CrimeCONN Returns to the Ferguson Library this June

CrimeCONN Returns to the Ferguson Library this June.

The full-day conference takes place at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, CT, and offers
in-person and on-line attendance.

CrimeCONN’s theme this year is History, Headlines and Heroes. Speakers will
delve into historical mysteries, true crime stories, and how thrillers have evolved over
the years. Reed Farrel Coleman will start the day with a writing workshop that anyone
who loves mysteries will enjoy, writers and readers alike. And, to put everything in
context, forensic scientist Michelle Clark and Detective Tammy Murray will explain how
real-life cold cases are tracked down and solved.

Learn how the past is present, and the future still unwritten.

CrimeCONN is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Ferguson Library and the Mystery
Writers of America’s New York Chapter.

TICKETS
In-Person Event
(In-person ticket price includes coffee, continental breakfast and lunch)
Through May 8 – Early Bird Registration
$40 per person
After May 8
$60 per person
$45 per person for MWA members, Friends members, seniors and students

Virtual Event
Also available via Zoom webinar (from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
$25 per person
Zoom login will be provided in advance of the program.
To Register:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crimeconn-2024-history-headlines-and-heroes-tickets-
876824895867?aff=oddtdtcreator

CrimeCONN 2024 panel themes and timeline
8:30 Doors open.

9:00 Introductory remarks. Chris and Alice Knapp.
9:15
Session 1.  Writers and readers workshop.
True Fiction.  Just because it really happened doesn't mean readers will believe it.
Aspiring writers and serious readers get a peek behind the curtain. Learn the tricks of
the trade on how writers expand a simple idea into 300 gut-wrenching pages.
Multiple award-winning, New York Times bestselling novelist and former college writing
instructor Reed Farrel Coleman.
Ten-minute break.
10:15
Session 2. Historical mysteries up to 1940.
People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in them. – James Baldwin
How historical mystery writers solve, and create puzzles of the past.
Moderator – Mally Becker
Nev March, Laura Joh Rowland, Nancy Bilyeau
Ten-minute break
11:15
Session 3. How mystery protagonists have changed over the decades.
Our greatest human adventure is the evolution of consciousness. – Tom Robbins
Examining the progression of mystery heroes from Poe to the present.
Moderator – Russ Colchamiro

Jim Fusilli, Tom Straw, Elise Hart Kipness
Thirty-minute break
12:30
Session 4. Reed Farrel Coleman has a conversation with Megan Abbott.
Days of Future Passed – The Moody Blues
Where we’ve been, and where we’re heading.
Fifteen-minute break
1:00
Session 5. Michelle Clark in conversation with Detective Tammy Murray of the West
Haven Police Department.
Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them. – George Elliot
How cold cases write the final chapter.
Ten-minute break
2:00
Session 6. True crime.
Three things cannot be hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth. – The Buddha
True crime writers explore the ongoing fascination with reality.
Moderator – Charles Salzberg
M. William Phelps, Wendy Whitman, Deborah Levison
Ten-minute break
3:00

Session 7. A close look at “recent” historical mysteries – from 1940 to the present.
Yesterday is history – Kosoko Jackson
How historical mystery writers re-live, and re-imagine, the near past.
Moderator – Chris Knopf
Alex Segura, John Copenhaver, Gabriel Valjan, Peter Blauner