Posts Tagged: toastmaster

SHELF LIFE SPECIAL: Help Me Help WriteGirl

As people are aware, well I hope they’re aware, I am the toastmaster at this year’s Bouchercon (aka the World Mystery Convention) to be held in Long Beach, California next week.  With every Bouchercon, the convention supports a couple of local charities.  This year, it’s the Long Beach Library Foundation and WriteGirl.

I’m doing my best to support both these auctions.  Last month I auctioned off a poster of me from my motor racing days that went for $350.  The proceeds went to the library foundation.  Now, I’m doing something to benefit WriteGirl, a charity that encourages creative writing and mentors teenage girls.

So between now and the Bouchercon live auction on November 14^th, I will donate the royalties from the worldwide sale of the first Aidy Westlake novel, DID NOT FINISH.  This applies to the paperback, eBook and audio book and isn’t restricted to where it’s bought. 

If you haven’t read the book, I hope you’ll buy a copy.  If already have the book, I hope you’ll give it to someone.  At the very least, you’ll share this message or direct people to this post.  You’ll be making a difference in someone’s life.

Thanks to all.

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SHELF LIFE EXTRA: A Learning Experience

I’m this year’s Bouchercon toastmaster which I find quite astounding as I was starting out just over a decade ago.  Naturally, I’ve going over my B’con experiences over the years and I was thinking about my first Bouchercon.  It was in Austin, Texas in 2002 and I came to it with that new author smell.  My first novel, ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN, was only weeks old.  Being a brand new author, everything was new, everything was a whirlwind, as was my arrival to Bouchercon.  I’d done a book signing at M is for Mystery, had dinner then gotten on a midnight flight to Austin.  I arrived at the conference hotel with just enough time to check in at registration before being shoved in the direction of my first panel, still in my clothes from the night before, luggage and book bag still in hand.  Now I had to speak…in public…to people.  Not my forte at the best of times, but it’s the thing you do for queen and country…and for publishing.  I don’t know what I looked like to the outside world but on the inside I was a nervous wreck.  I was on the new author panel and I took refuge in the notion that it would be an empty room seeing as a Walter Mosley was being interviewed in the next room.  Unfortunately, the room was fairly full.

I met my moderator and fellow panelists.  We talked game plan then got down to it.  I can’t say as we went live, all my nerves disappeared and I blossomed, but I did OK, despite a quaver in my voice.  Talking about a book and its inspirations always helps to take the edge off. 

At the end of the panel, a group of men totaling around six or seven approached me.  Oh God, angry hordes.  Maybe I hadn’t done as good a job as I thought I had.

But these men were happy to see me.  They wanted to know if ACCIDENTS was my first book, if it was in its first printing and was it available in the book room.  The answer to all these questions was yes.  These men were even happier to see me.  They were book collectors!  And first books were important. 

These guys escorted me down to the book room and bought books.  Seeing how green I was they bought me coffee and proceeded to tell me about the birds and the bees of books.  They taught me how to sign a book properly, the importance of print runs, first printings, book collecting and book speculation.  These guys just weren’t just buying my book, they were investing in me.  If I made it big, my first book would be quite valuable.  One guy told me he’d bought a dozen copies of Ian Rankin’s first book and was now selling them for $1,500 each.  I just hoped they could profit from me like one day.  J

Over the years, a number of people have provided me with invaluable advice which has made me a smarter writer and it started with these men at my first Bouchercon and I shall forever be in these men’s debt.  I look forward to Long Beach what I’ll learn this year.  Hope to see you there and all you have to do is pop over to registration to secure your spot.

 

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SHELF LIFE: Bouchercon 2014

I’m the toastmaster for Bouchercon 2014 in sunny Long Beach, California.  Bouchercon is the world mystery convention and it’s kind of an Olympics for the crime fiction community.  There’s no award for the 100 meters sprint, although if you’re a criminal, a good 100m time would be an asset.  I’ve not really talked much about it because I’ve been waiting for the organizers to come to their senses and get a proper grownup to emcee the event.  It doesn’t look they’re going to change their minds, so it looks as if I’m it.

 

I don’t take many things seriously, but I am taking this role seriously.  First off, there’ll be over 2,200 people in attendance, so I’d better bloody give it the attention the role deserves.  Secondly, I’ll be the 45^thToastmaster and I’ll be following in the footsteps of Harlan Coben, William Kent Kruger, Laura Lippman, Lee Child, Jonathan Gash, Reginald Hill, just to name a few.  I have a strong tradition to maintain, so I need to be on my A-game.  Thirdly, there’s the 2014 Guests of Honor themselves to consider which include Jeffery Deaver, Edward Marston and J.A. Jance.  They don’t want dope fronting for them.  Lastly, the organizers have put their faith in me by selecting me, so I owe a lot to them.

 

So what does being toastmaster mean?  It means I have to keep festivities moving at the formal events, keep people in check if someone decides to act out and of course it means the big speech at the opening ceremonies.  This is the icky part for me.  Public speaking isn’t something that comes natural to me and speaking to big crowds is kind of scary, but it’s something that I’ve had to develop over the years.  Usually, my approach for speaking events is to have a topic in mind, talk off the cuff and stare into the stage lights so that I’m blinded by the fact that are people in the room with me.  That won’t cut it for Bouchercon.  I need to be considered.  I have to follow on from the previous forty-four toastmasters.  This has been the tough part.  I’ve listened to a number of past Toasties (my slang for toastmasters) and they’ve all managed to put an original spin on the convention.  I was picked for the Toasty job back in 2010 and to be frank, I’ve had no hook for my speech…

 

…until now!

 

Now, I can’t go into details, but I will say no one has gone in the direction that I’ve chosen.  So I feel I can hold my own with my predecessors.  Phew!

 

Getting a handle on my duties couldn’t have come soon enough.  The convention is little more than a year away and there’s a lot of work I need to do and prepare for.  There are a number of extra-curricular events associated with the event I’ll be involved in, some I can’t mention yet.

 

Anyway, the clock is ticking and should be clearing your calendar in order to be there.  If you need what’s what, go to the website.  I expect to see you there.

Categories: shelf life

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