novel of my own, hoping to get an overview of the scene, pick up tips and inspiration, discover promising new books.<\/p>\n

All plans accomplished. One of the rare areas in publishing that seems to continue thriving both in hard-bound or ebook platforms, name-brand presses\u00c2\u00a0and independents alike were well-represented in a sales room where three booksellers were constantly busy while writers signed copies of their works for people lined up with arms full of volumes. The conference runs on a quarter-million dollar budget (according to local chair Al Abramson, who like everyone else in\u00c2\u00a0the organization putting on the event\u00c2\u00a0works as a volunteer), yet sponsors laid low other than taking out ads in a 175-page program book and hosting receptions. The Anthony Awards<\/a> were voted on and presented, there\u00c2\u00a0were both international and national guests of honor and lots of speeches, besides sociable button-holing in the hotels’ halls and a happy crowd almost always at the bar.<\/p>\n

I skipped most of the organizational activities to focus on the 50-minute panels, typically involving four speakers and a moderator, running from 8:30 am ’til 5 pm most days — usually four or five simultaneously, which made browsing tricky. Topics ranged from craft issues to conceptual matters, and most of the talk was lively, though some speakers were of course more experienced and insightful than others.<\/p>\n

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Lawrence Block with his short story collection The Night and the Music – <\/em>Literary Lunchbox<\/p><\/div>\n

“Crime fiction has kept its focus on story, which literary fiction has somewhat moved away from,” said crime fiction grand master Lawrence Block<\/a> (or words to that effect — I didn’t take exact notes; recordings are available for sale of all sessions) on a panel titled “Human Nature: Our fascination with law breakers & law enforcers in fiction.” Block nailed the ongoing attraction of a genre which\u00c2\u00a0is so vast as to include\u00c2\u00a0cozy cat mysteries<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0(like Cries and Whiskers<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0by Clea Simon, wife of Boston jazz journalist Jon Garelick) as well as morality-challenging\u00c2\u00a0hard-boileds such as The Girl with the Deep Blue Eyes<\/a><\/em>, Block’s own most recent twisted tale of sex and murder.<\/p>\n

Evidently there are a zillion ways to die (to paraphrase the title of one of my faves<\/a> of LB’s variegated oeuvre), and just as many storytellers delving into the possibilities. Although crime fiction goes way back — Cain killed Abel, remember<\/a>?) fascination with antagonism, deception, violence and aftermath does not cease (want to know what happened to Cain<\/a>?). My tastes lean towards the chilling and nasty, usually spiced with outr\u00c3\u00a9 humor, sparked\u00c2\u00a0in my early teens by\u00c2\u00a0The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0and furthered by Red Harvest<\/a>), which I expect to sate at least temporarily with the dozen or so books I acquired\u00c2\u00a0over the weekend (no felines involved) many by authors I met. To wit:<\/p>\n