Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post is from Jeff Clark of the “Course of Action Podcast.” One of the definitive voices on all things thriller in the world of podcasts, Jeff—a longtime friend of The Real Book Spy—has hosted some of the biggest names in the thrillersphere today, engaging them in interesting and informative conversations. Last month, Jeff headed south for Bouchercon 2024, held in Tennessee, and offered the following report from his time mingling with such authors as Brad Thor and Simon Gervais while also attending various panels. Read Jeff’s report below, then be sure to follow him on X, his official website, his Personal Blog, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube for more A+ content.
“We have a shared language, those of us who read… and I love being around those who read. They are my people.” – Brad Thor
As one of the biggest names in the thriller space said above, we share a language in the reading/writing community, and community is everything. Bouchercon is a place where everyone, from fans to indie authors, to self-published and NY Times Bestsellers, can come together and talk—BOOKS. Storytelling. The ups and downs of being an author. Connect with fans. Brainstorm. Network.
And Bouchercon Nashville 2024 didn’t disappoint.
I was boots on the ground (literally in cowboy boots) for The Real Book Spy, soaking it all in. Nashville was my second Bouchercon to attend, the first being the Minneapolis Bouchercon in 2022. From the food to the daily panels to the author interviews, debut author breakfast, and the evening social outings at the resort bar, below is the recap of how it all went down, including the panel I moderated on podcasting in publishing. Keep reading for my recap that includes the Nashville accommodations, conference book signings, industry advice & news, and even an author being anointed as the “world champ.”
Accommodations:
The Gaylord Resort and Hotel is massive. Massive, as in there were multiple events there while Bouchercon was going on in a space that spans almost 3,000 rooms, nearly 200 suites, 21 restaurants, enormous convention areas, and an indoor/outdoor waterpark. I saw a dance competition going on, private events come and go, and even Tractor Supply had a convention held in one of the three convention areas. Bouchercon had their space, too, with four ballrooms and half a dozen panel rooms filled with panels, books, signing tables, hospitality areas, and coffee. Lots of coffee.
What impressed me most about the resort was its pure size. Again, it’s massive. There’s so much to do without ever having to leave, and in fact, I didn’t leave. Once I arrived on Wednesday, I didn’t see the Sun until Sunday morning when I left in an Uber to catch my flight home. The resort has everything. Food, food, and more food. Bars to drink at, watch sports, and hang with your friends. It’s literally like a little city inside a glass dome with two waterfalls and a river inside. It’s one of the nicest places I’ve ever visited, and I would go back. 10/10. I really enjoyed the stay.
Book Signings:
If you’ve never been to Bouchercon, here’s how it works . . .
Panels are conducted for about fifty minutes on various topics; usually, 4 to 5 panels are going on at the same time. Sometimes it’s hard to choose what to attend because they are all so good! Then, when the panels are over, the authors on the panels go to a larger room and sign autographs for fans and the audience. So, it’s a mad rush of people exiting panels to go see the authors from the panels and get everything from books to bookmarks, memorabilia, and even the Bouchercon program signed.
Now, the bigger the author, the longer the line of people who gather to get autographs. If your name is Brad Thor, Andrew Child, David Morrell, Harlan Coban, William Kent Kruger, and many others who have sold millions of books, your lines are going to be pretty long. I stepped in line with Claire Isenthal to get Brad Thor to sign a copy of my favorite Thor novel, Full Black, and I was only a few people deep. But the line behind me was crazy long! After Brad’s first panel, they actually had his signing in a hallway behind the main signing room because they expected that many people would line up to see him. They were correct. I stuck behind after Brad signed my book and chatted with one of the best publicists in the business, David Brown, the man behind the Atria Mystery Bus, and got to chat about TikTok, publicity, and even see Brad be anointed the “World Champ” by superfan Matt Scott. If you follow the Atria Mystery Bus on TikTok, you will see me and Claire Isenthal in the background of that video!
This is maybe the best part of Bouchercon because fans and fellow authors get to chat with other authors, get autographs, and even mingle with other attendees. I found myself holding court with several people, taking pictures, and at one point was filling in as Harlan Coban’s Bouchercon Bodyguard as a joke! And that’s the cool thing about Bouchercon. I’ve never met Harlan Coban, and my first interaction with him was a playful conversation about being his personal photographer and bodyguard. At Bouchercon, you get to see the real side of these big names in fiction, and you realize they are just as happy to be there as you are.
Panels:
As I stated above, panels work like this: 50 minutes of panel time for Q&A, then 30 minutes of author signings in one of the ballrooms. Then repeat. Panels start at 8 AM and last all day, with the last panel kicking off at 5 PM. While I couldn’t go to all of them, I tried my hardest to get to a ton and soak up all the industry advice and guidance that I could. Here’s the recap from the panels I attended. (Not all quotes are exact quotes, but shortened paraphrases.)
Panel 33: Mysteries and Thrillers in a Military Setting with Ward Larsen, Jack Stewart, Paul Sinor, Steve Stratton, and Geri Krotow.
Military settings are very popular in fiction, from pure espionage thrillers to action-packed adventures. People love the military, and they love feeling like they are in on the action. So how do authors do that, and do it well?
Ward Larsen draws bits and pieces from people he knew while in service. The military puts people under extreme stress, and you can see that realism in people. For him, he does deep research and recently interviewed a pilot who landed a C-130 on snow and ice. That authenticity helps with not just the story, but the location the story takes place in.
Jack Stewart believes the military culture is unique, and he also takes ques from his time in service. That’s incredibly obvious, because Jack’s Battle Born books are incredibly detailed and accurate depictions of the Navy and military culture. His goal is to be so real that people constantly look in their rearview mirror wondering if the car behind them might be a Chinese assassin at the wheel.
Paul Sinor was a script writer for the Transformers movies, and felt the best advice was to talk to someone who has been there and done that. Especially for period pieces.
Panel 39: Presenting Stories of International Intrigue with Brad Thor, Brian Andrews, AJ Tata, and Adam Sikes
Do you make readers think when they read your books?
That was the question posed in this panel. It was all about keeping people glued to the pages and drawing attention.
Brad Thor told a funny story about how he got started in entertainment with his travel show. He used to take names from the credit crawl of the show The Simpsons and put them on his credit crawl to make it longer. Brad explained that he keeps Scot Harvath fresh by not cannibalizing his own sales. In other words, each book is a stand-alone story, and in order to read his newest book, you don’t necessarily have to read the previous books. The goal is to always add new readers, never subtract, so leave out the boring parts and don’t exclude people. That means staying away from sensitive subjects like religion and allowing the reader to escape reality and be entertained.
Brian Andrews best summed it up when he said, “Don’t be a preacher on the pulpit.” Sell adventure and thrills by being a fan first before a writer. Give them a great adventure, and don’t preach.
Panel 48: Legacy Writing with Simon Gervais, Marc Cameron, Andrew Child
Fans of thrillers, especially in the military thriller and action genre love legacy books. From Tom Clancy to Lee Child, to Clive Cussler and Robert Ludlum. These are all series that have continued on after the author stepped way, for one reason or another. These men were all extremely grateful and honored to keep those names going forward with excellent storytelling.
Simon Gervais, an extremely talented writer, said that his single greatest honor was getting to write for the Ludlum estate. He channeled the late author by understanding what Ludlum was trying to do. He took over and wanted to do something different in the Bourne universe and had a blank canvas when he wrote The Blackbriar Genesis.
Marc Cameron fell into the Clancy estate when the last author to write with Tom Clancy, Mark Greaney, had a discussion with legendary editor Tom Colgan on who would take over for Mark once he stepped away from the Clancy universe. That guy became Marc Cameron. Regarding legacy writing, Cameron tried to write the best Marc Cameron book he could write in the spirit of Tom Clancy, not write a book just like Tom Clancy.
Andrew Child told us the story of how his brother, Lee Child, told him he was considering retiring while they were driving up to Wyoming from Denver in less than desirable conditions. Plain and simple, Lee told him he was going to retire and instead asked if Andrew would write with him, throwing the responsibility of Jack Reacher on to his plate while he was trying to drive them through a blizzard.
Panel 60: Podcasts-The Benefits and Downsides for Authors with Jeff Clark, NB Turner, Kirstyn Petras, Dan White, Stacey Horan, and Carter Wilson
I had the pleasure of moderating this pane on podcasting with a great group of podcast hosts who are also authors like me. We talked about the pros and cons of podcasts for authors, what to do to get ready for your interview, investing in good technology and lighting, as well as protecting your brand no matter what side of the microphone you are on, and being humble about sharing your experiences.
Listeners want to see behind the curtain and get to know you. Show them, but don’t be too revealing. Prepare for your interviews, and don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone. Each of these panel members had a different slant to their podcast. Turner and Petras showcased dark fiction. White focused on LGBTQ authors and readers. Carter Wilson has a show where the guest is also an author, and together, they craft a story on the spot, which I thought was incredibly cool. Horan has a show that focuses on crime and the desperate places it can go.
And of course, my show is about what authors do in their journey of storytelling, especially military and action thriller authors.
Panel 66: The Pros and Cons of Rural vs Urban Settings with Wiliam Kent Krueger, Michael Amos Cody, Steve Weddle, Larry Sweazy
“Make the reader believe you know more than you really do,” William Kent Krueger.
The goal of setting scenes is to make people who are actually from the location say, “You got it right.” Culture is shaped by things around the characters in the story, as is true in real life. Focus on culture when setting a scene. Does the location have a local iron mine that people work at? What do politics look like at that location? Study recent and historical events because they all paint a picture.
Larry Sweazy summed it up best when he explained that the question should be “how do they survive the culture?”. It could be doing chores on a North Dakota farm in negative temperatures or fighting the blistering heat in the summer doing chores more suited to south Texas. Boots on the ground is the best way to get the feel of the setting and where you are going with the story.
Panel 73: Fight Scenes Are Fun to Write with HC Chan, Jamie Freveletti, Taylor Moore, John Stamp, and Matt Scott
Fight scenes can be hard to write but also very fun to pull off. Many of the authors believed you should set up fighters before the fight, as in understanding their skill level before a single punch is thrown. Jamie Freveletti mentioned that throwing a punch is hard, and it hurts. Hollywood often makes it look easy, but it isn’t—hand swell. Knuckles bust open. Fights last a few minutes, maybe even only seconds. The details in fights matter and can build tension. Sometimes, it’s ok just to run away, and sometimes, randomly found objects can be fun weapons.
Taylor Moore believes fights should be quick and dynamic. Sometimes, it’s fun for characters to not fight fair. Characters should be faced with doing what they have to do to survive in order to ramp up the tension. Lastly, characters should have a reason to fight, and writers should study the sounds and feels of a fight.
John Stamp summed it up perfectly. “Protagonists can get hurt too. They aren’t invincible.”
Panel 81: Southern Gothic Stories with John Billheimer, S.A. Cosby, Linda Sands, Mark Westmoreland, and Brian Panowich
“Writing is something you do. Being a writer is who you are,” -S.A. Cosby.
What really bothers S.A. Cosby about Southern fiction is that everyone assumes people in the story are all Southern stereotypes, but really, the book is true fiction based on the South. This panel was an eye-opener into the ever-growing southern crime genre of fiction, and every panel member really opened up about how their experiences in the South simply add to a fiction story. It was very clear that what they write is not Southern fiction. It is a fictional story with a southern twist, just like a fictional story might be based on the West Coast or up north. Every environment is different in which a story takes place, but it could be the same basic principles to the story.
Brian Panowich was hilarious and told a very funny story, explaining how writers incorporate their real lives into their books. He filed a claim with his insurance company, and then they dropped him. So now, in every book, he kills off someone from that insurance agency as a fun little internal joke.
Panel 89: Spies, Intelligence, and Espionage with Alma Katsu, Mick Herron, Adam Sikes, Daco Auffenorde, AC Frieden
This panel was largely about their time in the intelligence community and/or talking to people who were. The details here are very important, because espionage has a large following of former intelligence professionals. Alma Katsu writes what she knows and writes about people she knew and worked with.
Adam Sikes, the realism that can be unique in your writing and a major thing you can bring to the table. “The sun on your skin feels different in different parts of the world.”
Panel 109: Car Chases and Shoot-outs with Andrew Child, Brad Thor, Marc Cameron, Boyd Morrison, John Gilstrap, Robert Swartwood
A gathering of some of the top authors in the action genre broke down car chases and shootouts moderated by Robert Swartwood. Some of the best advice from this panel surrounded plausibility. Often in writing the objective is to be as realistic as possible, but as Andrew Child said, that’s not always possible. For example, evidence is actually collected in paper bags, not plastic like Hollywood shows us. Plastic creates moisture, and moisture is bad for the preservation of evidence.
Brad Thor said to think cinematically when writing car chases, action, and shootouts and leave out the parts that people skip. Details are the bedrock of thrillers, but he also echoed the plausibility that Child spoke of. Take the time to get the details right so you don’t lose your essential readers, who might be firearms enthusiasts or experts who know a Glock doesn’t have a safety on the slide but rather has a trigger safety mechanism. Remember, you don’t work for the publisher; you work for the readers.
Marc Cameron said to write what you know. Think of fight scenes as conversations—each one is a conversation. The best advice he could give was make sure every now and then your good guy gets his butt kicked too.
Boyd Morrison said one of his best scenes was getting to write a zero-gravity fight. When the stakes are high, fight scenes can be more than just a fight. They can draw in emotion and create emotional reactions.
John Gilstrap summoned it up best when he said, “Write around the work you know you will get wrong. Don’t both with details if they aren’t plausible.”
Panel 111: Kick Ass Female Protagonists and Why We Love Them with Kate White, Charlaine Harris, Tracy Clark, Kelli Stanley, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Laura Benedict
I wish I could have made it to this one, but my partner in crime and debut author Claire Isenthal had my back. This panel focused on female leads, the decisions they make, and how they are another dimension of characters that everyone can enjoy.
Tracy Clark hit the nail on the head when she said, “Go deep inward instead of outward.” Women have to do things despite what is happening in their lives, and this panel described it as the 3 H’s: Head, Heart, and Hands. They have to use their heads, listen to their hearts, and get their hands dirty from time to time, even in the worst situations.
Something that really caught my attention was what Charlaine Harris said in regard to the difference between male and female protagonists and how readers understand them. “Most men have a hard time understanding that women live in fear.” I found that quote interesting because there is some truth to that, and those are unique points that can fit into a story and how you build a character. In a world dominated by men, women often find themselves outnumbered with their backs against the wall.
For me, a male writer crafting stories with a female protagonist, this was a unique insight into how these female authors view female leads. It gave me perspective that I think will grow my characters because I understand them better, even though they are fictional. A big take-away from Bouchercon has been authenticity and realism, while maintaining plausibility when you can.
I personally think female protagonists are awesome, and they can definitely kick some ass.
Special Sessions:
Debut Author Breakfast
Eighteen first-time authors got to sit down with fans, eat breakfast, and pitch their books to new readers. Breakfast was great, the pitches were outstanding, and it was a great opportunity for readers to learn about new authors.
Guest of Honor Interview: David Morrell talks with Brad Thor
Brad Thor was one of the 2024 Bouchercon Guest of Honor and sat down for an interview in one of the grand ballrooms with David Morrell, the legendary author of the Rambo books. Thor and Morrell talked about books, writing, how Thor has navigated the ups and downs of the publishing industry across twenty-five years, and what is in store for bringing Scot Harvath to the big screen in the near future.
Guest of Honor Interview: Alafair Burke talks with Harlan Coben
Harlen Coban, bestselling author and one of the 2024 Boucheron Guests of Honor, dropped some serious knowledge during his interview in the same grand ballroom as Thor and Morrell did a day prior. Back-to-back days with legends like this were worth the price of admission. I guarantee it!
Coben on writing: “You can fix bad pages; you can’t fix no pages.”
Coban, one of the biggest authors in the thriller genre, talked about growing from nothing to something and how his writing has changed his life. He encouraged writers of all experience levels to just write. That’s the piece in all of this that matters. Write what you know, research what you don’t, and just keep writing. Giving up is what stops nearly everyone from getting published. If he can do it, so can you.
Author Discovery Zone
On Friday night, in one of the ballrooms, Bouchercon put on a Discovery Zone so fans, authors, agents, publishers, and anyone else in attendance could go and discover new authors, complete with light refreshments and a cash bar! The incredible William Kent Krueger sponsored the event, and the room was packed with tons of authors all set up at their tables with swag, books for sale, and nothing but air and opportunity between them and potential new readers. I love seeing the publishing community come out in force to support each other, and the Discovery Zone is such a great way to do that. Kudos to William Kent Krueger for sponsoring such a cool event!
Atria Hospitality Suite Saturday
Nobody does events like Atria does events, especially when they have the best publicist in the business, David Brown, at the helm. David Brown (The Atria Mystery Bus) was on hand to orchestrate the Saturday morning hospitality suite, complete with light breakfast refreshments and appearances by Brad Thor, William Kent Kreuger, Megan Miranda, IS Berry, Luke Dumas, Sarah Langan, Amy Pease, and Nova Jacobs. I missed the Atria extended family photo this year, but I promise I photobombed everything from pictures to TikToks as per my Bouchercon ritual.
The highlight of the Conference:
The highlight of the conference was Brad Thor’s championship belt. If you follow any authors, fans, influencers, Book Tokers, or publicist accounts on social media, there’s a good chance you saw some people (myself included) parading around with a professional wrestling belt that was gifted to Brad Thor by a superfan.
The last night of Bouchercon at the bar someone convinced Brad to break out the belt, and he left for a short period of time only to return with the belt slung over his shoulder. Dare I say hundreds of pictures were taken as people passed around the belt and showcased their best poses as smartphone cameras snapped away to capture the moment.
Thor even got in on the action, too.
And that should sum it up for you on why Bouchercon is a community place. Everyone from first timers to NY Times Bestsellers enjoyed comradery, good conversation, and reliving the glory days of the squared circle all over again. All under one roof in celebration, and appreciation, of storytelling.
For more information on Bouchercon, or to register for Bouchercon 2025 (held in New Orleans, Louisiana), visit their official website here.