Killer Workshop 2022

 

By Claire Booth 

It’s been a long while since craft and writing workshops have been held. As things start to open back up, two local chapters of Sisters in Crime are back, in killer style.

Sacramento’s Capitol Crimes Chapter is partnering with South Carolina’s Palmetto Chapter to present Killer Workshop 2022. This will be two events, one in-person and one virtual event, each with a great slate of presenters. The keynote speaker for both will be thriller writer Gregg Hurwitz, author of multiple international bestsellers, including the Orphan X series.

The virtual sessions include panels on Shedding Light on Sex Trafficking Through Fiction, Partners in Crime: Mystery Co-Authors, and It’s the Law: Attorneys Writing Mysteries. 

Panelists include Clive Cussler co-author Robin Burcell, Murder She Wrote co-writer Terrie Farley Moran, Eleanor Taylor Bland Award winner Yasmin Angoe, thriller writer EA Aymar, lawyer-turned writer Roger Johns and Wanda M. Morris, the newly crowned Lefty Award winner for best debut novel. Also featured are Charles Todd, Carla Damron, and Debra H. Goldstein.

Panelists include Clive Cussler co-author Robin Burcell, Murder She Wrote co-writer Terrie Farley Moran, Eleanor Taylor Bland Award winner Yasmin Angoe, thriller writer EA Aymar, and Wanda M. Morris, the newly crowned Lefty Award winner for best debut novel.

The in-person event features presentations by writers and experts in fields related to crime, including:

Me, Claire Booth, on True and False: How to Rip True Stories from the Headlines and Turn Them into Great Fiction.

Cara Black on Setting and Place. 

Kris Calvin on Your First Novel: How to Finish Writing It & Sell It When You Do.

Police psychologist Ellen Kirschman on PTSD for Writers: Lose the Flashbacks—Please.

Eileen Rendahl on Ghostwriting: Now You See Me, Now You Don’t.

Simon Wood on Cut It Short: Writing Compelling Short Stories.

And one I absolutely can’t wait for is Both Sides of the Prison Door, with former associate prison warden James L’Etoile and former prisoner Quan Huynh, who spent 22 years in and out of prisons and now works with the Alternatives to Violence Project.

Then there will be presenters talking about not writing, but things that are just as important—

Karen Phillips on Cover Design: Presentation is Everything.

Ryan Nickel of the Sacramento County crime lab on Forensic DNA Analysis: Everything You Need to Know.

And finally, in a special appearance, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert on The Power of Investigative Genetic Genealogy to Solve Violent Crime.

For more on all the presenters, click here.

If you’re anywhere near Northern California, come to the in-person event:  

Saturday, May 14, 2022

8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (lunch will be provided)

Rancho Cordova City Hall (just east of Sacramento)

2729 Prospect Park Drive

Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

If you’re farther away, you still have the great option of the virtual workshop the same day, May 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Pacific Time).

And if you register before May 12, you’ll be automatically entered to win a free developmental/line edit for a story of 5,000 words from Barb Goffman, a multi-award winning short story author and editor.

Here I am recording a promo for Killer Workshop 2022 with Terry Shepherd, who's much better at these things than I am.

Criminal Activities

by Holly West

In the past year or so, I've become much more involved with both the crime fiction writing community at large and my own local community. In addition to writing weekly for the Do Some Damage blog, I now write a bi-weekly post for Prose & Cons. Locally, I'm the Vice President of Sisters in Crime Los Angeles and the newsletter editor for the Southern California chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. Finally, I'm involved in the planning/administration of the bi-annual California Crime Writers Conference, an event that's near and dear to my heart because it was the first writers conference I ever attended (in 2009).

Admittedly, some of these commitments result in some regular kicking and screaming on my part. For example, the monthly Sisters in Crime meetings are located in Pasadena and everyone from Southern California knows that the east/west trek from Venice to Pasadena (or really, anywhere in SoCal), is a pain in the ass, even on a Sunday afternoon.

And of course, a more serious consequence of getting more active in the writing community is the time it takes away from actual writing. This continues to be an issue for me, but one I'm determined to overcome. Why? Because becoming more involved in these circles have added far more to my life than they've taken away.

How do I benefit?

1) It's tougher to make friends as one grows older, but my activities in SoCal MWA and Sisters in Crime Los Angeles have resulted in numerous new friendships. Some are deeper than others, but on the whole I feel blessed to have so many great writers as friends.

2) Mutual Backscratching: Okay so that might sound creepy but what I mean is that by serving in your local writing organizations, you are putting cash in the "favor bank." You'd be surprised how often that pays off, both in little and big ways. Examples: Blurbs and promotional opportunities from other authors (some with much higher profiles than my own), and invitations/recommendations to speak and read at local events.

3) You've heard it said a million times that writing is a solitary craft. Leaving the house on a regular basis to socialize with other writers is sanity-enhancing.

4) Name visibility. With so much marketing responsibility on our author-plates, this is another opportunity to get your name out and sell books.

I'm fortunate to live in Southern California, where there is a vibrant crime fiction community. If yours isn't quite so active (or even non-existent), you can still join MWA and Sisters in Crime at the national level. You can pitch and write guest posts to bloggers like myself (and not just when you have a book coming out). And if you do live in a place where you have local writing organizations, I encourage you to get involved. Don't be like me and wait until your book is coming out. You just might be surprised by how much value you get for your time spent.