Well, I have just come back from Nashville. Actually, Franklin, TN. Nashville was a 45 minute taxi ride away.
I was in Franklin for the Killer Nashville Writer’s Conference. As I mentioned here a few posts ago, I once again placed a book in the finals of the Comedy Category. Sadly, I did not win, nor did any agents or publishers besiege me for a contract. In other words, different day, same old shit.
The good thing is that I met a lot of fun writers, some of whom are actually in print. One guy, a former cop, told funny stories of life behind the badge. I’d relate one of them, but he uses them in his books and I don’t want to barge into his jam.
The Hotel, an Embassy Suites, was out in the woods and miles away from any restaurant. So I had to eat at the Hotel restaurant, which was only open for dinner. Fortunately, they had a nice free breakfast spread each morning. So I didn’t starve.
The photo above is a panel I was asked to speak on. It was on the short story. One of the attendees told of how his one and only short story kept getting rejected and asked what he should do. “Write another one,” I said. I would have thought this was self-evident.
My advice to the assembled collection: “AKS. Always Keep Submitting.” I felt confident saying this, as I had just learned that Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine is taking another one of my short stories, to appear sometime next year. So I felt pretty full of myself.
I also played the disruptor in a panel on “Writing Crime Responsibly.” The other panelists, a former Court TV producer, another Writer, a woman who wrote a memoir on her abduction, and someone else, all said this meant ignoring the perpetrator and concentrating on the victim. Crocodile tears, my friends (except the woman who had been abducted; she managed to escape from her abductor and I praised her for her courage). These other vultures will say and do whatever it takes to sell the story.
I pointed out that, as a former Public Defender, I looked the criminals in the eye. I talked to their families. And yes, I talked to the victims. My point was that no matter who these people were, they were still people and we can’t lose sight of that.
“I don’t think these people do these heinous acts because they need a hug,” the Court TV lady said. “They are monsters and animals.”
Thus proving my point. We use these terms to make ourselves feel superior to these “monsters.” Instead of handling the real issues in the case.
Needless to say, I was not popular with my fellow panelists. But a number of people came up to me later to thank me for sticking up for the incarcerated.
Then came the awards ceremony and my opus, “The Return of Edsel Eddie,” lost out to a book called “The Queen of Granny Lit.” Now, for all I know this was a screamingly funny book, but really. If you saw that book on the stand in the bookstore, would you even pick it up?
So I came home from Nashville…Uh, Franklin…no more rich or famous than when I left. But that’s the way it goes. And always has.
Maybe next time, Edsel.
Mark Bruce, Writer 