JULIE COMPTON: BUTTER CAKE AND BACKSTORY

I've been to very few author events or writers conferences for the last few years. The demands first of caregiving, then of grief, and then of restarting a business, a life, and a body that didn't want to do much other than nap, snack, and cry put such pleasures on the proverbial back burner. But I did get to mystery writer Julie Compton's seminar on backstory on Saturday, which reminded me of how enjoyable such events can be. The Mystery Writers of America's Florida Chapter organized the event, and the always-gracious-to-authors Vero Beach Book Center hosted it.

In person as in her books and blog, Julie is energetic, intelligent, and generous. In addition to demonstrating all of these nice qualities at Saturday's meeting, she brought us all pieces of homemade butter cake; now there's the kind of author we should all get out and see. Her talk used the first pages of her new novel, Rescuing Olivia, to illustrate the various ways that backstory can be handled. I was struck by how well she used very small snippets of backstory, expressed sometimes in as little as a sentence, to add elements of mystery to the plot. We often think of backstory as something that fills in the main story, that answers questions; these elements in her pages reminded me of how much more effective it can be when it also asks questions or opens up unknowns. References to Olivia's unexplained nightmares, narrator Anders's difficulties with his father, the appearance of a woman who is said to know Olivia better than her own mother, for reasons not yet explained: these are little things, minor elements, and yet they deepened my desire to read on in a major way. And of course they illustrated another of Julie's points, that backstory often works best when it is inserted gradually and briefly into a novel. Kudos to Julie for an excellent seminar, a delicious cake, and a richly rewarding novel.

Along with my friend Linda Hengerer, Julie is co-chairing MWA Florida's annual conference, Sleuthfest, which will take place March 3rd through 6th, 2011 in Deerfield Beach, Florida. If you're in Florida already or want an excuse to come here in the perfect season, you might want to check it out. Sleuthfest always features excellent authors and programs, and is worth attending for anyone interested in mysteries and their variations.