This past weekend, I again attended the Creatures, Crime, and Creativity Conference, otherwise known as C3. If you don’t know, this is a conference for writers and readers. It’s a true conference, and not a “fan” convention, although there are some fans. The conference runs 3 days and I’ve been going for 5-6 years now… I’ve lost track.

I’ve been to a few writer’s conferences–I’m not big on conventions. Which are big. C3 is small, intimate, and personal. It’s the first writer’s conference I ever attended, and it’s my favorite. You know the saying about never forgetting your first–or is it thirst? I can never remember. ;) Anyway, that’s why I so enjoy C3. It’s not overwhelming. I’m an introvert, and I need to make an effort to talk and chat with people. The act of holding a conversation drains my energy. I don’t mind that at C3 even though I was “dragging” after each day.

I drove from Dover to Columbia, MD, early on Thursday in order to beat the rush hour and to give me time to decompress from the hour and a half drive. The Doubletree Hotel is great, and this was the second year the conference was held there.
I checked in, and then settled in the lobby to do some editing on my Watsonian novel. That would be the last chunk of productive writing time. Others began to arrive, the first of which was Bruce Coffin, whom I met last year. He’s a really cool guy and author of the “Detective Byron Mysteries.” If you like your police procedurals steeped in authenticity, he’s the author for you.

I won’t go though everyone else that I met or knew. That would be a very long list. I’ll just point out the highlights.

As I said, I got to the conference on Thursday, so there was nothing going on. I hung out and chatted with people as they came in, had dinner in the hotel and called it a day.

Conference registration opened at 9AM on Friday, as did the bookstore that is always set up. I trundled my box of books down to the store. What? I have 7 books published? That still blows my mind. Anyway, I dropped off my stack of books. This year, I included a couple of copies of my first book, “Puffin and Griswold In the Tunnel of Darkness”. It’s a children’s novel, not a picture book. And I don’t really promote it.

The first event was the opening welcome presentation by Austin Camacho. Austin is the organizer of the conference, and with Denise, his wife, and Cynthia Lauth are the soul of the conference. Austin is a mystery thriller author and a great guy.

Then it was time for the sessions to kick in. I attended the session on “Writing When Your Brain is Drained”. Kelly A. Harmon, Sharon Buchbinder, Chris Bauer, Con Lehane, and Wendy Jones talked about how to stay motivated and creative, as well as how to write through blocks.

Wendy is a Scottish author who writes crime fiction and children’s books. I spent a lot of time chatting with her and she’s an enthusiastic person, to say the least.

Next up, for me, was a presentation called “The James Bond Phenomenon” done by Raymond Benson. This was a presentation about the life and writings of Ian Fleming, as well as how James Bond has become a cultural icon. I’m sad to admit, I’ve never actually sat down and read any of the Ian Fleming novels . I have, however, heard of Raymond Benson. I’ve been following him on Twitter for a while, and knew he was the first American to write Bond novels. The presentation was insightful and informative. I spent a lot of time talking to Mr. Benson throughout the rest of the conference. He’s a movie buff/expert, and an accomplished musician. He’s also worked on some video games, including Ultima VII-The Black Gate, one of my favorites.

After Bond, I was going to attend a swashbuckling sword demo given by Teen James Glenn, whom you may know from TV. He’s a stuntman, actor, and author. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked and forgot about the session. Bummer.

Those were the sessions for Friday. Then, the cash bar opened. Which was strange, because they didn’t buy cash. You had to buy coupons which you could then turn in for cash. I guess “cash bar” sounds better than “coupon bar”.

While the bar was open, the first of two book signings was held. This is where all the authors congregated at tables in the atrium of the hotel and signed books for each other and the fans. This year, being a year further from what I call “The Dark Times” (COVID), there were more fans than last year. I sold and signed a few books. This was also the second year I was in the anthology that C3 puts out. It was also my second “drunken werewolves” story to appear. Yay!

After the book signing, it was time for the first of two keynotes. This year’s first keynote was Terry Brooks, author of “Sword of Shannara”, among other things. The keynote was honest and insightful.

Oh, I should mention that each year I buy the main keynote’s book and have all the attending authors sign it. Then the book is auctioned off at the conference with all proceeds going to next year’s C3. I do what I can to help out. I’ve run conferences and I know they are a lot of work and $$.

I managed to snag the first copy of “Daughter of Darkness” by Mr. Brooks and get it signed as soon as he walked into the conference–I’m glad I did. I then found out from his wife Judine that the book was so new that they hadn’t even seen the final hardcover cover.


After the keynote and dinner, it was time for Noir at the Bar. Despite the name, it wasn’t held in the bar, but the coupon bar was still open for those who wished to imbibe–I didn’t. I don’t like drinking coupons. … sorry, I couldn’t resist. Anyway, Noir at the Bar is a reading session where authors get up and read 5-7 minutes of something they have written. This is always fun and well received. Two pieces stood out for me. The first was by Vaughn Jackson. Vaughn is a very creative with a wicked imagination, author. His story about dead bodies and “man-eating cacti” was terrific. The next piece which stood out for me was by Teel James Glenn, not only from the story, but from his voicing of it as an actor. There were other readers all good, but these two made my evening.

After Noir at the Bar, the actual bar happened. Many people adjourned to the hotel bar to unwind, connect, and drink. I had a beer and chatted a while, but my introvert reserves were already running on fumes. I turned in for the night early.

Saturday loomed dark and dreary. Until that is, I opened the hotel room drapes, only to find it was still dark and dreary. The remnants of Ian were moving through
I was still dragging–but more so and for a different reason. I fell asleep at midnight only to wake up at 2AM. There was someone under my bed. Um, no. I just couldn’t fall back asleep. It wasn’t mind-race which happens to me occasionally. I just lay in bed until 6AM. I was running on two hours of sleep and I had a panel to moderate first thing.

My panel was on “Writing With a Partner”. Now understand, I’ve never written with a partner. So, I don’t know why I was chosen. But I guess it makes sense to have an idiot asking questions about something he doesn’t know. 9AM: Continental breakfast consumed, my ceremonial coffee drunk, but not sloshed, I dragged myself to the panel and poured energy into the introvert matrix.

The panelists were Kathryn O’Sullivan, Paul Awad, Chris Bauer, and Bruce Coffin, with yours truly moderating. I’ve known Chris a long time since my early days at the conference, and I’ve already mentioned Bruce. I’d never met Kathryn or Paul. They are a husband-wife (or wife-husband) couple who write together. I asked a few questions I wanted to have answers to. The panelists did the heavy lifting. There were some really wonderful conversations and good questions from the audience afterwards. No fights broke out, so my moderating skills were not required. I learned a lot.

SIDE NOTE: Kathryn O'Sullivan looks like the person who modeled the cover of my book "Last Call"

I walked away intact and feeling decent about the job I’d done.

Now I had to switch from moderator to audience member. I went to the panel entitled: “Writing the Female Protagonist: Does She Need to Be Young, Likable, and Pretty?”, with Penny Clover Petersen, Tina deBellegarde, Terry Brooks, Frank Hopkins, and Dani Pettrey. This was a fun panel that dealt with various stereotypes and ways to combat them in regards to a female protagonist.

Then I went to the “Reality in Fiction” panel with Tom Young, Jeffery James Higgins, Raymond Benson, Patrick Hyde, and Austin Camacho. This dealt with how reality fits into fiction, where it comes from, how to insert it, etc.

Lunch! I should mention the food at the Doubletree is better than most hotel buffet style food I’ve eaten–and I’ve eaten a lot. Cookies included. The staff at the Columbia Doubletree is great and accommodating as well.

During lunch, Cheryl Head interviewed


It was now time for me to switch from moderator and audience member to panelist. I was on the panel for “Humor Is Not One-Size-Fits-All”, along with Helen Chapman, Arlene Kay, Ilene Schneider, and Jenna Harte as the moderator. I had a good time on this panel, even though I was the token male. We talked about where does humor come from, how to insert it into your writing, and then got into what is objectionable humor and how to avoid it.

At that point in the schedule, I needed a break and luckily one session was an “afternoon nosh” with coffee and cookies hosted by the Mystery Writers of America, Mid-Atlantic Chapter. This session went into the benefits and how to join. I’ll have to look into it.

The last session for the day that I attended was named “Fantasy, Fairy Tales, & Fangs” with Sherrilyn Kenyon, DA Spruzen, Dylan Roche, Marianne Fox, with Teel James Glenn moderating. This panel dealt with the role of fairy tales in fantasy and horror. I haven’t written either–yet, but the discussion gave me some insights.

I'd met and talked a fair amount with Sherrilyn Keynon last year (and written about it), but I didn't get to spend any time with her this time. She had her fans (known as Paladins) around her most of the time.

Coupon bar open, again. Another autograph session…

Um, how did this happen–? I’m sitting between Raymond Benson and Terry Brooks! To say I was lucky is an understatement. I spent the session talking to Mr. Benson. He’s a very down-to-earth guy and relatable. I enjoyed meeting and chatting with him.

Remember I said I was glad I got Terry Brooks to sign his new book as soon as he walked in? Well, the reason for that is that he was swamped. There was a decent queue for him, and everyone wanted more than one of his books signed. I saw one person come up with pretty much her entire collection–and if you don’t know Mr. Brooks’ work, it’s a lot. He spent 15-20 minutes with that individual. As his queue allowed, I chatted with him a little.

Surprisingly, I also sold and signed a bunch of my books. I can afford to buy a dinner somewhere. Yay! Oh! I almost forgot. Remember I mentioned my kid’s book? Well, it turned out there were a couple of weddings at the hotel and the conference. During the humor session, a volunteer came up to me with a copy of my book. one couple getting married wanted it for whenever they had kids to read to once they got old enough. How cool is that? They wanted it endorsed to: “The Happy Couple”.

I signed the book and endorsed it with, “To The Happy Couple. Congratulations on your new life. I hope your 15 kids enjoy it.” Yes, I know I’m an idiot at times. But I hope they get a chuckle out of it.

Yes, I have a weird sense of humor.

After the 2nd signing, it was time for dinner and the 2nd keynote. This one was with Raymond Benson, who talked about his life and travels writing. It was an excellent keynote, and he managed not to lose his voice, which he was afraid would happen during the signing.

Bar time again. I had one drink and hung out a bit. Then it was time to refill the reserves. I quit early.

I got some sleep and rest.

Sunday. Up at my normal time. Breakfast. A proper breakfast, not a continental one this time–with eggs and pork byproducts. Vaughn Jackson won the auction I set up. Thank you, Vaughn, for helping support C3.

It’s a half-day of sessions. It’s time to pack up. First up a session on finding local signing events with Wendy Jones and Allie Marie. This panel dealt with how to find, set up, and organize signing events. I don’t really promote my stuff, but I figured it would hurt to learn how to do it if the need ever arose.

My last session was called “Hard-Boiled” with Patrick Hyde, Lane Stone, Dana King, and Austin Camacho moderating. There were the obvious egg jokes at the start. This session asked about what makes a protagonist or a story hard-boiled. I got some good takeaways for my next series of books.

That’s when I called it a wrap, as Lil Wayne may say–although I doubt he ever did.

I picked up the books I hadn’t sold. Not surprising.

I headed for home and my “real” life, such as it is.

Summary:

Creatures, Crime, and Creativity is my favorite writer’s conference, and I’ve been to several others now. It’s small-ish, comfortable, welcoming, diverse, and open. At this point, I feel as if I belong. I still have a bit of an imposter syndrome and a bit of a fan-boy syndrome, but that’s ok. C3 makes me feel welcome. To me, that means a lot. I know and have met many people I would never have come across otherwise. Just as when I was attending software developers conferences I got to meet people who I consider friends, C3 has allowed me to meet people I now consider friends even though I only get to see them at C3. It’s worth my time, and I try to help as best I can.

Thanks to:
Austin and Denise Camacho, Cynthia Lauth, and all the volunteers.
All the authors.
All the fans.
All the Doubletree hotel staff.

If I met up with you during the conference, and didn’t mention you here, I apologize. I’m still trying to take it all in. If you need links to who was there check out the Creatures, Crime, and Creativity site.

Next year’s C3 will be its 10th anniversary. I’m signing up again and hopefully, I’ll be around to partake.

I'm motivated and energized to get back to writing.

Creatures, Crime, and Creativity Conference, C3, should be called C4. It’s explosive.

Here is a dump of my photo roll from the conference (in no particular order).













Raymond Benson (above)








Wayland Smith (above)




Jeff Markovitz




Terry Brooks (above)













My "Writing With a Partner" panel.



Raymond Benson (above)



Terry Brooks and his wife Judine (above)







Waiting for dinner (above)



Austin Camacho (above)



Glenn Paris (above)



Kathryn O'Sullivan and Paul Awad (above)



Partial book haul (above)


Just a fun shot.



Terry Brooks and wife Judine.






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Tags: Writing, C3 conference