Alec Peche's Blog - Posts Tagged "bouchercon-2014"

I am one of many authors honored to be given twenty minutes on the agenda at the Bouchercon conference in Long Beach. I’ll be in Harbor B on Saturday November 15, 2014. The instructions say that the twenty minutes is ours to do what we want - we can discuss writing, demonstrate a craft, or do a Q & A. As I am a more a sports playing newbie author than one with crafting talents, the vision of demonstrating a craft I barely have skill at is a scary proposition. So I gave more thought as to what I can bring to the table for fans or fellow authors. I have decided to talk about the joy of being a pantser since it seems very counter-culture to most of the writing world.

When I began the journey of writing rather later in life, I approached it from the traditional angle. I downloaded an app to my iPad. I dutifully tried to fill out all the questions - what was the point of the story, who were the characters, what was the plot, what would happen in each chapter, etc. I must have spent a week trying to fill it in, but mostly I drew a blank. I knew I wanted a political corruption story, set in California, and the title of the book would be Vials. Literally, where do you start for that first word you place on paper with the intent of having a murder mystery at the end of it? In the end I thought, let me figure out the first paragraph and I did. Then I had enough of a story in my head for a second and a third paragraph then a full page, and then a 1,000 words. I went back to the outline even after 1,000 words and I still couldn’t complete the book outline. I wouldn’t even admit to being an author, as I felt in my head that without the story board, or story outline on some writer’s software package that I must not be a real author. I would see other blog posts from writers with a picture taken of the author standing to the side with sticky notes all over it proudly showing this as the foundation of their latest story.

I was about three quarters of the way finished with writing my first book’s draft, when I had the infinite pleasure of listening to an audiobook written and read by Stephen King - On Writing. He managed to describe and give me a fabulous picture of his approach to writing which had for the most part mirrored my own approach. Hallelujah!

While I have collected a total of four college degrees, not one of them was awarded for anything remotely connected to English, Writing, or Literature. I have never taught English or grammar and consider myself a novice at both unlike Mr. King who is an expert and has taught English. I don’t remember any of the classics, although I do have favorites in the more recent novels of Pride and Prejudice and Lord of the Flies. As a mystery writer, it is likely that the heavy (I don’t know what else to call it) writing of centuries past would put the reader to sleep before they solved the crime.

Still, having diagnosed myself as a pantser (def: a writer who flies by the seat of their pants), I have still tried to reform my style. For book three - A Breck Death ,I downloaded a sample of the most popular writer’s software that you can use for any thirty days for free. I have managed to use it one of my thirty days so far. Again I threw in the towel and reverted to my pantser ways. In book four, I’m not even trying to eliminate the pantser side of my personality.

So what are the downsides to be a pantser? With each story, I have a range of characters in my head each acting and behaving according to their personalities. I have on occasion let the character behave in an inconsistent manner. My female protagonist is a very strong willed character and occasionally I have written something more suited to a general commanding an army than to her showing her love for her main man in the story. Fortunately, my beta readers pick up on those inconsistences and I have the opportunity to fix them.

I understand from doing more research into the pantser style that about 25% of writers are pantsers, and 75% are outliners. I haven’t yet attended a writer’s workshop, so I don’t know if there is a “test” that a new writer could take to figure out their style. I see if I can find the answer to that question before November’s meeting. It sure would have been a confidence builder for me if I had known early in my writing journey that I was a pantser.

I like complexity in my stories and I need to write about 15,000 words before that complexity begins to appear in my head. My imagination builds on itself, so while I can’t envision the twists and turns that the plot is going to take at the very start of the story, I know that in time those twists will reveal themselves. With my current WIP, I have just over 16,000 words written, and I have laid the groundwork for two of the characters that wanted my victim dead and their motives, but I know as the story goes along that I will dream up additional plots. I rarely experience writer’s block. If I do, I stay away from writing for a few days, come back to the story, re-read a part of it, and then get a new idea for the direction of the story.

Along the way in all of my novels, I perform internet searches on topics in my books. In Chocolate Diamonds I studied the diamond industry extensively and wrote that into my story. Often, doing a little more research on a particular piece of the story gives me a direction to go next with my writing that I can’t imagine at the start.

At Bouchercon, I plan to share my journey as a writer with the hope of giving back to that attendee that has tried to start their writing journey but is not getting anywhere. Maybe their style is in conflict with their present approach. Perhaps that person is a pantser and hasn’t figured it out yet and I can offer a little help.

Cheers and see you in Long Beach,
Alec Peche

I’m attending my first Bouchercon this year. I have put a lot of preparation into the conference to ensure that I am getting the maximum return on my registration fee and time away from writing. I live in Northern California and thus will have a five to six hour drive to the conference. I’ve found a cheaper, high quality hotel in the city of Long Beach, but it’s a good three miles from the convention center.

I have three goals. I want to enjoy myself and meet authors, bloggers, and readers. As a writer, there is very little face to face contact with anyone. As many people have said before me, writing is a solitary occupation. Most book marketing is solitary as well: writing FB, Twitter, and blog posts; looking at sales charts; reviewing ads; and keeping all social media about oneself up to date. At Bouchercon, from all the other blog posts, I understand that I need to spend time at the bar in casual conversation. I don’t know another soul attending and starting new conversations with strangers will never be on my bucket list. I think the other blogs I have read from people attending and making friends are from self-deprecating extroverts. I’ll be that short, quiet person looking uncomfortable, holding a glass of wine, examining my green iPhone for anything to distract me from the discomfort of making new friends! One other piece of fun is Long Beach itself. It is a beautiful beach to walk on. You can choose to walk close to the waves or on the concrete sidewalk where you’ll find walkers, runners, bicyclists, and roller bladders. I try to make 12,000 steps a day, so a daily beach walk will be included in that.

My second goal is to learn about being a better writer. I have l studied the program and planned all of my sessions. In some cases there were two choices that appealed to me and so I may cut out of one to join the other. I’m attending Murder in a Locked Room. In my WIP, I wrote myself into a corner with a lack of clues to follow. I am a pantser writer and I think that if you’re not careful you can get stuck with your story. I like solving the perfect crime as a reader and as a writer. So I am hoping for “clues” on writing the perfect murder.

I’m also attending Cops around the World. My second book Chocolate Diamonds, is set in Belgium and the Netherlands. I did a lot of research to understand cops, Interpol, and gun laws in those two countries. Despite my research I know there is much I don’t know about international law enforcement. If you watch enough American-made spy movies, you have this impression that Interpol is this large overarching crime detecting group. Then I studied their areas of focus and their total staff worldwide (650 people) and I knew they couldn’t be this omnipresent force globally. I had to change the interactions between the Belgian and Dutch Police forces as being the lead investigators rather than Interpol.

One other among the fourteen or so sessions that I think I want to attend is Kick Ass Woman. My books feature a female protagonist with three female friends solving crimes (yes, they do get a little help from men along the way). Unfortunately I am also doing an Author Focus Session from 11:30 to 11:50, so I may miss the first thirty minutes of the session.

Being a type A personality, more comfortable learning than conversing, I’ll see how much I can pack into four days of wonderful writer opportunity.
My third goal is to find new readers and fans. Toward this goal, I have boxes in my car filled with paperback copies of my books which you will find at Scene of the Crime book store in the Book Room at the convention. I also have business cards, a few bookmarks, and stands to hold either books or book covers depending on where I am.

I am scheduled to do Author Speed Dating with a chance to reach up to 500 attendees with a 2.5 minute speech about my books. I have my speech written and practiced to make sure I stay within the time limit. This should be fun but exhausting to tell your book’s story to so many people in so little time while trying to stay fresh and friendly. Fortunately, I’m a morning person, so I am already halfway there.

I am volunteering at the registration table on Friday. I did attend West Coast Crime this past March and noted that this was a great way to meet people and again I’m a morning person and inclined to be friendly and energetic at 7am.

Finally, I am doing an Author Focus Session on Saturday. I have an outline of my talk prepared, but I am also planning to secret shop other Author Focus sessions on Thursday and Friday to see what last minute adjustments I need to make for my Author Focus Session.

Hopefully, by the end of Bouchercon, I’ll have a little more visibility in the world of murder mysteries!

It is strange that through my first four books, I have been unable to tame my pantser ways, but when it comes to making the most of Bouchercon, I am as organized as a person can be.

Alec Peche

The forty-fifth Bouchercon in Long Beach, California, was my first B-Con. I came away with new knowledge in so many different ways. The first thing I learned was the convention name is pronounced like voucher with a “B” rather than Boo-cher-con as I had been pronouncing it. I still have to pause and hear the word voucher in my head before saying it aloud.

I love the spirit of volunteerism that exists at the convention. It was a meeting of ‘pay-it -forward’ souls. As a volunteer at the registration table on the second day, I had looked at what author packets were remaining to be distributed. I had the enormous good luck to distribute Sue Grafton’s packet to her. I have met many famous people in my life and I can’t remember where in my past I uttered the most inane phase - “Oh, I love your books!”. Duh, that might be why she has sold millions. Gracious writer that she was, she just wanted directions to all the meeting rooms. Kudos to Ingrid, and her team for doing such a fabulous job with an all-volunteer workforce.

As I wrote in my pre-conference blog post, I had nearly every hour of every day filled in with some wonderful panel discussions. I loved author speed dating. I had two minutes to describe the four books of my series. I reached probably one-hundred readers face to face. What an opportunity!

I was happy to hear some recurring themes by several authors. I was amazed how many writers use characters from real life in their books. Most of the characters in my books are modeled after people that are or have been in my life. I also heard that my fellow authors don’t kill children or puppies. Nothing turns me off as a fan faster than the death of a child or a dog in a book.

Then there are the books….I have eighteen new books on my bookshelf, most of them signed by the author. I don’t need to buy another book for a year! I also wrote notes during the panels to get this or that author’s book, so add another eighteen to my reading list.

Despite the spirit de corps of the writers, Bouchercon is a real reality check. You see so many quality authors that you have to compete against for the reader’s attention. When you hear the very successful authors say that are worried about their next book being a success, you have a sense of the depth of desire to make one’s latest release as good or better than the previous forty books. As a new writer, I saw the mystery awards mountain in front of me that I’ll likely never climb.

I have my first book signing coming up in 3 months and I was happy to hear of the book signing stories of Jeffrey Deaver, JA Jance, and Simon Wood. Another author bemoaned being placed next to Sara Paretsky for a signing. Her line was out the door and he had no one in front of him. One author told me he was happy when he had to sign fifteen books at a book store. This is all helpful for setting my expectations when my book signing day arrives.

On the social media front, I learned a lot about Twitter, and advertising on Facebook, Goodreads, and Google Ads. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of all of these methods to get the word out on your book. On Sunday it was refreshing to hear the agents and Editors panel talk about how they select books, how you need to track analytics, and advice on the buying behavior of Barnes and Noble.

My favorite quote that I walked away with was from Michaela Hamilton of Kensington Books. Her comment was that “Their books are about escape”. They want to provide the reader with an escape into the story. That fits so well with my own personal perspective of I simply aspire to entertain the reader with the story I have invented.

Thanks to all the volunteers and organizers that made this meeting fabulous!