CFCF, held in Wilmington, NC the weekend in October closest
to Halloween, is a regional conference in its seventh year. This year, the
dates for the conference were 25 – 27 October. Proceeds from the mystery basket
raffles benefited the Guardian ad Litem program, which acts as an advocate for
children in the court systems of New Hanover and Pender counties. I donated a
copy of The Blacksmith’s Daughter for the Carolina Conspiracy basket. Joyce Lavene assembled the basket with panache.
The winner, avid reader Wendy Lutz, received a stack of books, a bottle of wine
plus a wineglass, and chocolate. What’s not to like?

Conference headliners were Jon Jefferson
(Thursday night Guest of Honor), William Bernhardt (Friday
night keynote), and John Hart (Saturday night Rookie of
the Year). It rained cats and dogs from Thursday through
mid-day Saturday. The rain was welcome, as North Carolina has been in a severe
drought, but it made for a soggy conference.

I taught a Friday workshop, “Researching Historical
Fiction.” Many writers of historicals, even those who are published, dump loads
of detail into their works. The primary considerations of anyone writing
historical fiction should be to develop riveting drama and compelling
characters, and to create a world in which those elements can flourish. In
fact, those should be the primary considerations of any novelist. Naturally
you have to get your facts correct, but I encourage writers to regard detail as
subordinate to excellent writing. Add detail on a need-to-know basis. If your
writing is mediocre and you’ve focused on detail, imagine the fate of your work
when readers and reviewers dispute your detail (as they often do).

The Carolina
Conspiracy is a group of authors who publish
regional-based mysteries. Terry Hoover moderated our panel early Saturday afternoon. Panelists from left to right at the booksigning in
the lobby afterward are: Suzanne Adair, Kathleen Delany, Terry Hoover, Joanne
Clarey, Judy Nichols, and Nancy Gotter Gates.

“Long Ago or Far Away,” a panel later that day about historical or travel
mysteries, was moderated by Maria Hudgins. From left to right: Suzanne Adair, Frankie Bailey, Maria Hudgins,
and Terry Hoover. Other panelists not in this picture were Charles and Caroline
Todd and Sarah Shaber.

One unique question Maria asked panelists was, “What would
your main character have been wearing?” We supplied the audience with a variety
of responses. Here I am explaining a colonial working woman’s clothing. She
wore a mobcap on her head. Her “underwear” was a shift that covered her torso
and extended to mid-calf. Over that, she wore a petticoat and short, boned
jacket to allow her more movement than a woman wearing stays and a polonaise
gown. The petticoat had slits in the sides, permitting the woman access to her
pockets, tied at her waist atop the shift. If the woman embroidered the
pockets, she might wear them atop the petticoat to display her handiwork. All
in all, a colonial woman bore more than passing resemblance to a modern-day
motel maid. In fact, I was mistaken for a maid by another guest while I was
staying in a motel during the Brattonsville 2006 reenactment.

Left: What would a CFCF be without Randy Rawls and his
cowboy hat? Randy is the author of the Ace Edwards mysteries.

Center: Here’s the one, the only J.A. Konrath. He
writes the Lt. Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels police thriller series. Back in the
summer of 2006, he hopped in his SUV and drove across the country with stops to
meet hundreds of booksellers. He chronicled his journey on his author blog.

Right: Ellen Elizabeth Hunter, author of the Magnolia
mysteries.

On Tuesday 30 October, I had a brief, taped interview with
Dave McIntosh, News Director at WPUB-FM in Camden, SC. We
talked about The Blacksmith’s Daughter, but most of the interview was about the annual
Revolutionary War Field Days this coming weekend.

Saturday morning at the event, I will moderate the panel “In
the Army and at Home: Women and Children of the Revolution” with authors Sheila
Ingle and Chris Swager. We’ll discuss the challenges women and children faced
during the war. More importantly, Sheila, Chris and I have spearheaded a gift
basket fundraiser to benefit Historic Camden. We’ve donated copies of our
books and found merchants and sutlers to donate their products. The
basket will be raffled Sunday at the gift shop, right after the battle.

My radio interview was supposed to air Wednesday 31
October during the local news at 7 a.m., noon, or 5 p.m. We hope this advance
plug will draw more traffic to Historic Camden for Revolutionary War Field
Days, and attendees will contribute to the raffle.

Thanks to the Cape Fear Crime Festival committee, especially
Dorothy Hodder, for the opportunity to participate in the conference. Thanks
also to Dave McIntosh for giving me radio time.

Next up: a panel discussion at Revolutionary War Field Days
in Camden, SC, on 3 November.