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"C3 Con 2014" - October 10 - 12, 2014 (Hunt Valley Inn)

If you are an author of mystery, thrillers, or sci-fi or a fan who loves any of these genres, and you missed the Creatures, Crimes and Creativity Convention this weekend October 10 - 12, 2014 at the Hunt Valley Inn, Baltimore, MD...why weren't you there?

As the Author Panel Coordinator of this Con in its second year, we had tons of fun. Rebecca York, John Gilstrap, Brad Parks, and C.J. Ellisson were fantastic speakers who shared their love for the written word and social media through their master classes.

John Gilstrap (master class) – “Broken Bones, Ballistics and Backdrafts: Technical Stuff the Writers Get Wrong.” Readers are getting more sophisticated all the time, and it’s a writer’s job to get the details right. John Gilstrap brings his thirty years of experience as a firefighter, EMT, safety engineer and hazardous materials specialist to the classroom in a lively, interactive session to teach the basics of projective ballistics, fire behavior, how explosives work, and how the human body functions. What actually happens when a person gets shot or stabbed? Do silencers really work? He answered these and many other questions.

Rebecca York (master class) – “Defining Your Fictional Universe.” A novel must look, sound, smell and taste real to the reader. But it’s not reality. It’s a world you build. From plot and character to setting and dialogue, you make the decisions that define your fictional universe.


Brad Parks (master class) – “Where’s Papa Going with That Ax?”  Writing page-turning fiction that seizes a reader’s imagination and then holds it for 350 pages is damn hard. But the concepts behind it are actually quite simple. As a matter of fact, one novel we’ll study accomplishes everything you want fiction to do in just four paragraphs. We’ll also study voice, character, pacing and unveil the patented Brad Parks’ formula for suspense. No need to bring calculators.


C.J. Ellisson (master class) – "Facebook: how fans and writers connect." Readers utilize social media every day, just like we do. But how do authors make those contacts outside of Cons like this one? In this session, you’ll learn how fans use Facebook to connect with their favorite writers - and how smart authors use social media to interact in book clubs, meet bloggers, connect with beta and alpha readers, promote their next release, successfully launch their latest book, and build their email list.


Here are some photos from the event. Hope you'll attend next year!



















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