Last weekend, I participated in the inaugural Ashland Mystery Festival. It took place in Ashland, OR (not to be confused with Ashland, OH—as one reader pointed out to me). Anyway, I had a wonderful time there!
Unlike most mystery conventions, which happen in the same hotel, this one (organized by the amazing Ellie Alexander) spread out the activities. There were loads of things to do: mystery dinners, mystery-themed shows, author pop-ups, all over town. Attendees even got to solve an overarching mystery by going to various businesses and picking up clues.
Not only was it was my (and everyone else’s) first Ashland Mystery Fest, but I experienced a lot of neat firsts:
Mystery dinner, where the entrees and drinks were unknown to us. We authors also had diners guess fun facts about us, along with which passages belonged to our respective books—five talented readers scored a copy of our (unintended but happily) color-coordinated books.
Walking panel, which involved the audience following Kate Lansing and me around town as we acted like suspects, including dropping red herrings and real clues—though we took a quick break to take a shot of our books!
First anniversary, a celebration of the local Japanese garden; they offered bonsai displays and free tea-tasting as part of the celebration.
What have been exciting firsts in your lives?
Looks like a cool festival, Jen!
Lots of fun! And I got to check out the town!
This looks like so much fun! My first was attending Malice in 2013 after winning a Malice grant. I had no idea mystery cons existed. Now I’m a regular at them!!
And it’s Ellen, not Anonymous.
Yay, El! You’re definitely a much-sought-after regular now! (With the WP shenanigans, I was wondering who was the Anonymous mystery attendee…)
Fits right in with the theme of your post, Jen!
It’s like Guess Who?–but with the Chicks!
What a different idea! It does sound very fun. (In case I show up as Anon, this is Kaye George.)
Hi, Kaye! I love the idea of something active. I mean, I’m a fan of things like interactive shows and those murder mystery dinners that used to be more popular in the past.
Me too, Jen!!
We even have a few of those complete murder mystery sets in our board games pile.
Hi Kaye! Yup, WordPress is on a roll today, lol. We have made them aware. They’re working on it.
Oh, wow, that looks like it was so much fun! Kudos to Ellie for organizing such an imaginative event!
Like Ellen, I’d have to say my first mystery event–the California Crime Writers Conference in Pasadena back in 2013–was one of the most exciting firsts for me. What joy to discover the marvelous crime writing community and all the amazing and generous folks associated with it!
I really enjoy CCWC–it’s just the right size to not get lost in the crowd. (One of my fave firsts was having you be my moderator on an author panel!)
Awww…. Yes, and that was a fabulous panel!
🙂
That looks like a fabulous time, and I loooooooooooove Ashland.
I’ll never forget my first time at a mystery con: Malice Domestic. I was a terrified baby writer and was so grateful for the incredible kindness of every single person I met. <3 As Leslie says, what a joy!
Thanks, Kathy! Meet-up in Ashland?
Malice Domestic has a special place in my heart because of the traditional mystery focus–hurrah!
Ashland meet-up for sure!!
Me too, me too!!
Woohoo!
Me too!
This is Diana. Wonderful to see Jen in Ashland!
That’s where you and I met, Kathy! One of the highlights of my life!
I looooooove Ashland too. In fact, it’s the site of many firsts for me. I had just driven my firstborn daughter (1) to her first day of college (2) in Oregon, and I stopped on my way home for a few days in Ashland where I’d never been before (3) for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (4) where I saw five or six shows I’d never seen before (5-10 or 11), on a road trip by myself (12). It was such a fantastic trip. I have such fond memories of Ashland. And if this event becomes a regular thing, I’ll be there with bells on! How cool you were one of the inaugural authors!
It’s definitely on for the next year, Becky! Also, love all your wonderful firsts from Ashland. And 5-6 shows?! Wow!
Aw mine, too! <3
And I love all of those firsts, Becky!!
Sounds like a wonderful time. Wish I could have gone.
Another time, Mark. Welcome your presence at any conference!
I so happy you had a great time, Jen! A recent happy first for me was when younger kiddo graduated in May. Definitely a proud papa moment. Cheers!
Yay for proud papa moments! Congrats!
Guess I should be gearing up for those graduation times…
My first mystery con was Bouchercon, in Raleigh NC in 2015, near where I live. I had no idea what it was and found out it was here by pure happenstance. The first Natalie McMasters Mystery, Stripper!, was three years from publication. I don’t remember any specifics. I know that I came away with a big bag full of books and I wanted to go again. Now I have a personal goal of attending one book-related event a month.
Tom, I was at that conference! (Wandering around between the hotels, a little lost.) Wish I’d known you then.
You can have a re-do, Lisa, and “run into” Tom next time.
I’ll be at Killer Nashville and Bouchercon this year. Let’s hook up.
Yes! I’ll be at Bouchercon and I’m pretty sure KN (my first).
Yay! Glad you found Bouchercon by happenstance. One book-related event a month is wonderful!
Jen, I loved your photos from Ashland on social media, and I’m so glad we all got to learn more about the weekend here on Chicks. It sounded amazingly fun and unique. I bet the readers had a great time, too. Prediction: Clamors for more! My first conference was a New England Crime Bake. I had the best time (first ms. for grown-ups still a twinkle in my eye) and came home thinking, I wanna do this!
Aww, love how Crime Bake inspired you! And so happy your ms became more than a twinkle in your eye!
Sounds like a wonderful variation on being inside rooms all day! Glad you enjoyed it, Jennifer!
I know? Usually, I have a hard time sneaking out to get a breath of fresh air at conferences!
This is Diana. Wonderful to see Jen in Ashland!
Okay, this is totally not book related, but my first that I loved was when I got to go to a farewell conference for my favorite soap opera “Guiding Light” here in Atlanta. It was the longest running soap on TV at the time. I got to meet all of my favorite characters and talk to along with photos with some. It was a great three-day event. We did not get out of the hotel, but it was well planned with great events and lots of memories. I am thinking of going to Nashville since it is closer to me.