I attended this event on Sunday, June 29. It was a beautiful day, and I had a good time. The highlight for me was a panel discussion entitled Trope and Dagger: Playing (and Breaking) the Rules in Mystery Novels. Panelists were Margaret Cannon, Karen Sullivan, and Gregg Hurwitz. My takeaways included the following:
“Come into a scene in the middle, and write your way out.”
“Don’t make your villains completely evil; they are more interesting if they have both good and bad traits.”
“Readers enjoy books that cross genres, but you should master a genre before you break its rules.”
“You want to create characters by putting a mask on them and seeing the world through their eye holes.”
“Detail is good, because you want to show the narrator’s or protagonist’s expertise.”
“World-building is key; you want to write what you know about.”
I also made the rounds of the Crime Writers of Canada authors’ tables. I enjoyed talking to, among others: Del Chatterson (the new CWC chair), Silva Redigonda, Richard Chartrand, Rosemary McCracken, and Madona Skaff-Koren. I hope to meet them at other venues. Unfortunately, living as I do two hours from Toronto I don’t get to many CWC events.
