Video
Presentations
available to play "on demand"
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Audio
Panels & Presentations
available to play "on demand"
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Text
Panels & Presentations
available to read "on demand"
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"Sam Blackman's Asheville"
Presenter: Mark De Castrique
 A tour of special Asheville locations in the Sam Blackman Mysteries with author Mark de Castrique.
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"Where Do You Get Your Ideas, and Which Comes First, Character or Plot?"
Presenter: Larry Karp
 Larry tackles the question that writers are most often asked...
mp336
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"Rewriting: Gotta Do It, Might As Well Enjoy It"
by Larry Karp
First drafts of first novels generally come down with little trouble,
but all too often, rewriting leaves beginning authors tearing their
hair over unpublishable manuscripts. But Larry Karp believes rewriting
can be the most enjoyable part of composing a mystery. Here, Larry
outlines his approach.
txt46
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"Around the World and into a Metaverse"
Presenter: Peter May
 Peter
May has written books set in the Far East, Europe, and the United
States, and never writes about anywhere unless he has been there -
usually filming it.
Join Peter for a selection of videos from his research. From the USA
through Europe to China and into the virtual world of Second LIfe.
Peter has even included his cookery video with delicious recipes for 5-spice chinese ribs and Korean barbecued chicken.
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"Lessons for the Past from Now"
Presenter: Roger Hudson
 You’ve
heard of us learning lessons from the past. Roger argues that events
from modern times can provide useful guidelines for authors in
fashioning incidents and the reactions to them of characters in
historical mystery fiction.
mp337
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"Tom, Dick, and Harassment: naming your characters"
by Mary Reed
Mary Reed presents resources for authors wrestling with the perennial
problem of naming their characters plus thoughts on how names can be
used to play havoc with readers' expectations.
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"It's Just A Mystery - a guide for aspiring pystery authors"
Presenter: Jeffrey Cohen
 The author of the Double Feature Mystery series dleivers a truly entertaining musical guide to identifying the various mystery genres.
vid40
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"How does setting affect a crime story?"
Moderator: Kelli Stanley
Panel Members
Rebecca Cantrell
Mysti Berry
Deborah Atkinson
Mark de Castrique
 How Does Setting Affect a Crime Story? Join
authors Rebecca Cantrell, Deborah Atkinson, Mark de Castrique, Mysti
Berry, and Kelli Stanley, as they lead listeners on an adventure across
time and continents … and listen to what sounds inspire each author to
create the settings in their novels. In this segment, Kelli Stanley,
the moderator, introduces the theme and the panelists.
mp307
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"Layer by Layer: digging golden age mysteries"
by Sarah Wisseman
 Archaeologist
and mystery author Sarah Wisseman explores the similarities between
delving into mysteries by Golden Age writers such as Josephine Tey and
Agatha Christie and archaeological excavation.
txt47
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"Margarita Nights"
Interview with Phyllis Smallman
 MARGARITA
NIGHTS was the first winner of the Unhanged Arthur Ellis Award (best
unpublished book), sponsored by McArthur & Company. MARGARITA
NIGHTS is the first of a series (they will all feature drinks in the
title) set in Florida and featuring Sherry Travis.
vid41
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"What comes first, plot or character?"
Moderator: Keith Raffel
 Panel Members
Dave Zeltserman
Rebecca Cantrell
Mark de Castrique
Kelli Stanley
mp310
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"Blogging 101"
by Pat Browning
 The
virtual bulletin board became the online diary, the online diary became
the web log or blog, and it reaches across time and space.
txt50
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"Winter of Secrets"
 Presenter: Vicki Delany
Vicki Delany introduces her new book winter of secrets
vid43
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"Why Write Mysteries? (or any other kind of made-up stuff that never happened…)"
 by Mary Anna Evans
...
where does my profession rate when it comes to making the world a
better place? Am I wasting my time and talents by spending my
days writing mysteries? Should I go back to environmental
engineering, where I have the opportunity to help our society learn to
clean up its messes?
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"Where do you get your ideas?"
 Presenter: Libby Fisher Hellman
Libby Fischer Hellmann discusses where she gets her ideas, and how her thriller, DOUBLEBACK, came to be.
vid44
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"How Do You Come Up With Your Ideas?"
Moderator: Ann Parker
Panel Members
Peter May
J M Hayes
Rebecca Cantrell
Donis Casey
Rachel Brady
It’s the perennial question, asked in some
form or another at nearly every convention. Why should this “virtual
con” be any different? So, here we go… A timid hand is raised. “The
question” ventured. Three of the five panelists nod and smile knowingly
(Someone was bound to ask...). Another scribbles a quick note to self
(It came in a dream…). The fifth performs an unobtrusive eye roll (Oh,
not that old chestnut…). Drop on by the “Where do you get your ideas?”
text panel and read where authors Rachel Brady, Rebecca Cantrell, Donis
Casey, J.M. Hayes, and Peter May draw the inspiration for their
stories.
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"Gerry Boyle talks about Port City Shakedown"
 Interview with Gerry Boyle
vid42
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"Using Actual People/Figures in Historical Mysteries - the pros and cons"
Moderator: Lea Wait
Panel Members
Aileen Baron
Kelli Stanley
Mark de Castrique
Nancy Means Wright
The challenges and rewards of writing
historical mysteries that include actual historical figures as part of
the plot .. either as the protagonist, or as other important
characters. What kind of targeted research is required? Can
history be legitimately be changed to fit fiction? Four
masters of the historical mystery genre discuss how they've dealt with
these questions.
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"Voices in Mystery"
Interview with Sarah Wisseman
vid49
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"What is a Cozy?And Why Do I Write Them?"
 Moderator: Clea Simon
Panel Members
Toni LP Kelner
Lea Wait
Deb Baker
Jane Finnis
What is a Cozy (and Why do I Write Them)?
Call them cozies or cosies, traditional mysteries or crafty, today's
cozies range from the cute to the acute. Join five authors of - ahem -
traditional style amateur sleuth mysteries as we discuss the current
state of the subgenre, its pros and cons, and its future.
txt18
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"Mixed Blood"
Presentation by Roger Smith
 Roger Smith talks about his book Mixed Blood
and gives a fascinating insider's introduction to Cape Town, the setting for the book.
vid56
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"History and Mystery - how much history is enough?"
Moderator: Sarah Wisseman
Panel Members
Vicki Delany
Donis Casey
Jane Finnis
Clea Simon
Roger Hudson
“A
historical novel should be like a time machine: it carries you
effortlessly back into a past era and shows you what it was like.” Jane Finnis
But how does an author accomplish this feat—and make it look
effortless? Join us for a tour of the fascinating world of historical
mysteries as seen through the eyes of authors who inhabit ancient
Athens, Roman Britain, the Klondike Gold Rush (1898), Oklahoma in the
1910s, and 1790s England.
txt11
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"The Making of PPWebCon"
vid54
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" Between the Lines: what writers don't say"
Moderator: Sharon Wildwind
Panel Members
Deborah Atkinson
Josh Lanyon
Sarah Wisseman
The panel members discuss the importance of what characters don't say.
txt06
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"What I wish I'd known..."
Moderator: Toni L P Kelner
Panel Members
Lea Wait
Vicki Lane
Ann Parker
Stephen D Rogers
Kelli Stanley
Nobody starts out knowing all the ins and outs
of publishers, and everybody makes a few missteps along the way.
Come hear our panel of writers discuss their publishing mistakes,
gaffes, and boo-boos in "What I Wish I'd Known Before I Was Published."
txt20
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"Promotion: Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without It"
Moderator: Fleur Bradley
 Panel Members
Josh Lanyon
Phyllis Smallman
Promotion: it’s a necessary evil if you want
your books to sell. But which promotion techniques are worth the
effort, and which ones not? Facebook, Amazon, websites—what’s an author
to do?
Authors Josh Lanyon and Phyllis Smallman share their promotion secrets on this panel—so come join us!
txt24
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"The Path To Publication"
Moderator: Jenny White
Panel Members
Larry Karp
Robin Hathaway
Particia Harrrington
Jeff Markowitz
The path to publication…is a long and winding
road. Whistle along the way, turn up your coat collar against the wind,
flex those fingers, and keep moving. Listen to five writers tell their
twisted tales of short-cuts, long ways around, and beelines toward
publication of their novels. How do you make the decision to start?
Does age matter? How do you make the time to write? Should you quit
your day job? How do you get an agent? Each author’s essay is followed
by Take-Home Tips for those of you just setting out.
txt04
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"Historical mysteries--do they have something to say about our times?"
Moderator: Beverle Graves Myers
 Panel Members
Rebecca Cantrell
Kelli Stanley
Aileen Baron
Nancy Means Wright
Stephen D. Rogers
Suzanne Adair
All time is now, mystics tell us. The past is always with us, and the future is already here, just waiting to be seen...
txt01
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"Social Issues - do they elevate or detract?"
Moderator: Julie Lomoe
 Panel Members
Judy Clemens
Nancy Means Wright
Ann Parker
L J Sellers
"Since social justice issues are at the heart of both my novels, I
jumped at the chance to moderate this panel, but I wasn’t sure how many
authors would be interested in participating. As it turned, many of the
authors registered for this Web Con were eager to join the discussion.
It was difficult to choose just four, but I’d like to take this
opportunity to thank the rest of you who volunteered. I hope we’ll have
the opportunity to continue this dialogue long after the conference is
over." Julie Lomoe
txt14
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"First person? Third person? Rewards and pitfalls of points of view"
Moderator: Julie Lomoe
Panel Members
Mary Anna Evans
Vicki Lane
Deb Baker
Beverle Graves Myers
"It’s been a privilege and a pleasure meeting the four authors on this
panel by exchanging e-mails to create a virtual panel discussion. I
invited them to envision themselves engaging in conversation at a live,
in-person conference in addition to crafting individual essays, and
they rose to the occasion enthusiastically. I’ve learned a lot from
their responses, and I hope you will too." Julie Lomoe
txt15
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"Historical Research: making it real without boring the reader"
Moderator: Charlotte Hinger
 Panel Members
Larry Karp
Particia Harrrington
Josh Lanyon
J M Hayes
L S Cauldwell
Click into this lively text panel to meet
masterful history/mystery writers who are all too happy to tell how
they bring the past into the present without turning off their
readers.
txt19
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"Crime Fiction or Mystery?"
 by Ruth Dudley Edwards
Ruth Dudley Edwards discusses the varied nature of the genre.
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