The International Mystery Writers Conference by Virginia Lawrence, Ph.D. Mystery writers, would-be writers and readers gathered in Monterey on October 30 for the 28th Annual Boucheron Conference. Attendees listened to panel discussions on the stare of the mystery market, finding an agent, marketing mystery novels, and writing tips. Ridley Pearson recommended thanking all sources profusely and mentioning them by name in the opening pages of your book. This personal recognition builds a book by book relationship with a source and has brought Pearson tremendous cooperation, even from government agencies. Jonathon Gash declared that collectors make great characters in any novel, because true collectors are passionate, single-minded and often obsessed.
Obsession provides great motivation.
Some mystery writers outline meticulously, while many others don't outline at all. For example, Donald Westlake says that outlining makes him feel as though he has finished the book. Laurence Shames reads the day's production to his wife every day before dinner. They pronounced that reading unfinished work to others can be destructive.