A Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity Convention, the 11th annual one, which I attended this past weekend. Seventy-seven, give or take, writers of a wide variety of genres that ran the gamut from literary to horror to fantasy to sci-fi to historical fiction and more were in the house. Rather, hotel.

After a welcome from convention organizers Austin and Denise Camacho, the panels started that Friday afternoon. There are three panels per 45-minute session, so you have to choose. Many times, I wish I could be in three places at once, but this first session the logical one for me was “The Female Protagonist.” I really wish I’d been on this panel because, well, my character, Mai Fisher, but it was instructive to listen to how other writers created and use their female protagonist.

Except for one panelist who insisted the female protagonist had to remain feminine, so no fights, no car chases, nothing that implies she would be stronger than a man. I managed to keep my mouth shut.

My next panel to attend was “Make ‘Em Laugh?”–a good presentation about how and when to inject humor even in a thriller or when you have dark subject matter. The panelists gave some great specific examples on how to use humor to deflect too much tension or to use for the characters to deal with high stress situations.

Then, it was my turn for the “Social Media for Writers” panel. We got lots of great questions from the audience, and the four of us on the panel were able to explain ways to use social media to promote our books as well as our authorship. We also warned people about the prevalence of Phishing scams on social media.

My last panel attended on Friday was “Why Breaking Stereotypes Makes Stronger Characters.” A great panel! Lots of good advice on not overdoing tropes but giving your characters a different twist from what readers expect–but not so much that you lose readers who long for those tropes.

We wrapped the day up with the massive book signing event, then dinner with keynote speaker author Jack Campbell. The final event of the first day was “Noir at the Bar,” where selected authors read (in the hotel bar, of course) stories written just for this convention. A bar and writers. I think you get the picture.

Saturday started with breakfast. (By the way, I don’t like continental breakfasts. When I’m away from home where I don’t have to cook and clean up after, I want a real breakfast, but one makes do.) Then, more panels.

The first of the day for me was “Creating Suspense,” which again was interesting and helpful because of the specific examples provided by the panelists. Next, I attended “Social Justice in Crime Drama,” and the panel never called themselves social justice warriors. However, they were, and that made the panel perfect. Great explanations of why inclusion is important in whatever form of fiction you write, and the panelists brought it back around to staying away from stereotypes when you do include minorities, women, and other protected groups in your fiction.

Lunch, then my second panel, “Follow the Clues,” was up. Unbeknownst to the panelists, our moderator had taken ill and left that morning, so we, well, moderated ourselves, touching on foreshadowing, red herrings, and other ways to scatter clues in mysteries and thrillers. Once again, we had insightful questions from the audience. Overall, a success.

I finished off the afternoon with “Genre Bending” and “The Impact of ‘Ripped from the Headlines.'” “Genre Bending” was more like a discussion of “genre mash-up,” but it was interesting to see how the authors on the panel had incorporated other genres into their main genre. “Ripped from the Headlines” I found very interesting because that’s what a lot of my historical espionage fiction is about–things that made headlines and that intrigued me, so I had to write about them.

Another book signing Saturday evening then dinner with the incredible Lee Goldberg as the keynote speaker. Goldberg is renowned as a screenwriter for shows like “Monk,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “Psych,” “Sea Quest,” “Baywatch,” and many, many more. He is also a novelist and described his journey from penning formulaic pulp fiction novels to collaborating with best-selling author Janet Evanovich on the Fox and O’Hare series of novels. Frankly, he could have also made it as a stand-up comedian. His self-deprecating and humorous stories about how he “made it” as a writer were just what new or struggling writers needed to hear.

Oh, and I won the Edgar Allan Poe-themed gift basket at the charity auction, whose proceeds go to a literacy program sponsored by Maryland Public Libraries. The Poe gift basket made my weekend.

Sunday was a half-day of more panels after breakfast, but I’d had only three and a half hours of sleep Saturday night. I decided I should hit the road before lack of sleep would crash me. Literally.

I thought about the con all the way home on the three-hour drive. It was so good to see old author friends again and meet new ones. Plus, I got several readers interested in my books. I have a big poster for this event with a QR code on it that links to my Amazon Author Page. Several people scanned it. So, that was an inspired idea.

A great weekend with readers and writers is hard to beat, and I’ll soon be signing up for next year. If you’re an avid reader and/or a writer of any experience level, you’ll find good advice and great books at the Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity Con. Check out their website HERE. Usually after a few days to decompress, the Con staff opens registration for the next year with a good discount.