About that Panel...
Some thoughts about a Bouchercon panel, Yasmin Angoe plays "kiss, marry, kill," book recs for your TBR, and it's MY BIRTHDAY. What'd you get me?
Truly, despite what you’re about to read, I had a great time at Bouchercon.
I saw lots of friends, met new ones, had lunch with my editor and agent, nearly threw up one morning because of a horrible hangover and, even if I didn’t win the Anthony for Best Short Story, it was wonderful to see it awarded to Barb Goffman, a champion of the form and a good friend.
I also had the best tacos.
But, in not so uplifting news, the moderator on one of my panels made several inappropriate remarks. She kept calling our panel the “Ed Aymar Bachelor Auction” (I was the only male panelist) and, at one point, asked me to stand up and spin around for the audience.
And I was more surprised than anything, and laughed along with it, and tried to turn back to the business of the panel. But I didn’t really like it.
I kept thinking that weekend about her remarks and how I should feel about them. I kept wondering, did I do this to myself? I have a very teasing, back-and-forth kinda nature. Did I invite this? Was this my fault?
A female friend pointed out this is what women deal with constantly, and the second-guessing is something she’s done herself, many times – when someone has said something that’s made her uncomfortable. Of course, I don’t have to deal with the ensuing concerns about safety, or the chances of this happening over and over. I have, as a straight man, the privilege of distance. I was briefly in her mindset. It’s not something I have to face on a regular basis.
Quite a few people in the audience told me afterward that they were uncomfortable, as did others who heard about it - it was apparently the talk of Bouchercon that night. It seemed like everyone was looking at me or asking if I was okay, which was very nice and well-intentioned, if a bit disarming.
I understood their concern. This was, after all, a business setting, as much of a business setting as writers get. I can’t imagine being this accepting had a male moderator told the lone woman on a panel to stand up and spin around for the audience.
And that’s why I’m writing this. It’s not my goal to castigate anyone, and women who have experienced behavior like this don’t need a man to say, “I get it now!” It’s my hope that other moderators read this, and it curbs future behavior or reckless jokes. I’m not, at heart, a confrontational person. And I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings…even someone who’s done me wrong.
That seems like compassion, but compassion occasionally masks cowardice.
So I reported this incident to Bouchercon’s conduct team - not to have this person banned or punished, but rather reminded of what’s permissible. We all do wrong; in most cases, we should be given the chance to grow from it.
But I don’t want to go to a panel next year, and see another moderator say something similar to someone else…and know I did nothing to prevent it. I’ve been that quiet person before.
I don’t want to be him again.
EA
In other more upbeat news, today’s my birthday (that’s a weird transition)! I didn’t get your card yet, but I assume it’s in the mail? Anyway, if you want to get me a gift to go along with that card, I’m happy to announce that No Home for Killers is only $2.49 this month in the Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle book deals in the US marketplace! Celebrate my birthday with a troubled jazz musician, his burned out social worker of a sister, and his other sister, a secret vigilante. I love family! Click HERE to check out the special promotion!
The second participant in my new series, “A Writer Kisses, Marries, and Kills,” is Yasmin Angoe! I just love Yasmin as a person and a writer and her trilogy, the Nena Knight books, is award-winning, bestselling, and critically-praised, with Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times bestselling author of the Orphan X series, writing:
Nena Knight can cover Orphan X’s six o’clock any day! Stolen from her village in Ghana, Knight reinvents herself as an elite assassin capable of all orders of badassery. One of thrillerdom’s rising stars, Yasmin Angoe paints Knight with nuance, strength, and grace. These books burn hot and read fast.
Want to learn more about Nena, and the final book in the trilogy, It Ends with Knight (publication date: TODAY!)? Check out Yasmin’s Kiss, Marry, and Kill below:
It Ends with Knight: In this thrilling conclusion of the Nena Knight series, the trained assassin will have to confront the ghosts of her past…before she becomes one herself.
Until his untimely death, Nena’s mentor was the backbone of the Tribe. With his leadership position unfilled and despite the Tribe’s newfound misgivings about her, Nena has stepped into a new role she never wanted. Politics is an entirely new venture for her, and now one of the Tribe’s own has been kidnapped, forcing her back to her origins as an assassin. But the only person qualified for such a rescue mission is Nena Knight―and a new team whose trust in her continues to waver.
Determined to harness the power of her former role to succeed in her new one, Nena must also face what she left behind. Old fears, resentments, and anger threaten the precarious hold Nena has on her new life as she realizes that the past―and the people from it―are never far behind.
Kiss: Judah Wasira is the fierce advocate and renegade from the tiny town of Latema, Tanzania who becomes Nena Knight’s latest mission in her new position at Network. Judah is a bad boy, through and through—a smuggler, gambler, fighter. But he’s also loyal to his town and people. An idealist who manages to worm his way through and make him absolutely kissable. Question is, will she? Or won’t she?
And an additional kiss (don’t come at me Ed, there are too many kissable characters sorry not sorry)
Femi is a member of Nena’s new team. She is quick on her feet and quick with the one-liners. She loves a good fight and brings the party to situation. She’s as bad ass as Nena and a valuable member of the team.
Marry: Evers Chinoba for his name alone. You have to read the book to find out what his full name is, but his big name fits this genius of a tech. Another member of Nena’s new team, Evers is cute as hell, introspective, and innocent making him totally marriage material. You get no suprises with Evers. What you see is what you get and what you see, you’ll love.
Kill: William “Billy” Thom is definitely someone you’ll want to kill. He’s an asshole and the last member of Nena’s team—help them all. His and Nena’s relationship is tumultuous at best and it’s all either of them can do to keep themselves from throttling the other. Trying to figure out who the “villain” of this book is a hard one, because there are so many to kill and not enough pages to do it. But Billy would be one of them and is proud of it.
Thanks, Yasmin! You can learn more about Yasmin and her work here. And remember that her newest novel is out TODAY! Check it out here.
All of these books were - in almost every case - published a month prior to this newsletter.
Happiness Falls, Angie Kim
Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything—which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak. What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance.
Ed’s Note: I’ve known Angie since she was prepping for publication for her outstanding debut, Miracle Creek and, of all the novels I’ve read in recent years, that one moved me the most. I can’t wait to read her latest, and it’s a delight to see so much praise bestowed on someone so deserving.
Broadway Butterfly, Sara DiVello
Manhattan, 1923. Scandalous flapper Dot King is found dead in her Midtown apartment, a bottle of chloroform beside her and a fortune in jewels missing. Dot’s headline-making murder grips the city. It also draws a clutch of lovers, parasites, and justice seekers into one of the city’s most mesmerizing mysteries. Among them: Daily News crime reporter Julia Harpman, chasing the story while navigating a male-dominated industry; righteous NYPD detective John D. Coughlin, struggling against city corruption; and Ella Bradford, the victim’s Harlem maid, closest confidante, and keeper of secrets. Adding fuel to the already volatile crime: a politically connected Philadelphia socialite, an Atlantic City bootlegger, Dot’s dicey gigolo lover, a sultry Broadway dancer, and a cagey sugar daddy guarding secrets of his own.
From Broadway’s glittering lights to its sordid underbelly to the machinations of the country’s most powerful men, Julia embarks on a quest for justice. What she discovers, twist after breathtaking twist, might be even more nefarious than murder.
Ed’s Note: It’s always exciting when a book is sold at auction - a process where multiple publishers bid on the right to publish a book - and the reviews and praise Sara DiVello’s Broadway Butterfly has received makes it seem destined to live up to its hype. Sara is also one of the most supportive figures in the literary community, largely through her wonderful interview series, the Mystery and Thriller Maven interview series.
Devil Within, James L’Etoile
The border is a hostile place with searing heat and venomous serpents. Yet the deadliest predator targets the innocent. A sniper strikes in the Valley of the Sun and Detective Nathan Parker soon finds a connection between the victims—each of them had a role in an organization founded to help undocumented migrants make the dangerous crossing. Parker discovers no one is exactly who they seem. There’s the devil you know and then there’s the devil within—when the two collide, no one is safe.
Ed’s Note: I’ve read authentic stories about places and circumstances writers have never experienced, but there’s always something special about a writer who has firsthand knowledge of what they’re describing. James L'Etoile, a former associate warden in a maximum-security prison, hostage negotiator, facility captain, and director of California's state parole system, is one of those rare writers.
Evergreen, Naomi Hirahara
It’s been two years since Aki Ito and her family were released from Manzanar detention center and resettled in Chicago with other Japanese Americans. Now the Itos have finally been allowed to return home to California—but nothing is as they left it. The entire Japanese American community is starting from scratch, with thousands of people living in dismal refugee camps while they struggle to find new houses and jobs in over-crowded Los Angeles. Aki is working as a nurse’s aide at the Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights when an elderly Issei man is admitted with suspicious injuries. When she seeks out his son, she is shocked to recognize her husband’s best friend, Babe Watanabe. Could Babe be guilty of elder abuse?
Only a few days later, Little Tokyo is rocked by a murder at the low-income hotel where the Watanabes have been staying. When the cops start sniffing around Aki’s home, she begins to worry that the violence tearing through her community might threaten her family. What secrets have the Watanabes been hiding, and can Aki protect her husband from getting tangled up in a murder investigation?
Ed’s Note: Every Naomi Hirahara book is a celebrated release, and her gift for deftly weaving unexamined (but crucial) history, social commentary, and deep insight into character is growing richer and richer with each release.
The winner of this newsletter contest is pe***r.**aham****@gmail.com! Congrats, and you’ve won a copy of Yasmin Angoe’s entire Nena Knight trilogy (it’s my birthday, I’m feeling generous)! I’ll slide into your DMs (send you an email, so not exactly slide into your DMs) soon.
Until next time, much love and Happy Reading!