by Linda O. Johnston
As you read this, I’ll be at Bouchercon, a mystery writers’ conference that’s in San Diego this year. I attended Bouchercon in Minneapolis last year. And it’s my second writers’ conference in 2023. I was at the Romance Writers of America conference in July in Anaheim.
Yes, the conferences I’m attending are close to me this year. But I didn’t attend some others that were also close, such as California Crime Writers, which was in Culver City, and Left Coast Crime, in Tucson, Arizona.
Then there was a conference on the east coast that I used to go to every year: Malice Domestic, in Bethesda, Maryland.
Have I attended all of them before? Yes, and many in the same year. Of course things closed down because of COVID but they’re ramping up again. So’s my attendance, a bit. Will I ever return to the same level as before? Maybe, but I don’t know yet.
So why should writers go to conferences? Why do I go to conferences? Well, they’re a great place to connect with other writers, learn what they’re up to, see old friends and meet new ones. Editors, too. Depending on the conference, the traditional publishing houses also send some of their people to meet up with their authors and perhaps find new ones.
The conferences also help writers learn more about their craft, since there are usually a lot of panels to see where other writers reveal their writing secrets. Maybe. But at least they talk on specified subjects that might be of interest to an attending writer.
And speaking of those panels, if you’re a published author you’re often assigned to be a speaker on one or more. At Bouchercon, my panel this year is: Mysterious Creatures: Wild Animals and Pets. I’m really looking forward to it. And yes, in case you’re not aware of it, I write a lot about creatures and pets in my stories, primarily dogs.
How about you? Do you attend writing conferences? How do you decide which ones to attend? What do you hope to get out of them?
Oh, and by the way, I’d love for you to comment on this but I can’t promise when I’ll be able to respond–although I’ll try while I’m still at the conference.
I’m a writer.
Now I’m working on the fourth of those books. I’m first doing a synopsis and three chapters to turn in, then finishing the rest of the manuscript. I have a few months, so I should be fine. But right now I’m looking at all the weekend events, panels and more, that I’ve agreed to in the near future. Then there will be a visit from some dear family members that will probably use up a week. And an annual trip that has been extended to see those family members at their home. So… well, I’m worried about meeting that deadline.
Yes, deadlines are a part of life.
Linda O. Johnston, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, currently writes 
The Writers in Residence 
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