Schedule of Events
Friday, May 29
7:00 PM Noir at the Bar
A wild night of great readings. Details TBA.
Saturday, May 30 The Maine Crime Wave: Sharpening the Blade
8:30 AM Coffee, Meetup, Book Sales
9:00 AM Opening Words
9:15 AM Author Connections
10:00 AM Break, Coffee, Bookbuying & Signing
10:20 AM Roundtable Conversations on The Craft of Crime Writing:
The Anatomy of Suspense (How to Build Suspense in Your Story)
Dialogue [Revealing Character through Dialogue]
Setting as a Weapon (Where, When, and Is it Storming?)
Honing the Blade (Trim the Fat)
The Hook (Grabbing Readers by the Throat)
Humanizing Villains (Without Excusing Them)
Genre labels (Reader Expectations and Creative Freedom)
Writing the Scene You Dread
11:10 AM Break: Coffee + Book-buying with Author Signing
11:25 AM Roundtable Conversations on The Business of Crime Writing
Partners in Crime (Co-authoring, Agents, Critique Groups, Hiring Editors)
The Crime Scene (Conferences, Events, and Other Community Gatherings)
The Witnesses (Reviews, Blurbs, Goodreads, Amazon, Etc)
Building Your Crime Writing World [Becoming the Protagonist oF Your Own World)
Mentorship vs Gatekeeping (How to Get Over, Under, and Around)
Building community with Readers (Beta Readers, Libraries, Street Team, Social Media, Offline)
Fear & Loathing in MAINE (How The Tough Get Going)
What Not to Do at Your Reading (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, with Barb Kelly)
12:15 PM Lunch & Two Minutes in the Slammer
1:00 PM Interview of 2026 Maine Crime Master Ron Currie by Jule Selbo
2:00 PM Break: Bookbuying with Author Conversation and Signings
2:20 PM Roundtable Conversations on The Career of Crime Writing:
Second Act Reinvention or Career Triage (Rebranding & Starting Over)
The Detective (Writing as a Career, including Money: the Awkward Conversation)
Working Well with Editors & AGENTS
Brought Back to Life (Getting Published)
Going to Hollywood (How to Make the Leap from Book to TV or Movies)
Jackpot! (Defining What Success Means For You)
Audiobooks (Where and How)
Self-Publishing (How to be Great at It)
3:30 PM Break: Bookbuying with Author Conversation and Signings
3:45 PM A Super Fun, Participatory, Author Mega Panel
Details TBA.