At Left Coast Crime, I had the honor of moderating a panel, Writing in the #MeToo Era. We had a stellar line up: Ian Hamilton, author of the Ava Lee mystery series; Laurie Rockenbeck, author of Seattle-based thrillers; and Kelly Oliver, author of the Jessica James mystery series. Sam Wiebe, who writes Vancouver crime novels and short fiction, helped with the session. Sadly, writer Lono Waiwaiole, who was supposed to be a panelist, had to cancel his trip to the conference.
The panelists discussed how they’ve dealt with sexualized violence, consent, and other issues in their work. We had a thoughtful conversation about ways the Me Too movement could change mysteries, thrillers and suspense fiction. In some cases, it has already affected how characters written pre-movement are perceived, casting once acceptable behavior into a different light.
This conference was a joy to attend. I presented at the New Authors Breakfast and attended engaging panels. I also enjoyed eating at Lucky’s and visiting with relatives in Vancouver, one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Kudos to the LCC organizers for excellent work!
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