AUSTRALIAN WRITERS' AND READERS' CONFERENCES

Australia, with a population of 20 million, does not have as many writers’ conferences as say, the UK or USA. But below are a few which might interest people from overseas. They are well worth a visit in my opinion. My favourite one based on its comprehensive coverage is GenreCon – see below.

　
Brisbane Writers’ Festival

This year the Festival is from 5-9 September. Each year it brings tens of thousands of readers together with the writers who inspire them in a setting of parkland and water. You can find conversations ranging from fiction to politics, science to sustainability and everything in between. Writers and readers share stories of adventure, travel, history, music and memoirs at writer talks, bookstalls, book readings and feature events. There are
workshops, masterclasses and seminars for everyone from the novice to the experienced professional.


Somerset College Celebration of Literature

Somerset College is in South East Queensland and has a history of nurturing writers. Next year its conference will be 13-15 March 2013. Their novella writing competition is now open for secondary school students. Submit a 10,000-20,000 word novella on any topic. State winners receive cash prizes and gain writing advice from the Penguin Group (Australia) as well as attending the Celebration of Literature conference. It is a wonderful opportunity for budding writers.


Sydney Writers’ Festival

Sydney Writers' Festival is Australia’s largest annual literary celebration of literature and ideas The Festival returns on 20-26 May 2013. Each year there are more than 300 events in venues stretching from the Festival hub at Walsh Bay to the Blue Mountains. For one week every May authors of the very best contemporary fiction and writers of cutting edge nonfiction, including some of the world's leading public intellectuals, scientists and journalists are in attendance.


Byron Bay Writers’ Festival

This festival is renowned throughout Australia for its beautiful seaside setting and often for the sculptures that are created especially for the festival week.
You can be assured that at Byron Bay every possible type of author is represented from fantasy writers right down to environmental activist authors. It is a festival for the common man but with enough substance to please those with literary leanings i.e. it is fun and engaging and does not encourage navel-gazing.


GenreCon

This three-day conference brings together Australian and international genre professionals and usually features agents and reviewers as well as representatives of every possible genre – romance, mystery, science fiction, crime, fantasy, horror and thrillers. It is considered to be one part professional development and one part celebration.


Romance Writers of Australia Conference

These annual conferences take place in a different city each year. This year it is the Gold Coast. Next year for the first time it will be in Western Australia. RWA conferences are packed with assistance for writers and often non-romance writers attend to hone their skills. This year’s conference (just finished), was wildly successful. The setting, with many hotel rooms overlooking the sea, was conducive to bonhomie and judging from the hundreds of photos on Facebook, everyone not only networked to the fullest, but also most people gained a "snap!" moment when something clicked so that they came away energized. The RWA conferences are renowned for the numbers of workshops held by overseas authors.
　
ARRA Conference (Australian Romance Readers Association)

Prior to the RWA conference this year, the ARRA held a book-signing event. The ARRA, joined by people the world over, also has its own convention every second year and the 2013 one will be held at the Mercure Hotel in Brisbane (Queensland) on 1-3 March next. The keynote speakers will be Kristan Higgins, Anne Grace and Rachel Vincent.

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COZIES AND MYSTERIES

This is the final post about the mystery and suspense genres.

Mystery Genre
Previously, defining a mystery was easy. A mystery was a riddle or a puzzle e.g. Murders in the Rue Morgue. The reader and protagonist had to determine the secret, solve the crime and find the guilty party. The clues were buried throughout the story. Originally the mystery genre was divided into three sub-genres – the cozy, the soft-boiled mysteries and the hard-boiled mysteries and the classifications were based on the level of violence. Hard-boiled fiction originated in the U.S. e.g. The Big Sleep.
Today the mystery genre has been divided into many different subgenres such as romantic suspense, police procedurals, amateur sleuths, noir, private eyes, whodunits, etc. (Amateur sleuth novels are similar to cozies but are usually more violent. The murder is solved by someone close to the victim i.e. the sleuth has a vested interest in the outcome). Professional sleuths are not police procedurals per se but can be crimes solved by people such as a judge or medical examiner or someone experienced in the working background of the victim i.e. they have a knowledge of the circumstances. (Think Dick Francis). Sometimes these are turned into a series.
In mystery writing, plot is everything. Dorothy Sayers and the Detection Club wrote the rules that now define mystery and detective fiction. They struck a balance between intellectual integrity and artistic licence. (Remember that mysteries and cozies are defined by the intellectual skills of their protagonists rather than their ability to overcome their antagonists using power i.e. rather than using esoteric weaponry or complicated fighting skills, they use their brains).
Hercule Poirot, Father Brown and Lord Peter Wimsey all owe their existence to Detection Club members. Even though their books would now fall under the cozy subgenre, their writings and influence established a pattern for the entire mystery and detection genres.
The main four rules of the Detection Club were first that detectives must solve cases by using their wits i.e. no divine revelations or coincidences. The second rule was that the writer must not conceal any vital clues from the reader. The third rule was that authors promised to use contrivances such as super-criminals or secret entrances in moderation only. And the last main rule was that poisons unknown to science were forbidden. The conclusion was always that justice must, in some fashion or another, be brought about by the action of the ‘detectives.’

Cozies:Cozies were originally known as English country house mysteries. Prominent during the 1920s and 1930s, this style focused on the members of a closed group such as the members of a village. The stories always involved a puzzle and were often solved by the study of human nature (and a reliance on local gossip). This style was so popular that the abovementioned Detection Club was founded in 1928. Some examples of that era are Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie and The Queen’s Square by Dorothy Sayers.
There’s not a lot of on-screen sex, violence or graphic murders in cozies. The detectives are amateurs, frequently women who have been dismissed as busybodies by the local constabulary (think Miss Marple). They become involved for personal reasons.
The murderers are usually neither psychopaths nor serial killers as in other genres but are more likely to have their motives set in greed, jealousy or revenge. Sometimes these motives are the results of occurrences many years in the past.
Frequently the supporting characters in cozies are broadly drawn and sometimes used as comic relief. The eccentrics of village life loom large in these books but remember that cozies can take place in small closed communities anywhere, not necessarily in small villages.
Cozies are told in the first or third person. The victim is rarely someone who will be missed or who will leave a yawning gap in the lives of others. Also, cozies are not roller-coaster rides like thrillers and suspenses but are a progressive examination of the human psyche. They are gentle gifts to be unwrapped – see Writing the Cozy Mystery by Nancy Mehl on Nike Chillemi’s blogsite.
Examples of this genre are the Miss Marple novels as abovementioned, the Hetty Wainthrop Investigates series, Murder She Wrote and Rosemary & Thyme (British settings).
And this concludes my blogposts on the suspense/mystery genres. Hope you enjoyed them.:

POLICE PROCEDURALS/CRIME NOVELS

Continuing with the breakdown of the various thriller/crime genres, this month I’ll cover police procedurals/crime novels. This also includes private investigator novels.
As well, many crime novels often have as their protagonist an innocent bystander or curious amateur sleuth who may happen upon a crime or are affected by it, so resolve to investigate i.e. they may have a vested interest in solving the crime. In Judith McNaught’s Someone to Watch Over Me, the ‘hero’ (at first perceived as an anti-hero which is not uncommon in this type of novel), has two main incentives to solve Leigh’s husband’s murder. First, he is suspected of committing the murder and second, he wants Leigh to be able to resolve her issues with the dead husband because he’s waited many, many years to move in on Leigh.

Another example is Cilla, the heroine of Nora Roberts’ Tribute. As she sifts through her grandmother’s belongings, she realises there was a lot more to her grandmother’s death than was originally thought. It was always presumed that her grandmother, a famous actress, committed suicide. Cilla is curious about the death because it seemed unlikely that such a vibrant woman would commit suicide, and she is very like her grandmother. Once she discovers that her grandmother’s death was probably murder, she rattles a few cages.

There are many, many private investigator novels available. Many have their roots in Raymond Chandler’s character, Philip Marlowe. (In turn, Raymond Chandler was influenced by Sam Spade created by Dashiel Hammett. Humphrey Bogart was the quintessential Sam Spade, of course). Marlowe was a hardboiled, hard-drinking private eye who was philosophical beneath the surface. And there is Mike Hammer by Mickey Spillane. You can guarantee that at some stage a blonde will stroll into Hammer’s office looking for trouble.

The birth of private investigators in novels began with Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Agatha Christie’s Poirot took up the banner and then many writers ran with it, writers such as Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe and Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski.

Police procedurals (the more modern ones at any rate), often open up for the reader a bird’s eye view of how the police solve crimes. Some, of course, veer well away from fact, but most are carefully researched such as the Michael Connolly books featuring Harry Bosch, Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley, an English lord with a penchant for police work, Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli and Isles and P.D. James’ Adam Dalgleish. Police procedurals usually stray into the psyche and lives of the police personnel involved, and that is what I find so fascinating. I enjoy the way some authors are able to set out how an investigator’s private life affects his professional life. A great example is Face of a Killer by Robin Burcell where the anniversary of the father’s death by a killer plays havoc with the Sydney Fitzpatrick’s head. She is a forensic artist for the FBI, just as Robin was. So of course Robin’s experience lends an authentic ring to her writing. She also writes the Kate Gillespie police procedurals.

So who are your favourite sleuths? Why? Next week we’ll take a look at cozies and mysteries.
　
　

　

　

THE WILD ROSE PRESS

Today is The Wild Rose Press's sixth birthday! Hop over to these blogs and win prizes - GREAT prizes!

The Wild Rose Press Blog http://thewildrosepress.blogspot.com/
The Wilder Blog http://wilderroses.blogspot.com/
Behind the Garden Gate Editor's blog http://behindthegardengate.blogspot.com/
Black Rose Blog http://twrpblackrose.blogspot.com/

THRILLERS

A thriller by its very definition, is not a feel-good book (or movie) but an experience which is laden with suspense and can cover all sorts of topics such as espionage, crime or mystery i.e. it’s a suspenseful adventure story.

Thrillers popped up more and more from the early 1900’s and probably the most famous one of that era was The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan which set the standard for innocent framed men on the run. An earlier novel with a theme of an innocent protagonist that might not spring to mind as a thriller is The Count of Monte Cristo (1844).

Hitchcock’s very early films such as The Lodger (Jack the Ripper) and The Man Who Knew Too Much were the forerunners of his suspense-thrillers which advanced during the 50’s to movies such as Strangers on a Train.

During the 70’s and 80’s movies such as Play Misty for Me and Deliverance and the so-different Blow Out expanded the genre.

In the 1990’s and onwards spy thrillers in particular became much more technical e.g. Tom Clancy’s novels such as The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games along with Robert Ludlum’s books about Jason Bourne.

In the 2000’s now we have novels and movies and TV series based on a variety of thriller subgenres:

 Conspiracy thrillers (Da Vinci Code)
 Crime thrillers (Silence of the Lambs)
 Erotic thrillers (Basic Instinct)
 Political thrillers (Day of the Jackal)
 Psychological thrillers (Misery)
 Spy thrillers (Casino Royale)
 Supernatural thrillers (Flatliners)
 Techno thrillers (Jurassic Park)

Recently one of the more successful thriller writers has been Stieg Larsson (Girl with a Dragon Tattoo etc). Interesting that this a little controversy about who did most of the writing of his more recent novels. All adds to the mystique.

The main elements of a good thriller are:

 The protagonists face death, either their own or someone else’s
 The main plotline is a mystery begging to be solved
 The characters are often dragged into conflict and situations that they don’t normally meet (although the spy subgenre of course has a bunch of well-equipped protagonists and antagonists).

Below I’ve laid out some thrillers I’ve read recently that I enjoyed. Sometimes that does not include well known writers since I love finding new writers who satisfy me with their writing. I like MEAT to my thrillers, not necessarily just the promise of it. I won’t describe the plot lines, but I’d suggest you try some of the following books:

A Bodyguard of Lies by Donna del Oro
Upcoming books by new author Liese Sherwood Fabre
The Geneva Convention by Martin Bodenham
Lost in the Bayou by Cornell de Ville (Young Adult)
Bait by Karen Robards
I Can See You by Karen Rose
Face of a Killer by Robin Burcell
Gone by Lisa Gardner
The Killing Floor by Lee Child

I tend to get hold of a writer and read them dry. The above books are only a very little sample of what I read. I read a large quantity of books called romantic suspense which are, in actuality, thrillers; likewise I love detective fiction and police procedurals which are often more thriller than the genre they are purported to be. I guess it’s all down to that old word: marketing.

NEXT WEEK I’ll move on to police procedurals.

WOO HOO! Discounted books, people

This week ONLY, Smashwords are discounting by 25% (!!!) a HUGE number of books. If you read traditional Regencies, here are the links to a couple of mine.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/127113


and


https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/118549

READ AND ENJOY. 25% off in this day and age is not to be sneezed at.

MUSA BLOG HOP - LOST IN THE BAYOU & THE SECOND SON

LOST IN THE BAYOU is published by Musa Publishing. At the risk of sounding over the top, I have to say that this YA novel is AHMAZING. Mean it. I don't read a lot of YA, but the premise of this book hooked me. Just look at the reviews on its Amazon page. Cornell deVille holds the reader until the last page.

Robin and Andy's parents have disappeared - probably in a plane crash. Child Services contact their Uncle Conrad, their only relative, to come and look after them. Uncle Conrad is something else. He has a hook for a hand and he wants them dead so he can take over the family assets. He's also crazy. He relates every circumstance in his life to episodes of The Lone Ranger.

To a background of sixties music, deVille draws out the tension from Robin's point of view; her imagination runs riot and so does the reader's. The novel contains gruesomeness, pathos and fear.

When the kids escape to the Bayou, the terror ratchets up. Well, alligators, a weird tribe hiding in the swamps...I defy any reader from 9-16 to put this book down once they've started it. Oh, and many a reader well past that age.

You can look at it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-in-the-Bayou-ebook.dp/B006H49LL2

It's a mere $3.99 to download.

While you're at it, don't forget to have a look at The Second Son, my Regency under the Clio historical brand from Musa. Find it here:

http://www.musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=98


It got a stunning 5 star review on Amazon.

This link will take you to the site of the blog hop where you can have a look at a number of Musa's books - all genres.

http://mnusapublishingbloghops.blogspot.com/2012/i-love-musa-books-hop.html


NOW, sweeties, if you respond to this blog post with something REALLY UNUSUAL, you'll win a free download of THE SECOND SON. See further down this site for details of the story. By unusual comments, I am looking for something different - not the usual old "nice cover" or whatever. Say something about Lost in the Bayou or about The Second Son, but say something new.

Mr. Monfort's Marriage

A couple of people have asked for the book cover of MMM. I've had a bit of trouble uploading it. Here's hoping it works this time because it's a great cover.

Okay, finally worked. Here you are Cynthia and Anna!

BLOGGING AT ANNIE SEATON'S RE MMM

What is MMM you say? Why, it's Mr. Monfort's Marriage, of course. My latest Regency Historical from Musa Publishing. And Annie is my editor so of course I watched my p's and q's on her blogsite.

Matthew Monfort is a middle class businessman. I don't do Regency rakes. The writing world is full of them. Okay, sure, there's nobody like a rake for making the heart go pitty-pat. But I like my heroes to be just that--heroes. Not known for what they are worth or their lineage, but known for what they've achieved. And Matthew Monfort has achieved much. He's also just achieved a wife, much to his annoyance. A wife from the Upper Ten Thousand, the useless strata of society that makes him grind his teeth. His father landed him in this fix. Uh huh. Verity is sweet...and intelligent...and kind...and tough...but she needn't think she's going to win him over. No.

Got a lot to learn, hasn't he?

Here's the link to Annie's blogsite:

http://annieseaton.blogspot.com.au/p/friday-friends.html