That Post-Conference Pay-Off

You came. You saw. You conquered . . . almost.

For writers, conferences like International Thriller Writers' Thrillerfest, Romance Writers of America's National Conference, and Killer Nashville are golden opportunities to learn, connect, and have fun. But just like gold, conferences can be costly. Between travel, hotel, plenty of meals, the cost of conference registration, maybe a new outfit or two, and--let's face it--all the awesome books you'll buy in addition to the ones you'll be given, a writer can spend a pretty penny. So how can a writer be sure to get her money's worth? She needs to focus on the post-conference pay-off.

Without focusing on the post-conference pay-off, a writer is only making a partial return on her hefty investment. But that doesn't have to happen to you. Here are my top tips for making the most of your conference experience after you come home.

Step one: Put those business cards you collected to work for you. After the event and while some names and faces are still fresh in your mind, jot a few notes to yourself about the people who gave you those cards. What did you talk about? Did you like the same books? Did you write in the same genre? Send a few of those folks an email letting them know how much you enjoyed discussing common interests or wishing them good luck with their queries. Sure, it can be daunting to email someone you just met, but you're investing in others and there's never anything wrong with that. Down the road, you might find you've developed a real friendship or a helpful professional contact. That person might faithfully buy all your books one day--or become famous and blurb them.

Step two: Put a technique to work for you. If you sat-in on a great seminar about plotting or a panel about breaking through to a larger readership, study your notes once you're home and set aside time to give this new technique a try. Change can be hard, but by tackling one technique, perhaps over a weekend, you're ensuring the money you spent to hear about that idea was well spent. This is an investment in your skill set. And any investment in you will pay-off after the long haul.

Step three: Put it all in perspective and let a fresh mindset work for you. By the time you leave the conference and walk through your own front door, chances are you'll be beyond exhausted. But then, it's back to the day job, the laundry, and life. From that perspective, it may look like you slid backwards instead of gaining ground at the conference. So print off a few photos and put them in your work space to remind you of the fun you had at that publisher's party or out to eat with your pals. And in the coming week, eliminate one chore so you can catch a little time on the couch or chase some more shut-eye. If you say it's all right to skip mowing the yard, odds are it really is all right. So let yourself relax and recover. Remember, we don't have to do it all. And we don't have to do it all right now. Publishing is a marathon, not a sprint. And going to a conference can be as high a priority as doing the dishes. So invest in your mindset. It's worth everything.

Now, there you have my top tips for the post-conference pay-off. What do you do after you get home to make the most of a conference?

Beyond Character Foils with Karin Slaughter

or, Betty Makes Me Love Will More
 

If you read Karin Slaughter’s crime fiction/thrillers, then you know Will and Betty. If you don't, then pick up Slaughter's newest release, Criminal, and be prepared to stay up all night hiding under the covers and reading by flashlight. Slaughter will take you on an electrifying ride with characters you’ll love and hate, and scenes so scary that for days after you'll be as jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

  

Slaughter is a talented writer and she’s skilled at nuance. This is especially apparent when writing about Will and Betty. In a Will Trent thriller, Slaughter devotes maybe 500 words to Betty. Yet, when the book is done, I know it is Betty that allowed me the most poignant glimpses into Will’s psyche. Betty's character is a foil for Will's but not in the standard Laurel and Hardy type of contrast. This is deeper and much more subtle. 

Literary-devices.com writes that a ‘foil’ is a literary device where the author creates a character whose primary purpose is to present a contrast to another character. We all know some great examples of foils: Ginger and Mary Ann, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Hercule Poirot and Captain Hasting.

Character foils are useful in fleshing out a character in a show don't tell way. By painting a portrait of the adoring and dense Captain Hastings, Agatha Christie’s detective Poirot appears even more cerebral and urbane. Mary Ann’s pigtails contrast sharply with Ginger’s glamorous bouffant hair-do, and the BBC’s Jeremy Brett’s portrayal of the genius Holmes makes Dr. Watson look like a torpip, imbecile, not to put too fine a point on it. 

That’s not what Betty does for Will. Will’s partner, Faith, is a great foil for Will. She’s short, he’s tall; she’s an insider, he’s an outsider; she’s outspoken, he’s reserved; she smooth, Will is awkward. Faith tells Will that he has all the social graces of a feral monkey. Granted Will’s got some issues (he’s got more baggage than steerage in the Titanic), but to my knowledge he isn’t masturbating in public and flinging feces. 

So, as a foil, how is Betty different and why does it matter?

At her most superficial level, Betty’s feminity is a perfect foil for Will’s masculinity. Why? Because, Betty is a 6 pound chihuahua wearing a pink collar. Will likes to scoop her up and tuck her under his arm like a bug-eyed clutch. It should make him look ridiculous. It doesn’t. Betty only enhances Will’s masculine charms and makes him more endearing.

Slaughter could have stopped there. Betty as an accessory—like the purse-riding chihuahua in Legally Blonde. But, Betty goes deeper. Betty is the outward symbol of Will’s decency and kindness. This is important because considering Will’s troubled childhood of abuse and deprivation, he could be a monster, like the murderers he chases and finds. But he isn’t. Will rescued Betty. He built her a koi pond so she’s wouldn’t be bored while he’s a work. He is (mostly) not ashamed to be seen in public with her. He has mother-hen-like moments of caring for Betty that tell the reader: this is good man. He’s definitely husband and father material—once you clear up the issues with the ex-wife.

This is what Slaughter says about Will: I think women love him because he does the dishes without having to be asked.  …he's a very complicated man with some dark secrets…he doesn't let his past ruin the present.  He doesn't mope around.  He doesn't try to get pity... he's age appropriate, meaning he's responsible, has a good job and doesn't sit around all day playing video games. (Click here to read interview)

Will Trent is an incredibly popular fictional character. So much so, that “his” books are going to be made into a TV series (learn more). Betty has had a hand (uh, paw) in building Will’s popularity by being more than an accessory, by providing a deeper exploration of this complex character and that is why Betty makes me love Will more.

How are you using character foils and pets in your own work? I’d love to hear from you.

Agatha Award Winner Sandra Parshall Talks Political Thrillers . . . Or Not

The Rockville 8

is thrilled to host the Agatha Award-winning author of the Rachel Goddard mysteries, Sandra Parshall. 

Sandra's fifth book, Bleeding Through, was published September 4. 

She lives in McLean, VA, with her husband and two cats. 

Visit her website at http://www.sandraparshall.com and read her Wednesday blog at http://www.poesdeadlydaughters.blogspot.com. But first, Sandra visits the Eight and spills the beans about her writing life and living near the nation's capital. Take it away, Sandra.

Someday I’ll write that political thriller… or not

by Sandra Parshall

Sometimes I feel as if I’m wasting my own personal setting.

I’ve lived in or just outside Washington, DC, for half my life, but except for my first book, The Heat of the Moon, and a couple of scenes in Disturbing the Dead and Bleeding Through, I’ve never set a book here. More specifically, I’ve never tried to write a Washington thriller.

You know the kind of books I mean. How could you not know, when you see them in every bookstore and every drugstore and supermarket book rack? Often they have flags on the cover, or a portentous image of the White House or the Capitol. Shadowy figures running for their lives from unseen pursuers are also popular cover art for Washington-centered novels. Within the pages of these books, you’ll find plots to destroy America, plots to take over the world, plots to take down a single politician by digging up (literally, in some cases) a hidden scandal. Since The Da Vinci Code, an increasing number of authors have introduced ancient documents and such into their very modern political thrillers. Many people die. Lives are ruined. Everybody is sadder but not the least bit wiser at the end.

Why can’t I write this sort of book and cash in on the trend? I live here. Inspiration is all around me. Members of Congress shop at the same supermarket and hardware store I patronize. My husband is a longtime Washington journalist (now retired from a newsmagazine) who could give me lots of juicy details to work into my plots. And I care about politics. I think a citizen would have to be crazy these days to be indifferent to what’s happening in DC. So I should dream up a plot, sit down at my computer, and get started on my future bestseller, right?

The only problem: I couldn’t do it if you put a gun to my head.

I’m not disparaging the people who write and read political thrillers, but I can’t do either.  If a book cover has a picture of the U.S. flag or a federal government building, I steer clear of it and leave it for the true fans of the subgenre. Real politics makes me anxious enough without having fictional scenarios added.

I didn’t even let Rachel stay in McLean. In the second book, I moved her to the mountains, far from the taint of national politics. I’m happy writing about a small community in the Blue Ridge. I find much more drama there, on a human scale, than I would in the Situation Room or a campaign headquarters.

Still, when I drive past the White House or the Capitol, I can’t help feeling a small twinge of regret as I wonder what’s going on inside that might inspire a book. Maybe someday I’ll get an idea I can’t resist, and suddenly I’ll be writing a political thriller. Who knows? When it comes to writing and publishing, I’ve learned the same lesson I absorbed long ago about real politics: don’t make predictions, and never say never.