We’re sharing our favorite conferences today! Of course, our very favorite conference of all is the New England Crime Bake. Not only is it our “home” conference, it is supportive, friendly and exceptionally well organized.
Liz: It’s not a traditional conference, but Seascape Writers Retreat should definitely be on any crime writer’s list. With mentors Roberta Isleib, Hallie Ephron and Hank Phillippi Ryan cheering you on, it’s impossible to fail – and you get to have a great time along the way.
Some of the best friendships I’ve made in a long time were thanks to Seascape (right, Sherry and Edith?)
Jessie: I am a fan of Scandinavian crime fiction and have always wanted to visit Iceland. So, I was delighted to discover this year marks the first Icelandic Festival of Crime in Reykjavik. It will feature one of my favorite modern crime writers, Arnaldur Indridason.
Edith: I traveled to my birthplace in June for the California Crime Writers’ Conference, which takes place every other year. Pasadena. The San Gabriel 
Mountains glowing purple after sunset. And a whole crew of mostly west coast crime and mystery writers. It was well-organized (hat tips to fellow Sisters in Crime Jeri Westerson and Diane Vallere this year), well populated, and the reception outside under palm trees? Very, very nice.
And yes, Liz, totally agree. Plus, Seascape is partly responsible for getting us here! Jessie, are you GOING to Iceland for that conference?
Barb: The Key West Literary Seminar features a different genre every January–from food writing to humor to historical fiction to poetry. This year happens to be Crime Fiction. So since my husband and I have a connection to Key West, and a connection to crime fiction, that’s where you’ll find us.
Julie: We’ve already talked about how much we love Malice on this blog. I’ve always wanted to go to the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. At some point in the next few years I am going to make it happen. One of the best vacations I ever took was going to the Oxford Experience, and spending a week living in Christ Church, and studying the Oxford Murders (Morse, Sayers, etc.) England is a breeding ground for mystery writers and fiction. Second only to New England. 😉
Sherry: I’ve mentioned it before but the Florida International University Writers Conference is amazing. Like Seascape this conference focuses on the craft of writing. The faculty is from FIU’s MFA Creative Writing department. They also invite guest faculty and this year that includes Dennis Lehane!
Readers: What’s your favorite mystery conference? For fans? For writers? Most of us are off to Bouchercon later this week. Will we see you there?
I’ve been to three reader fan conferences (Malice, Bouchercon and Deadly Ink) and Malice is my favorite. I love Bouchercon because it takes me to cities I might not have visited before. I”m heading up to Albany this week and hope to see you while I’m there.
I’ve been to Malice, Bouchercon and Deadly Ink and Malice is my favorite as it is small and intimate. I love going to Bouchercon because it takes me to different cities and it’s fun as well, plus I get to see the other genre authors.
You should come up to Crime Bake some year, Dru Ann. You’d love it – smaller than Malice and so friendly. Plus we have a LOT of fun at the banquet. Dancing, costume prizes, and more.
Edith, unfortunately, I’m not going to Iceland this year but I hope to attend the next one!
I will testify on behalf of Seascape! Met lovely people there and learned so much.
And you got yourself a sprint partner out of it, too! Just took us a few years…