The Westport Library offers StoryFest

 9-10 September 2022
Report by Jill Amadio

Writers conferences come in all shapes, sizes, and genres in America. Some, like the four-day annual Bouchercon for mystery writers, are attended in large numbers and attract authors from the UK, Australia, Canada, and other countries. There are more than 60 writers conferences across the United States with the most popular catering to mystery writers and most drawing in agents and publishers.

My public library in Westport, Connecticut, offers StoryFest, a small annual genre-spanning literary event with an evening discussion between two bestselling authors, followed the next day by panels on different genres. The conference this year focused heavily on crime writing and covered mystery, horror, noir, and thrillers.

Bracken MacLeod

The ‘Murder in the Morning’ panel had to be scrapped because a majority of the  panelists were struck down with mild COVID but several crime writers destined for other panels quickly stepped in and presented instead apanel on ‘The Art of the Thriller’. It featured iconic author Bracken MacLeod of Bram Stoker andSplatterpunk fame; Gambino Isglesias;Lynne Constantine; May Cobb, and Greg Galloway, most pf whom talked about the various types of literary riches including the classic poetry that inspires them.

‘Voice’ is sacred and must be respected, they all agreed. Two authors said they scared even themselves when re-reading their earlier books, and wondered why horror writers are so well-adjusted, happy, and friendly. Once I have finished a really noir scene, a panelist said, I go outside and talk to the flowers before going to the computer and creating even scarier scenes.

Galloway prefers to create his characters first, which leads him to his plot, then he practices reverse engineering, as he calls it, although he does not recommend this because it leaves too many spaces which need to be filled!  He spends days, perhaps weeks, before writing, and notes that during the process he often surprises himself, pointingout that if a writer can surprise himself, he will also surprise the reader. Like most authors, he bemoaned the marketing work that must be put onto the shoulders of authors these days, going far beyond the joy of writing,

Thriller author May Cobb writes her crime stories in collaboration with her sister. At first they came up with separate ideas for characters, plot, and settings, then realized they needed to be inside each other’s heads in order to make their books work. She believes female characters need to be likeable but, if necessary, wild.

Sci-fi author Lynn Constantine agrees that thrillers need raw, strong women characters even if they are not the protagonist.

Horror author, professor, editor, and literary critic Gambino Iglesias said his writing model is Joe Langston for his variety of genres including mysteries,  westerns, cookbooks, novels, and how-to-write books. He recommends that writers include something offensive. He likes his novels to make people angry, and advises writers to create their books for themselves, not for the agent or publisher.

He also said that if time is of the essences, discipline yourself to carve out an hour or two. He learned to type with one hand while eating a sandwich with the other. One panelist said he spent an hour a day for eight years to write his first book.  Iglesias said he still looks for gigs to pay the bills and claims he is an expert burger-flipper. Iglesias also said that you’ll never make it as a writer if your name has too many vowels. Among the tricks to keep your energy going the authors on the dais recommended using punchy words and phrases so that every chapter is similar to a short story. Rhythm of language is another way to keep the reader enjoying the book and continuing to turn the pages.

The next panel of premier crime writers was titled ‘(Never) Too Much Horror Business’ with Clay McLeod Chapman, Lorien Lawrence, Alma Katsu, Gus Moreno, and LaRocca. Billed as a session on dark fiction, one of the authors said he felt as if it was the end of the world while he was writing his noir, it was so frightening. He keeps a file of scary words and incidents he reads or hear about in the media.

Former CIA spy Alma Katsu arose before dawn for years before her first thriller was
published. She advised that finding your sweet spot, your passion, is one of the most
important things for writers, and to keep to a routine every day. She once used a research analyst because, she said, too much research can paralyze your brain!  She urged writers to develop their radar to figure out which advice to accept and which to discard. Write what you like, not necessarily what you know.

Most of the panelists agreed that agents and publishers need to be writers’ champions, not adversaries who demand massive rewrites. Paul Trembley, who was asked by his agent to rewrite his story three time,  talked about such relationships and said they should be collaborations with a writer rather than offer harsh criticism or fight about semi-colons. Writers are insecure enough as it is, pointed out MacLeod.

One author said she was so intimidated by her editor at her traditional publishing house and its demands she
rewrote the POV of two characters four times before the editor was satisfied.  Another editor changed a character’s POV without telling him, spoiling the vision the author had of his book. One editor told an author that his book was too literary to be a thriller. Constantine related that her agent once insisted she change her ending. She tried, then got writers block due to the pressure.  In conclusion, all agreed that the older they get, so do their characters!