CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

by Steve Steinbock

As you read this, I’m probably sitting in the lobby of the Indianapolis Hyatt Regency hanging out with John Floyd, or downstairs in the Exhibit Hall browsing paperbacks with Bill Crider, or better yet, on a lunch date with Criminal Brief veteran Melodie Johnson Howe. As I write this, though, I’m still packing. My flight leaves in the morning for this year’s Bouchercon, the 40th Annual world Mystery Convention. For any of you who happen to be in Indianapolis this weekend, please find me and introduce yourself.

This will be the thirteenth Bouchercon that I’ve attended. My first was in 1994 in Seattle. It was there that I first met Rob Lopresti, Ed Hoch, Lawrence Block, and a newcomer named S.J. Rozan whose first novel had just come out. (This year she’s the Toastmaster). Melodie was there, but I hadn’t met her yet.

People attend Bouchercon for a variety of reasons: to meet authors, to learn about the genre, to buy books, to sell books, to sign books, and to see friends. For regular attendees, Bouchercon is a bit like Brigadoon. It’s a village that pops up for one weekend a year, and wherever it appears, people jump right back into conversations where they left off twelve months earlier.

For me, the panels aren’t the big draw. I’ll show up for one if the topic grabs me, or if the panel includes some of my friends. I go to Bouchercon – or any other mystery convention for that matter – to see friends and to recharge my batteries.

Last night I printed out a conference schedule and sat down with a red pen to mark some of the sessions that I’d like to attend. I circled four sessions that looked particularly good. Then I was dismayed to realize that they were all running the same time!

The Seattle Bouchercon ran a three-track program. At 1:00 pm on Saturday (10/8/94), for example, conference attendees had a choice between a panel led by Jan Burke on the “Nuts and Bolts” of writing, a session on Jazz in crime fiction headed by Bill Moody, and an interview with Janwillem van de Wetering conducted by Michael Dibdin. On Friday (10/7/94) attendees only had to choose between one or two panel options each hour. That’s how it was in 1994, and how it stayed – with a three-track program – for the next two years. Then starting in 1997 (at the conference in Monterey, California) the number of concurrent sessions soared to six. Six panels every hour! How to choose? When to find the time to sightsee, shop for books, or just relax?

It calls to mind how paperback original thrillers have swelled from 175-225 pages to over 500. I can understand it, in part. Panels are a fantastic way for authors to reach the people who matter most: their readers. After an interesting panel, people rush to the Dealers Room to buy copies of the panelists’ books. An author with a limited budget, weighing whether or not Bouchercon makes sense for them, may legitimately tell the event organizers, “I can only justify coming if you put me on a panel.” So the organizers squeeze in one more panel per hour to accommodate those authors. But a jump from a three-track program to six-tracks? And why are some authors scheduled for two or three, or in one case, four different panels.

Complaints aside, Bouchercon is a blast, and I’m grateful to the people who put the conference together. For those of you who have never been, consider coming next year when Bouchercon is meeting in San Francisco. Or try one of the smaller events, like Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic, or Noircon. You’ll have a good time. Mystery people are the best people in the world.

Meanwhile, if I get frustrated choosing between “Killer Hobbies,” “Writing Guides,” “Fanzines,” or “Ian Fleming” you’ll probably find me browsing in the book room.

Either that or the bar.