Murderous March 2023

March 10 & 11, 2023

Registration closes March 7th at 11:59pm Eastern

GUEST OF HONOR : NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR DEBORAH CROMBIE

Hosted by
The Upper Hudson Chapter of Sisters in Crime,
The Mavens of Mayhem

SCHEDULE (All Panels are Live, Not Pre-Recorded)
All events are online only.

Support our partner bookstore, Mysteries on Main Street: purchase author’s books through this link (or provided link for each panel’s books below)

Friday March 10, 2023

1:00 p.m. Eastern: Opening Remarks

Tina deBellegarde, Chair Murderous March
Carol Pouliot, President Upper Hudson chapter SinC, Co-chair Murderous March

Friday Books: Link to Bookstore

1:15 – 2:15 p.m. Eastern
Pitch Workshop with Edwin Hill

Finding a way to get your manuscript to stand out in a crowd is one of the tricks of being a writer. In this hands-on session, we’ll take a look at today’s traditional publishing process, then we’ll dig into writing pithy-yet-substantive descriptions of manuscripts.

Edwin Hill’s critically-acclaimed crime novels include the standalone thriller, The Secrets We Share, and three novels featuring Hester Thursby. He has been nominated for Edgar and Agatha Awards, featured in Us Magazine, received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal, and was recognized as one of “Six Crime Writers to Watch” in Mystery Scene magazine. He lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts with his partner Michael and his favorite reviewer, their lab Edith Ann, who likes his first drafts enough to eat them.

2:30 – 3:45 p. m. Eastern
Master Class #1 with Guest of Honor Deborah Crombie

“How to Keep Your Series Alive and Your Readers Coming Back for More”
Space is limited!

Interested in crafting a series that will bring readers back for a second novel—or a twentieth? We’ll cover topics including:

Creating series characters
How to handle your series timeline
The importance of setting and community
Series relationships
Expanding your series cast
Dealing with romance in a series
Do series novels reflect real life?

New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie’s Edgar, Macavity, and Agatha nominated series features Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James.

Crombie lives in North Texas with her husband, German Shepherds, and cats, and divides her time between Texas and Great Britain. Her latest novel, A Killing of Innocents, is available from William Morrow Feb 7, 2023.

4:00- 5:15 p. m. Eastern
Master Class #2 with Bruce Robert Coffin

“Keeping It Real”
Space is limited

Looking to add some realism to your thriller/mystery writing? Join Bruce Robert Coffin, Retired Detective Sergeant and bestselling mystery author as he discusses police procedure, murder investigations, and more. You’ll learn the who, what, why, when, and how of investigations and how to apply that knowledge to your work.

Some of the topics covered will include:

The CSI effect. What is it and why it doesn’t fly in high-end writing?
Evidence gathering (The real deal)
Cold Cases. What are they and how are they investigated?
First response vs. CID (Two worlds-two goals)
Dealing with the media, hierarchy and chain of command (Who’s in charge here?)
Job stressors and how cops cope (or don’t)
Telling lies (Everybody does it.)

Bruce Robert Coffin is the award-winning author of the Detective Byron mysteries. Winner of Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion Awards for Best Procedural, and Best Investigator, and the Maine Literary Award for Best Crime Fiction Novel. Bruce was also a finalist for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. His short fiction appears in a number of anthologies, including Best American Mystery Stories 2016.

5:15 p. m. Eastern: Closing Remarks and Information about Saturday’s programs by Tina deBellegarde, Chair Murderous March

Saturday March 11, 2023

10:30 a.m. Eastern
Welcoming Remarks

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Eastern
We Love a Mystery: History, Mystery and Romance (Purchase books)

MODERATOR: AMY PATRICIA MEADE
Amy Patricia Meade is the author of the critically acclaimed Marjorie McClelland Mysteries, Vermont Country Living Mysteries, and Tish Tarragon Mysteries. After five years living in Bristol, England, she now resides in Halfmoon, NY.

GENEVIEVE ESSIG:
Genevieve Essig writes the Cassie Gwynne Mysteries, a warm and witty historical mystery series set on Gilded Age Amelia Island, Florida. All are available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook on Amazon and B&N.com (Bookouture/Hachette UK).

MARIAH FREDERICKS:
Mariah Fredericks was born, raised, and still lives in New York City. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in history. She is the author of the Jane Prescott mystery series, which has twice been nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award. Her most recent novel is THE LINDBERGH NANNY.

NEV MARCH:
Nev March is the first Indian-born author to receive the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Award for Best First Crime Fiction. Her debut novel, Murder in Old Bombay was an Edgar and Anthony award finalist.

KAREN ODDEN
USA Today bestselling author Karen Odden received her PhD in English from NYU and taught at UW-Milwaukee before turning to fiction. Under a Veiled Moon (2022) is her fifth Victorian mystery.

11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Eastern
Murder at High Noon: Western Mysteries that Rope the Reader In (Purchase books)

MODERATOR: DALE PHILLIPS
Stephen King was Dale T. Phillips‘ college writing teacher, and since then Dale has published mysteries, other novels, over 70 short stories, story collections, poetry, and non-fiction. He’s found time to appear on stage, television, in an independent feature film, and compete on Jeopardy.

GERALD ELIAS
Gerald Elias is a world-class violinist and author of the critically acclaimed Daniel Jacobus mystery series and other novels. His short fiction has been widely published, including Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Coolest American Stories 2023.

JAMES L’ETOILE
James L’Etoile uses his twenty-nine years behind bars as an associate warden in a maximum-security prison, a hostage negotiator, and director of California’s state parole system to influence his award-winning novels, short stories, and screenplays.

J.R. SANDERS
J.R. Sanders is an award-winning Southern California writer of historical fiction and nonfiction. Bring the Night, due out April 2023 from Level Best Books/Historia, is his third novel featuring Los Angeles private investigator Nate Ross.

TERRY SHAMES
Terry Shames writes the popular Samuel Craddock series, set in fictional Jarrett Creek, Texas. The series won the Macavity Award and the RT Reviews Critics Award. Terry lives in Southern California.

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Interview with Guest of Honor Deborah Crombie

2:15 – 3:15 p.m. Eastern
Things that Go Bump in the Night: Unusual Sleuths (Purchase books)

MODERATOR: ERICA OBEY
Erica Obey is the author of The Brooklyn North Murder, her locked-room series debut, as well as five other award-winning novels. She taught college-level classes on mysteries before she decided she’d rather write the stories herself.

ESME ADDISON
Author of The Enchanted Bay Mystery Series, Esme Addison is the bestselling and Agatha nominee for Best First Novel. She resides in North Carolina with her family.

JEFF COHEN/EJ COPPERMAN
Jeff Cohen writes intentionally funny mystery novels as himself and as E.J. Copperman. His current novel is And Justice For Mall, and in May he’ll introduce Fran and Ken Stein in Ukulele of Death.

GIGI PANDIAN
Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling author and locked-room mystery enthusiast who’s been awarded Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Derringer awards. The New York Times Book Review calls her new Secret Staircase mystery series “wildly entertaining.”

LEIGH PERRY
Leigh Perry writes the Family Skeleton mysteries, featuring adjunct English professor and single mother Georgia Thackery and her skeletal pal Sid. Together, they solve crime. The Skeleton Stuffs a Stocking is the most recent.

CAROL POULIOT
Carol Pouliot writes the acclaimed Blackwell and Watson Time-Travel Mysteries, traditional police procedurals with a seemingly impossible relationship between a Depression-era cop and a 21^st-century journalist. Carol is a founding member of Sleuths and Sidekicks.

3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern
Young Sleuths: Not Just for Kids Anymore (Purchase books)

MODERATOR: TINA DEBELLEGARDE
Tina deBellegarde writes the Batavia-on-Hudson Mysteries. The first book, Winter Witness, was nominated for several awards. Known as “the Louise Penny of the Catskills,” Tina co-chairs the Murderous March Conference and is a founding member of Sleuths and Sidekicks.

JOHN COPENHAVER
John Copenhaver is the award-winning author of two historical mysteries, Dodging and Burning (2018) and The Savage Kind (2021). He teaches creative writing and literature at VCU and in a low-res MFA program at University of Nebraska.

CAROL GOODMAN
Carol Goodman is the author of twenty-four novels, including The Lake of Dead Languages, The Seduction of Water, which won the 2003 Hammett Prize, The Widow’s House, which won the 2018 Mary Higgins Clark Award, and The Night Visitors, which won the 2020 Mary Higgins Clark Award. Her books have been translated into sixteen languages. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family and teaches literature and writing at The New School and SUNY New Paltz. Her most recent novel is The Disinvited Guest.

RICHIE NARVAEZ
Richie Narvaez is the award-winning author of the books Roachkiller & Other Stories, Hipster Death Rattle, Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco, and, most recently, Noiryorican.

ALAN ORLOFF
Alan Orloff has won two ITW Thriller Awards, a Derringer Award, and last year, his YA thriller, I PLAY ONE ON TV, won both an Agatha Award and an Anthony Award. He lives in Florida.

ROBIN STEVENS
Robin Stevens is the bestselling and award-winning author of the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries series of novels for children. Born in California, she grew up in Oxford, England, and now lives there with her family.

4:45 – 5:45 p.m. Eastern
Cozy Up with Comfort Food: Cozy Mysteries that Feed Your Imagination (Purchase books)

MODERATOR: JEN COLLINS MOORE
Jen Collins Moore transports readers to Rome in The Maggie White Mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mystery Weekly and Masthead: The Best New England Crime Stories. Jen’s an avid traveler and writes mysteries about the places she loves to visit. Jen is a founding member of Sleuths and SIdekicks.

LESLIE BUDEWITZ
Three-time Agatha-Award winner Leslie Budewitz writes the Spice Shop mysteries, set in Seattle, and Food Lovers’ Village mysteries, inspired by Bigfork, Montana, where she lives. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody suspense, most recently Blind Faith.

DEBRA H. GOLDSTEIN
Judge Debra H. Goldstein writes Kensington’s Sarah Blair series (Five Belles Too Many, One Taste Too Many). Her novels and short stories won an IPPY and have been Agatha, Anthony, Silver Falchion, and Derringer finalists.

MIA P. MANANSALA
Mia P. Manansala (she/her) is the author of the multi-award-winning Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture.

KORINA MOSS
Korina Moss is the author of the Cheese Shop Cozy Mystery series from St. Martin’s Press. The first three books in the series are Cheddar Off Dead, Gone For Gouda, and Curds of Prey.

RAQUEL V. REYES
Raquel V. Reyes writes Latina protagonists. Her work has won a LEFTY award and International Latino Book Award, been nominated for an Agatha Award, and optioned for film. Raquel’s short stories appear in various anthologies, including The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022.

5:45 p.m. Eastern: Closing Remarks

PITCHES

Pitch Sessions to be arranged separately at registration. If you are interested in arranging for a pitch session and did not do so at registration, please contact us at Tinadebellegarde@gmail.com orCPouliot13@gmail.com (note below about Cindy B. pitches currently closed–and link to wait list)

Literary Agent: Cindy Bullard at Birch Literary Agency

Cindy represents traditional authors, indie authors, and publishers. In adult fiction, Cindy is looking for traditional mysteries (standard PI, classic detective, or cozy), true crime, police procedural, thriller, and suspense. She is also interested in narrative non-fiction. At this time, please do not submit children’s (picture book, MG, or YA) or any romance.

Agent pitches with Cindy Bullard are now closed. You may choose to pitch our editor or sign up on the waiting list in case an opening occurs.

Editor: Rick Ollerman at Stark House Press

Rick Ollerman is a crime fiction novelist, short story writer, editor and critic. He has recently edited Down & Out: The Magazine and is currently the Editor at Large for Stark House Press. Rick is always looking for crime fiction across all genres that has a strong emphasis on telling good stories while avoiding cliches or well-worn tropes.

REGISTER

Friday Master Classes (1 AND 2): $40 each (if you register for one of the Master Classes, Saturday panels are free along with Edwin Hill’s Friday Pitch Workshop)

Master Class #1 Sold Out, Master Class #2 has very limited seating. If you want to be on the wait list in case any spaces becomes open, please purchase the $15 Panels Only and then sign up through this form. If any slots become open in a master class, we will contact you and you will be able to pay the difference. Wait List

SOLD OUT BUY BOTH MASTER CLASSES: $70 TOTAL (includes Edwin Hill’s Friday Pitch Workshop and Saturday panels)

Saturday Program ONLY: $15 (includes BONUS: Edwin Hill’s Friday Pitch Workshop)

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

Please contact us for any payment questions: eleanor.kuhns@gmail.com

We look forward to having you join us for another Murderous March!

March 10 & 11, 2023