Mystery Thriller Saturday: June 27

Mystery-Thriller Saturday: An Afternoon of Chaos, Killing, Crime, and Kidnapping @Kepler’s

Event date: Saturday, June 27, 2015 - 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Event address: 1010 El Camino Real

Menlo Park, CA 94025-4349

Saturday, June 27, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Sponsored by Peninsula Arts & Letters, Kepler’s Books, Mystery Writers of America (NorCal Chapter) and Sisters in Crime (NorCal Chapter)

1:00 p.m.: Face-off -- Plotters Versus Pantsers

Do you outline before you start writing your book or do you just plunge in and write by the seat of your pants?

Outliners Paul Draker and Steve Hockensmith will face off against Cara Black and Catriona McPherson in crime fictions’s version of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This panel will be refereed  (or moderated) by Me.

2:30 p.m. - It's Not Me, Babe 

Writing about a character way different than you

Can you successfully walk in someone else’s shoes? David Corbett, Seth Harwood, Terry Shames, and Laurie R. King will discuss the pleasures and pitfalls of writing characters who are very different to themselves. This panel will be moderated by Kepler's favorite Keith Raffel.

4:00 p.m. -  Mystery Trivia

Join us in teams of two to four and put your knowledge of mysteries to the test! There will be prizes. There will be snacks. There will be much raucous laughter. There might even be a trophy!

Click HERE to find out more about the mystery/thriller writers who are participating. And don't forget to order your tickets HERE.

Cartoon of the Day: Hype

Nero Award Nominees 2015

The Wolfe Pack announced the finalists for the 2015 Nero Award. This prize is presented annually “for the best American mystery written in the tradition of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories.” Congratulations to all!

• Herbie’s Game by Timothy Hallinan (Soho Press)
• The Detective & the Pipe Girl by Michael Craven (HarperCollins)
• First Light by Al Lamanda (Five Star)
• The Detective by James Patrick Hunt (Cengage Gale)
• Peter Pan Must Die by John Verdon (Crown)

Winner will be announced at the Black Orchid Banquet in New York in December.

HT: The Rap Sheet

Book Art

If you know me or read my blog, you know I don't like using books in art--defacing books, that is. However, sometimes books are just no longer readable--or they're full of mildew and bugs..or they're in the dumpster and can't be salvaged. Then, I guess I give using them in art a pass. Last weekend at the Bay Book Festival, I saw these two art works in a booth! I am so sorry that I didn't take the name of the artist. These were my favorites.

Cartoon of the Day: Deadline

Mapback Monday: What Rhymes with Murder?

Mapback Monday: Jack Iams' What Rhymes with Murder? 
"When a lusty Lothario sings his serenade, romance rhymes with death!"

I love these Dell Mapbacks, don't you? This is #631. And, the price can't be beat! 25 cents!

 
From the 1950 Kirkus Review:  
City Editor Rockwell and his hard to woo and win Jane (of Do Not Murder Before Christmas) are again confronted by bodies when the Record is threatened by the new, mobminded owner of the Eagle and one of its imported gunsels killed. The murder of a radical, lecherous poet puts Rockwell hors de combat, endangers Jane and it is the Record's society editor Debbie who unmasks a jealous villain while Rockwell untangles the mobster's death. Two solutions to double-deading in a light touch, lover interest mystery.