In-person conferences are great for socialization and building a community and increasing motivation. But if you're not in the position to make it to one of these conferences, what are some good way to stay involved in the writing community?

This week's question felt very personal - as most of you know, I'm based in India, and write for an international readership. Most of my readers are in India or North America (USA and Canada) - and while I do go to a number of in-person literature festivals and other writers' events in India, I've made it to just one writer conference in Canada, and one in the US, over the past 5 years and 4 historical mysteries.

I'd love to do more in-person events - the energy and camaraderie that comes from meeting other writers over meals and drinks, and the high of meeting readers face-to-face, can't quite be captured online. And yet the barriers are steep - flight distances, costs, visas, and complex logistics.

Writer networks have been a great boon for me. I'm a member of three terrific writer organizations - Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Color and Mystery Writers of America - through these, I've made so many friends, despite having never met most of them in person, including James Ziskin, Catriona McPherson and Gigi Pandian, just to name a few. When I was struggling to find time and mind space to complete my latest book, I reached out to writers I've known only on email for advice, and based on years of their own experience with writing, through good times and bad, they offered suggestions that helped me push through and cross the finish line. 

I've also coordinated online conversations with some of the writers I first met through these writer communities - like Sujata Massey, with whom I did an Instagram conversation, and whom I later had the joy of meeting in Bangalore. A shoutout to all my writer friends reading this - if you make it to my city, let me know! 

And of course, there are ways now to participate in writer conferences online too - a couple of years back, I participated in the Surrey International Writer's Conference in Canada and gave three workshops, meeting other writers there too, all thanks to the magic of online conference platforms like Zoom.

With a little ingenuity and a lot of persistence, there are many ways in this age of internet to stay connected with your writing tribe - it's not quite the same as an in-person conference, but can come quite close!     

In person conferences are great for socialization and building a community and increasing motivation. But if you're not in the position to make it to one of these conferences, what are some good way to stay involved in the writing community?

by Dietrich

Writing conferences can be pure magic. There’s that electric buzz in the air, the random hallway chats that turn into lifelong friendships, those spontaneous coffee runs where you network or brainstorm a plot twist with someone who just gets it. Hearing a favorite author on a panel or sharing a quick word can light a fire like nothing else. And being there is a reminder that we’re part of this wonderful tribe of storytellers.

And for those of us who lean introverted, the crowded hallways, endless small talk, and noisy conference bars can feel more draining than energizing. I’ve come home from great events feeling both exhilarated and completely overstimulated, needing a full day to recharge.

The good news is we don’t have to miss out on the community, motivation, feedback or networking. The online writing world offers plenty of ways to stay plugged in—right from the home office, the couch, or wherever we write best. No suitcase, no sensory overload, and we can engage at our own pace.

There are dedicated online communities and forums like Absolute Write Water Cooler year-round. Virtual workshops, panel discussions and courses are everywhere — sites like Writer’s Digest University and MasterClass, and many more. There are organizations that offer on-line support too: Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, International Association of Crime Writers, Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and so on.

Social media has become the modern-day water cooler. Facebook groups, X, Bluesky, Instagram and similar platforms let us share snippets, celebrate wins, vent about rejections, and swap advice. We can join genre-specific groups or follow authors we admire. Okay, it’s not the same as shaking hands in person (not even close), but those quick daily interactions keep the momentum going and can lead to real friendships and collaborations.

Marketing has moved online too. We can build a newsletter, promote on social platforms, host virtual launches, and join online book clubs—all low-pressure ways to grow an audience and connect with readers.

The bottom line: whether we’re dealing with budget, health, introversion, or simply prefer our own space, the writing community is wide open online. We can build meaningful relationships, get thoughtful feedback, stay fired up, and promote our work—all without getting off the couch.

Release date: March 31, 2026

A new year is upon us! How do you plan for your writing calendar? 

Drafting a few new year writing resolutions is a great way to bound into the new year with positivity and hopefulness... Here are some of mine:

Writing resolutions 2026:

• Finish unfinished manuscripts - ski lodge mystery, Cloudland suburban noir, Elm's Mansion thriller. They're all complete, they just need a final polish. Watch this space!
• Start a new manuscript (my favourite thing to do).
• Ensure finished manuscripts go out on submission (evidence suggests this is my least favourite thing to do!) 

Reflection: Last year was a bad year for me as far as writing went. I couldn't focus on anything. I wonder what I have to offer, as far as a published book goes. I'm not sharing this to garner sympathy. Truthfully, I think the world is burning, for a range of reasons depending on geography and history, and I ask myself, what will more stories written by middleclass white people like me do to help anyone, or anything, at this point? This doesn't mean I don't want to write. I really do. When I'm writing is when I feel my happiest. It's how I try to make sense of things, or, at least, write through my emotions. My feeling as I write this, is that perhaps I will write something this year that won't be for publication. I have an idea, and it's probably not commercially viable. That's okay. I'll keep it short, maybe 50,000 words. This particular idea gives me a strong sense of urgency, that feeling when you can't wait to sit at the desk and tap away. Writing something from the deepest, darkest, tenderest part of your heart is always worth doing, no matter the result.

Time management resolutions 2026:

Mindfulness and being intentional. I want to schedule time for joy. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to cram so much into my day - work, writing, family commitments - that I don't take time to slow down and enjoy the simple things. So this year, I want to block time out for things such as meeting friends for a coffee or a walk, going to a museum or art gallery, even driving to the Gold Coast to have brunch at Kirra with my writing friend Allie. I resolve to see a movie once a month, spend regular time pottering in my garden, read for one hour a day, and consistently set aside time to make healthy, delicious meals for my family. Organisation is key. I thrive when I'm organised, so I'm going to set a timetable and stick to it. I might even monitor and reward my progress!

Bad habits to kick in 2026:

Social media. How to cut back? It's like giving up smoking. You know it's not good for you, you know you shouldn't do it. But there's a voice in your head that says, one quick scroll won't matter too much. Such a time-drain! I'm interested to hear anyone's rules/regulations/habits regarding managing their social media consumption. Please share!

Also, leaving my blog to the last minute. Every time I log in to upload my post, Dietrich's next piece is sitting there, contentedly waiting in the queue. I envy him his organisational prowess. Being well organised with a blog contribution is a worthy, and hopefully realistic, writerly goal for me.

 A new year is upon us! How do you plan for your writing calendar? 

I've not been seething exactly, but at least rippling, with envy reading Minds saying they're setting goals and taking stock. My writing calendar doesn't run January to December; it runs deadline to deadline. At the moment I've got two first drafts done and I'm fixing the first one, before fixing the second one, before deciding, over the summer, what to write next and then, in September, starting again. It'll be the autumn when I pretend that I'm going to start keeping character bios and stop having panics about the dark side of pantsing.

But - and luckily for this blog - I'm a great maker of New Year's resolution for life in general. And a fair to medium keeper of them too. E.g. two years ago, I resolved to work in the garden for an hour every morning and stone the crows but by the middle of last year the place was looking pretty good. (There's a reason I didn't nip out there and take a pic of right now, mind you.)

So all that's left is getting down to one bottle of vodka and forty roll-ups a day. Nah, I don't smoke or drink but this year's resolutions do include the time-honoured "lose weight and get fit". I know, I know, but hear me out. Last July, see, I was fit, then an injury put me in a wheelchair, leg brace, and physiotherapy, while self-pity suggested that cake and pizza were an important part of recovery. So my resolution is actually 'Lose the weight and get fit again". Is that different? We'll see. 

I've got another top ten resolution and I think this one is related to my writing life. (Wait - actually I think health and fitness is related to writing too. Strong necks and backs help us type, right? Good sleep and fresh air help us think.) But also, at the tail end of last year someone in a Q&A asked me how I stay positive and fill the tank. My answer was rambling (I started with "Positive? Are you kidding? I'm ready to kick things and scream until my voice runs out.") but the cause of any periods of full tank I do get seems to boil down to: don't consume short-form content chosen for me by an algorithm and served on a phone.

So, doubling down on the choice to repair and protect my attention span is my big aim for 2026. I'll read my current book whatever it is (right now it's Tayari Jones' Leaving Atlanta), go out to watch films (still haven't seen Hamnet; can't decide about Marty Supreme) and binge telly (Bookish looks good), but I won't lose time scrolling, won't click on anything I didn't search for, won't unmute the passing ads for revolutionary bras, all-in-one make-up sticks and meal-kit delivery subscriptions. Well, I already don't do that because: I will die in an underwire; I know that every lipstick in the world can be used as rouge and eyeshadow; and I can't imagine a life without chopping boards and leftovers.

It's mystifying why we scroll, isn't it? No one ever stops scrolling with a satisfied sigh and lifts their head to beam at the world from a well of benevolence. We scroll until we hate ourselves, until we've seen something so revolting or enraging we throw the phone away, until we're cold and hungry and the sun's gone down. But we don't have to.

Cx   

A new year is upon us! How do you plan for your writing calendar? 

Writers are no different. We’re just more articulate about failure.

Every January, someone decides that THIS is the year they’ll write every day, outline every chapter, follow a proven system, and emerge by next December with a novel that looks like it was written by Apollo and stolen by Prometheus. This is the literary version of following that Men’s Health 90-day Workout and thinking they’ll rise from the waters looking like Daniel Craig. [Women: insert your Ideal]. The plan is rooted in the best of intentions but unrealistic expectations will kill you.

F. Scott Fitzgerald gave us Gatsby, who followed Benjamin Franklin’s self-improvement program with religious devotion. We know how that worked out for him. Ambition is great. Blind faith in the system is how you end up floating in a pool, wondering where it all went wrong.

So here’s my low-rent, no-seminar version of planning a writing year. It comes from nursing, not publishing, which means it’s designed to work when things are messy, human, and bleeding a little: S.M.A.R.T. goals—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound. No PowerPoint necessary.

Specific means “finish a draft,” not “write a masterpiece.”
Measurable means pages, scenes, or hours—things that exist outside your feelings.
Attainable is you factor in that thing called Life, like a job, family, food, and don’t forget pets and spouses.
Time-bound means you give it a deadline, not a lifetime.

Personally, I plan the year like a small-time heist. I focus on one or two larger projects at a time. I write them hard and fast, then put them away. My experiences in Life have taught me to communicate with precision and efficiency, which is why my style is lean, compressed, and suggestive. While the Work rests, I work on short fiction—specifically for annual story calls for Bouchercon, Bridport, Fish, and Malice. Those deadlines are predictable and keep me honest. They also keep me sharp.

Later in the year, I come back to the Work with fresh eyes. Distance does what discipline can’t. It shows you what’s alive, what’s lying, and what needs to be buried quietly behind the shed.

That’s my calendar. No daily word-count commandments. No promises to become someone else. Just steady work, strategic pauses, and enough structure to keep me from lying to myself. I am the donkey who is not Eeyore, but persists without braying.

The new year doesn’t need a grand plan. It needs one foot in front of the other, a pawprint that survives contact with reality.

A new year is upon us! How do you plan for your writing calendar? 

2. And after that, I’ve posted my annual poem, “I Hereby Resolve,” spelling out my New Year’s Resolutions.

For the past several years, the day job has prevented me from maintaining a regular writing schedule. I teach high school French and devote my time to creating my lesson plans, correcting assignments, attending meetings, communicating with parents, and gnashing my teeth in despair at the future of our civilization. 

Just kidding. 

My students make the early risings and tiring days worth the while. I love teaching the spirited little darlings, despite the headlock they exert on my writing time.

But school is only in session from September to June. That leaves me most of the summer to try to write. Ordinarily, I’d like to complete a first draft of a new novel in that time, but last summer, I had to content myself with a major overhaul of my upcoming release, THE PRANK, instead. (July 26, 2026, Level Best Books.) I’m truly excited about this new novel, and thrilled that Liz Nugent—a brilliant author I admire tremendously—read it and provided a wonderful blurb. For God’s sakes, read Liz Nugent now.

I Hereby Resolve

668

Sdgsfvlknn

A new year is upon us! How do you plan for your writing calendar?

by Dietrich

The new year offers that fresh start—or, if you’re writing crime fiction, you could think of it as a fresh canvas waiting for the blood spatter. My writing plan doesn’t follow the calendar. There are no deadlines or pub dates I need to hit right now. I’m just transitioning from one story to the next, letting ideas flow, at that point where I don’t have to push too hard or feel like I’m red-lining toward a burnout.

While I aim to finish a novel every year, it’s not the end of the world if I don’t make it. The one I just completed took roughly sixteen months from start to finish. And the first draft of the new one’s only taken about a month, so it’s a difficult thing to schedule.

Right now I’m at the point of digging through a lot of research while making character notes to keep myself from getting all tangled up in a mess later on. The second draft will be for digging deeper, cleaning up and looking for weak spots. It’s also the time to toss out anything that isn’t working and add any subplots that popped up since I started on the first draft. Once I’ve completed the second draft, I’ll step away for a week or so to regain some perspective. Then the final draft will be for revising, editing and adding the final polish. 

That’s the plan for this one. The next one may demand a different approach. The one rule that stays constant is it’s never how much I get done, but how good I feel about it once I finally stop typing. I never want writing to feel like a chore, so I like to try different approaches.

I’m also looking forward to take part in some writing events this year, and I’ve got my eye on some festivals and conferences, but nothing’s carved in stone as of yet.

I’m also looking forward to the release of my new novel, Rust and Bone, which will be released by ECW Press on March 31st. Here’s the synopsis and a link:

In winter of 1945, a German village deep inside Ukraine burns under Russian assault. Young Jakob Fritsch, torn from his family, is forced onto a cattle car bound for a work camp where death looms. When a Stuka’s bomb derails the train, Jakob escapes the smoking wreckage alongside two untrustworthy survivors. They forge through snow-laden wilderness, hunted by soldiers and partisans.

A tragic turn forces Jakob to go on alone. Starving and freezing, he braves the perilous countryside of Poland en route to Berlin — the only place he can go — which is being torn apart from all sides. 

Far away in the shattered outskirts of Berlin, Frida Beckmann lives amid relentless bombing raids and encroaching Soviet forces. With her father in a prison camp and her mother broken by grief, Frida shoulders the weight of her family’s survival. Tested by hardship, betrayal and loss, she is pushed well beyond her years.

Jakob and Frida navigate their war-torn paths, struggling to survive in a time stripped of mercy — seeking refuge when all the world’s gone mad.

A new year is upon us! How do you plan for your writing calendar?