Bouchercon 2019: A Guide to the Many Fantastic Crime Panels

In just a few days, much of the crime fiction world is headed off to Dallas for the 50th anniversary of Bouchercon, North America’s largest mystery convention. Named after former New York Times critic Anthony Boucher (also the namesake for the Anthony Awards, given out each year at Bouchercon, along with the Shamus and MacAvity Awards), Bouchercon is an occasion for authors, publishers, editors, and fans to gather each year to honor the best crime books and discuss the past, present, and future of the genre. You’ll never find a better place to discover new voices and rediscover old ones, and the same goes for making new friends and getting back in touch with old acquaintances. The Bouchercon Bar is legendary—where else can you see the most famous crime writers in the world going toe-to-toe in a debate over the meaning of noir, or the best way to plot an action sequence?

Panels at Bouchercon run the gamut from craft-oriented discussions, to explorations of setting and subgenre, to intense debates over the most important issues facing the crime world today. If you’re not sure how to prioritize the bewildering array of events, here are some highlights and suggestions from your trusty CrimeReads editors. You can find the complete list of scheduled events here.

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Thursday, October 31st

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Panel: Laying Down the Law
Time: 9:30 A.M.—10:30 A.M.
Description: The challenges faced in writing legal and political thrillers.
Panelists: Tom Rosenstiel (M), Austin Camacho, Alma Katsu, Sherry Knowlton, Michael Nava, Bill Rapp

Panel: Secrets of the Teenage Sleuth
Time: 1:00 P.M.—2:00 P.M.
Description: The ins and outs of writing Young Adult Mystery/Thrillers
Panelists: Vicki Pettersson (M), Jen Conley, James R. Hannibal, Lisa Harkrader, Emily Ross, Wendy Corsi Staub

Panel: The Paperback Revolution
Time: 2:30 P.M.—3:30 P.M.
Description: A discussion of vintage paperback mysteries and the early paperback revolution
Panelists: George Kelley (M), Angela Crider Neary, James Reasoner, Art Scott

Panel: The 20th Century as Historicals
Time: 4:00 P.M.—5:00 P.M.
Description: How to maintain accuracy and ferret out those small details that make historical fiction set in the recent past feel true to its milieu.
Panelists: Sarah Shaber (M), Susanna Calkins, John Copenhaver, Dan Fesperman, Jennifer Kincheloe, Kelli Stanley

Event: Noir at the Bar
Time: 8:30 P.M.—10:00 P.M.
Description: Come hear a whole bunch of crime writers read from their new and upcoming works.
Organizer: Eryk Pruitt

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Friday, November 1st

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Panel: Western as Mystery
Time: 9:30 A.M.—10:30 A.M.
Description: In honor of Bill Crider, his friends will discuss western mysteries.
Panelists: Scott Cupp (M), Lee Goldberg, Joe R. Lansdale, James Reasoner, Steve Mertz

Panel: Not a Diversity Panel
Time: 11:00 A.M.—12:00 P.M.
Description: On diverse voices, publishing and crime fiction.
Panelists: Greg Herren (M), Carsen Taite (M), Steph Cha, S.A. Crosby, Cheryl Head, Michael Nava, Alex Segura

Panel: Dame Agatha was Kind of Hard-Boiled
Time: 1:00 P.M.—2:00 P.M.
Description: Agatha Christie never goes out of style. Authors discuss Christie’s influence on the genre and on their own work.
Panelists: Kelly Stanley (M), Dianne Freeman, Kelly Garrett, Rachel Howzell Hall, J.J. Hensley, Will Thomas

Panel: Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?
Time: 1:00 P.M.—2:00 P.M.
Description: Join us as we discuss the importance of women-centered fiction in our genre.
Panelists: Greg Herren (M), Lou Berney, Steph Cha, Alison Gaylin, Rachel Howzell Hall, J.J. Hensley, Will Thomas

Panel: Conversation about the Evolution of the Noir Genre
Time: 1:00 P.M.—2:00 P.M.
Description: exactly what it sounds like.
Panelists: TBA

Panel: Bouchercon Reminiscences
Time: 1:00 P.M.—2:00 P.M.
Description: Bouchercon friends reminisce and discuss their Bouchercon memories, from the early days of Bouchercon up to the present.
Panelists: Ted Hertel (M), Ted Fitzgerald, Marv Lachman, Mike Nevins, Gary Warren Niebuhr, Thom Walls

Panel: Who Was Anthony Boucher?
Time: 2:30 P.M.—3:30 P.M.
Description: Time to find out the story of Bouchercon’s namesake.
Panelists: Jeffrey Marks (M), Anne Hillerman, Chris Holm, Daniel Palmer, Ed Ruggero, Carter Wilson

Panel: The Art of the Paperback Mystery
Time: 2:30 P.M.—3:30 P.M.
Description: Trace the changing look of paperbacks from the 1930s to the 1970s.
Organizer: Art Scott

Panel: Differently Abled is Still Abled
Time: 4:00 P.M.—5:00 P.M.
Description: The panel will discuss the creative challenges of writing about differently abled characters, and why it is so important for those characters to exist.
Panelists: Kathryn McClatchy (M), Kelly Brakenhoff, David Douglass, Cathy Reuter, Tosca Lee

Panel: The Mystery of History
Time: 4:00 P.M.—5:00 P.M.
Description: Join some masters of historical mysteries as they discuss the research they do, what they include and what they leave out, and why.
Panelists: Scott Adlerberg (M), Frankie Y. Bailey, Kari Bovee, L.A. Chandler, Liz Freeland, S.C. Perkins

Panel: Being an Insider in a Foreign Land
Time: 4:00 P.M.—5:00 P.M.
Description: Masters of the field discuss writing about a foreign place as an insider, and give some of their tricks to help get it right.
Panelists: Peter Rozovsky (M), Sara Johnson, Lars Kepler, Sujata Massey, Manjiri Prabhu, Kwei Quartey, Yigal Zur

Panel: More Real Than Housewives: Unlikeable Women
Time: 4:00 P.M.—5:00 P.M.
Description: There will be a lively discussion of complicated women characters, as well as “good girl” vs. “bad girl” characters.
Panelists: Katrina Niidas Holm (M), Megan Abbott, Jennifer Hillier, Angie Kim, Laura Lippman, J.M. Redmann

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Saturday, November 2nd

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Panel: Murder is Everywhere
Time: 9:30 A.M.—10:30 A.M.
Description: A discussion of the differences between rural and urban crime writing, and the challenges of both.
Panelists: Jamie Mason (M), Deborah Crombie, Adam Mitzner, Roz Nay, Michael Sears, Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Panel: Love and Murder: Writing Romantic Suspense
Time: 9:30 A.M.—10:30 A.M.
Description: The romantic suspense novel combines romance and mystery to hook readers, but defining the proper balance between the two is an art form in and of itself.
Panelists: L.A. Chandlar (M), Sandra Brown, Elizabeth Heiter, Laurie R. King, Julie Anne Lindsay, Carsen Taite

Panel: Deep in the Heart of Texas
Time: 11:00 A.M.—12:00 P.M.
Description: What makes Texas so different, and so exciting to write about?
Panelists: Scott Montgomery (M), Daniel J. Hale, Harry Hunsicker, William Dylan Powell, Teresa Trent, Nancy G. West

Panel: Future of Feminist Mysteries
Time: 1:00 P.M.—2:00 P.M.
Description: Is there more to writing a feminist mystery than centering it on a woman? Join us as we look back over our foremothers and discuss the state of the feminist mystery today.
Panelists: Molly Odintz (M), Steph Cha, Emily Giglierno, Juliet Grames, Lori Rader-Day, Sarah Weinman

Panel: The Lone Hero: Neo-Westerns and Westers
Time: 2:30 P.M.—3:30 P.M.
Description: The Western genre glorified the notion of the lone hero. Panel authors discuss the neo-western styling of the crime hero who stands for justice alone.
Panelists: Reavis Z. Wortham (M), A.C. Frieden, Joe R. Lansdale, Brad Parks, Tom Pitts, Philip Thompson

Panel: If I Could Turn Back Time
Time: 4:00 P.M.—5:00 P.M.
Description: Join us as we discuss how we use crimes of the past, and norms from a different era, to write brilliant crime stories for the modern era.
Panelists: Jeffrey Sigur (M), Joe Clifford, Laura McHugh, Hannah McKinnon, Lissa Marie Redmond, Scott Von Doviak

Panel: Espionage for Everyone
Time: 4:00 P.M.—5:00 P.M.
Description: How has the espionage novel changed over the decades since its first iteration? Has modern technology rendered every spy novel of the last fifty years obsolete? How does one write a spy novel today without first-hand experience in the field?
Panelists: Andrew Grant (M), Jack Carr, Matthew Fitzsimmons, Alistair Kimble, Steven Konkoly, Ken Wishnia

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Sunday, November 3rd

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Panel: Sherlock on Women
Time: 8:30 A.M.—9:30 A.M.
Description: Was Sherlock Holmes a misogynist? If so, why is he so popular with women? The panel discusses Sherlock Holmes and women—and the women who love him and write about him.
Panelists: Leslie S. Klinger (M), Mark Coggins, Carole, Nelson Douglass, Bonnie MacBird, Liese Sherwood-Fabre, Julia Thomas, Sherry Thomas

Panel: Beyond This Point There Be Monsters
Time: 10:00 A.M.—11:00 A.M.
Description: The panel takes a look at horror vs. crime, comparing and contrasting the two genres, to come to a better understanding of both.
Panelists: Sara Spock (M), Vivian Barz, V.P. Chandler, Meg Gardiner, Melissa MacGregor, Kat Richardson